steps, she crossed the worn wooden floor, past the glass case filled with pastries and out the door. He shoved aside his mounting irritation and followed her outside.
She opened the door of a silver Jeep. “Hop in.”
“Do I have a choice?”
“Not if you want to see your laptop again.” She smiled at him.
Like he couldn’t get it back if he wanted to. Strange thing was, he wasn’t sure he really wanted to.
The midmorning sun emerged from a cloud, chasing the chill away as he climbed into the passenger seat. “What now?”
“Hang on and enjoy the ride.” She pulled out onto Main Street and made a quick U-turn.
“How did you know where to find me?” He eyed the hot springs pool as they headed north.
“Your grandfather. Which reminds me, how dare you leave him to go work? You only have a couple of days in town. Couldn’t you at least devote your time to him?”
“Then why are you taking me in the opposite direction?”
“I have your grandfather’s blessing. But he wants pictures.”
“Pictures?” He jerked a look at her now. “Just where exactly are you taking me?”
Past Rotary Park, she turned off toward Lake Lenore and the Bachelor Syracuse, an old mine that now did tours, taking people inside the mountain and explaining what it was like to be a miner. “That’s for me to know and you to find out.”
The need to reprimand her taunting evaporated. On the contrary, he found her playfulness endearing.
He remained quiet while she maneuvered the narrow, tree-lined road, admiring the red sandstone formations in the distance. A fair amount of snow clung to the mountaintops and crevices. Nothing to write home about. Then he spotted the slab of ice that cascaded down the face of one of them.
He swallowed hard as they drew closer. His palms grew sweaty. “What are we doing?”
“It’s a surprise.”
“I’m not joking, Taryn.” He couldn’t hide the nervousness in his voice.
“Don’t you trust me?” She brought the vehicle 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
