Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 6

from passing out because goddamn that hurt.
    Rhys' voice broke me out of my pain-filled reverie. "You ever been up in a balloon before?"
    I shook my head, not trusting my voice.
    He crossed the small space and leaned over to help me stand up. "Well, come on. It's magnificent."
    My breath caught in my throat as I looked out of the basket for the first time since we had taken off. Don't get me wrong, intellectually I had known, but it struck me just then how high we were. My stomach did a slight swoop at that. This high up the last rays of the setting sun were still visible across the horizon. I finally saw why the locals called these the "Watermelon" mountains. In the light of the setting sun, the cliffs blazed brilliant pink and the dense patches of evergreen trees that covered their tops shone deep green.
    "It's beautiful," I said, after a few minutes.
    He sighed, and as he looked out over the mountains the pissed off and heartbroken faded from his face and a simple peace settled across his features. A quick burst of wind knocked into us and I was forced to lean more heavily into Rhys' side in order to keep my weight off my injured leg. He just tightened his arm around my waist and kept smiling into the distance. My heart sped up as I stared at this beautiful kind man and I knew that given half a chance I could fall for him.
    I gave myself an internal shake and turned to watch the land mosey by below us. I noticed that the city was getting further and further behind us.
    "Where are we going?"
    "I figured with the goon squad chasing you it would be best to avoid the group landing zones. We're using the circle current around the city to land near my cabin."
    "Thanks."
    "You're welcome. You know, once we land, I think you're going to need to tell me what alls going on." He paused, "You can trust me."
    "Yeah," I sighed. "You're probably right." Satisfied with my answer, he helped me sit back down and then turned to start messing with the various knobs and dials that I assumed would help us land. He looked to be struggling to keep everything under control by himself now that it was time to land.
    "You need any help? It looks like this was meant to be a two person job." A flash of pain streaked across his face before he answered.
    "It is." A few seconds passed and it appeared he was not going to add any more to that statement so I asked again, "Can I help?"
    He nodded tightly and we spent the next twenty minutes in a harrowing attempt not to dash our brains against the mountain and land close enough to his cabin that we didn't have to hike for hours to find our beds.
    In the end it was about a twenty minute walk from where we landed the balloon safely, if less than gracefully. My leg was not going to stop throbbing for weeks at this rate.
    Rhys' cabin was one big room with each quadrant dedicated to a different "area"– kitchen, living area, dining area, bedroom. There was another door off the bedroom area which I assumed led to a bathroom. It was small but looked well-made and neat. My heart (and maybe other parts of me too) did a tiny leap when I saw there was only one bed. Unfortunately, Rhys was chivalrous, and because I was injured, he insisted I take the bed. He slept on the couch.
    Less than twenty minutes after crossing the threshold of Rhys' cabin I was piled high with blankets and fast asleep in a bed that smelled like the sky and Second Lieutenant Rhys Whelan.
    The next morning I was startled awake by an odd rhythmic noise that I could not identify for the life of me. I glanced around the cabin and found it empty. Using my brilliant early morning deductive reasoning skills, I figured Rhys was outside making the noise that had awoken me.
    After quick ablutions in the bathroom and a speedy wardrobe change, I headed outside to see what Rhys was up to. As I stepped onto the porch I was treated to the sight of a shirtless muscled god chopping wood. Firewood, that is. He must have been stockpiling for winter as the pile took up almost the entire side of the cabin.
    I stared, feeling slightly guilty, until he noticed me on the porch. He smiled at me and I wondered how I wasn't burned to cinder. "I'll be inside in a few minutes. There's breakfast stuff in the fridge if you want to start cooking something up."
    I nodded mutely and headed back inside.
    Rhys had put on a shirt by the time he sat down at the table to eat the bacon, egg and cheese scramble that I had managed for our breakfast. He let me get about halfway