“Can everyone pipe down?”
“You’re sure in a nasty mood this afternoon, Houdini…”
“Y’all be nice to Houdini,” Firefly ordered. “He’s the reason we called this team meeting…”
“Firefly, don’t…” Houdini tried to interrupt.
“Our boy isn’t acting normal because he’s a little stressed,” Firefly continued. “I mean, it’s not every day that he tells some pretty girl to ‘shutup’to her face and…”
“You didn’t?!” Harley gasped, looking horrified as Houdini put his head in his hands for a moment, not looking proud in the slightest.
“You told Abbykins to…” Glory snarled, looking absolutely beside herself as she picked up a highlighter, yanked the cap off, and chucked it as his face angrily – right before Alpo pulled the little angry woman into his arms, trying to corral her.
The highlighter actually bounced off Houdini’s forehead, leaving a pink dot, and Mary covered her mouth as several people gasped audibly… before they started laughing nervously.
The tension was high in the room, and she was pretty sure Houdini was going to explode. Alpo pressed Glory behind him, whispering something to her, and Thumper was trying to calm Harley down, who had a baby in her lap and was pointing at Houdini, unfazed.
“I cannot believe you even…” Harley hissed angrily.
“Honey…” Thumper interrupted, pulling the woman’s arm away as she pointed at the other pilot angrily.
“No, he’s self-destructing and ruining everything!”
“Which is why we have to help him…” Thumper said softly, his voice firm at his wife – and the words seemed to settle the room as everyone grew quiet.
Dixie was glaring at Houdini – and Romeo took away the container in the middle of the table that held knives, forks, and spoons, setting it behind him and out of reach of his wife.
“You ought to be ashamed of yourself, taking it out on others…” Melody said openly. “Sutton would never tell me to shut up, even if he wanted to. He treats me nicely.”
“I’d never tell my Delilah to shut up either.”
“Me neither. Marisol would kick me out of bed for a week,” Valkyrie began, as Marisol nodded in open agreement.
“Look, trauma brings out the best and worst in people,” Alpo began, speaking loudly over everyone’s voices. “Let’s face it, if you were told you could never see again if you kept doing something you loved…and did every single day!Wouldn’t you be upset? Instead of focusing on shaming him for having a verynormalreaction to life-changing news? Let’s figure out how to help settle his mind, so Houdini can then focus on apologizing and making things right.”
“Oh my gosh,” Glory practically purred, staring at her husband. The duo was comical at how fast they could turn from loving to ‘in heat’ within a split second. “You are soooo incredibly sexy when you show off all those brain cells, my gorgeous alpha dog.”
“I can show you something else later…” Alpo crooned, reaching for his wife, and pulling her into his arms as Mary’s eyes popped out of her head, realizing that the bold man was about to start kissing on the woman with pigtails.
“Harley, get your brother to knock it off!” Thumper blurted out, causing several other people to chuckle, including Mary. “The walking hormone doesn’t listen to anyone else but you.”
Harley reached over and swatted her twin brother pointedly on the shoulder, causing the amorous couple to jump guiltily. “Earth-to-dweeb… keep it in your pants! We are talking here!”
“Sorry,” both muttered openly, causing several knowing smiles.
“Why doesn’t Houdini teach here?” Romeo said openly, causing everyone to stop in their tracks and look at the quiet, dark-haired pilot who’d told praised Mary and told her congratulations on his return. “What? I mean, it’s the most productive and logical thing. He’s already a pilot and knows how to fly. Some of us struggle with teaching, because some people just cannot grasp the concept, and we’d all rather be in the planes. We could increase instructor-led classes with a full-time teacher, which is a win for everyone.”
“Romeo’s got a point, Harley,” Thumper said quietly. “An excellent point.”
“Agreed,” Valkyrie chimed in.
“I love the idea,” Glory volunteered. “Alpo could spend more time with me in the hangar…”
“Oh boy…” Firefly, Armadillo, and Thumper groaned in unison – and Mary smiled.
Glory stuck out her tongue pointedly.
“I think it’s fantastic,” Firefly agreed, looking at Houdini. “I mean, if you think about it, we should always be recruiting capable people, and we have the best references in the world willing to vouch for him. The more production we can get through here, the better off we all are… and let’s face it? We haven’t run out of students yet. In fact, we’ve got people driving from other cities to come here, because word is spreading. Why not make hay while the sun is shining?”