Page 60 of Chasing Sunsets

“Thanks, Truman.” Zack thought about the camera and microphones always being around. In a way, it’d made this adventure easier than it would’ve been. The buffer of the show between him and Sadie, and their refusal to discuss their issues, forced them to put everything aside.

Since this was the last day of filming, he had no idea what tomorrow meant. Students officially returned to school in three weeks and his two-a-day practices started in one. At the race’s end, he’d ask Sadie where they stood. When the cameras and microphones no longer hampered their communication, he had to know if anything had changed for her.

She took a hard right. A short distance down the road, they entered the parking lot of a visitor center and parked next to four white SUVs. The modest visitor’s center was set before an amazing expanse of hills and mountains. The building had an orange roof, floor-to-ceiling windows, and glass doors. The sparse landscaping encompassed a few trees, sprouts of green grass amidst dry dirt, and healthy cactus plants.

They rushed to one of the blackboards scattered around the rest area. A crossword puzzle was drawn in white on the front. They stepped around to see the other side listed thirty-five questions about the race to decipher the puzzle. They’d hopefully been paying attention at the right times for the right things.

He read the first question. “One across. Chapel Creek Ranch has the largest breeding facility for these horses in the U.S.”

“The answer is PRE, Pure Raza Espanola,” Sadie answered.

He glanced around. “We’ll have to keep our voices low so the other teams don’t hear us.”

“I’ll answer the ones I know and you do the same. We’ll see where that leaves us.” She grabbed a stick of chalk and scooted around the panel.

They kept a continual circle going around the blackboard, reading the questions and writing in the answers. By the end, they had only two clues neither of them could solve, but letters from the other answers on the crossword helped, and they completed it.

Once their official checked their work, she pointed toward the back of the building.

At the corner of the visitor center, SKYDIVER and HIKER signs greeted them.

“You’ll finally get a chance to skydive,” Sadie said.

His friend Kasey had invited him many times. Zack’s job always got in the way. Kasey often started his reality show by skydiving into different locales. “I thought you might want this challenge?” he teased.

A genuine smile lit her face before she took off.

He ran toward the waiting ATVs, each with an official behind the wheel and a cameraman in the backseat. He sat in the front and buckled up. They drove over rough terrain for twenty minutes before arriving at a spot where helicopters waited.

He’d ridden in one before. It’d been his grandmother’s graduation present to him. He and Cal went together and had a blast. Although Zack hadn’t met Cal’s mom until he was a teenager, he loved her like he’d known her his entire life. She was sweet, patient, and kind—all things grandmotherly.

One of the helicopter’s blades started rotating. Zack’s official and cameraman led the way, both hunched over because of the incredible wind from the blades. They entered first and pointed for him to sit up front. The pilot saluted him. Once Zack settled, seat belt on and headphones in place, the pilot revved the engine and lifted off.

Classical music played over the headphones when the pilot wasn’t talking to the tower.

Zack searched the ground, seeing no one. He wondered what Sadie might encounter on her hike. On the drive and at the visitor center, warnings of snakes and other creatures were posted everywhere. At least a camera operator and an official would be with her.

Within ten minutes, a small airport came into view. The pilot set the helicopter down two football fields behind one of the hangars and grinned. “Runways are for beauty queens.”

Zack laughed. “Thank you.” He raced into the massive hangar. Four contestants had already arrived. They sat on overturned buckets facing a huge monitor on the wall. An instruction video played. He wasn’t sure how much of it had already played, but no one else got up when the video ended and looped back to the beginning.

Once he’d watched the entire thing, he rose and approached the people by the door withInstructorwritten on their shirts. A guy, who looked Zack’s age and had a similar build, stepped forward. “I’m Lewis.”

“Zack.”

“Nice to meet you, Zack.” He walked out of the hangar and motioned toward a row of picnic tables. Some of the other contestants, along with other people, were jumping off the tables and landing on the ground.

Lewis said, “We ask everyone to jump from the tables to test their athletic ability.”

Someone let out a yelp. Zack glanced over to see a young girl, who didn’t look old enough to be out of high school, on the ground holding her ankle. Lewis murmured, “Many people arrive thinking they want to jump or have been dared into coming. When going through the training they rethink things. I have to wonder if there’s anything wrong with her foot.” He pointed to a free table. “Jump a few times.”

Zack climbed onto the indicated table and jumped off, repeatedly, while Lewis spoke.

“I’ll be teaching you tracking. It allows you to freefall horizontally. You’ll be putting your arms and legs out like you’re belly-flopping into a swimming pool. How to land is another skill. While it may not feel like it, once our parachute opens, we’ll still be traveling around thirty miles an hour. It’s a big change from one-hundred-twenty during the freefall, but faster than most people have ever experienced outside of a vehicle.”

He knew they would be going fast in the air and when they landed, yet that fast? He stopped before jumping again and inhaled a quick breath.

Lewis must have noticed. “Don’t worry. It won’t be any worse than sliding into home plate. It’s all in the right way to land. We are obligated to tell you everything that could happen and give you lots of warnings. Don’t let them stop you from enjoying the experience.”

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