AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She sighed and stretched again, wishing she could make things different. If they could just go back and start over. If they could both be honest.
“Here they come,” Cairo said.
Beth pushed up to her elbows and raised a hand to her eyes to shade them. Sure enough, Harrison and the others were headed back from the rock face. And Davis was with them.
She stood up and greeted them all with a hug, including Davis. She even sat next to him during the picnic lunch. But this time when he put his hand on her knee, Beth didn’t feel the least bit tempted.
But one thing did tempt her.
“Beth?” Harrison called. “Did you make a decision? You want to try?”
She looked down at her hands. Did she want to? “I don’t want to go too far, okay?”
“You got it,” he said with a wink, walking over to pull her to her feet. “Ready?”
“Maybe.”
“Come on. It’ll be amazing.”
“If you say so.”
Twenty minutes later, he had her strapped into a safety harness and tied to a rope. Beth put her hand high on the rock and ran it along an edge until she felt a good hold. She put her foot to a crevice and pushed herself up.
“That’s it,” Harrison said. “Just climb. I’ve got you.”
“I’m a lot heavier than Cairo, you know.”
“You’re fine,” he said with a laugh. “Use your legs. Keep going.”
Beth grabbed for a higher hold and fit her other foot onto a narrow step. She pushed again and reached up. With Harrison urging her on and offering direction from below, she was up to the first flat ledge far quicker than she’d expected. As a matter of fact… She boosted herself up and looked down. “Yikes.” She hadn’t expected to get this high at all.
“How high am I?” she called down to Harrison.
“Thirty-five feet! You want to go higher?”
Beth looked up. And up. “No!” she yelled back, making him laugh. “But can I stay here for a little while?”
“Absolutely! I’ll tie you off so you’re secure. Take your time!” He tied the end of the safety line to a metal loop in the ground, then gave her a thumbs-up before finding a comfortable rock to sit on.
Beth let her feet dangle over the ledge. She breathed in deeply and closed her eyes, letting the quiet wash over her. She was alone up here, above the world. Well, a little above the world. There was plenty of rock still stretching up above her.
The sun felt even stronger here, and it seeped inside her, relaxing everything. Somebody in the group laughed, the sound bouncing between the cliffs. And when Beth opened her eyes again, the red rocks were deeper, the sky a brighter shade of blue. All the colors were more…honest.
In that moment, higher than she’d ever been, all alone on that narrow ledge, Beth knew exactly what she wanted to do.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“WELL?” TESSA ASKED before she even made it all the way into Eric’s office. “What happened?”
Jamie followed hot on her heels. “Yeah. What happened?”
Eric raised an eyebrow. “Seriously? You guys can’t give me one second to get settled in?”
Tessa dropped into a chair. “Nope.”
Jamie followed her lead. “Come on, man. Tell us what he said.”
Eric’s monitor finally blazed to life, and he tried his best not to be distracted by it. It was Wednesday. He’d checked for Beth’s column first thing this morning, but it hadn’t been up yet. He shouldn’t look. God only knew what it would be about. Whatever it was, it wouldn’t help him feel better.
