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sure she’d stopped her retreat before turning to Jack. “I thought I should check the gyroscopic balance of the lower magneto. I’ll need a passenger for that, and I was thinking that Meg might be just about the right weight.”
    Jack’s eyebrows rose but to his credit, his mouth didn’t even twitch at this string of nonsense. He turned to look at Meg, considering her with the solemnity the question deserved.
    Meg held her breath, waiting for his verdict. If she’d be helping Tyler by going up in his airplane, then it wouldn’t be the same as taking charity.
    “I think she’d be heavy enough,” Jack said after a moment, having let the tension stretch until Meg was sure she would explode with it. “And you certainly don’t want to let that magneto get out of balance,” he added, shaking his head to indicate what a serious problem that could be.
    Meg felt her chest swell and her cheeks flush with excitement. Not only was she going to get to ride in an airplane, but she’d be helping Tyler. It just didn’t seem possible that two such wonderful things could happen on the same day.
    “Would you mind helping me, Meg?” Ty hardly needed the vigorous shake of her head to give him his answer. She was nearly quivering with eagerness. She straightened her shoulders and tugged the bottom of her blue cotton middy into place over her pleated skirt, like a soldier preparing for inspection.
    “If you really think I could help,” she said, not bothering to hide her enthusiasm.
    “Like Jack said, it’s important that the magneto be properly balanced, and I have to have a passenger to do that.” If it occurred to Meg that Jack could very well have provided the necessary weight, she didn’t feel obligated to point it out.
    Jack grinned as he watched Ty lift Meg up onto the Jenny’s wing. He’d just started to lift her into the seat when they heard someone calling Meg’s name.
    “It’s Patsy.” Meg’s voice was flat. Ty set her down and she slid off the wing to the ground. He jumped down and stood next to her. “I imagine I’ve got to go,” she said, watching her sister approach. There was no emotion in the words, no indication of the disappointment he knew she felt. He had the feeling there’d been so many disappointments in her young life that she’d come to expect them more often than not.
    “I knew I’d find you here.” Patsy paused when she saw the two young men. She reached up to pat her hair, bobbed just this summer so that it framed her pretty features like a soft brown cap. Her voice deepened to what she fancied was an alluring huskiness. “Mr. Davis says it’s time we went and he sent me to find you. I figured you might still be here watching the flying. It was so exciting, it nearly took my breath away.”
    She smoothed her hands down her hips, curving her spine just the way she’d seen the models do in the Sears Roebuck catalogs, drawing attention to the sleek lines of her figure.
    “We aim to please,” Jack said, grinning at her obvious attempt to look seductive, though he couldn’t help but notice that she was really a very pretty girl. Too bad she wasn’t a little older.
    Ty set his hand on Meg’s shoulder when she started to move away. She hadn’t said anything but he could feel the disappointment radiating from her. He had the feeling there were few enough treats in her life. It didn’t seem fair that she should have to miss this one, too.
    “Meg was going to help me run a test. Do we have time for a quick flight?”
    “I don’t know.” Her expression softened when she saw the plea in her little sister’s eyes. “Course, it might have taken me a good bit longer to find you, I suppose.” She hesitated, nibbling her lower lip. Meg’s small body was tense under Ty’s hand as she waited for the verdict.
    “You know, it occurs to me that I ought to check out the balance on my magneto, too,” Jack said suddenly. “Can’t ever be too careful about those things. Since I’d