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Lucas grinned back at me and pointed. “I’ve got this one!”
“Yes!” I pumped my fist again.
He clapped his hands together once, then planted them on his hips. “Alright, then. Everyone pair up, get geared up, and let’s get up there!”
His energy matched mine, so I was thrilled to be partnered with the guy that looked as excited as me even though he’d likely done this a thousand times. With slumped shoulders, the Widows walked toward the other men. Alice hurried to claim Bryce, who she’d called shotgun on once she heard we had to sit on the laps of our tandem jump partners near jump time.
“What’s your name?” Lucas asked when he reached me.
“I’m Marge,” I answered, sticking out my hand to shake his and giving him a welcoming smile.
He froze briefly before our hands met, his eyes widening as he took in my messed-up face.
“Blimey. What happened? Get in a bar fight?”
I pointed to my missing tooth first and then my eye. “Surfboard. Kangaroo.”
“Well, crikey! You really know how to have a good time, don’t ya, Marge?”
I smiled wider, not caring about the way my face looked with the missing tooth and the huge shiner making me look like I should be screaming, “Adrian!” after the big fight.
“You bet your ass I do. And now I’m ready to have an even better time and jump out of that plane with you. I’ve been waiting a long time for this.”
“It’s gonna be the time of your life. I promise.” He started strapping on my gear, and with excitement oozing out of every pore, I tried not to hop up and down in my little jumpsuit and harness as he worked on the rigging. “Now, tell me about the surfboard and kangaroo injuries.”
“Two separate incidents,” I said, giving him the rundown as he got me secured.
After I finished the story about the kangaroo, he sucked the side of his cheek. “No one realizes kangaroos can pack a punch! Everyone thinks they are so cute and cuddly, but no. You’re not the first person I know who got walloped by a kangaroo, and you won’t be the last.”
“Gotta admit, I was not prepared for that force,” I said as he finished tightening the last of my straps. “That baby put Muhammed Ali to shame.”
“I believe that.” Lucas stood and gave me one last check over. “All set. You’re snug as a bug in a rug. Now, all you gotta do is follow my lead, and I’ll get you back down here safe. Probably safer than squaring off with a kangaroo again.”
I chuckled at his joke. “You got it, Lucas. I was in the Army. I’m good at following orders.”
“Then we’re gonna be just fine, soldier.” He stood tall and gave me a salute.
I gave it right back, and when my hand snapped to my forehead, those vibrant memories of my time in the Army flooded back into me—my time with Percy, Manns, and Stilts.
I couldn’t jump with you that time, boys. But I’m going to now.
Touching the little dog tags dangling beneath my jumpsuit, I gave them one last thought before Lucas called us outside to the waiting plane.
“Alright, ladies. You remember the drill. Just listen to your partners, and you’ll have nothing to worry about.”
“I can’t do this,” Doris whimpered as she walked single file behind me. “I’m too scared.”
“We’ll be okay,” Sylvie soothed. “I did a bunch of research last night, and the chances of us getting killed are less than driving a car. In fact, only one in every five hundred thousand jumps has a fatality.”
“What if this is the five hundred thousandth?” Doris’s voice cracked with the question.
“Then we’ll die in the most spectacular fashion,” I answered, marching forward to the white and blue plane sitting on the runway.
“Yes. We’ll die spectacularly,” Alice said from her place behind me. “We’ll die screaming, flailing, pissing ourselves and end up in a puddle of organs and goo somewhere in the outback. Spectacular indeed.”
Doris gasped, and Sylvie smacked her in the arm. “Alice! We said no more death talk! We’ll be fine!”
Sylvie said the words confidently, but when we reached the plane, she slowed her steps along with the others. “So, we’re really doing this?” she asked.
