John-Boy is taken aback when he finds out that the wing-walker is a
woman by the name of Bobby Strom. Not making a very good first impression John-Boy runs after Bobby to apologize for being rude. He
suggests that next time she let her hair out from under her aviator’s cap, to give the crowd a thrill.
John-Boy tries to be romantic with Bobby but she backs off. He says that he is sorry, and she closes the door behind her. John-Boy knocks to ask if he can ride along with her on her next “come-on” ride. She says it is difficult to say no to him.
The next day John-Boy flies as Bobby makes her “come-on” flight. She slips, but regains her balance, and waves to the crowd below as her hair blows in the wind. They return home to find Myrtle on the roof. Bobby
invites John-Boy inside the shed. He tries to kiss her but she backs off again. She explains that when she was fifteen years old a
stranger in the woods attacked her. John-Boy doesn’t know what to say, finally saying that one incident doesn’t have to be a whole lifetime. After John-Boy leaves Bobby finds a single, red rose, and thinks John-Boy left it.
In the living room Bobby, Jim-Bob and the rest of the family talk about flying. Bobby wants to fly soldiers to war zones in Europe. Jim-Bob intently listens to her talk about warm and cold air currents, and how they affect the wings of an airplane. She says there is nothing to fear unless she decides to climb onto the top wing without a safety net. Later John-Boy tells Bobby that for her to be happy she must love her own life and not be afraid of it; saying life is precious.
While they kiss, Jim Bob sees them. Later Bobby tells Olivia that she is falling in love with John-Boy, and that a girl has never been courted so tenderly before. John-Boy writes in his journal:
I have never encountered a woman like Bobby Strom before. From the first moment I saw her I found her tantalizing and romantic, even chilling. But what Bobby has told me abut herself has made me think about my own feelings for her. And I now realize that they may not have been of the most noble type. I feel embarrassed and guilty when I think about how I might have treated her. From here on I want to put these feelings behind me, and be her friend and truly help her.Bobby goes up to John-Boy’s room. He says he’s been trying to catch up with his studies. She wants to stop the article, because she wants to stop wing-walking, now that she has so much to lose. John-Boy admits that he has many different feelings for her. She realizes that his feelings have changed toward her. She becomes angry, unwilling to listen to him. She walks out to the shed where Jim Bob admits, “The roses were from me.”
John-Boy wonders where Bobby is, and then finds a note saying that she has left. He admits to his mother than they had words last night, because his feelings toward her changed. Olivia tells him that she’s in love with him. John-Boy believes that she will attempt to wing-walk today and they drive to the airfield to stop her.
At the air show John-Boy asks Bobby if she is all right. Bobby says there is no need for him to explain. She says that she now knows where she is going with her life. She says, “You ain’t the only cute country boy with the choir-boy face and a way with words.” She says goodbye and walks to her truck. Jim Bob gives her one last rose, and she kisses him as John-Boy looks on
Hopefully you'll understand between John-Boy and Bobby Strom
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