Chapter 23

New Love

 

Mike arrived at the house at about five minutes to seven on Saturday evening. Daddy and mama were sitting on the front porch drinking coffee when he drove up the laneway in his automobile. Daddy walked down the stairs of the porch to the car and shook hands with Mike, but really, he wanted to have a look at the vehicle he was driving. Daddy was a car buff; he especially loved old cars.

The 1929 Buick Roadster that Mike was driving had belonged to his grandfather. When he died, he left the Buick to Mike’s dad, who had no interest in cars, he was happy with his old pickup truck. He said that Mike could have the car because it was of no use to him. Mike loved the old car; he would sit in it for hours when he was a youngster. He had fond memories of his granddad, who would take him for rides in the Roadster on a Sunday afternoon. His granddad had taught Mike how to drive before he turned fourteen years of age, but he was tall for his age, so he could reach the pedals.

The Buick had not left the barn for years. Mike cleaned and polished it every week until the chrome gleamed, the maroon colored paint shone and the windows sparkled. He would start up the engine to keep the oil running through all the moving parts. Sometimes he would take it for a drive around the farm.

He learned a lot about motors from his dad when they worked on the farm equipment together. When he was sixteen years old, he overhauled the engine completely and then he got his driver’s license. He was proud of the old car and he was impressed when Mr. Reid showed an interest in it. Emily’s dad sat in the driver’s seat as he ran a hand over the dark gray leather interior that looked like new.

Emily arrived at the door to find Mike and her dad talking and admiring the Buick. Mike looked over at her and smiled. She kissed mama goodbye as she headed toward Mike’s vehicle.

“Nice car,” remarked Emily as Mike held the passenger door open for her. They waved good-bye to Emily’s parents as they slowly drove down the laneway.

Emily enjoyed a fun evening with Mike. He had a good sense of humor and could carry on an interesting conversation, which was not always about him. They talked about the war, about Emily’s flight business and the Cessna.

Mike wanted to buy another airplane, but he had not starting looking for one yet. His grandpa had left him some money in a trust fund when he died, so he had some cash available, plus the money he received from the sale of his Cessna, to buy another airplane. He did not have access to the money in the trust fund until he turned twenty-one years old. Unfortunately, he turned twenty-one while he was flying a B-25 bomber in the Pacific. During the war, he did not know if he would ever get to spend the money, but he was lucky; everything worked out for the best. Flying had always been his passion, so he decided to join the USAAF to put his skills to use flying bombers to help win the war in the Pacific. Emily admired his attitude as well as his interests; they pretty much mirrored her own attitude and interests.

Emily told him that she was going to start canvasing companies for business in Fort Worth on Monday. She also planned to put an advertisement in the newspaper to promote some interest in her flight delivery business. Now that the war was over, the future looked much brighter to everyone.