“Great,” Amber groaned.
“It sure is.”
Kelli glided over to the side and turned to watch Amber. “You’re doing so well.”
“Yeah right!” Amber cocked her head and gave a you’ve-got-to-be-joking look.
“You are.” She chuckled. “Are you always such a negative Nelly?”
Once again, Amber had no idea how to respond. In a heartbeat, the young woman could flit from insensitive to blindingly insightful. And each one was as shocking as the other.
She made it to Kelli’s side and they stopped to admire the view at the edge of the slope. Spruce trees loaded with white powder lined the sweeping slope and the sun was a giant white ball high in the sky. Amber remembered she’d forgotten to apply sunscreen, and she didn’t know whether the biggest problem with that was getting sunburnt or Kelli learning of her mistake. She decided not to mention it.
Kelli stepped in front of Amber. “Okay, get your feet into the snowplow position, just like I showed you.”
Amber slipped her heels apart, forming her skis into a triangle, and they tilted over the edge. It was awkward and uncomfortable but thankfully slow. Backward and forward they went, working on Amber’s technique. Kelli was very patient and as the sun crept slowly over the towering trees, they progressed from one ski lesson to the next. Amber was surprised when the village center came into view; she hadn’t realized they’d made it down the ski run.
Her body did, though. Her muscles were aching as much as her bones by the time she clipped out of her skis for the last time that day.
Kelli helped Amber back to her locker, and after arranging a time to meet again in the morning, she hugged Amber in a way that indicated they’d become inseparable. The warmth of her embrace had Amber choking back tears. She hadn’t been hugged by a person who’d moved her so much in years.
Kelli placed her hand on Amber’s arm. “Remember, be proud of that scar. It shows how strong you are. Oh, and don’t forget how impressed Erik was. Guys dig scars.” She winked and spun on her heel, leaving Amber to watch the young blonde bound away, waving at anyone who caught her eye.
Kelli’s parting comment had her both confused and elated, and a smile simmered on her lips.
Amber had brought enough food with her to eat alone in her chalet. It was her preferred choice of eating. Alone. In private. But capitalizing on the good vibes coursing through her, she let the aromas of coffee and melted cheese lure her to the restaurant.
She ordered a vegetarian risotto and a glass of wine and found a table at the window. Alone with her thoughts, she replayed Kelli’s parting comment. Should she be proud of her scars? That was a new one. Not once had she considered that anyone would find it impressive. Although Erik had certainly seemed impressed. Either that, or he was an exceptional actor.
She’d never considered herself strong either. Surviving that crash had nothing to do with strength—if it had, Milton and Kane would’ve survived. Her survival was dumb luck.
In fact, Amber was the epitome of weak. A reclusive, twenty-eight-year-old, single woman, who changed her name rather than face her fears.
She was light-years away from being strong. Kelli had misjudged her.
Sighing, she studied the view that spanned the entire southern face of the mountain. Four chairlifts snaked their way upward, and she followed the one she’d traveled today from bottom to top. At the top, the blue sky was dotted with a few fluffy white clouds and the sun bounced off the snow, making it glisten like crystals.
It was a perfect postcard setting that could fool anyone into believing it was harmless.
She had firsthand experience at how quickly that could change.
Chapter Eleven
Oliver glanced at the clock and noted Amber was ten minutes late. Two minutes later she entered his office. “Oh, hey, Amber.” He glanced at the clock for emphasis. “You’re a bit late today.”
“Actually, I’ve been waiting out front.” She blinked a few times and he had a feeling she wanted to retract the statement.
“Huh? Why?”
She lowered her eyes. “I was waiting for everyone to leave.”
“Oh right.” He clicked his fingers. “Absolute secrecy.”
“Are you mocking me, Mr. Nelson?”
“Of course not.” He cleared his throat and stood. “You ready to climb?”
“Yes.”
She’d remained standing in the doorway, but as he approached, she backed away. Amber was either incredibly nervous or she was terribly afraid. Either way, it wasn’t pleasant to witness. He offered her what he hoped was a comforting smile. “Okay, let’s get started.” He turned and aimed for the beginner’s wall at the back of the gym. “Did you practice the climber knot?”
“Yes.”
“Good, let’s see how it went.” While she put her bag down and zipped out of her jacket, he went to fetch a climbing harness from the equipment room. By the time he returned she’d pulled her hair back and was tying a rope into a climber’s knot. When she finished, she held it up for inspection.
It was perfect. “Hey, well done.”
A small smile curled at her lips. Progress.
“Okay, let’s see if you remembered the harness details.” He handed her the harness and she loosened the clips, but as she went to step in, she winced.
“Oh, are you okay?”
