Love by Design

Wagner, however, couldn’t know that, so he laughed and traded tall tales, each one more outlandish than the last.

“Punch, anyone?” Jen thrust the tray in front of the men.

Mr. Kensington took a glass without breaking the flow of conversation. Jack nodded his thanks, but Dan Wagner winked.

Winked? Jen drew back, jiggling the remaining glasses on the tray.

“Nice dress.” Dan’s grin revealed perfectly aligned teeth. “You clean up pretty good.”

Jen’s stomach fluttered again. Her mind turned to mush. “Uh, thank you.”

Thank you? Was that the best she could muster for a man who’d winked at her and paid her a compliment?

His attention had returned to Mr. Kensington’s tale of landing a thirty-pound trout in the midst of a thunderstorm with the rising waters tearing him from his feet.

“I don’t wear them often,” Jen blurted out, drawing puzzled looks from all three men.

Oh, no. That was just about the most idiotic thing she could have said. Moreover, she’d interrupted Mayor Kensington’s story to inform them that she seldom wore a dress.

She forced a smile that probably came off more like a sick grin. “What do you think of the flight school, Mr. Wagner? It’s got everything a student could need, right, Jack?”

Jack grimaced.

“Sure.” Wagner examined his dusty boots.

As she’d suspected, he hadn’t bothered to change, though he’d left the Stetson at the door. Considering the Hunters also dressed informally and the Kensingtons wore everyday attire, Jen stuck out like a sore thumb in Beattie’s holiday dress. Moreover, the cardigan didn’t match and hid little of the frilly lace.

“I’ll get more punch.” She scooted away, drawing only Wagner’s notice.

He winked again, and she nearly dropped the tray of bright red punch. According to the reflection in the mirrored glass of the china cabinet, her face was nearly as red as the punch. The little glass cups jiggled against each other, drawing a sharp glare from Mrs. Kensington.

“What do you think of our Jack, Mr. Wagner?” Kensington bellowed, his exuberant voice impossible not to hear. “Flying to the North Pole. Quite an endeavor.”

“Yes, it is,” Wagner said slowly, “but with the right backing, planning and personnel, it can be done.”

Jen set the tray next to the punch bowl before she dropped it.

“My thoughts exactly,” Kensington said. “Seems like an accomplished aviator like you would be chomping at the bit to come on board.”

Jen’s pulse raced. If Dan Wagner joined the expedition, he would stay in Pearlman. He could help her hone her navigation skills and supervise her flight training.

“I already have obligations,” Wagner said.

“Come now, this kind of opportunity happens once in a lifetime.” Mr. Kensington seldom took no for an answer. “It’ll never come around again.”

Jen lifted her gaze only to find Dan watching her.

“My family depends on me,” he said.

Family? Dan Wagner had a family? He couldn’t be married. The newspapers followed each new lady friend with avid attention, speculating if she would be the one to capture the elusive aviator.

“You’re not married,” she stated.

Wagner’s chin tucked back, and his gaze narrowed.

In fact the entire room grew embarrassingly quiet.

His gaze locked on her. “No, I’m not, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have family. They depend on my income to keep the ranch running.”

“Oh. You have a ranch.” Her head spun. Family. Ranch. That sounded a great deal like the sort of family that involved children. “Are you widowed? Or divorced?”

Mrs. Kensington gasped. Jack squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. The mayor guffawed.

Dan Wagner didn’t bat an eye. “Neither. My parents, brothers and their families run the ranch. It’s beautiful land but tough to eke out a living.”

Darcy attempted to rescue Jen by steering the conversation in another direction. “Is that why you want the airmail contract? Jack told me you’re trying to get the contract for a route in Montana. I didn’t realize the Post Office was offering routes to individual pilots. Or did they hire you?”

“They’re still running the service, but they’re beginning to turn over some routes to qualified contractors. It’s the perfect opportunity to return home.” Though Dan answered Darcy, his gaze never left Jen. “Family is more important than records or fame. They come first, and they could use the extra income.”

“Why didn’t you say that, son?” Kensington said. “If money’s the problem, I can ease your mind. A top-notch aviator like you commands top dollar. Name your price.”

That drew Wagner’s attention away from Jen. “Are you offering to hire me?”

