Kiera, sitting across from Danica, was digging in her bottomless tote bag like she was about to produce a full pharmacy. A moment later, she pulled out a little packet and held it out. “Here. Alcohol wipes. You taught me they help with nausea sometimes, so I always carry one for you.”
Danica blinked at her, pale and sweaty, then took the packet like it was holy relic. She pressed the wipe to her nose, inhaled, and promptly burst into tears.
“Oh, my god,” she sniffled, voice cracking through the headset. “That is… soniceof you.”
Everyone froze for a beat. Then Pete let out a bark of laughter, clutching her chest. “She’s crying because you gave her a wet wipe. This isincredible.”
“I’m serious,” Danica said, her chin wobbling. “That’s the sweetest thing anyone’s ever done for me in my life.”
Kiera looked stricken for half a second, then started laughing too, her shoulders shaking. Izzy pulled her into a side hug, muffling her giggles against Kiera’s hair.
Even Lillian laughed — graceful, delighted, tipping her head back. “We should nominate Kiera for sainthood. St. Kiera of the Anti-Nausea Wipes.”
Maggie snorted against Gwen’s shoulder, and Gwen’s chest moved with quiet laughter under her cheek.
The tension cracked. The fear eased. And for the first time since the rotors had lifted them off the ground, the mood inside the little helicopter was light again.
The helicopter shuddered as it set down on a flat plateau rimmed with scrub and low brush, the rotors whining as they powered down. Maggie could’ve kissed the ground… if Danica hadn’t beaten her to it in her own way.
The second the door opened, Danica bolted out, wobbling across the gravel until she found a sad-looking desert plant. She dropped to her knees and promptly threw up into it.
“Oh, Jesus,” Maggie muttered, grimacing as she unbuckled.
Pete followed right on her heels, sweeping Danica’s hair back in one practiced motion, grinning like this was the best part of the tour. She threw a big thumbs-up over her shoulder. “It’s just like Telluride!”
Maggie barked a laugh despite herself, because of course she remembered. Danica, motion sick after a mountain drive, had greeted them by throwing up in Aunt Jade’s porch plants on their first college reunion trip.
“Don’t remind me,” Danica croaked, her voice weak but full of misery.
Kiera, looking stricken but efficient, crouched beside them and pulled a travel toothbrush and a mini bottle of mouthwash from her bottomless bag. She pressed them gently into Danica’s shaking hands. “Here. These help.”
Danica stared at them like Kiera had produced a diamond tiara. Her face crumpled again, tears springing fresh. “You’re — oh my god — you’reso nice.” She sobbed while Pete poured mouthwash on the toothbrush.
The sight was so ridiculous that Maggie doubled over laughing, clutching her stomach, the sound sharp and helpless. Even Lillian cracked up, elegant but genuine, covering her mouth with one hand.
Danica tried to wave them all off as she rinsed and spat, tears streaming down her face. “You don’t understand. I’mso grateful right now.”
Pete patted her back affectionately. “My delicate flower,” she announced, eyes twinkling. “Vegas tried to break her, but she lives.”
Maggie wiped at her eyes, breathless with laughter, and for the first time all morning, the knot in her chest loosened.
Eventually, Danica rallied — face pale but scrubbed fresh, clutching Pete’s hand like she might topple again at any second. The guide waved them toward the rim, cheerful and oblivious, and the group shuffled along in a loose pack, still laughing under their breath about Danica’s dramatic exit.
Maggie hung back, her legs shaky in that way they got after adrenaline — whether from fear or… other things. Gwen drifted beside her, quiet as always, their shoulders brushing once, then again, like they couldn’t quite manage distance.
And then the canyon opened up before them.
Even Maggie — who’d sworn she wouldn’t look, who had kept her eyes glued to Gwen’s steady profile in the air — couldn’t help it. She stopped dead at the edge, breath catching.
It was too much to take in. The sweep of color, red and ochre layered like history itself, shadows shifting with the sun. The river below a silver thread, so far down it looked unreal. Vast didn’t even cover it. It was bottomless, endless, alive.
For a long moment, nobody said anything. Even Pete went still, her arm looped around Danica’s waist, her usual grin slack with awe.
Maggie glanced sideways. Gwen was standing beside her,hair pulled back by the wind, eyes fixed on the horizon. The same steadiness as always, but softer here, her expression cracked open just slightly by the view.
Something in Maggie’s chest pulled tight. “Okay,” she whispered, mostly to herself. “That’s… worth it.”
Gwen didn’t look at her, but Maggie saw the faintest curve of her lips. “Told you you’d regret it if you didn’t.”
