Page 70 of The Perils of Pretending
Brody does it at the same time as me.
Michelle eyes us all like we’re unbelievable. “Robbie, I’ll gladly sit next to you.”
Robbie slings an arm around Michelle’s shoulders. “Aw, thanks, Michelle.”
Michelle reaches up and pats Robbie’s hand that’s hanging off her shoulder. “Any time.”
“Yes.” Kyle is finally able to answer. “They’re in the seatback in front of you. Any other questions?”
We all shake our heads.
“When we get on board, please buckle up and stay seated the entire time. If there’s an emergency, the exit is the same door we’re going in through. I’ll show you how to unlock it once we’re inside. Let’s go.”
I put my palms on Sadie’s shoulders and squeeze them gently. “Are you ready?”
She nods, bouncing on her toes. “Yeah. I’m really excited, actually. Have you done this before?”
“Nope. This is a first for me.”
“Aww.” Sadie spins, facing me. She takes my hands in hers. “We get to experience our first time together.”
On impulse, I take our intertwined hands, moving them behind my back until Sadie’s hugging me. Leaning down, I place a kiss on her cheek. My heart races at her nearness and my boldness. “Hopefully this isn’t the only first experience we share.” Her skin is soft and her shampoo fills my nose. Mmm. Those peaches.
Sadie winks at me. “Put a ring on it, and we can,” she teases.
I’m not there yet, but my heart sinks. Even if I do want that with her someday, Sadie won’t ever allow it to happen. “Poppy made sure I was prepared. Be careful what you ask for.”
Sadie laughs, then untangles herself from me. Logically, I understand she’s merely ready to go. But the movement feels like Sadie pushing me away again. Reminding me of her boundary.
We climb aboard, following all the instructions Kyle gave us. There are two rows, with two captain chairs in the front row and three seats in the back, just like a minivan setup. Brody settles into the back row, by the left window. Sadie takes the back right window and I take the middle, with Michelle and Robbie taking the front two seats.
Sadie rests her hand on my thigh. “You can lean across me to see out the window better.”
Sadie doesn’t have to tell me twice to get close to her and enjoy the view. “Thanks.”
She smiles. “Any time.”
Brody swirls a finger in the air in our direction. “Can you ease up on the lovey-dovey stuff?”
“Aw, does someone miss his wife?” Sadie teases Brody.
“Yeah, actually, I do.”
“We’ll do our best.” I don’t want to make my best friend uncomfortable or rub it in his face that Daphne’s not here.
Kyle does what he needs to for the plane to start and get going. “All right, folks, we’re ready for take-off.”
The plane turns, Beluga Lake stretching before us. The pilot accelerates and the plane takes off. My stomach jumps as we ascend into the sky. The higher we get, the easier it is to see the massive pine-covered mountains, the oblong lake, and the Homer spit full of colorful stilt shops and restaurants. Kachemak Bay is pretty from the ground, but stunning from above. Kyle takes us by a glacier, ice field, and remote village. My nose is stuck to the window. We point out things we want other people to notice as we fly. Kyle comes on through the speaker every now and then and tells us a little history of what we’re looking at. It’s fascinating and thrilling. The flight is smooth, and before I know it, Kyle’s informing us we’re ready to land.
We head into the visitor center. There are way more people here than I anticipated. The park rangers show us a video that pretty much says toleave the bears alone and don’t be stupid trying to get a photo or feed them. They give us a buzzer like at a restaurant and we wait our turn to hike to the falls overlook. While we wait, we wander the visitor center.
We don’t have to wait long before our buzzer goes off.
“So,” Robbie says, coming up beside me as we start down the trail, “how long have you known Sadie?”
“Seven years.”
“That’s a long time.”
