research, with a little help from Verona.”
Skyler stopped with her fork halfway to her mouth, warning bells clanging in her head. “Verona?”
“Yes, you know, my aunt.”
Skyler narrowed her eyes. “I don’t trust you or your aunt.”
“Why not? You have to admit she got it right with India and Liam.”
“Yes, but that doesn’t mean I want her anywhere near my personal life.”
“Verona does more than matchmake, you know.”
“What, she’s giving you tourist suggestions? I’ve lived in Texas my whole life. Pretty sure there aren’t that many places of interest I’ve not been to.”
Elissa waved off her concern. “Hush. Eat your salad.”
Knowing that short of snatching Elissa’s phone from her there was nothing she could do, Skyler refocused her attention on her meal. Her stomach growled in response. She’d been so busy during the day that she hadn’t taken time for a real lunch, nothing beyond the bag of apple slices she’d snagged from her fridge on the way out of her apartment that morning.
Sure, since her apartment was located at the inn, she could have gone to get something else to eat or ordered something from the kitchen, but a staff meeting had led to several phone calls, which had flowed into going over a contract for fresh produce. The next thing she knew, it was time to leave to meet her friends for dinner.
When Elissa set down her phone, the satisfied smile on her face didn’t bode well for Skyler.
“What do you have up your sleeve?”
“Who, me?”
Skyler slowly rested her fork on top of what was left of her salad. “You shouldn’t try to sound innocent. You’re not very good at it.”
Elissa shrugged. “Who wants to be innocent anyway when there’s so much fun to be had?”
“I’m afraid to ask what kind of ‘fun’ you have in mind.”
“I wouldn’t tell you, anyway.”
“Um, it’s my birthday.”
Elissa finally looked up after she took a bite of her dinner and swallowed. “And birthdays include surprises.”
“You know I’m not a fan of surprises.” They’d rarely turned out well in her experience.
Surprise! Your dad’s gone to Alaska to fish.
Surprise! He’s back again with no warning and who knows for how long.
Surprise! Your mom had a heart attack and died.
“You’ll like this one.”
Skyler doubted that and considered booking a last-minute vacation for one to the Caribbean.
“And no, we’re not letting you weasel out of this, so stop trying to concoct a way to do just that.” Elissa gestured toward Skyler’s head as if she knew exactly what she was thinking. She probably did.
“Sometimes it’s highly annoying that you know me so well.”
As Elissa and India laughed, Skyler felt like kicking herself all the way to El Paso and back for giving them just enough rope to hang her with.
* * *
SKYLER WAS ON the verge of asking Elissa again where the devil they were going when she spotted a sign on the side of the road just as Elissa started to slow down. Hill Country Adventure Sports.
“Please tell me this isn’t our final destination, that you’re delivering plants or something.”
Elissa glanced at her from the driver’s seat of the SUV. “Nope, this is the place.”
Skyler turned halfway to look at India and Verona in the back. “Tell me she’s kidding.”
India shook her head. “It’ll be fun.”
Skyler looked from one friend to the other, wondering if they’d been body snatched. Because the Elissa and India she knew wouldn’t go this far. “Are you smoking crack? There is no way I’m jumping out of a perfectly good airplane.”
“Yes, you are,” Elissa said as if Skyler was being silly. “You only live once.”
“Yeah, and I’d like to live beyond today, thank you very much.”
“They’re not going to push you out without a parachute, dear,” Verona said.
“It’s tandem diving,” India added. “You jump with an experienced diver who is trained.”
Elissa took her hand off the steering wheel long enough to wave away Skyler’s concern. “They’ve done this a million times.”
“All it takes is one time when it doesn’t go as planned.”
Elissa shook her head as she parked next to a long building that contained an office and several hangar bays for small planes. “I knew you were a compulsive planner, but I didn’t know you were a chicken.”
“I’m not. I’m sane.”
Ignoring her protests, everyone else got out of the car and headed toward the office. She wondered what they’d do if she flatly refused to budge. It was her birthday, damn it. She ought to be able to choose what she wanted to do and not do. And skydiving was way up on the “not do” list.
But the longer she sat in the SUV, the more fidgety she grew. Hurtling through thin air was definitely not on her bucket list, but she didn’t like that the mere thought of jumping could get the better of her either. She wanted to believe she could do anything even if she chose not to, but she’d given her friends permission to take this decision out of her hands. Big mistake, but one she was going to have to swallow.
She cursed under her breath as she opened the door, shut it none too gently and closed the distance between her and her so-called friends.
“I’m so sorry,” said Jesse Bradshaw as she got close enough to hear him speaking to Elissa, India and Verona. “I must have caught a stomach bug. I can’t dive today.”
Oh, hallelujah, birthday wishes were granted!
“That’s too bad,” India said.
“Man, we’ll never get her out here again,” Elissa said before she noticed Skyler.
Something was off about her friends’ responses to the news that Jesse was sick, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.
“She can still go up. My cousin will just be the diver, not me.”
Skyler fought the urge to run all the way back to Blue Falls. “I didn’t know you had a cousin, Jesse.” She scanned the area but saw no one else but the pilot, next to a small red-and-white plane