“Yes.” She clenched her jaw, and he was certain she was fighting back pain as she stepped into the leg loops. Amber pulled the harness to her waist and tugged the belt tight. He handed her the belay rope from the wall, and within a minute she’d tied a perfect double eight climbers knot. When she glanced up at him, her expression was a baffling mixture of uncertainty and pride.
“Fantastic, let’s get you up that wall.”
He stepped into his own harness and passed the opposite end of her rope into the belay device. “Okay, I want you to see this.” He explained how the belay device worked. “So trust me, no matter what happens once you’re on the wall, you can’t fall. Okay?”
She nodded and her eyes traveled from him to the wall. He not only sensed her nervousness; he noticed her trembling. Once again, he questioned her motivation. She wasn’t anything like his usual demographic. Amber was tiny, not just in height but in body mass too. He’d say she was undernourished. She seemed feeble. Her wrists and fingers were delicate. Her frame was slender. But none of that mattered. It was her obvious anxiety that was concerning.
Nobody needed to learn rock climbing.
He cast the troubling observations aside and demonstrated the basic technique by climbing a couple of the holds on the wall himself. “Okay, your turn. Now remember, if you fall, I’ve got you.”
Again, she nodded without saying anything.
He stepped back and shortened the slack on the rope as Amber approached the wall. She paused there for a moment, sucked in a huge breath, and then let it out slowly. When she went to reach up for her first hold, he heard her flinch again.
“Are you okay?” He repeated his early question.
“Yes, I’m good.” She put her other arm up and again winced when she raised her foot to the first hold. But whatever the pain was that’d evoked the groans from her, it didn’t stop her progression up the wall.
“You’re doing so well, Amber. I’m impressed.” He meant every word. He’d seen many, many clients fly up these walls without any thought to what hold they’d reach for next. Amber, on the other hand, paused often and studied the way before she made her next choice.
She was halfway up the wall when he called up to her, “Okay, Amber, I want you to let go.”
“What?” She pressed her body against the wall as if trying to hug it.
“I want to demonstrate how you get down, before you get too far up.”
“Why?” Her voice was borderline shrill.
“Because I’ve had many clients who get to the top easily enough, but then they’re too petrified to let go once they get there. Many of them opt to climb do
wn instead. Trust me, climbing down is much harder than going up, because you can’t see the holds properly.”
She squealed and released without warning. Oliver caught her in the belay and she spun in lazy circles as he lowered her to the mat. Most people announced when they were going to let go. Her decision to jump showed a dangerous recklessness that he hadn’t expected.
She placed her feet on the padded mat. “I made it.” For the first time, she was smiling. It changed her appearance dramatically, and Oliver saw a truly stunning woman beneath the troubled facade.
She beamed. “Can I do it again?”
“Of course.”
This time she approached the wall with zero hesitation. She did, however, wince again as she raised each limb to climb. Just like her first time, each step was taken with measured control. She studied each move, and once she seemed to have made her decision, she committed to it fully.
He let her get right to the top this time. “Hit the bell.”
She didn’t just hit the bell, she slammed it with her fist. Again, she let go of the wall without warning and Oliver silently admonished himself for not instructing her on the safety protocol.
He lowered her to the ground and her beautiful smile was even broader.
“Again?”
“Sure. Hey, this time, just let me know before you let go.”
“Why? You going to drop me?” The twinkle in her eyes was the first sign of mischief he’d seen from her, and he liked what he saw.
“No, but it’s a good safety step to follow.”
“Okay.” She nodded. “Makes sense.”
Amber stepped to the wall, and as she crawled up this time, he noticed that she took exactly the same holds as the previous two times. She’d memorized the route. There were dozens of different options to take a climber to the top, and memorizing wasn’t an easy task. He was so impressed that all the original apprehension of taking on Amber as a climber had now vanished.
Her one-hour lesson went quickly and Oliver was disappointed when it came to an end. When he lowered her to the ground for the last time, he touched her shoulder. “Okay, that’s it for today.”
She seemed as disappointed as he was.
“You did fantastic. We’ll move along the wall tomorrow night.”
She nodded. “Okay, sounds good. Is there anything I can practice at home?”
He frowned at her. This sense of urgency was as mysterious as it was strange. “Um, I guess you could watch a few YouTube videos on climbing techniques.”
“Okay, I’ll do that.” She stepped out of the harness, handed it to him, then pulled her hair from the band and tousled it forward. “Would you like to charge my credit card now?”
He snapped his fingers. “Good idea.” He’d completely forgotten about that, which was strange. Getting money from people was usually one of his main business focuses.
After they finished the payment process, he walked her to the door. “See you tomorrow night.”
“Thank you.”
Oliver watched her walk up the street and was surprised when she didn’t get into a car. He locked the door, returned to his office, and pulled her paperwork from his folder.
