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‘Oh. That’s the best one, I think.’
Euan chuckled. Warm and rich, sending an extra tingle of excitement through her. ‘Let’s go and see it, then.’
CHAPTER TEN
EVERYONE WHO WAS booked in for the ride had helped to spread the balloon envelope across the grass and watched while it was inflated. Then it was time to climb into the basket. Euan helped her up the steps cut into the side, and then clambered in.
Finally, they were ready to go. Sam hung onto the side of the basket, feeling a small jolt as they left the ground. Slowly they climbed, the trees and cars receding as they glided through the air.
The pilot was explaining how the balloon flew and pointing out landmarks below them. Sam listened politely, nodding along with the other passengers, but the real delight was just to be flying through the air. In the intervals between the deafening noise of the hot-air burners, it was almost eerily quiet.
The broad sweep of the sky had no room for her cares or her inhibitions. By the time they’d reached their full altitude she had released her grip on the edge of the basket and was holding onto Euan instead.
‘You’ve been up in a balloon before?’ Sam felt almost as if they were alone together up here. Everyone else was either concentrating on the view or talking to the people they had come with and it was just her and Euan.
‘When I was a kid. My parents took me and my sister. I thought it was the best thing I’d ever done.’
Sam nodded. She’d been thinking exactly the same herself, and been feeling just like an excited child. ‘We weren’t too big on family outings when I was young. Single-parent family.’ She shrugged. ‘Just the two of us.’ In the main it hadn’t even been two. Just her, on her own, making her way the best she could.
He nodded. Didn’t ask. Euan had stuck by his promise and hadn’t asked her about anything personal in the last couple of days. This evening Sam almost wished that he would.
‘Look. Down there.’
She followed the line of his pointing finger. ‘Oh! Are they sheep? It looks like a model farm.’
They watched as farmland gave way to woods and then back again to yellow fields.
‘Where are we going to land?’ Sam didn’t want to land at all, but they were going to run out of hot air at some point.
‘No idea.’ He grinned down at her. ‘That’s one of the best things about it.’
They bumped back down into a field and when he helped her out of the basket it seemed natural to jump down into his arms. To stay there for a moment while she acclimatised herself to being back on the ground.
‘Enjoy it?’ The grin on his face told Sam that he was in no doubt about her answer.
‘Wonderful. Thank you so much.’
‘My pleasure.’ He caught sight of her raised eyebrow and laughed. ‘No, really. It was.’
‘How do we get back?’ In her excitement Sam had forgotten about the practical considerations. She’d pretty much forgotten about everything other than how much she’d been enjoying herself.
‘They have pursuit vehicles. They’ll be along soon to take us and the balloon back.’
‘Does that mean we get to help pack it away?’
He chuckled. ‘Yeah. We can do that.’
* * *
Back at the launch site they waited to see the last of the balloons take off, before driving back into town. Ending the evening there seemed almost criminal, and when Euan asked, Sam readily agreed to a stroll along the promenade.
They watched the sun set over the sea and wandered down onto the beach. Sam was getting to like the beach as much as Euan seemed to. The sound of the sea washing against the sand. A warm breeze, moonlight, and... It was impossible not to acknowledge that Euan deserved his place at the top of that list of pleasures. When she slipped her hand tentatively into the crook of his arm, he trapped it in place against his body.
‘I was thinking...’
‘Yeah?’ I was rather hoping that you might have stopped that. Just for tonight,’ he teased.
‘It’s not a big thing. I was wondering if...’ She hesitated, and then took the plunge. ‘If I might sit in on one of the groups for friends and relatives of drugs users.’
