“You’re really going to throw me over your shoulder like a caveman? This I’ve got to see.” I might have been testing him a little, but there was no way he would follow through with it.
He stepped closer and lifted me off the ground, positioning me over his shoulder. It happened so fast that I lost my breath for a second and could only stare at the rocky soil beneath me in disbelief. When he took a few steps toward the stream, I began kicking my feet. “Wait! Stop. I don’t want to do this.”
He halted, his hand on my lower back. “Do you trust me, Abby? I can get us across this stream in one piece. It’ll only take a few minutes.”
“Please don’t take this the wrong way,” I said, the blood rushing to my head since I was hanging upside-down. “But I don’t know you well enough to trust you.”
He sighed and put me down gently. “There are only three choices here. You can take my hand, and I’ll lead you across. You can jump on my back, and I’ll take us both to the other side. Or…we can head back to the car and do something else.”
I felt like a big baby, but I didn’t want to get wet. “Going back to the car doesn’t appeal to me, but I’m not sure what to do. Sorry, but I’m in a holding pattern.”
The left side of his mouth inched up in a lopsided smile. “If I get you across in one piece without getting you wet, you have to take me to that baseball game next week.”
My mouth opened wide but words didn’t come out. It took me a few seconds to process what he’d just said. “You like baseball?”
“Not really.”
I laughed. “Okay…so why do you want to go then?”
“We have one more session, and I think we should make use of the tickets.”
“Fine,” I said, playfully, “but if we fall in and I get wet, you have to endure three more sessions of dating tips from me.”
He snickered. “Don’t bait me like that. You’re going to make me fall in on purpose.”
I pushed his shoulder lightly and circled around him. “Yeah, right. Now, stoop down so I can get on your back.”
He did as I asked, and I jumped on. “Am I too heavy?”
“No.”
“I don’t know why I’m trusting you right now.”
“Because you want to take me to that baseball game.”
“Interesting assessment.”
He stepped onto a big gray rock and his foot slipped a little. I screamed, and he caught his balance. “Or maybe you’re hoping I fall so we can spend more time together,” he said.
“Is that what you want, Mr. Fitzgerald? If that’s the case, all you have to do is ask.”
He didn’t reply, but I could tell he was concentrating on where to place his foot next. I was pretty sure my question had dissipated into the cool air and he hadn’t heard a word, or more likely, my words had indeed registered, but he wasn’t planning on responding.
He stopped, one foot on one rock and the other on another. “If I ask to spend more time with you, it won’t be just as friends, Abby, and honestly, I’m not sure you’re ready for that.”
Chapter 11
Abby
A fluttery sensation flipped around in my stomach. “So, being friends is off the table?”
He brought the foot lagging behind forward until he stepped on one rock with both feet. He jumped to the next rock, and I tightened my grasp on his shoulders. His muscles rippled underneath my hands as he moved to the next rock and the next and the next. “That’s something I’ll have to pray about.”
What could I say to that? “Okay, fair enough.”
A few more steps and Colin made it to the other side. He leaned down so I could jump off his back. Turning, he grinned and his entire face lit up. “I told you I could do it. I don’t take chances unless I know I’m capable.”
“You were right. I guess we’re going to the game next week.”
“Get ready to eat some peanuts.”
I laughed. “How do you know I don’t have a peanut allergy?”
“Because you’re laughing.”
“Good point.”
He took my hand like it was the most natural thing to do and pulled me along. I wondered if he even knew what he was doing, and then I really hoped he did. The realization that I wanted him to hold my hand left a giddy sensation in the pit of my stomach.
And then he dropped my hand as if suddenly realizing what he was doing. “Sorry.”
“You didn’t see me complaining.”
We were both quiet for a while after that. The path ahead roped around through the forest and up a slight incline. I figured it wouldn’t be long until we came to the part he’d told me about that went straight up the mountain.
“What’s your favorite color?” he asked.
I gave him a surprised look. He was asking more questions without being prompted to do so—that was a good thing—but it still caught me off guard a little. “I don’t really have one. There are too many choices, and they’re all good. You?”
“Blue.”
“Everyone says blue.”
“That’s because it’s the best color.”
I shook my head. “No, yellow is so much better.”
“Why?”
“It’s cheerful…happy.”
He nodded and appeared to think. “What fictional character do you relate to the most?”
I blinked at the abrupt change in subject but smiled at his attempt to ask more questions. “Um…let me think.” I glanced away for a few seconds and then looked up at him. “Dumbo. I’m still trying to figure out how to fly.”
“Why is flying so important to you?”
“Because I want people to love my work.”
He looked at me for a long while as if he could see to the core of my heart. “By work, do you mean your paintings?”
We walked over a bridge, and I really hoped there wasn’t a second stream ahead. “Yes, that’s what I mean.”
As we drew closer, I realized there actually was another stream, but it was more like a trickle. Colin offered his hand, and even though I could have crossed that one on my own, I took it gladly.
“I know talent when I see it,” he said. “You just need more exposure.”
“Thanks. I’m working on it.” I cleared my throat. “What about you? What fictional character do you relate to?”
