Okay, maybe I was a little afraid of heights.
That was new.
“Hey,” Theo said quietly beside me. “Are you okay?”
He must have noticed that I was trying not to hyperventilate.
“I want to believe this is safe…” I said, letting out a breath that sounded shakier than I would’ve liked. “But I don’t know about this.”
He stepped closer, his hand covering mine where I was gripping the edge of the basket.
Warm and steady.
Solid in a way that made me feel safe.
“It’s okay,” he said.
So, trying to draw in a decent breath, I nodded and tried to relax, even though my heart was racing for completely different reasons now.
Then, before I could overthink it, he shifted again. Moved just slightly behind me. And then his arm slid around my waist, pulling me gently back against him while his other hand stayed braced on the basket.
“Is this okay?” he asked.
And for a second, I forgot how to breathe. Because suddenly, I was very aware of the solid warmth of him behind me.
The way I fit against him with my back pressing firmlyagainst his chest.
“Yes,” I said, my voice coming out softer than I meant it to.
“Good,” he murmured, his breath just barely brushing my ear.
And just that small shift in air sent a shiver down my spine.
We stayed like that as the balloon carried us higher, the countryside stretching out in every direction.
Fields. Trees. Winding roads that looked impossibly small from up here.
Theo leaned in, bending slightly so his cheek rested lightly against mine as he pointed out across the land. “I’m pretty sure that area over there is part of the Hastings’s property.”
I followed his gaze, leaning even closer into him. “Wow,” I said, my whole body all too aware of how close we were. “That’s a lot of land.”
“Yeah.” He huffed a quiet laugh. “I heard they used to own even more but sold it.”
Which made sense. I was pretty sure their ancestors had helped found the town.
My attention shifted as something else caught my eye.
“Are those the waterfalls that Eden Falls is named after?” I asked, pointing to the cascading waterfalls just to our left.
“Yeah,” he said. “That’s them.”
“They’re so pretty from up here.”
“They are.”
I glanced up at him slightly. “Have you been there?”
“A few times,” he said. “I need to take Charlotte, though.”