Present Day:

Three nights later on January 5th, Charlotte arrived on the last flight into Boise airport just before midnight. She had to deadhead from Seattle to Portland and counted herself lucky to get the jump seat on the completely full midnight flight into Boise. While waiting in Portland, she texted her new boyfriend.

//J. On my way home. Arriving late. Will call in the AM. ❤C//

The taxi driver dropped her off, at just after 2 AM at the entrance to her new house. She pulled her two airline-style roller bags up the well-lit steps and smiled. Out of habit, she started towards the back of the house and to the base of the long steep stairs that lead to the above garage apartment, she laughed and did a hard left turn and made her way up the beautiful granite steps and up to the elegantly carved oak door of the newly remodeled home, her home.

The Web-enabled security cameras and AI-controlled lights were all working perfectly. During some of her time off over the last week, she had checked the interior and exterior cameras and temperature, water sensors and other smart home systems. It most definitely gave her peace of mind to be able to check up on her house while she was away. She got to the front door and keyed a code into her phone to unlock it and disarm the security system and turn the lights up to a welcome home setting. She walked out of the eighteen-degree January night air into a nice warm kitchen. The app had set the high-efficiency heat pump from away to home mode to just in time to be comfortable upon her arrival. Charlotte put her professional bag on the desk in her office and parked her personal bag in the laundry room. She puzzled a moment, yawned deeply and then went to the kitchen and opened the door to the fridge and saw that it was mostly empty. She removed a chilled bottle of water and drank deeply. Charlotte then made a mental note that first on her list was a grocery run in the morning. She mused that it was probably going to be too icy to walk to the co-op but she would worry about that later.

The next morning Charlotte slept in until past seven-thirty which was late for her. The sun had not started to rise on that late winter morning as she got out of bed. She took a long shower in the luxurious spa bathroom and dressed in comfortable jeans, an old t-shirt and a heavy bright blue Boise State Broncos sweat shirt. The morning went by quickly as Charlotte took care of domestic chores and made a quick trip to the co-op for groceries. She found herself smiling and laughing at the simple joys of being home for maybe the first time in twenty years.

Later that afternoon Charlotte called Justin. He answered on the first ring. "Hi J, how's your day been going so far?"

"Well, it's great now that you called."

Charlotte laughed. "Why don't you come over here after work? I'm cooking my award-winning chili."

"Award-winning?"

"Yeah, I won the squadron chili cook-off a couple of times, but I promise that this will not be as nuclear hot as my secret recipe."

"Okay, sounds good. I'll stop by my place after work to get cleaned up. Does six sound, okay?"

Charlotte hesitated and felt her heart race as she added. "And, um, J why don't you bring your toothbrush and some stuff to spend the night, in case it snows or something."

"Or something?"

The beautiful woman answered. "Yeah, who knows what the night will bring."

That evening it was indeed snowing steadily as Justin pulled his truck in from the alley and parked in the driveway between the old above-garage apartment and the main house. He smiled as the motion-activated security lights came on. As he got out of the truck and picked up his backpack from the seat, he noticed the tall girl with a bright smile on her face holding open the back door. He walked up the icy steps and smiled at his new girlfriend. "You were right about the snow Char."

She smiled. "Us pilots are all semi-professional weather forecasters you know, it comes with the job description."

Charlotte closed the door, put Justin's small pack on the mudroom bench, embraced him and kissed her lover long and hard. He squeezed her and pulled her willing body close to his. After a moment he nuzzled her neck. "I've been thinking about this moment all week Char."

"So, you missed me J?"

"Like you cannot believe."

"Well, take off your boots and meet me in the kitchen."

Justin sat down on the mudroom bench which he had personally custom-made for his favorite customer. He then reached into his backpack and pulled out a bottle of wine. He smiled and handed it to Charlotte. "This is one of your favorites should be plenty cold."

Charlotte smiled and took the proffered bottle. "Okay, I'll stir the chili and pour us a couple of glasses."

A few minutes later, Justin made his way to the kitchen. "Char, everything smells great."

The tall girl with short black hair and bright blue eyes smiled and handed her friend a glass. "Thanks, the chili is Gramp's old recipe with a few minor modifications of my own. I also picked up some fresh sourdough from Zeppole which is just about done. Like I told you I did make a few adjustments to the chili to make sure it wasn't nuclear fusion hot. You have to make it that way to win a chili cook-off, but I like to make it a bit less spicy so normal people can actually enjoy it."