“Since I came up with these questions this morning, I had time to think about this one.”
“How early were you up?”
He gave me a sheepish glance. “Four o’clock. I couldn’t sleep.”
“Sorry to hear that. Do you suffer from insomnia?”
“Not usually.”
I waited for him to explain but he didn’t. “What do you think the problem was?” I asked.
He shrugged. “Guess seeing you again makes me nervous. I want you to like me.”
His words startled me because I hadn’t expected him to be that vulnerable or honest. “I do like you. You have nothing to worry about.”
There was a huge mud puddle up ahead, and he got in front of me and stooped down. “Get on. I’ll take you across so you don’t have to get your feet muddy.”
I did as he asked and placed my arms around his neck this time. “You’re a gentleman, Mr. Fitzgerald. Such chivalry. I like it.”
“Why do you keep calling me, Mr. Fitzgerald?”
I had to think about that. “I don’t know, maybe because you’re this big professor and it seems fitting. On second thought, I should be calling you Dr. Fitzgerald.”
He crossed the mud puddle in three easy steps and then crouched down so I could get off his back. “I’m just Colin when I’m with you.”
“Okay, Colin, I’ll refrain from the formalities.”
“I mean, you can call me whatever you want, but I prefer Colin.”
“Duly noted.” The path became steeper the further we walked, and the trees were thinning out. “Hey, we got sidetracked, and you never told me what fictional character you relate to. See how a few questions can lead to
all kinds of tangents?”
He nodded. “You were right about that. Asking questions isn’t as hard as I thought it would be.”
“Okay, spit it out—fictional Character.” I pointed to myself and grinned. “I’m dying to know yours.”
He smiled shyly. “Spock.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “The one from Star Trek?”
“Is there another Spock?”
“Not that I know of. Why do you relate to him?”
“Because he’s reserved and doesn’t show his personality much. He was often the oddball in social situations.”
“You know, I’m a fan of Spock, but I don’t see the resemblance, and I don’t just mean physical appearance. I think you’re more like Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice. You’re handsome, quiet, keep to yourself a little, and very misunderstood.”
He glanced at me with questioning eyes. “You think I’m handsome?”
“Yeahhh,” I said, drawing the word out. “But you have to know that already. You have classic good looks, so I’m sure you get compliments all the time.”
He turned away as if I’d insulted him.
“What did I say? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—”
“It’s nothing.”
“No, there’s definitely something.” The road was growing steeper and my breath was getting heavier as we plodded along. “Please. You can tell me.”
He shrugged. “When people meet me for the first time, they instantly like me, but then we have a conversation and they lose interest. That scenario has happened so many times I’ve begun to expect it.”
I opened my mouth and then shut it. He deserved better than for me to share the first thing that came to mind. I wanted to think about what to say because words had the power to lift up or tear down. After I thought it through, I placed a hand on his arm. “That’s their bad for not taking the time to get to know you. There’s more to you than a handsome face—I know that.”
He gave me a tight-lipped smile and didn’t say anything, but he covered my hand with his free one and held it there for several seconds. The gesture was so sweet, it brought tears to my eyes. As stiff as he came across at times, he had a gentle manner about him that endeared him to me. How had I overlooked this guy?
We arrived at the edge of a mountain, and the path veered up and around. Colin stopped walking and checked his watch. “We made good time. This is the hard part. It’s a steep climb on a narrow trail, but the view is spectacular. It’s pretty high up, but it’s definitely doable and worth the effort. It’s not for the faint of heart, but it’s up to you. We can turn back or we can keep going.”
I was a little out of breath, but I didn’t feel like I’d overexerted myself. “I’d like to keep going.”
“All right, let’s go.”
As we continued on, the dirt path wound upward and was jagged and bumpy in some places. Even though this part of the route lacked greenery, the view on the left-hand side was quite beautiful. Not only could we see more pine trees and hiking trails and another mountain range, but the city stood out in the distance the higher we got. Colin walked ahead of me because the footpath was too narrow for both of us to walk side-by-side. The last thing either of us wanted was to slip off the edge, but we were safe as long as we stayed close to the mountainside.
“This is really beautiful,” I said through a breath. I wiped a drop of sweat off the side of my face.
Colin continued to climb, putting one foot in front of the other. “I like it up here. It’s peaceful and quiet.”
My foot slipped, and I began to slide backward. Colin reacted quickly by reaching behind him and grabbing my hand until I found better footing. “Careful. It gets a little slippery the higher we go. Stay away from the edge.”
“Are you sure this is safe?”
“It is as long as you watch where you place your feet. Take your time. We aren’t in a hurry.”
We were further up now, and the path narrowed even more as we looped around the mountain going higher and higher. I was out of breath a good portion of the time, and I knew my face was probably flushed. My back was sweaty, causing my shirt to stick to it like a second skin. I was thankful I went to the gym on a regular basis or I would never have been able to do this. Glancing at the beautiful scene to my left, my eyes widened. We were really, really high now, and because the path had narrowed, the view of the bottom, the drop to be more precise, taunted me with how easily I could become better acquainted with its rugged beauty—in a way I would not find enjoyable.
