"If I did this, it would have to be on my terms. Nights and weekends. Nothing that takes me away from Emma. Victoria felt a spark of hope. I can work with that.
Jake nodded slowly. Then I'll think about it. Victoria left the hangar with the folder under her arm and a strange feeling in her chest. It wasn't satisfaction exactly. It was something closer to respect.
Two days later, Jake called her. He agreed to consult on the turbine project, but only if Victoria came to Millbrook to discuss the details in person. She drove out that afternoon and found him waiting outside the hangar. There was a girl with him, small and wiry with dark hair pulled into a ponytail. She looked up at Victoria with the same guarded expression Jake wore.
"This is Emma." Jake said. The girl didn't say anything, just watched Victoria with careful eyes. Victoria crouched down to her level. "Nice to meet you, Emma."
Victoria said. Emma nodded, still silent. Victoria stood and looked at Jake. "I brought a contract. It's pretty straightforward.
10 hours a week remote work consultant rate of $300 an hour." Jake's eyes widened slightly. "That's too much." "It's the going rate for someone with your expertise." Victoria said.
She handed him the contract. "Actually, it's below market, but I figured you'd say no if I went higher." Jake scanned the contract, his lips moving slightly as he read. Emma tugged on his sleeve. "Dad, can I go inside?"
Jake looked down at her. "Yeah, kiddo. I'll be there in a minute." Emma ran toward the hangar and Jake watched her go before turning back to Victoria. "I'll do it."
he said. "But if it ever interferes with Emma, I'm out." "Deal." Victoria said. They shook hands and for the first time Jake smiled.
It was a small smile, barely there, but it changed his whole face. Over the next 3 weeks, Victoria found herself driving to Millbrook more often than she'd planned. Jake worked fast, sending her revised schematics and technical notes that her team in Denver scrambled to implement. The turbine project moved forward faster than it had in months, but Victoria's visits weren't just about work anymore. She started showing up in the afternoons bringing coffee and sitting in the hangar while Jake worked.
They talked about engines and fuel ratios and airflow dynamics, but they also talked about other things. Emma's school, the town, the life Jake had built here. Emma warmed up to her slowly. At first the girl barely said a word hovering near her father like a shadow, but Victoria didn't push. She just showed up consistent and calm until one day Emma asked her if she wanted to see the model plane she was building.
Victoria said yes and Emma led her to a workbench in the corner where a balsa wood glider sat half-finished. It was meticulous work, the kind of care that only came from watching someone who knew what they were doing. Your dad teach you this? Victoria asked. Emma nodded, her hands moving carefully over the wing.
Victoria watched her work and something unfamiliar settled in her chest. It felt like belonging. Then everything fell apart. It happened on a Thursday afternoon. Jake was working on a charter jet that had come in for routine maintenance, something simple that should have taken an hour.
Victoria was in town picking up lunch when she got the call. The voice on the other end was frantic, barely coherent. There'd been an accident. An engine mount had failed. Jake was trapped under 2,000 lb of metal.
Victoria drove to the airfield faster than she'd ever driven in her life. When she got there, the paramedics were already pulling Jake out from under the jet. His leg was twisted at an angle that made Victoria's stomach turn. His face was gray, slick with sweat. Emma was standing near the hangar, frozen, her eyes locked on her father.
Victoria ran to her and pulled her close, turning her away from the sight. They airlifted Jake to Denver. Victoria followed in her car with Emma beside her, silent and shaking. The girl didn't cry. She just stared out the window, her hands clenched in her lap.
Victoria wanted to say something comforting, but she didn't know how. She wasn't good at this. She was good at contracts and negotiations and making people do what she needed them to do. She wasn't good at holding a terrified child together while her father fought to stay alive. Jake survived the surgery, but the damage was severe.
His right leg was held together with pins and rods, and the doctor said he'd need months of physical therapy before he could walk without a crutch. He'd never work under a plane again. When Victoria finally saw him in the hospital room, he looked smaller than she remembered, diminished by the tubes and monitors. His eyes were hollow. "I'm done," Jake said.
His voice was flat, empty. "I can't do this anymore." Victoria sat down in the chair beside his bed. "You'll heal," she said. "You'll get back to it."
Jake shook his head. "Even if I do, I can't pay for this. The surgery, the rehab, the bills. I don't have insurance that covers this. I'm going to lose everything."
Victoria felt something crack open inside her. She looked at Jake, this man who'd given up everything for his daughter, who'd walked away from a life of success because love mattered more. And now, he was going to lose even this small, quiet life he'd built. It wasn't fair. It wasn't right.
"No." Victoria said. Her voice was steady, certain. "You're not going to lose anything. I'm going to make sure of it."
Jake looked at her, and for the first time since the accident, something flickered in his eyes. It wasn't hope, not yet. But it was close. Victoria spent the next week in Denver splitting her time between the hospital and her company's legal department. She made calls to the VA, to disability lawyers, to anyone who could help navigate the bureaucracy that stood between Jake and the benefits he'd earned.