“Foreclosure.”
Ethan took a drink.
“Okay.”
“That’s your response?”
“What do you want?”
“Anger.”
“Done that.”
“Fear?”
“Plenty.”
He looked toward the runway.
“Doesn’t change the note.”
Vivian watched him.
“How much do you owe?”
He looked at her.
“I’m not taking your money.”
“I didn’t offer.”
“You were about to.”
“I was going to ask.”
“Four point six.”
Vivian stared.
“Million?”
“No, dollars.”
He smiled at her face.
“Yes.”
“Your equity is huge.”
“Land rich.”
“Cash poor.”
“Classic.”
“What happened?”
“Laura’s treatment.”
“Airfield repairs.”
“Bad winter.”
“Fuel tank replacement deposit.”
“I refinanced.”
“Then interest moved.”
Vivian’s chest tightened.
“You spent airfield money on her treatment?”
“I spent mine.”
“Same thing eventually.”
Ethan nodded.
“Eventually.”
She looked toward the hangar.
“You could sell ten acres.”
“Not without breaking parcel rights.”
“Could subdivide.”
“Tried.”
“County access easement complicates it.”
Vivian stared at him.
“You really are trapped.”
“No.”
“I made choices.”
“Some good.”
“Some desperate.”
“Still mine.”
That honesty affected her.
She had spent years around executives who renamed desperation strategy after it worked.
“What if I personally buy the note?”
“No.”
“What if a third-party nonprofit—”
“No.”
“What if—”
“Vivian.”
She stopped.
He continued:
“You need to decide what your company should do.”
“I need to decide what I do.”
“Do not solve both by turning me into something you rescue.”
She looked at him.
“I hate that you’re right.”
“I’m getting used to it.”
Vivian laughed softly.
Then became quiet.
“What if you lose the field?”
Ethan stared at the runway.
“Then I lose it.”
“And Rescue Six?”
“I find it a home.”
“Mia?”
“She’ll survive.”
“You?”
He looked toward her.
“That one’s less interesting.”
“It is to me.”
Silence.
Ethan set down the beer.
Vivian felt the air change before he moved.
He leaned closer.
Paused.
Giving her space.
She closed it.
Their first kiss was quiet.
No rain.
No aircraft engines.
No dramatic interruption.
Just two exhausted adults sitting beside an old helicopter after losing a board vote.
When they separated, Ethan rested his forehead briefly against hers.
“This is a terrible idea.”
Vivian whispered: