Page 9 of Love at First Flight

“Where?” she asked, shading her eyes with a hand.

There wasn’t any eagle. Dex’s hand went into the pocket of his flannel shirt while he knelt on the floor of the gondola, producing a small ring glittering between two pinched fingers.

“Dex, are you sure you saw an eagle? I don’t see anything.” Ava was oblivious to the kneeling man behind her, as she continued searching the sky for something eagle-like. It started to feel uncomfortably long as seconds ticked by and the woman wasn’t turning around.

“I... uh, thought I saw it flying around to the other side. Maybe look over there,” he said.

“No, wait, I do think I see an eagle. Or is that a hawk? You’re usually pretty good with birds. Are you sure you didn’t mistake an eagle for a hawk, Dexy? Wait until your fellow rangers hear about this. At this rate, this is the only good story you’re going to give me about this trip.”

“Except the eagle just landed on the basket behind you!”

“What? Where?” Ava finally turned, her expression shifting to confusion when she only found Selah.

Selah gave a small finger wave before pointing downward, so Ava wouldn’t miss the proposal. It was clear when the moment clicked for the woman as she gave a sharp gasp, one hand covering her mouth. “What? No! Are you being for real right now?”

With his face tilting toward her, Dex continued kneeling and holding up the ring. “Ava Vasco, the moment I saw you, I thought you were the most beautiful woman I have ever known. Will you please continue making me the luckiest guy by becoming my wife?”

Maybe it was Selah’s bitter jealousy because, while the proposal was nice, it wasn’t the best one she’d ever witnessed. In fact, the previous fall, there’d been a man who could barely get a word out because he couldn’t stop weeping about how much he loved his partner. Then the boyfriend started crying and they’d clung to each other, mixing tears and snot bubbles. Selah was pretty sure sharing snot bubbles was a sign of true love.

She didn’t know what Ava was thinking, but Selah was disappointed Dex’s words had sounded... well, practiced and composed, and not very unique. There was little sign of weeping or snot bubbles forthcoming. He did look happy, hopeful, and this was a typical Hallmark picture proposal, except Selah felt nothing. Not that it mattered, because she wasn’t the one being proposed to. Also, it could be because most of her emotions remained boxed up, stored in her emotional attic, since Robert passed away. Why drag them out for this?

To muster something extra, Selah tossed a few of the rose petals toward the couple. Naomi would have been proud of that, at least. The action, though, was half-hearted and lackluster since she tossed them at their feet in order to avoid the burners. She wouldn’t want to risk bringing the whole balloon down just for romance.

Ava had what appeared to be a million emotions passing through her. Bringing her hand down revealed a large smile. “Oh, Dexy.” Her hand reached out, taking the ring between her fingers to study it closer. “Oh, Dexy,” she repeated.

The first time Ava said this, Selah thought the woman had been so overwhelmed with happiness and shock she was having trouble reacting. When she repeated herself a second time, Selah had an inkling of doubt drop into her stomach. The smile appeared strained, not reaching Ava’s eyes.

As much as she wasn’t into this particular proposal, Selah did not want this to turn into a bad news day. For one thing, as long asThe Blue Wonderhad been in service with her dad, their marriage proposals had a one hundred percent “yes” rate. She didn’t want it to get around that there was a bad proposal connected to the business under her piloting, especially when things were already hard enough. What if this gave Soaring Over Oregon the edge they needed to put the Moreno women out of business?

And, secondly, she liked Dex. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy, and she could set her inconvenient crush aside. If he loved Ava, then she wanted to see the woman fling herself into his arms and provide the couple with a happy ending they should have.

Dex remained kneeled on the basket floor, his smile blissfully unaware, oblivious to Selah’s growing concerns for him. When Ava tore her gaze from the ring to Dex, the smile became more strained.

Oh shit. Selah was stuck on a hot-air balloon, with no way to escape, and about to witness a situation turn horribly awkward.

Chapter Four

“Ican’t.” Avaoffered the ring back to Dex. “I’m sorry.”

It took a moment for her words to penetrate his brain. He was sure he’d misheard her. “You... what?” He hadn’t expected this outcome and wasn’t sure what his next move was supposed to be. “Is it too soon?”

Ava tucked her lower lip between her teeth, looking pained. “No. I don’t... I don’t even know if I want to get married. I mean, you’re a nice guy and all, and we’ve had a lot of fun, but—this wasn’t supposed to happen.”

He managed to return to his feet, feeling foolish and blindsided. Dex was almost tempted to fling the ring from the basket, as if this would make his proposal disappear from everyone’s memory, before thinking better of it and stuffing it back in his pocket. He threw a glance at Selah, as though she’d be able to help him with this situation. Her aviator sunglasses made her hard to read, but her lips were stretched in a line. She looked as if she wanted to disappear into the wind, and he didn’t blame her, as the basket felt much too small for three people to occupy.

He steeled himself for this next part, not wanting to give up easily. Maybe the whole thing was salvageable if he said the right words. “I... love you.”

She looked at him as though an alien had appeared before her instead of a man professing his love. “Stop. You do not love me.”

“So, you don’t love me?”

Ava sighed. “Dex. You’re very sweet and I’m very fond of you. And I know you’re very fond of me, but—We shouldn’t get married. We’re too different. I want different things. And I thought we agreed this was just for fun.” Ava turned to Selah, asking, “He’s a great guy, right?”

If she wanted to make Dex feel better, this had the opposite effect. He wanted to float away into nothingness, like one of the pink rose petals Selah dropped from the side of the basket. It was even worse when their pilot answered, “Yup,” thereby cementing this to be the worst, most humiliating experience of his life.

Dex leaned against one of the basket walls, turning his back to Ava and staring into the landscape, but his mind was spinning. “So now what?”

“I don’t know,” she responded. “I’m really sorry, Dex.”

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