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“Yeah, if you want to. Honestly, I could do with the support,” Lydia laughed. “Who knew jumping out of a plane could be stressful?”

“I’d love to come with you. Can I join in?”

“You want to skydive?”

“Only if you’re cool with it. Totally understand if this is something you want to do alone. I can watch from the ground. I’ll bring a flask of something strong for when you land.” Halle grinned.

“No way. If you’re willing to scream with me as we hurtle towards the ground, I’m happy with that.”

“Ah, Lyds, you say the nicest things.”

“Jesus, are we really doing this?”

“Hell yeah, we are. I’ll hop on to the website as soon as we get back to book my spot.”

* * *

“I think I’m going to be sick.”

“Lydia, you are not going to be sick. You don’t have to do this,” Halle reiterated for the tenth time as they drove at breakneck speed in Nora.

“Not because of the skydive, Halle. Because of your driving. We will literally be crushed like a Coke can if we crash.”

“Oh, calm down,” Halle laughed. “It feels fast because Nora’s small. We’re closer to the ground. I promise I’m doing the speed limit.”

“How long until we’re there?”

“Five minutes. Are you ready?” Halle asked, wiggling her eyebrows. The woman had been a ball of energy all morning. God knows what time she got up. When Lydia shuffled into the kitchen—purposefully not looking at the spot on the floor where Halle had almost ravaged her—she was amazed to see the table adorned with every breakfast food available.

Halle sat munching on toast with scrambled egg and bacon on a plate. Lydia couldn’t even contemplate food. But, through sheer persistence, Halle got her to eat a slice of buttered toast with jam. That buttered toast was sitting heavy in her stomach, threatening to reappear as Nora zipped along.

“Here we are! And in one piece.”

“Yeah, just,” Lydia muttered.

“Wowzer, you are not a morning person.”

Lydia wanted to argue, but Halle was already slipping out of Nora, smiling excitedly. Scrubbing her face with both hands, Lydia took three deep breaths. “You can do this, Lyds! You can do it!”

“Yeah, you can!” Halle called from outside. Well, that was embarrassing. Lydia was used to Monty being the only one who heard her muttering to herself.

“Shall we do this?” Lydia sounded a hell of a lot more confident than she was feeling.

“Onwards!” Halle called, marching off. Scurrying after Halle, Lydia did her level best to take everything in. The whole point of these experiences was to… well, experience things. There was no point in any of it if Lydia couldn’t remember a damn thing about the day because she’d got herself into a tizzy. Using breathing techniques she’d learned briefly listening to the meditation app, Lydia centred herself and looked around.

The sun was blazing, although giving off little heat. There was nary a cloud in the sky, which meant they would have excellent visibility. Halle headed toward a hangar with Lydia following close behind. There were four guys waiting outside. One looked as nervous as Lydia, so she presumed he was there for his first jump, too. The other three guys had the company logo on their jumpsuits.

“Hi, we’re here for the jump,” Halle chirped. “I’m Halle and this is Lydia.”

“Hi, and welcome. Let me introduce us—I’m Jimmy, this is Angel, and that rough-looking guy is Bob,” Jimmy winked.

“Rude,” Bob laughed. “Is this your maiden voyage?” Lydia simply nodded. “Great, meet Roy. He’ll be jumping with you today. It’s his first time, too.”

“Hi, Roy,” Halle greeted enthusiastically. Roy nodded, looking green. “This is going to be ace!” Halle grinned. Her energy was infectious, and Lydia felt herself getting amped up.

“Alright, people! Let’s get this show on the road,” Jimmy shouted. They all high-fived, which made Lydia laugh.

After a very thorough lesson, Lydia felt quite relaxed. She would be jumping tandem with Bob, who turned out to be a funny guy. The camaraderie between the instructors put everyone at ease. Bob constantly checked in with her, making sure Lydia was in the right frame of mind. After all, this was supposed to be fun.