Page 1 of Make It Last

Chapter One

Ava Blackerby

Ice Breaker

“Whoop!” I exclaimed, thrusting both fists in the air and glancing around.

“Hell, yeah,” my friend Amy said at my side.

I turned toward her, grinning. “This is the way to celebrate.”

We were in Alaska. I’d never been here—never even thought I wanted to be here—yet I was most definitely here. On a divorce trip. A trip that my friends, led by Amy, had organized for me because, well, I guess one should celebrate a divorce. Go big or go home. Or in our case, go cold or stay home.

My cheeks were cold, along with the rest of me. My gaze arced around. “Where is everyone?” I asked.

“They’re slow,” Amy teased just as Helen and Renee came around the bend.

“We made it!” they cheered as they reached us. We high-fived in a clumsy flurry of puffy gloves and squeals.

“This is crazy,” Amy said, her eyes wide.

We stood on the edge of a glacier. It felt like I could see the curve of the earth if I squinted hard enough. I wasn’t sure if I was on top of the world emotionally, but metaphorically? Definitely. I decided to roll with it.

Our guide, Lacey, turned around and flashed a smile. “How’re we doing?” she asked.

“We’re doing,” Renee said, hands on her hips as she glanced around.

“So what now?” I asked.

Lacey pulled out some gear. “We’re going to walk across part of the glacier.”

“What?” I yelped.

“What did you think we were going to do?” she asked, way too calmly in my opinion.

Our friendly guide was pregnant and as chill as a cucumber about walking across frozen death. “Are you insane?” I asked, finally.

She chuckled. “Not last I checked.”

“You’re pregnant!” Helen exclaimed.

She nodded slowly. “I’m healthy.”

“You need to be near medical services,” I pointed out.

Lacey gestured around. “I’m a few miles’ hike away. If something happens, I’m close. It’s more dangerous for me to drive in a car, statistically speaking, than it is to walk across part of a glacier,” she added dryly.

“Oh my God,” Amy muttered.

“Okay, I’ll do it,” I said, half to her, half to the sky. “Divorce celebration. New mission unlocked.”

We were all city girls from Seattle. I knew sidewalks very well. Along with coffee shops and trips to the outdoor gear store, culminating in me buying hiking boots and thinking I was ready to go full wilderness. Hiking across a glacier had not been in my imagination. Saying it was only “part” of a glacier seemed to be a middling detail.

I eyed the translucent blue ice, then looked at our guide. “Okay, I’m ready. You better keep me safe.”

“That’s what this is for,” she said, holding up a rope.

“We have to be roped together?” Anxiety slithered down my spine in a disconcerting prickle.