LITMIR.BIZ

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to a stop and looked at him.

      Okay, maybe she didn’t expect him to climb. Maybe she just wanted to show him what it was all about.

      His gaze traveled up the frozen runoff. “Looks like that’s my only option.”

      She exited the Jeep and he met her at the back of the vehicle. “I assume you’re wearing comfortable clothes?”

      He eyed his jeans and flannel shirt beneath his jacket. “Yes.”

      “Good.” She opened the back gate and handed him a pair of pants and a fleece hoodie. “Amanda let me raid Randy’s climbing gear. Since you two are about the same size, they should fit.”

      “Climbing gear?”

      Lifting a brow, she sent him a look that told him questions were off-limits.

      He returned to the front seat, dropped his cowboy boots in the snow and tugged on the insulated pants.

      “You’ll want these.” She shoved a pair of heavy-duty hiking boots at him. “Let me know if they don’t fit. I brought three different sizes.”

      Did she really expect him to climb?

      He donned the first pair of boots without trouble, as well as the jacket, then tugged on the gloves and knit hat she also provided.

      “Mr. Coble, you look mahvelous.” Her smile of approval lifted his spirits. Still...

      She held out a belt of some sort. “Now, shimmy into this harness—”

      “Taryn, come on. You don’t really expect me to ice climb, do you?”

      Her smile only widened. “Yeah, I do.”

      “But, I—”

      “Have a bad knee, I know. But that was a long time ago. And, according to my doctor friend, the only thing that limits you—” she strolled closer, determination sparkling in those icy eyes “—is you.”

      A physical blow couldn’t have packed a bigger punch. Taryn was right and he knew it. His knee had made it easier to stay away from Ouray. Away from the mountains that begged to be climbed, away from the adventures waiting to be uncovered, away from the ice climbing he was once eager to try. All the things he longed to do on a regular basis but couldn’t because he was stuck in Dallas.

      She didn’t back away. And the way she looked up at him...it made him feel as if he could do anything.

      “What do you say?” She nodded her purple-beanie-covered head in the direction of the ice. “Shall we give it a try?”

      In no time, he was harnessed, cramponed, helmeted and following an equally attired Taryn through the snow, up a narrow creek bed toward the icefall. Truth be told, in that moment, he probably would have followed her just about anywhere. Her gentle coaxing was hard to resist.

      The occasional silvery-white cloud drifted overhead, obscuring the sun.

      “Couldn’t we have just gone to the ice park?”

      “Nope.” She pressed on.

      “Why not?”

      “I was afraid you’d try to escape.”

      By the time they reached the base of the slab, he was sweating. He eyed the stiff expanse of white towering over them. It wasn’t nearly as smooth as he expected. More rippled, even lumpy in some spots.

      Taryn dropped her backpack and the coil of rope she’d looped across her torso. “I’m going to have you wait here while I put in a few anchors. But first I want to show you a little technique so you can practice while I’m gone.”

      “Yeah, I wouldn’t want to be bored.”

      Her grin only added to his anxiety. “Don’t worry. You won’t be.”

      She explained proper tool placement. How a single sure swing was better than chopping at the ice. “If you swing your tool too hard, your arms will tire quickly. We’re not chopping down a tree.”

      “As for crampon technique...” She directed her attention to the spikes that’d been clamped onto the bottoms of their boots. “You not only want to engage the front teeth, but the second row as well. To do this, you have to drop your heels.” She demonstrated. “It’s tough on the calves, but I think you can handle it.”

      He did his best to duplicate the maneuver.

      “Good. Just be sure to keep those heels low. Now, let’s see you swing your tool.”

      “Align the shoulder, wrist and tool,” he repeated then swung.

      “Excellent.” She rubbed a gloved finger over an indentation in the ice. “Look for depressions in the ice. They’re stronger than bulges.”

      “Got it.” At least he hoped so.

      “Do you have any questions?”

      “When can I get started?”

      That earned him her brightest smile yet.

      She stepped up to the ice. “Let me set these anchors and we’ll get you going.”

      Tilting his head back, he watched her pick her way up the wall of ice. She definitely knew what she was doing. And in a matter of minutes, she was beside him once again, a rope running from her belay device up the steep slope and back to the ground.

      She attached the other end of the rope to the device on his harness. “Are you ready?”

      “I was born ready.” He stepped up to the ice, not nearly as confident as he wanted Taryn to believe. Took a deep breath.

      “Now, when you’re going to start climbing, you say ‘belay on.’”

      “Belay on.” He lifted his foot to jam his crampon into the ice—

      “On belay.”

      “What?” He glanced over his shoulder.

      “Means you’re good to go.”

      “Oh.” Apprehension knotted in his gut as he eyed the slippery slope once again. “You’re sure this will hold me?”

      “Yep.”

      “If you say so.” He reached both tools over his head. Looked for indentations in the ice. Swung. Perfect. He dug his crampons into the ice and moved a couple steps before moving the first tool. Right hand. Right foot. Left hand. Left foot. He was doing it. He was actually ice climbing.

      “Keep those heels down,” Taryn hollered up at him.

      He complied, his calves burning.

      Right. Left. Right.

      Pausing, he glanced down. He’d gone farther than he thought. He was a good thirty feet up. The sun broke through the clouds then, making it difficult to judge where to land his next swing. Too bad he didn’t have his sunglasses. Then again, when he left the house, he’d had no intention of ice climbing.

      He let ’er rip, little pieces of ice pelting his face.

      Right foot.

      Missed.

      He tugged harder on the tool, but it wasn’t secure.

      Panic coursed through him as it slipped from the ice. His body tensed. He was going to fall.

      Next thing he knew, he was swinging gently through the air, thanks to the belay.

      “Everything okay up there?”

      He struggled to catch his breath. “I think my life just flashed before my eyes.”

      “Was it worth watching?”

      He couldn’t help laughing. “Parts of it. Maybe.”

      Looking up, Taryn snapped a picture. “You might want to fix that.”

      Easy

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