With that, they both sipped their Fume Blanc. Charlotte looked distant for a moment. "This is good wine J. Don't know if the people on all those cooking shows would pair this with chili, but I like it."

Justin smiled, took another sip and placed his glass on the galaxy-black granite countertop. He then took Charlotte's glass and placed it next to his. With both hands free, he embraced her and pulled her close again. "I know that it's only been a few days, but all I could think about was this, you..."

Charlotte answered him with a passionate kiss. "Yeah, me too. If they didn't teach us to compartmentalize in flight training, I might've landed at the wrong airport this week when all I could think of was our New Year's weekend... And this, our next..."

Charlotte kissed her lover again, gently broke his close embrace and gave him a wicked grin. She removed the bread from the oven to cool and moved the chili pot to the warmer. "The night is young and dinner will keep. I think that I know what we both want more than food."

She took his large hand in hers and let him down the hall to her bedroom. Charlotte pulled back the comforter and sheets on the queen-sized bed. Justin watched her in rapt fascination as she quickly removed her McDonnell Douglas C-17 logo T-shirt, jeans and lacy black barely there underwear. He admired the beautiful woman standing before him. She had a big smile on her face her and hands on her hips. "Well, what are you waiting for?"

Justin returned the smile with one of his own. "Just admiring the scenery, not too often that a goddess stands naked in front of me."

Charlotte rolled her eyes at the over-the-top comment. "Nice line, now get naked."

Not to be rushed, Justin slowly unbuttoned his heavy plaid work shirt one button at a time and carefully placed it on a chair in the corner of the bedroom. He then sat on the bed such that Charlotte's full breasts and visibly erect nipples were inches from his face. Justin slowly removed his socks, tossed them on the chair and stood up to unbuckle his belt. He then slowly unbuttoned his jeans and carefully slid them off. Charlotte looked at the large bulge in his briefs. "Looks like someone is ready for action."

Justin then gave up all the pretenses of being cool and slid out of his boxers. He didn't bother to pick them off the floor as his lover put her hand to her mouth. "Oh my, wow. That's quite the compliment, Mr. Crawford."

Charlotte then gently pushed Justin down onto the bed and onto his back. "I think it's my turn to be on top."

Some period of time later, it was Justin's turn to be on top. He kissed his lover's neck and face and lips. "Wow Char, that was, you know..."

She leaned in and kissed him softly. "Yeah, it was."

Charlotte peeled her hot sweaty body away from her lover, for a moment she was almost stuck to him and the sweat-soaked sheets. "I think that I need a quick rinse. Care to join me?"

Before Justin could answer, Charlotte slid out of the bed, stood like a statue for a moment so he could get a good look and then made her way to the ensuite. As soon as Justin's brain freeze thawed, he followed the beautiful naked girl into the luxurious shower. Charlotte turned on both rain showerheads and adjusted the temperature to make sure it was just right. She took a long look at her lover's beautiful body and gestured. "Well, come on in, what are you waiting for, the water is just right."

Justin paused for a moment to take in the scene, one he had been dreaming about since, well before he had installed the tile in that luxury shower. "Sorry babe, got distracted by something beautiful. You know it happens sometimes."

"Well, get in big boy. We'll rinse off and then have a slightly late dinner."

Justin opened the frameless glass door and stepped into the exquisitely tiled shower. He smiled at the beautiful, wet and very naked woman and said with a perfect deadpan. "Charlotte, I'm thinkin' that the guy who tiled this shower sure knew his business."

Charlotte rolled her eyes, slapped him firmly on the butt and murmured. "Yes, yes he did."

Neither Charlotte nor Justin had intended for anything more to happen just then, but after a few minutes, as they gently soaped each other all over, it was readily apparent that they were both ready for more. They moved close together and Justin gently pressed her eager body against the warm and wet tile wall. As she felt him slowly enter her, she nuzzled his neck and murmured "Gods we fit together good J."

A few minutes later, she said to him. "Wow. I don't know what just happened there J."

He pulled her close. "Yeah me neither, that was something beyond awesome Char."

She kissed him and nuzzled his neck. "I mean, earlier on the bed, you made me talk to God and stuff, but just now, I mean that was a new kind of awesome. I think that I might have said a few things..."

He pulled her close again. "Yeah, you did and um, I think that you could tell from the animal noises that it was the same for me too."

She laughed and slapped his well-toned butt. "Hmm, that's good to know... Okay then, I have a question and you have to answer honestly. Did you ever think of this, what we just did when you built the shower for me?"

"Yes, yes I did."

"Good answer. And just so you know, I did too."