Page 12 of First Bride to Fall
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Nell peered over the ledge of the precipice in horror as rain came down in droves. Her clothing was soaked, and her boots were muddy. Plus, she suspected her mascara was rushing like rivers down both sides of her face.
How had this happened?
One minute, the group was up on the perfectly dry summit, admiring the amazing far-off ocean views. A split-second later, thunder boomed and the heavens opened up in a startling downpour. Everyone had been surprised, including Grant, apparently, who’d grumbled under his breath to Jordan something about weather apps being unreliable.
This entire hike had been a fiasco. She hadn’t had a second alone with Grant, much less the opportunity for a private conversation. She’d tried to catch up with him on the trail, but he’d kept moving so briskly, like a trailblazer in an adventure film, jovially leading the way. Meanwhile, she’d hobbled along in her too-tight and pinching boots, which only seemed to fit worse when she was going uphill, rubbing uncomfortably at her toes and ankles.
When they’d finally gotten to the rocky stretch of the trail on a steep incline, she’d hoped Grant would at least be the one to give her a boost in getting over some of the larger boulders. But no. He’d scrambled to the top of the summit first, leaving Jordan at the bottom to give people a leg up. Jordan was extremely nice-looking and kind. He just wasn’t Grant. He had been very encouraging, though, and Nell had surprised herself by making it to the top along with the others. It wasn’t a huge climb. Only ten feet or so.
It looked a lot more daunting from up here looking down.
“Nell,” Grant said from beside her. “Nell, can you hear me?”
She stared at him numbly and nodded. The other hikers had already descended and were huddled by a thicket of pines. As a safety measure, since things were slick, Jordan had secured the rope to a sturdy tree on the summit while Grant instructed the group on doing what he called an arm rappel. The idea was to align the rope behind your back and tuck it under both armpits before wrapping your arms around it and latching on with both hands.
You then were supposed to descend gradually while keeping a grip on the rope, and it was strictly one-at-a-time. Jordan coached people down from the bottom, and Grant stayed at the top, lending his encouragement, too. Everyone seemed to get this easily except for Nell, who hadn’t been able to stop trembling since she first peered over the edge.
The teenagers shivered, and everyone looked miserable standing in the rain. The temperature had dropped by at least ten degrees, and Nell was freezing, too.
The only thing was her legs wouldn’t move. Neither would her mouth.
This clearly wasn’t an intro-to-romance moment.
It was more like a “Survivor” one.
Grant checked his sports watch and then the sky. “You need to lead the others back,” he told Jordan. “If you’re going to beat the bridge.”
She gaped at Grant. “What’s wrong with the bridge?”
“It tends to wash out in heavy rains.”
Nell’s heart pounded. That did not sound good.
Jordan sent Grant a worried look.
“We’ll be right behind you,” Grant said to Jordan. He glanced at Nell, and she involuntarily backed up a step. It wasn’t like she was trying to be difficult. She’d never been one for heights, and the climb down looked a lot steeper than it had going up, especially with all that rainwater rushing down across those boulders and making them slippery.
Lightning crackled across the sky, and the Gomez dad eyed the path. He sent his wife a pointed look, then glanced at their girls. Everyone else was obviously eager to move on, and she didn’t blame them. The situation was dicey here and getting worse by the minute.
“Nell.” Grant’s husky voice was a whisper. “You can do this, and I’m going to help you.”
“Help me where? Into a nosedive? I’ve never been great with heights. Never ever ever.”
“Nobody’s nosediving here,” he said calmly. “It’s a short descent. Easy-peasy.”
“Easy-peasy for you to say! You’ve done this a billion times!”
“You can do it, too. It’s not that far. I’ll go first and spot you.”
A lump lodged in her throat. His soothing tones were doing very little to calm her. Okay. Maybe they were helping somewhat.
“Nell. Look at me.”
She didn’t want to, but she did.
Grant shared a confident smile. “You’ve got this.”
