He didn't sound surprised. "I am," Victoria said. She stopped a few feet from the Cessna and crossed her arms. "I want to talk." Jake set down his wrench and wiped his hands on his jeans.
"About what?" "About why you're here." Victoria kept her tone even, but she could feel her pulse quickening. "I know who you are, Captain Miller. I know what you did before you came to Millbrook.
What I don't know is why you left." Jake's jaw tightened. He looked at her for a long moment, and Victoria saw something flicker in his eyes. Anger, maybe, or just exhaustion. "That's none of your business," he said.
"It is if I want to hire you." Victoria hadn't planned to say that, but as soon as the words were out, she knew they were true. "My company is developing a new turbine system for military transport jets. We've been stuck on the same problem for 6 months. You could solve it in a week."
Jake shook his head. "I'm not interested." "Why not?" Victoria said. She stepped closer, her frustration breaking through.
"You're wasting your skills here. You could be working on projects that matter, making 10 times what you're making now. Instead, you're fixing crop dusters." Jake's expression darkened. "You think what I do here doesn't matter?"
"I think you're hiding," Victoria said. The words came out harsher than she intended, but she didn't take them back. "I think you're scared to go back to the life you had, so you're pretending this is enough." Jake didn't respond. He turned away and picked up his wrench, his knuckles white around the handle.
Victoria waited, but he didn't say anything. After a minute, she turned and walked out of the hangar. She'd pushed too hard, and she knew it. But she wasn't wrong. That afternoon, Victoria went into town.
Millbrook had one diner, one gas station, and a general store that sold everything from groceries to fishing tackle. She stopped at the diner and ordered coffee, sitting at the counter where she could watch the street. The waitress was a woman in her 50s with a name tag that said, "Betty." She filled Victoria's cup and left the pot on the counter. "You're the one staying at the Pine Ridge, aren't you?
Betty said. Victoria nodded. Betty smiled. Thought so. We don't get many people like you around here.
People like me, Victoria said. City people, Betty said. She said it without judgement, just a statement of fact. You here for business or pleasure? Business, Victoria said.