I tense. “Wait. Is one thing mistaken with the balloons?”

She laughs. “Simply teasing. All the pieces is ok.”

“Dude, they don’t have engines,” Gavin says.

“I do know,” I grumble.

Then Gavin pulls me apart and says in a low voice, “I appeared up whether or not balloon rides are secure and allowed in our contracts. It’s all good.”

I breathe a sigh of aid. “Thanks, man.”

I’m grateful he sensed my concern. I’ve centered a lot on taking good care of my mother and sisters that it’s second nature to look out for Briar and the crew too. However I’m not the one one taking good care of the 4 of us. We will share the duty. That’s a wierd new thought however not an unwelcome one. And it’s digging roots inside me as Clara gestures to the massive basket on the fringe of the sphere. “Crew’s about prepared. Are you, gents?”

All of us nod.

She turns to Briar. “And are you prepared to your, what is that this, your fiftieth flight?”

“One thing like that,” Briar says, a smile turning her lips right into a tease.

Like she has a secret.

Wait a second. I put two and two collectively. “Briar, are you a pilot?” I ask, incredulous.

She bobs a shoulder playfully. “I bought my pilot’s license in faculty. I used to work right here on the weekends. Clara’s the one who taught me to fly balloons.”

The quantity of Briar intel in these sentences is a yr’s value. “I’m gonna want all the main points later. However are you going to fly it?” I ask as a result of that’s form of badass and completely Briar.

“No,” Briar says with amusing. “I’ve to do my biennial flight evaluation earlier than I’m snug doing that. I’ve been a foul woman and been somewhat lax. However I’ll do it quickly. For now, I’ll go assist the bottom crew,” she says, then heads off, her ponytail swishing as she goes. She adjusts a few of the cables on the large, majestic balloon, then with the assistance of the crew, she grabs the sides of the basket and suggestions it up.

I stare slack-jawed, my coronary heart thudding exhausting. “Briar’s a balloon pilot,” I say, awed.

Rhys watches, shaking his head. “How is that so sizzling?”

Gavin lets out a low whistle, then murmurs, “As a result of she’s succesful and nonetheless desires us.”

Yup. Nailed it.

A gravelly snicker rips by the air as Clara walks by. “Good luck preventing over her,” she says, then passes us. The three of us smile like we’ve got a secret too.

We don’t must struggle over her in any way.

When the balloon is absolutely inflated and prepared for liftoff, we soar contained in the basket, becoming a member of our woman.

51

HOW TO FLOAT

Briar

It by no means will get previous.

The view from a thousand toes. The vistas of Wine Nation. The river, slicing a winding path by Fortunate Falls. The solar is starting to set, casting a heat, golden hue over the vineyards under us.

We’re standing on the fringe of the basket, Hollis on one facet of me, Rhys the opposite, Gavin behind me. I level to the sting of the hills, somewhat city past. Perhaps, simply possibly, my childhood house. I can’t actually see it, however I can think about it’s there. “That’s the place I grew up.”

“Together with your dad and brother?” Gavin asks, like he desires to image it completely.

“Yeah. We had been fairly a trio. We had been Sea Canine followers although,” I inform them. All three guys wince without delay as in the event that they’ve been mortally wounded. “However hey, not less than they like hockey.”

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