Page 27 of Montana Silence

She nodded.

Eventually, the signs for Missoula came into view, and it was time to give her a little more information about what we were doing. “Have you ever wanted to do anything like I described? Jumping out of an airplane with a parachute?”

“I—” She blinked. “I don’t know.”

I squeezed her hand. “I promise we’re not jumping out of anything. But we’ll be in the air.”

I caught her looking at me out of the corner of my eye since I was still driving.

“Missoula is one of the oldest paragliding spots in the United States,” I told her. “The mountains are made for it. I thought it would be good for the both of us,” I clarified. “There’s no reason you need to speak, and I’ll get a taste of the air again.”

We didn’t need to go all the way into the city to get where we were going. That could come after.

“We’re flying?” she asked.

“If it’s okay with you.” I held my breath. It was a risk to plan something like this on a first date, and I’d sketched out a few alternatives in case we got here and Mara was terrified or didn’t trust me enough to fly with me. But I hoped she would.

Her voice was a whisper of a whisper. “Can I go with you?”

As in, she didn’t want to be alone. “It was the only way we’d do it,” I promised.

“Okay.”

I turned the truck off the road and made my way to the paragliding facility where they’d give us a rundown of the procedures and equipment before taking us up the mountain. And the whole time, I watched Mara, staying within touching distance. She said nothing, but she watched everything.

Her eyes were bright with curiosity, not fear. When we got into the truck to go up the mountain with our instructor, she tucked herself into me. I put an arm around her waist and pulled her closer, kissing her temple and enjoying the scent of her hair.

I never used to understand when people said they did that, but now I was obsessed. There was nothing quite like it. “Are you nervous?” I whispered in her ear.

She nodded, and I tightened my arm around her waist. “I’ve got you, Mara.”

I didn’t just mean with what we were about to do. I meant everything. What I had said the other day, I meant. Whatever she needed, whenever she needed it, I wanted to be there.

The prep was quick once we got to the top of the mountain, the wind blowing us every which way. Mara got strapped to my chest, and I couldn’t resist the urge to brush a kiss to the back of her head. “Ready?”

Her nod was shaky, but it was there. She was going to love this.

The wing spread out behind us, caught by the wind and rising above us. We ran toward the edge, and already, I felt the lift created by the fabric overhead. There was always going to be something terrifying about running straight toward open air, but our feet weren’t even touching the ground by the time we reached it.

We swooped into open space together, Mara gasping as we dropped andflew.

The valley was laid out in front of us, city sparkling in the afternoon sun. The wind was clear and cold, and my mind embraced the blissful quiet that only came from being airborne.

It had been too long since I’d done this, and there was no one I’d rather share it with than Mara.

Slowly, she released her grip on the harness and held out her hands, feeling the air between her fingers as we soared through the sky. My only regret at this moment was that I couldn’t see her face.

“Are you all right?”

She nodded so quickly that I laughed, banking us toward where we needed to go.

There was something about adrenaline and hanging in open space. It created bonds nothing else could cause, like any experience that was unique. This would always be ours, Mara’s and mine.

She laughed as we descended, and I wished I could give her more. Freeze time and gravity to make it last forever. But our feet had to touch the ground sometime. As soon as we did and our harnesses were unstrapped, I pulled her to me. Mara’s face was flushed from the wind, eyes sparkling with pure joy. I couldn’t remember a time I’d seen her look more alive.

I kissed her.

Not like before. Not careful and hesitant to make sure we didn’t go too fast. I kissed her the way Icravedto kiss her, hard and deep, putting everything I’d ever imagined into it.

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