Page 56 of Love at First Flight

The family climbed into the gondola after the envelope was fully inflated and ready, and Selah ignited the burner, lifting them from the ground. There was that same familiar prick in her chest, but this one was bittersweet, feeling glad it was finally happening, knowing Robert would have liked this—all his favorite people together in one basket.

As a soft breeze brushed across her skin, she removed her aviators, closing her eyes and immersing herself in the feeling of flight. She realized a person didn’t get this while piloting a plane, at least not in normal circumstances. They may have had the height and the speed, but they didn’t get to feel the wind. They didn’t get bright sunbeams dancing across each molecule of their face that didn’t come through a laminated windscreen first. They didn’t get to feel like a cloud without the constant roar of engines in their ears. There was no experience like a hot-air balloon flight.

“Your dad used to do the same thing,” her mother said. “This is why he loved it so much. Why, in the end, he was happy things worked out the way it did. Every night when we would go to bed, I’d ask him how his day was, and he’d always answer the same way—No regrets.” Elena wiped another tear away. “Oh, Robert. All your daughters are so amazing. Selah does such a good job flying your balloon. Naomi is so creative and comes up with great ideas. And our Hailey has so much spirit and tenacity. You’d be so proud. I am so proud. I couldn’t have done this without any of them. They are my heart.”

Her mother hugged Selah before pulling the other two girls into the hug as well. “I love each of you so much,” she told them, before looking to Selah and asking, “Is it time?”

They were about as high as Selah wanted to go. Checking the landscape beneath them, she confirmed it was the wild, untamed land of the High Desert in the farthest corner of the Moreno farmland. She dropped a handful of the bark chunks she’d collected earlier from beneath her mother’s marionberry plant, testing the wind direction. “Do it on that side,” Selah informed them. “That way, it won’t blow back on us.”

Hailey helped her mother open the urn, removing the plastic bag containing the white, brittle flakes of Robert’s remains. They undid the metal tie at the top. “Are you sure you don’t want to keep any of it? It’s okay if you do,” Hailey said.

Her mother lifted her chin in a show of strength. “No. You’re right. This is what he would have wanted.”

Tipping the bag over the side, the wind took Robert away. He was flying, he was free and, in a way, Selah was free too.

There was something odd in letting go. One always assumed it would be the hardest thing in the world, but when the time was right, it was also easy. The weirdest part was that Selah didn’t feel that way about the business. Earlier that week, she had talked to another potential pilot and he hadn’t felt right, either, but maybe it was because she was looking for another Robert and there wasn’t another one. He was one of a kind. She was trying to have it both ways in getting someone else to take over because she was afraid she’d never live up to her dad, while also finding no one worthy enough to take over his legacy because they wouldn’t loveThe Blue Wonderand the business as much as she and her dad did.

Yes, she’d made mistakes and she might make a few more in her career. There was an old piloting joke that, technically, every landing was a crash landing... the only difference was if anyone noticed or not. Truth be told, she knew her father wasn’t perfect, but as much as she pondered the idea that roadblocks had been thrown at him, it was also true he had picked his ultimate path. He hadn’t given up. He’d chosen this. He’d chosen her. And that wasn’t fate. That was love.

They were all his legacy.

She sniffed away her emotion and cleared her throat. “I think... I’m going to stay.”

Her mother whipped around from her spot at the side of the basket, touching her chest with a gasp.

“What do you mean by that?” Naomi asked, since no one else was taking the initiative.

“I think I want to continue flying for High Desert Tours, if I can count on Naomi and Hailey to help—”

Her sisters screamed before wrapping their arms around her in a wild hug.

“You can count on us! I’m going to be so on top of it. I promise,” Hailey cried.

“Okay, okay. Everyone needs to calm down, as we’re still a thousand feet in the air.” Selah slid on her aviators. “If I’m going to be captain, I’m in charge up here. When it comes to the balloon or flights or anything relating to them, I have the final say. You will listen to me. The other particulars surrounding the business on the ground, we can talk about who will be in charge of what. Is that a deal?”

Her sisters exchanged glances with each other and grinned. “Yes, Captain,” they said in unison.

“Oh, Selah,” her mother said. “This would make your dad so happy.”

“You have to call her ‘Captain.’ Didn’t you just hear her?” Hailey said, her eyes sparkling with happiness.

“Ay, mija, you watch yourself. I’m still your mother and I can call you what I want. But your sister will make a very good captain. She will always be as strong and sturdy as a rock.”

“Only when I’m in the air. On the ground, maybe I don’t have to be a rock all the time.”

“Yes, okay,” Elena replied. “On the ground, we will be your rock. Okay?”

“Yeah, sounds good.” Selah smiled through tears.

With the balloon sinking to a lower altitude and the return trip in progress, she took a deep breath and looked at the far landscape toward the Three Sisters Mountain Range. This was her home. She felt connected to it like never before, even to the rugged, rocky landscape of Smith Rock. She wondered about Dex, hoping he was okay, wishing more than anything she could talk to him again.

“Are you going to tell him?” Hailey asked, seeming to read her mind. “I mean, you have to now.”

“Because I’m staying?”

“Well that, and because of the interview—Wait a minute? Ma? Ma!” Hailey called, trying to get her mother’s attention away from a conversation she was having with Naomi.

“What? God, Hailey, stop shouting—”

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