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“Sorry,” Trace mumbled and I looked over my shoulder at his red face.
I laughed at his expression of terror and went back to sightseeing.
“Isn’t she a beauty?” Richard voiced. “The Shenandoah Valley.”
“It’s beautiful,” I agreed.
The fire that propelled the balloon quickly beaded sweat on my neck.
“Oh my gosh!” I gasped, peering below us. “Trace! Look at the deer!” I pointed to a cluster of five deer running through a field. They were hard to see but their elegant gait gave them away.
“Totally awesome,” Trace replied.
I turned around, and he was still in the same spot, near the middle of the basket. “Trace! You didn’t even look!”
“I’m perfectly fine over here. There’s no reason for me to stand so close to the edge where I could possibly fall to my death,” he mumbled.
“Oh, so it’s okay for me to fall to my death?” I raised a brow.
“No,” he chuckled. “I’d prefer that you were over here with me. But seeing as I doubt you’d come over here willingly, and I’m sure as hell not moving, we have a conundrum.”
“Fine,” I turned back around so that I wasn’t missing any of the view. “But you’re really missing out.”
I looked down at the tips of the green trees and the birds flying nearby.
We had been in the air for about an hour and the sun was beginning to set. On the ground, sunsets were beautiful, but in the air they were breathtaking. We were swathed in hues of orange, pink, red, and even purple. It felt like we had become a part of the sunset.
“We gotta land now,” Richard announced.
I frowned. I didn’t want it to end. This was one of the greatest days of my life.
We came to an open field and Richard lowered the balloon.
It touched down shakily and Trace immediately hopped out, walking back and forth.
Richard began the process of dismantling the balloon while we waited for the chasers.
“Are you okay?” I asked, climbing out after Trace. I put a hand on his back, between his shoulder blades, trying to soothe him.
“I am never doing anything like that again,” he declared, shaking his head rapidly back and forth. “I’m not scared of much,” he paused, taking a deep breath, “but that was terrifying.”
I instantly felt bad that he had been so uncomfortable while I was enjoying myself.
“I’m sorry-”
“Don’t apologize,” he cut me off and ceased his pacing. “I’m glad you were able to experience that and I would have never wanted to stay on the ground and miss out on the smile on your face. Planes, I can do. Open baskets that teeter back and forth? Not so much,” he grinned, cupping my cheek.
“I’m glad you were with me but-”
He pressed his index finger over my lips. “No buts. We’re not going there.”
I sighed. Trace’s stubborn side was rearing its head.
“Fine,” I grumbled and pushed his hand away from my mouth.
The chasers arrived and they hopped out of the truck to help Richard with the balloon. We rode back, joking and laughing. I really liked all four of the men. They were funny and easy to get along with. They kept picking on Trace for being scared, much to his chagrin.
It was late when we made it back to the starting point and got into his Charger.
