“Climbing!” she yelled again, and up she went.
Like swimming, she was on her own, but climbing was a whole different thing. Swimming was always more physical than mental. Rock climbing was both. Erin stretched herself to reach the next hold. Sometimes there was a surprise, but mostly she had to hunt. It was the world’s smallest, trickiest game of hide-and-seek.
She surveyed the landscape once more on the way up. She had seen many beaches in her life—figure an average of two a year since she was born—and none of them compared to this. The flowers’ fragility and water’s fluidity mingled with mountains’ magnitude to create a scene of overwhelming beauty.
“You feeling hungry?” Hank asked.
She was. She was hungry for all of this.
And slightly hungry for food. “I’m almost at the top. I can be quick.”
Hank said, “I can be patient.”
Erin made quick work of the rest of the climb. Instead of descending, she sat on top of the rock face, perhaps seventy-five feet up. She had a bird’s-eye view of this whole, gorgeous world: beaches to explore, caves to play in, more mountains to climb. She wanted to eat it, to make it part of herself and hold onto it forever. There was so much to do and so little time. This was a great office. She wanted to spend her life in the earth. In nature.
She said, “Falling.”
“Fall on.”
He hugged her when she landed at the bottom.
“Thanks for bringing me,” Erin said. “Even if I’m crashing your party.”
Gloria and Hank looked at each other, and Hank burst out laughing.
“What?” Gloria asked.
To Erin, Hank said, “I’m not Gloria’s type.”
Gloria looked from Hank to Erin. “You know I’m with Jade, right?”
Erin had no idea.
“Hank is like my little brother.”
“Big brother,” he said.
“Relax, shorty.” Gloria’s expression turned serious. “Jade’s parents don’t know, so keep it quiet.”
“Of course.” Erin couldn’t stop grinning. “As long as we’re confessing, Gloria, I’ve been following you online since June. Not in a stalker way.”
“I thought you moved here in July?”
“I did, but I didn’t want to leave home, and online you seemed like someone I’d like to hang out with. Like maybe it wouldn’t suck to be thousands of miles away from everyone I knew. You were like the friend I dreamed of helping me endure this adventure.”
Gloria frowned. “Am I living up to that?”
“That and more,” Erin said.
SIXTY-ONE
It was dark by the time they dropped Gloria at Jade’s house. Erin, who had climbed up for the view a half-dozen times—once at dusk—was beat, but Hank seemed fine as he drove to her house.
In the driveway, she thanked Hank profusely for inviting her.
“Hey, I’m so glad you’re enjoying it. We’re outside on top ropes almost every weekend, if you want to join.”
“Maybe.”
His face clouded over.
Erin said, “I mean, I’d love to, but I need to learn to belay. I kind of feel like I’m not pulling my weight. Literally.”
That crooked smile. “It’s always like that in the beginning. Belaying’s easy, but it’s not worth your time if you’re not going to stick with it. We’ll get you trained up.”
He leaned over the gearshift. She expected a kiss, but instead he whispered, “What did you think of the view?”
“Suspended in midair, the view was the most beautiful moment of my life.”
“It was sneaky, taking you there. I knew you’d see it and be in awe. Last autumn we went to that exact spot several Sundays in a row. Gloria started calling it church.”
And she was right: seeing the majesty of New Zealand was like seeing God. Or like seeing the world for the first time. It got really dark there; what would the stars look like if Erin were suspended fifty feet in the air?
Erin asked, “Do you ever climb at night?”
“No.” He looked out his window, then back at her. “I don’t see why we couldn’t. I’d want to set the ropes in daylight. We’d need proper lights. Maybe some night gear. I’ll look into it.”
Erin stared into his deep brown eyes.
He didn’t kiss her.
“Thanks for a great day,” she said.
“I hope you’ll come again.”
“Absolutely. Any time.” She opened her door but couldn’t force herself to get out. “I hate being the worst climber. I want to be strong.”
“You are strong, Erin.”
“Yeah, but you guys …”
“We guys have been climbing for years. It’s not all about strength. It’s about experience, and you’ll get there.”
Erin stared at the flimsy aluminum garage door. “I don’t want to be a deadweight.”
“Erin, you do what you can do. I do what I can do. Whatever you can give, that is enough. If we went swimming, you would outswim me in a heartbeat.”
They looked at each other for a long time. Still no kiss.
“I want to be better.”
“You will be.”
“But I’ll never be better than you guys. I will always be the worst person on the rock.”
“We aren’t trying to best each other, not really. We horse around and challenge each other. But we don’t do it to be the best. We do it because it’s fun.”
Cooler air rushed in through Erin’s open door. Hank’s chocolate-brown eyes looked through her.
“You’re right, Hank. It’s fun.”
He held her gaze. “So you’ll come again?”
“I will.”
“And you’ll climb with me at The Roxx instead of scooting out just before I arrive?”
Her mouth hung open.
He said, “Climbers are tight.”
“But nobody knows who I am.”
His grin grew. “People know. Come with me Monday and I’ll stay for Felicity’s tea. Pippa will be delighted.”
“Okay.”
“Thanks for a great day.”
“Thank you.”
She could live inside those eyes, to say nothing of the hand gripping the gearshift.
“Good night, Erin.”
“Good night, Hank. See you Monday.”
She was maybe a little too aggressive with the door, but she didn’t care. It was like a date, right? Practically their second—third—date.
What was wrong with him? What’s wrong with me?
Hank was not Ben. Ben had been the obvious choice. He
