‘Don’t you feel it in here?’Stone patted his chest.
‘Feel what?’How she felt about Stone?Or this mad chase across the outback?
‘The rush.The adrenaline spike.’
‘I see you get off on it.’
‘You don’t know the half of it, baby.Hold on, I see the van.’Stone steered the helicopter to drop low behind the trees.
Romy’s stomach felt like it was still somewhere above the spinning blades, barely skimming the treetops.
As he skimmed close to the ground, Romy’s fingers dug into the seat, her knuckles white.Her breath hitched, making her stomach twist on itself.She had never been more terrified.‘What are you doing, Stone?’
‘Sneaking up on him.The sound will be a shock and then the dust plumes will blind him.’
The speed was blinding as it was.‘Done this before, have we?’
‘Used to do cattle mustering.And Two-stroke and I would play games with each other.I’d hit him when he’d just washed his ute and fill the back with sand.’He chuckled, acting so calm while racing into a thoroughfare of trees barely wide enough for them to pass through.One wrong move and they were toast!
She had to talk about something else, while checking her drone was still playing automatic catch-up.‘You miss Two-stroke, don’t you?’
‘Every day.He was like my brother.’
‘Is this the same…’ She nodded at her seat.
His smile fell and he focused on the front.‘I sold that helicopter.Couldn’t fly it again.’
‘How long before you flew after that?’
‘A few months.When I came back home with this new chopper.’
‘What made you do it?Come back and fly again.’
‘Finley and the boys.’Stone’s sigh was soft over the headphones while he kept his eyes on the narrow channel that they were zooming through, leaving leaf debris to swirl behind them like the aftermath of a storm.‘I only stayed away that long because my dad died not long after Two-stroke.’
‘Oh, no.What happened?’
‘Heart attack, behind his desk.Stress got him.’Stone was so cold.
‘Are you okay?’
‘I’m fine.’
‘But you’d lost two people you were close with, in such a short amount of time.’
‘Only Two-stroke mattered.My father was like a stranger.As a kid, he never had time for me, especially not after my mother passed…’
Was that why Stone was always asking Romy about her mother, making sure to leave her messages?Because he’d lost his own mother.
For a moment Romy forgot the scary ride, more worried about poor Stone.‘Surely you saw him at the breakfast table or something.He’s your dad.I’d see mine every morning, when I’m not working on location.’
‘Nope.I got sent to boarding schools, and summer schools to steer clear of him.’
‘What about Christmas?Birthdays?’
Stone shook his head.‘The only time we saw each other was when I was in university and he wanted me to work at the company as an intern, grooming me to be like him.’
‘Did you like it?’