“Didn’t I just say that, son?” Kensington looked at Jack. “Back me up, Hunter. You could use someone like Wagner here on your side.”

“Sure could. In fact, we’re in need of a navigator.”

“What?” Jen squeaked. That’s the position she wanted, the one she’d worked so hard to get.

The men didn’t hear her.

“A navigator, eh?” Wagner smoothed a thumb across his lower lip. “If the pay’s right—”

“I’ll make it right,” Kensington interrupted.

“If the pay’s right,” Dan Wagner reiterated slowly, “I don’t know how I could turn it down.”

“That’s what I want to hear,” Kensington bellowed.

The two men shook on it, and, in the matter of a moment, the dream that Jen and her daddy had shared slipped quietly away.

Chapter Three

Dan had figured Kensington for a blustering fool until he offered to pay him to join the polar expedition. Then he knew the man was. No one hired an expedition crew. Either a crewman paid his own way or gathered support from home in exchange for the privilege of risking his life in the pursuit of glory. Financial rewards came later, if at all.

Even with the generous wage, Dan would have hesitated to sign on if not for the look on Jen Fox’s face. She wanted to fly on that expedition. He’d heard that squeak of dismay she’d let out when Hunter asked him to join as navigator. She must think she deserved the position. From what he’d heard earlier, she must have passed some sort of written exam, even though she hadn’t yet started the flight training. Passing a written exam did not qualify her to fly on the polar expedition. She had no flight experience. None. No one—man or woman—belonged on a risky flight unless he or she had a lot of experience in the air. It took massive accumulated experience to deal with unexpected changes in weather, fickle air currents and fallible machinery.

Dan had carried the lifeless body of one overconfident novice off the airfield. He would not be party to another woman’s death. Since Kensington threw in more than enough to cover the cost of thirty lost head of cattle, Dan had to snap it up. This time of year he had few options to raise funds, and he’d already plunked down most of his reserves modifying his plane for cargo service. The rest would go to a reliable engine. The airmail contract could wait. If this expedition succeeded, he would make a fortune selling the story to newspapers and on the lecture circuit. If it failed, he could bid on another route.

The meal had been awkward. Clearly Mrs. Hunter had placed him next to Miss Fox so they could converse, but the gal sat stiff as a railroad spike and was just as silent. Any fool could tell she was angry. His attempts to placate her fell short. He put on his best manners and went out of his way to compliment her hair.

That drew a steely glare.

“I hear congratulations are in order,” he threw out. “I understand you passed the written flight exam.”

She nodded curtly but wouldn’t look at him. Then she asked Mrs. Hunter to pass the potatoes.

Mrs. Hunter gave him a sympathetic look that said to give it time.

Dan Wagner was patient with family, finicky engines and weather delays. He drew the line at sulking women. Life was too short to waste effort trying to talk reason into someone who didn’t want to be reasonable. Soon enough he’d be elbow-deep in expedition preparations. Miss Fox could pout all she wanted. He would stick to what he knew best.

He asked Hunter how many he planned for the flight crew.

“Two.”

“Both pilots?”

Hunter grinned. “You and me. Do you think we need more?”

“I would have someone for backup.”

Miss Fox brightened.

He corrected himself. “An experienced aviator, of course. A lot can happen before and during the attempt that might take a man out. Sickness. Injury. Even if the conditions are perfect, the cold is going to take a toll on the people and machinery on such a long flight.”

Miss Fox gave him an icy glare.

Dan tried to concentrate on the task. That was another reason not to include women. They had a way of distracting a man that could lead to disaster. He stared at the white linen tablecloth until his head cleared. What had he been about to say? White. Snow. Cold. Ice. That was it. “We might have to deal with ice.”

“Probably will,” Jack said. “That’s why we’re working on the engine.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Dan glanced at Jen to see if she had perked up.

She turned to Mrs. Hunter.

“I don’t see a solution for wing icing other than watching the weather,” Jack said.

“I meant the runway or whatever spot you have for taking off. Do you plan to use skids or wheels?”

“I planned skids. What’s your opinion?”

