And You Will Find Love

"You look a little tired," she said. "If you don't mind me saying."

Oberman chuckled. "Funny, 'cause I sleep, mostly."

"That's probably because you don't have much business.

In town, they hardly know an airport's still out here."

She chose her words carefully, having read a best-seller of the year, Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People.His ideas for business and social success had reportedly helped everyone from President Franklin Roosevelt and Clark Gable to Bobby Jones the golf champion. Even Dutch Schultz, the New Jersey bootleg whiskey king, was said to have read part of the book. But that was before he got bumped off by a gang rival. It seemed that "Lucky" Luciano had read the book all the way through and followed its friendly advice.

Barbara took the plunge. "I've been thinking... I'd like to try and make a go of this place. I could do it, too, if you'd let me. I could think of ways to get people to come out here... Air shows and flying lessons. Maybe even build it up to get you some mail run business. You have any now?"

"Had some. Lost it to a 'port over to Bakersfield."

"Okay, I have a proposition." It made Barbara laugh, thinking now she was propositioning a man! "I know how to fly both planes you have out there, if they can be flown."

"Need a little tune-up," he allowed.

She figured they needed a lot more than that, but went on. "You and I become partners. Fifty-fifty. You do as much or as little as you want in here or out there. Let me do as much as I want to get this airport on its feet again, and maybe better than it ever was." Then she remembered something. "Are you or the airport in debt?"

"The airport's okay. I owe some myself, but none of it will be yours."

"We'll sign a paper about that. I'll have to look at your books. You keep records of what you owe and earn, don't you?"

"Kind of casual about that," he admitted. "Got a big pile of papers you can look through."

"Unpaid bills?"

He lowered his head. "Yup."

"Then there's business debt," "Guess so. Fuel, repair. The usual stuff."

"And beer bills?"

"Yup."

"Well," she sighed, remembering Scarlett O'Hara and her penchant for putting worries off until another day. "I'll look into it all tomorrow. Right now I need to do two things.