Page 68 of January

Melinda tugged on her hand and said, “You don’t have a fear of heights, do you?”

“No, but I’ve never been in a helicopter before.”

“I’ll protect you,” Melinda said, squeezing her hand.

“You can fly a helicopter?”

“No, but the pilot will handle that part if there’s an emergency, and I’ll handleyou.”

“How will you do that?”

“I’m thinking hand-holding and probably just kissing you until we’re safely on the ground.”

“You’ve done this before?”

“A few times over the years.”

“Mel, I don’t want to do something you’ve–”

“There’s nothing like seeing the city I love from above, Ky. Trust me, this is not a hardship.”

“But I’m sure it’s expensive. I should–”

“It’s not. I sent our pilot two groups just last week. He owes me a favor.”

“So, you didn’t have to pay an arm and a leg?” Kyle asked.

“Just an arm,” Melinda replied, joking with her. “Are you ready?”

“I guess I am,” Kyle said.

They approached where their pilot was waiting, and he gave them the instructions along with headsets and vests in case of emergency. Melinda kept Kyle close and squeezed her hand repeatedly, reminding her that she was there because Kyle had gone a ghostly pale. She wondered if this was a bad idea, but she thought Kyle would get some color back when they got into the air.

“Where are the others?” Kyle asked when she took her seat and buckled in.

“Others?” Melinda asked back through the headset as the helicopter started up.

“The other people on the tour.”

“Oh, babe… It’s just us,” she replied, smiling. “It’s a private tour.”

Kyle smiled wide, and Melinda had no idea how it felt like she’d known this woman forever when they’d only really just met, but it was there, the feeling like they’d always held hands and taken sunset helicopter tours of the city because Kyle had alwaysbeenhere and would alwaysbehere. Melinda swallowed at that last thought because, yes, it was true that Kyle would be here for a while, but she’d been unclear as to how long exactly that would be. If the fact that she had a contractor at the garden house earlier that day and a crew removing things so that the work could begin was any indication, the work she was staying for wouldn’t take all that long.

“Are you okay?” Kyle asked as the helicopter lifted.

Melinda barely heard her over the sound of the helicopter through the headphones, but she nodded.

“I’m amazing. You?”

Kyle looked out the window at her left and removed her hand from Melinda’s to place her own on Melinda’s knee. She squeezed it before she turned back to Melinda and smiled wider than Melinda had ever seen. Her color was back now, and so was her hand inside of Melinda’s.

“Mel, you want me to play the thing?” Jeremy, their pilot, asked.

“Ky, do you want the whole audio tour experience?” Melinda asked her.

“Can we?”

Melinda nodded, so Jeremy started up the recording, which introduced New Orleans from above.

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