They debated the merits of each form of landing gear as well as the best places to use as a takeoff location. Though Alaska and Greenland were temptingly close, Point Barrow wasn’t accessible until late summer. They could get to Etah, Greenland, by the first of August, but Spitsbergen Island was accessible by April. The latter made the most sense, but getting the plane across the Atlantic would be costly. Dan hoped Hunter didn’t plan to fly it there. Transatlantic flight was as difficult as it had been in 1919. Doing so in spring would be almost impossible.

The conversation should have fascinated anyone interested in the expedition. It certainly held Mayor Kensington’s attention, but Jen Fox looked away every time he glanced her way. That disappointed him more than it should have.

Dan returned his thoughts to the expedition. “How much flying have you done in subfreezing temperatures?”

“As much as the weather allows,” Jack answered.

“Any in subzero?”

Jack shook his head. “It hasn’t gotten that cold yet this year.”

That was a problem. “Then the new engine hasn’t been put through its paces yet.”

Hunter admitted that was true.

“It’s a good engine,” Jen blurted out.

Dan grinned. In return, she pointedly turned away. That woman was definitely not worth the effort.

Again he focused on the status of the engines. “If the engine isn’t ready, then I assume the plane isn’t, either.”

Hunter shook his head, and a bad feeling gnawed at Dan’s gut. Why was Hunter waiting to run the tests? Without testing they wouldn’t know if the engines could perform under the rigorous Arctic conditions.

“As soon as the wind drops, we’ll take her up,” Hunter said.

It took a minute for Dan to calculate what Hunter was saying. “Are you telling me the new engines are on the plane already?”

Hunter grinned. “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

Dan whistled. No wonder Hunter was holding back. It was one thing to lose an engine, but crashing the whole plane meant the end of the expedition.

By the time the evening ended, Dan had a good grip on the status of preparations and no grip at all on Miss Fox, whose initial spunk had vanished behind a wall of ice. It shouldn’t have bothered him. After all, she wasn’t his type. Nothing about her fit the kind of woman that usually attracted him. Her hair was too short. She had no feminine grace and almost no social skills. She was moody and strong-tempered and spoke her mind. She had unfounded confidence in her abilities and an irrational idea that she belonged on a dangerous expedition. In short, she offered nothing but trouble.

Yet as he walked the short distance back to the boardinghouse, he couldn’t stop thinking about her.

* * *

The next day Jen sat across from her sisters at the dress shop’s worktable, the place where the three of them generally ended up working out problems. With the flight school closed and the winds high, Jen had nowhere to go but home and the dress shop. Both were filled with memories of their father, but at least at the shop she didn’t have to endure her mother’s pointed questions.

“How will you pay for the flying lessons?” Mother had asked as Jen headed for the kitchen door.

Jen didn’t have a good answer. Flight time cost a dollar and a half a minute, and that was the discounted rate that Jack and Darcy extended to her. She needed hours and hours of practice. With no job this winter and no savings, she couldn’t hope to pay for a single fifteen-minute session.

“I’ll figure something out,” Jen had answered as she donned her coat.

“Consider nursing,” Mother had urged for the umpteenth time. “It will only take two years. Doctor Stevens thinks you have the perfect temperament for it.”

Jen had shut the door on the conversation, but she couldn’t put that neat an end to the problem. She had to find a source of income sufficient to pay for flight lessons. All the hospital nursing programs Mother had promoted lasted two years. It might as well be forever. By the time she finished, every aviation milestone would be conquered, including reaching the North Pole.

So she looked to her sisters for ideas.

Her older sister, Ruth, and younger sister, Minnie, both worked at the family’s dress shop. Ruth managed it along with her husband, who was in the back room placing orders at the moment. Minnie helped with the sewing and oversaw the shop’s new upholstery service, at least until she got married in May.

Both worked while Jen recited the events of last night. “Can you believe Jack would ask Dan Wagner to be the navigator? He wasn’t even interested in joining the expedition until Mr. Kensington offered to pay him.”

“Mmm,” Ruth mumbled around a mouthful of pins. She was putting together a new dress, which, based on the sketches, was just the type of gown Beattie would love.

“In one shot, they killed my dream,” Jen mourned. “What am I supposed to do now?”

Minnie cocked her head. “It seems to me that you’re the one who is always telling us to fight for what we want.”