The moment my eyes took in exactly how high off the ground we were, a rush of adrenaline swept through me like a roaring river sweeping a branch over the edge of a waterfall. Seeing how little protection we had—no railing or anything—made my hands go instantly clammy and my pulse picked up, not from exertion but from raw unbridled fear. My heart pounded furiously in my chest and my sense of balance teetered as a wave of dizziness brushed through me.
It was hard to breathe and my whole body tingled with a panicky sensation. “I can’t do this.” I stopped walking and put my hands on the side of the mountain, feeling like I was going to slip if I moved one more muscle. Squeezing my eyes shut, I shot up a quick prayer, asking God to help me. I hadn’t realized how difficult this part of the hike would be, and if I had known it would be this bad, I wouldn’t have attempted it.
Colin stopped, and I heard him shift and step closer to me. “Are you okay?”
“No, I’m freaking out. Can’t you tell?” My tone was snappier than I meant it to be, but my chest was heaving now, and I felt like I was inside a nightmare, the kind where you fall and wake up with a jolt. Only this was no dream, and one wrong move would cause me to plummet off the edge for real.
Colin put a sturdy hand on my shoulder, calming me. “You didn’t tell me you’re afraid of heights.”
“I never thought I was. But I haven’t been in a situation like this before.”
“Okay, we’re going to turn around and go back.”
A tear slipped out of one eye, and I wiped it away with a couple of fingers. “How are we supposed to go down? I didn’t think about that part when we started out.”
“We’ll take it easy. I’ll go first, and I’ll hold your hand.”
“I can’t. I can’t do this, Colin.” More tears slid down my face, and I sucked in a breath. I felt myself having a full-on meltdown, but I was powerless to stop it. “I’m going to die, right here on this mountain. No, what am I saying? That’s not how it will occur. I’ll probably slide off the edge and fall to my death.”
“I won’t let that happen.” He said it forcefully, with complete confidence.
“You can’t promise something like that. You aren’t God.”
“True. But I’ve got you, and we’re going to be all right. I’ve done this before, remember?”
I held onto the side of the mountain with my eyes closed. “I can’t believe you brought me up here. What were you thinking?”
He breathed out. “Sometimes I underestimate things. It’s easy for me, so I thought you’d be fine. We’ve been climbing for fifteen minutes and you seemed okay.”
“I am so not okay right now.”
He put his hand on my back and the warmth and weight of it calmed me to the point where my breathing slowed. “This is what we’re going to do,” he said. “I’m going to pray, and then I’ll slide by you so I can get in front of you and tell you where to step. I know this is hard for you, but you can trust me. I won’t let you go off the edge, okay?”
I nodded, and that was all I could do at the moment.
He leaned in, his hand squeezing my shoulder. “Lord, you are the Creator, the One who made all of this—from the highest mountain to the smallest insect on the ground, You created it all, and You have our life and breath in Your hands. Please calm Abby and help her not to panic. Give her strength as we turn around and go back down the mountain. Give her faith to trust You through this.”
The confidence and conviction in his voice hel
ped me to relax. He seemed like he knew what he was doing, and I didn’t detect any worry in his expression. “All right, I’m going to slide by you now.”
“Isn’t that dangerous? That puts you closer to the edge, and if you slip, you’ll fall…”
He didn’t respond. In three steps, he slid by, balancing himself with one hand touching the side of the mountain over my head and the other hanging in the air. “There. Done.”
My heart lifted in admiration at his lack of fear. “That was quick.”
He was on to the next thing. “Abby, see these grooves?” He pointed to the uneven spots on the path that were probably like that because of previous rain.
“Yes.”
“That’s where I want you to put your feet. I’ll go first, and then I’ll point to where you need to step.”
“Okay.”
He grasped my hand and then took a couple of steps down the path. “Now it’s your turn.” He pointed to where I should place my foot next.
I followed his lead, breathing in and out, and it helped me to stay in control. We continued in that manner for a long time, and I began to feel more confident with each step. A tranquil sensation washed over me as Colin gave instructions, and each time, his directions turned out to be correct.
And then we came to a spot that I hadn’t noticed much on the way up, but now that we were going down, my throat tightened and I could barely swallow. There were no grooves, no uneven places to place our feet except right by the edge of the mountain, and that would make it hard to balance. Going up had taken some fancy footwork, but going down seemed downright frightening.
“I can’t do this,” I said, frowning.
“Yes, you can. Watch how I do it.” Colin turned sideways and inched down a little at a time, remaining close to the side of the mountain. He had to let go of my hand in order to feel his way down.
I felt bereft at the loss of contact from his hand, but strength was bubbling up from within me, and I knew I had to do this if I wanted this hike to be over with. Colin had gone sideways, but I didn’t want to follow lead because turning my back to the edge made me uncomfortable. For some reason, I felt better seeing where that boundary was. “I think I’ll try to go down the way we’ve been doing it.”
Blind Date with a Billionaire Professor (Blind Date Disasters) Page 11