The back of his knuckles grazed her hip as they walked, and her breath caught.
They crossed the meadows, collecting Adeena and Hico, Gage and Petra, Caroline and newcomer Leland on the way to the chapel, in the evergreens under the watch of the Valley cliffs. Adeena wore a long fuchsia dress with ornate gold trim and gold jewelry, and Caroline was in a simple black silk dress. They were like Celine, in that they wore their dresses as well as they wore their climbing clothes. Petra looked totally different from them, but right in her own way—with a floral dress that touched the ground and flowed easily in the breeze as they walked.
They all were definitely in dresses and not swimsuit coverups from Walmart, but each girl complemented Rilla as if they didn’t notice, and Rilla tried her best to stop comparing.
The service was short. Rilla listened in a stupor of late golden sun through the glass into the tiny chapel, enjoying the feel of Walker breathing beside her, and the dry dust smell of the inside.
Afterward, they all proceeded across the Valley to the hotel’s gardens.
It was so very Celine, and you knew that without knowing Celine. A great bower stood heavy with snapdragons, asters and freesia and greens, dripping forward into a curve over an empty spot on the lawn. Someone had even climbed up into the great live oak to drape long trails of twisting greenery and flowers and lights.
They ate sweetly seared scallops and lobster in cups while they laughed awkwardly and fumbled with their hands and limbs in unfamiliar dress clothes. Rilla hadn’t ever tasted either dish, and copied others dipping the lobster in butter. They sat all together at a table on the edge of the crowd. Hico knocked over a glass, and Petra talked at length about her time in Paris. Walker slid his hand onto Rilla’s thigh and squeezed gently. Rilla leaned on the table and smiled. They were served duck with crisp skin and fatty meat that pulled off the bone, potatoes, and soft bread. Champagne drunk, they grew more at ease and laughed at each other, all copying Caroline and Petra, who seemed to be the only two who knew how to eat duck off a bone with a fork and knife.
The dancing began, and Rilla leapt up, with Walker’s hand tightly held in hers. They joined Celine and Andy. Rilla laughed as she realized that as much as she often thought of climbers as dancers, on two legs and flat ground they weren’t that great.
They danced and drank and shoved the lightly sweet almond cake into their mouths, washing it down with champagne. All around them, the night was cool and pleasing on their arms.
And then it was time to go.
Celine hugged the four of them. “I already told Caroline, but you’re welcome to visit my home in France. Come climb with Caroline. She’s coming for spring. I’d love to climb more with you.”
“Oh my god, totally,” Petra said from across the circle of people.
“I’d love to ...” Rilla said.But I have no idea how I’ll manage.France. It was a weird country in a geography book—a joke even, at home, because it didn’t exist except in stories—and suddenly it was real, a place that existed and was so close she could taste it on the air around them.
“Adeena?” Celine asked, touching Adeena’s arm. “I would love for you to make it.”
“Thank you so much for asking,” Adeena said. “I’ll definitely consider it.”
They hugged and moved aside for Celine and Andy’s family, waving goodbye.
Walker draped his arm over Rilla’s shoulder, and she tipped her head, studying his profile in the dim light. He was gorgeous, and he was hers. Rilla wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned into his hard body. “Let’s go look at the stars on El Cap,” she said.
He smiled, biting his bottom lip briefly as he looked over her face and pulled her so tight she could barely breathe.
They left the crowd on the paths they walked every day. The moon was high over the Valley, making the shadows dance in the wind.
“I heard Celine invite you to France. That’s gotta feel great,” he said, his fingers rubbing the curve of her shoulder.
“To think, I started this summer not even knowing how to tie a figure eight.”
“I’m so blown away by you. I feel like the biggest ass for writing you off that day. You completely amaze me and everyone else, every time you start climbing and we realize somehow, you’ve gotten better than you were yesterday. I’ve never seen someone do that.”
Rilla laughed and pulled away, dancing ahead on the path. “You should feel like an ass.”
He watched her. Then with a quiet roar, ran after her. She squealed and ran. Head back, arms pumping. He couldn’t catch her. Or he chose not to.
She slowed and circled back.
“You’re beautiful,” he said.
“I know,” she said, laughing. Even though she didn’t really know, she felt it right then, and that was all that mattered.
Hand in hand they crossed the road, turned off the path, and threaded through the tall grass.
In the middle of the meadow, they dropped to the ground and looked up.
El Capitan stood over them, tall and foreboding in the dark.
