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discuss with you.”
    She remembered his office only too well: polished spruce paneling, with a set of skis leaning in one corner, several official-looking certificates from the FAA hanging behind his desk, a few pictures of a woman and other family members scattered about his tidy walnut desk. He motioned for her to sit down and closed the door. Storm’s heart began to beat strongly. She watched him warily as he sat down on the edge of the desk.
    “Don’t get too complacent just because Dan’s letting you stay,” he said softly, a cutting edge to his voice. “In my book, you’re strictly a temporary pilot—”
    “Wait a minute! Mr. Bradford just said I was hired!”
    Jim’s brows drew downward in a frown. “Only if you finish the three-month probation period. The decision as to whether you stay or go rests entirely with me at the end of that time.”
    Storm stood up, her lips thinning with anger. “I see! And you’re going to make damn sure I don’t stay. Isn’t that it, Talbot?”
    “For three months you fly everywhere I do,” he growled, “and I’ll log every mistake you make.”
    She was trembling, her hands clenched into fists at her sides. How she wanted to strike out at his handsome face! “You’ve got it all planned, haven’t you?” she said. “Just let me walk blindly into new and strange situations and watch me bungle them! I knew you hated me, but your methods of getting rid of me are utterly despicable.”
    Jim leaned back, sizing her up. “I told Dan I’d teach you everything I could.” His tone hardened. “Let’s get two things straight, Reynolds. I don’t hate you, and I’ll treat you fairly. If you can follow directions, we’ll get along fine. The moment you screw up, I’ll be there to log it in. I won’t deliberately make you look bad, but I’m not going to help make you look good, either. To me, you’re just another trainee.”
    Storm’s nostrils flared with fury. “Okay. If that’s the way you want to play the game, it’s fine with me. You’ve got the manners of a ruffian, do you know that?”
    Jim grinned sourly. “I’ll accept the compliment.” He thought that his bedside manner is much better. Storm ought to find out about it firsthand sometime.
    Storm snapped her mouth shut, stunned by his bluntness. The lively twinkle in his eye only incensed her more, and she choked out, “I don’t like you, and I don’t like your kind, but I’ll work around you, Talbot…and I’ll be so damn good at my job I’ll make it through this probationary period and get a lifetime contract with Bradford Outfitters.”
    Jim sat there, grinning lazily. “That’s one of many things I like about you. You’ve got a backbone. All right, we know where we stand with each other. Let’s get to work.”
    Every moment with him was agony, like holding a hot coal in the palm of her hand. Her anger stayed just below the boiling point, and she remained on polite but tense terms with him as they logged the flight plan to and from Seattle at the flight desk in Operations.
    When Storm returned to the office, Stella handed her five olive-green uniforms. “Wear these all the time, honey,” she explained, wrinkling her pinched nose. “With your gorgeous red hair you’ll manage to make them look smashing. Coveralls work better when you’re dealing with medical emergencies. There are fewer corners or openings to get caught on things,” she explained. “You can use the ladies’ room to change in.”
    By ten-thirty, Storm had slipped into the Outfitters uniform and was driving back to her apartment, located ten minutes from the airport, to pick up her overnight bag for the trip to Seattle. As might be expected, Jim’s parting words were, “Don’t take all day. We’ve got a schedule to meet. And travel light.”

Chapter Three
    BACK AT THE airport, Jim ordered Storm to fly the wide-bodied twin-engine Beechcraft Queen. It was dumpy, compared to the rugged and tough Beaver she had flown