“That’s true,” Ruth agreed as she finished pinning a panel on the dress form. “You told me to go after Sam, and look what happened.” She gazed at little Sammy asleep in the cradle by her side. “Everything my heart desired and more. I agree with Minnie. You need to fight for what you want. Tell Mr. Wagon—”

“Wagner,” Jen corrected.

“Wagner. Tell him that you want to be the navigator.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Then tell Jack.”

“I can’t.” Jen’s sisters meant well, but they didn’t understand. “Jack offered it to Dan. He accepted. Mr. Kensington is paying him. Moreover, he’s a professional. He has his license. He’s experienced. He has set dozens of aviation records. How can I compete with that?”

“You’re a friend of Darcy and Jack’s,” Ruth said, as if that made any difference. “Friends always come first.”

“Not with something this important. Besides, even if Jack changed his mind and gave me the spot, what would Mr. Kensington say? He’s paying Dan, not me.”

Ruth lifted an eyebrow. “Dan? Do you realize that’s the third time you used his first name?”

“Wagner, then. But that’s not the point. No one ever gets paid to go on an expedition. They sure wouldn’t pay me.”

“You don’t have the license,” Ruth pointed out.

“I know that, but I intend to get it as soon as I get my flight time.”

“Then do that,” Minnie said.

“I can’t afford it. Mother only gave me enough for the written lessons. Moreover, it’s winter. By the time the weather clears, the expedition will be headed to someplace called Spitsbergen. It’ll be too late.”

“It’s never too late.” Ruth fit another panel to the emerging dress. “Not if you’re following the Lord’s will for your life.”

“That’s the hard part,” Minnie chimed in. “Figuring out where you’re meant to be. I thought I wanted a life of glamour until I realized I was much happier with Peter.” Her expression softened when she said her fiancé’s name.

“None of this helps at all.” Jen spun a pincushion between her hands. “Didn’t you hear what I said? Dan Wagner is going to be the navigator for the polar expedition, and there’s nothing I can do about it. I’ll never be the navigator. It’s hopeless.”

Ruth looked at Minnie, who grinned back. Together they said, “No, it’s not.”

“If anyone can do it,” Minnie said, “you can. Look at how much you know about engines. You spent half your time at the aeromotor factory watching them build the motors for the plane. Peter says Hendrick told him you even came up with some good suggestions.”

“He said that?”

Minnie nodded vigorously.

“Use the talents God gave you,” Ruth seconded. “Maybe it’s not navigation. Maybe it’s not in the cockpit. But you have other, equally valuable, talents. Understanding how machines work, the ability to inspire people, determination, creativity. Use what talents you do possess.”

The fog that had engulfed Jen since last night’s dinner party began to lift. “Maybe there is something I can do for the expedition. They will need lots of mechanical help. And logistics. Ordering and organizing the supplies is a huge task. I do it all the time for the flight school. There’s a lot I can do.”

“That’s right,” Minnie said. “Besides, there’s nothing like working alongside a handsome man to lift your spirits.”

Jen glared at her little sister.

“Very true,” Ruth seconded. “I heard that Mr. Wagner is most handsome.”

“Maybe,” Jen snapped, “if you like arrogant, self-centered cowboys.”

“Aha.” Ruth chuckled.

“No aha. No anything. My dream has nothing to do with Mr. Dan Wagner’s looks. He could go back to Montana today as far as I’m concerned.”

“Is that so?” Ruth’s smug smile was beginning to grate on Jen’s nerves. “What do you think, Minnie? Shall we?”

Minnie nodded.

“Shall you what?” Jen asked. Whatever they were up to, it wasn’t good.

Ruth pointed to Jen’s hands. “I do believe that’s the very pincushion we all touched when we vowed to help each other find husbands.”

“That’s right,” Minnie agreed. “You can’t duck out of that vow now, after helping Ruthie and me. Now it’s our turn to get you married.”

“Wait a minute!” Jen dropped the pincushion like a hot brick. “I’m not looking for a husband.”

Minnie smirked. “Sure you are. Didn’t you once say that everyone wants to get married?”

“I said no such thing.”

“Oh, no, you don’t.” Minnie wiggled her finger at her. “Nothing you can say will change our minds. We aren’t about to let you down, right, Ruthie?”

“Right. Who knows, maybe the Lord has a more interesting expedition in store for you.”

