Page 71 of Tinder Embrace
I couldn’t believe my luck. My happiness. With Davis in my corner, I was feeling ready to tackle another flight in Bee-gonia. His solid presence, his belief in me, helped me feel at ease.
The future might not be certain, and safety was never guaranteed, but when you had love in your life, living every minute was more important than lingering in fear.
***
Bee-gonia, with her cheerful blend of colors and freshly serviced burner, should have filled me with anticipation. But all I could access was dread. I glanced at Davis, silent beside me as I parked at my favorite launch spot, trying to draw my strength from him. The prospect of another flight had seemed like no big deal last night, but today I was reminded that it wasn’t only myself I was putting at risk: it was Davis.
"You ready for this?" I asked, hoping to hide my own misgivings.
He didn't need to know his pilot was scared shirtless. I held back a snicker at the image that popped into my head, me piloting with my tits out. Davis would most definitelylikeme shirtless. Just not with fear.
My moment of levity helped me push past my nerves, sliding from my SUV and yanking on my leather gloves.
"Ready," he said, following me to the small trailer that housed Bee-gonia's basket and envelope.
He helped me lift and carry the basket into position and maneuver the bag containing the hot air balloon's envelope five feet in front. I unsealed the bag, and he and I walked it out, spilling Bee-gonia's nylon to the ground from skirt to crown. He watched as I rolled out my fan, then listened as I explained inflation procedures to him.
Jo drove up a few minutes later, her travel cup in hand. "Where do you want me?" she asked, and I nodded to the crown line. "Sounds good. Before I forget, keys?"
"Thanks," I said sheepishly.
While we’d start out tethered to the SUV, if all went well, I wanted to take Davis on a real flight. I'd had one flight where I'd forgotten to pass my rig keys along, and memories of Jo’s sprint beneath the balloon, ready to catch my key ring, still made me smile.
I'd taken Jo, Gwen, Izzy, and Eve up a few times, enough that all were well versed in the basics of inflating the balloon. Jo held on to the long line at the top of the balloon, ready to secure it while I inflated the envelope with cold air. She’d be ready to hold it steady when I fired bursts of hot air from the burner into the envelope to bring the balloon upright.
Davis held the skirt at the base of the envelope open, and I pulled the rip cord to start the fan before following the rest of my launch procedures, hanging my burner, and lighting it to test. Once the envelope had inflated enough, I helped Davis cut the fan and wheel it back into the chase rig.
"I need you to put weight on as soon as I get the basket upright," I told him.
He nodded, and I yelled, "Ready!" to Jo.
She braced herself against the long lead rope, and I fired the burner. Two short bursts, then a sustained burn to heat the envelope until Bee-gonia started her tilt upright.
"Weight on," I reminded Davis when he seemed caught up watching the balloon's bobbing sway above us.
I fired a few more bursts of heat into the envelope as Jo walked her crown line in. She handed it to me, and I secured it against the basket.
"Ready to go for a ride?" I asked Davis with a broad grin.
With Bee-gonia inflated and ready to go, my earlier fears faded away, the old excitement I associated with flying catching me in its grip.
I'd flown hundreds of times. We had a gorgeous morning with great visibility and still air.
I couldn't wait to share the peace of flight with Davis.
He swallowed, his throat bobbing, before nodding.
"Thanks, Jo. I appreciate you helping us launch today. You've got your radio and the keys?"
She nodded, and I turned back to Davis, who looked unnaturally pale in the dawn light. "You okay, Davis? I'm ready for you to climb in. Throw one leg over the basket. Your momentum should help carry you from there."
He gripped the top of the basket, pressure turning the tips of his fingers white, but he scrambled in without a word, landing beside me.
I fired the burner. "Thanks, Jo. We'll stay tethered for a few minutes, then I’m thinking a short flight. Weight off."
Jo eased back, and I fired the burner, heating the envelope until the basket lifted a few inches from the ground.
Davis froze next to me, and I reached for his hand, twining our fingers together.