“Stop it!” Jen threw a wad of cotton at her sister. It fell harmlessly at Ruth’s feet and sent both sisters into spasms of laughter.

“Stop it this instant.” Jen stomped a foot for emphasis. “I am not looking for a husband. Understand? And even if I were, it wouldn’t be Dan Wagner. He’s arrogant and prideful and thinks he knows everything. He’s not interested in me, and I am definitely not interested in him.”

For some reason that made her sisters laugh harder.

Chapter Four

Jen wanted to talk to Jack Hunter right away, but she couldn’t find the expedition leader anywhere. The flight school was locked. No one answered her knock at their house. She even checked the aeromotor factory. The Hunters seemed to have vanished into thin air.

All that walking around did give her ample time to think. By the time she’d received the same negative response at Simmons Aeromotor, a brilliant idea came to mind. Her steps grew lighter along with her heart. If Jack agreed, she would get her flight lessons. Though she could not find him today, the proposed barter would still be good tomorrow or a week from tomorrow.

Since she’d promised Tillie she would attend her tea party, she headed back across town for her oldest sister’s house. Main Street was busy. Jen hunched against the knifing wind. As always, she looked at the window displays. Most stayed the same for weeks at a time, but the department store, mercantile and drugstore changed often. The brand-new cowboy hat in the mercantile window would look a lot nicer on Dan than that battered old thing he wore. On her, it would make her look like the sharpshooting Annie Oakley.

After a chuckle, she moved on. That’s when she spotted the Hunters in Lily’s Restaurant. Dan Wagner was with them. They huddled around a table, engaged in deep conversation. Jack was writing on a piece of paper and gesturing as he talked. Darcy watched her husband with a contented smile, but Dan Wagner looked as if he would hop off his chair at any moment. He leaned over the table, stabbing at the piece of paper with his index finger. Darcy nodded, but Jack clearly disagreed with whatever he’d just proposed.

Jen glanced at the clock on city hall. Twelve-thirty. Tillie was probably eating lunch. Tea could wait long enough for her to talk to Jack.

She pushed open the door to the diner and waved at Lily before pointing to Jack’s table. “I’m joining them.”

“Coffee?” the restaurant owner asked even as she picked up a cup.

Jen checked her jacket pockets. Empty except for a wadded-up handkerchief and a penny.

“No, thank you,” she said to Lily. “I won’t be staying long.”

“Sure, you won’t.” Lily plunked the steaming cup down at the empty spot on the square table.

“But I don’t have any money.”

“I’ll put it on your account,” said the proprietress with her gravelly voice. “Stop by and pay on it sometime. Do you want something to eat?”

“No, thanks. I’ll be by later to pay you back.”

“Sure you will, honey,” Lily said over her shoulder as she headed back to the kitchen. “I could use a dishwasher tonight.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Jen shot back.

By now they had their parts down pat. Jen never had money on her. Lily always gave her food or drink, and Jen would pay when she got another paycheck, which wouldn’t be for a long time unless she worked off her debt by washing dishes.

“Jen,” Darcy and Jack said nearly at once.

It was amazing how often married people did that. She’d noticed Ruthie and Sam saying the same thing at the same time, too.

Dan Wagner looked less enthused, but he rose along with Jack. “Miss Fox.”

“Wagner.” She loved his expression when she called him by his last name. He always flinched and then turned up his nose as if he’d just sniffed a cow pie. “Sit down. I won’t take up much of your time. Jack, I have a proposition for you.”

His eyebrows rose in surprise while Dan’s tugged down to match his scowl.

She didn’t give either of them a chance to shoot her down. “I can help you with the expedition.”

That low growl of displeasure had definitely come from Dan.

Jack, on the other hand, took her offer in stride. “We can use all the volunteers we can get.”

She didn’t miss the stress he put on the word volunteer. Well, until Wagner, no one got paid. She sure wasn’t asking for money. “Good. I figure with my experience at the flight school and all the time I’ve spent learning about the engines, I can at least help out with the supply lists and ordering.”

“That’s true,” Darcy seconded, though her sly smile indicated she figured Jen had an ulterior motive that was centered on one arrogant stunt pilot.

Jen was just about to correct her assumption when Jack added, “But we can’t pay you.”

That was her opportunity. “Maybe you can. Not in cash but in flight time.”