Amber Hope. He checked her address. She lived right in the center of town. Again, he questioned who she was. He was pretty certain she was new to Brambleton; he would’ve recognized her if not. Oliver was a social guy, and there weren’t too many parties he missed. She’d never been to any of them.
He fired up his computer and typed “Amber Hope” into Google. Besides an interior designer in New Zealand and an Amber Hope in Illinois who looked nothing like the Amber he knew, there was no record of her. He didn’t know whether that was normal or not; he’d never googled anyone before.
Out of curiosity, he typed his own name into the prompt. He was listed several times. His business was detailed, and he was mentioned for being coach of his kid brother’s baseball team, which won the championship last year. There were plenty of photos too, most of them rock climbing related. None of it was surprising, but still… he was visible.
He typed in her name again, just to be sure. But there was nothing.
It gave him a terrible feeling she was hiding something. Or from someone.
Chapter Twelve
It had been two weeks since Holly had first walked into Upper Limits, and she realized that the mental battle to leave her apartment was no longer nauseating. Between Oliver and the staff at the ski resort, Holly had met more people in the last two weeks than she had the entire year.
She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed being with people. But that wasn’t her only revelation… she’d come to enjoy her workouts too. Not only was she feeling better, but she was sleeping better too.
Instead of dragging her feet to Upper Limits, Holly arrived much earlier than she needed, just so she could watch Oliver in the shadows. But it wasn’t just her joy over the rock climbing that surprised her—she enjoyed being with Oliver. He was fun and funny and laughed a lot. She found herself looking forward to his smiles. Each one was a dose of elixir that relaxed her. He had a kindness that made her feel safe, even when she was a dozen feet in the air.
It was so lovely to admit that.
Oliver had eased to the side wall with one of his clients, who she recognized as one of the regulars, and the two of them seemed to be having an in-depth conversation. His brows drilled together, and when he placed his hand on the man’s shoulder, his concern was touching. Yet even as they continued chatting, Oliver still managed to say goodbye to each patron that walked past.
He seemed to know everyone. Holly reflected on the gym she’d frequented back in Seattle. Despite going there for nearly three years, she was pretty sure most of the trainers hadn’t known her name. Until it was a headline in the papers, that is.
That flashback was the jolt she needed to remind herself that she was Amber Hope. Amber Hope. She repeated the name over and over as she waited for everyone to leave Oliver’s gym.
Once all of his clients had gone, Oliver disappeared into his office and she waited a minute or two before she entered the building. Oliver stepped from the doorway, and she had a funny feeling he somehow knew she’d arrived. He gave her a smile that seemed so genuine an unexpected rush of familiarity blossomed within her. It was like they’d known each other forever. No, not just known each other—it was like they knew every little intimate detail about each other. It was such an intense feeling that Holly had to convince herself that they’d known each other for barely seven hours.
Oliver didn’t even know her real name.
As he strolled toward her, her heart skipped a beat over the unfounded feeling he was about to lean in and kiss her. Instead, he touched her shoulder and walked right past. “I’ll just shut the door.”
Furious at her foolishness, she tugged her hair back into a hairband that’d been on her wrist and strode for the line of harnesses hanging on the wall. She plucked one off the hook and as she adjusted it to fit, she used the distraction to force any more irrational ideas from her mind.
She had a mission to do. And she was a long, long way from achieving that goal.
Oliver stepped up to her. “How was your day?”
She shrugged. “Same as usual. How about you?”
His quizzical expression indicated he wanted more from her answer, but after a moment’s pause, he sighed. “Not too bad for a Tuesday.” He reached for her rope and hooked it into his belay device.
Holly had become the master at brief responses, and she was sure Oliver was growing tiresome over her minimal banter. But she had secrets to keep. Lots of them. By not engaging in conversation, she was less likely to mess up.
No matter what, she could never reveal her identity. Nobody—not Oliver, not Kelli, not anyone—would ever have the opportunity to rummage through the wreckage of her past life.
Secrecy was paramount to her mental survival too. By assuming the identity of Amber Hope, she’d officially buried Holly Parmenter, a
long with all her rotten baggage.
At least that’s what her therapist had said.
Besides, she had a job to do.
Forcing the tumbling thoughts from her brain, she stepped up to the wall, placed her fingers into the nearest hold, and wriggled her right foot into position. “Climber ready.”
“Up you go then.”
The gloomy nuance in Oliver’s reply ignited a flame of guilt in her mind. It was raw. It was justified, and it hurt like hell. She used that fire to drive her limbs. With a clenched jaw and dogged determination, she clawed her way upward. Her breath shot in and out in ragged breaths as her arms and legs pushed on. Adrenaline coursed through her veins unchecked, giving her the now familiar rush of the challenge.
She didn’t pause this time. She didn’t look down.
Her concentration was on gripping one hold after the other and moving upward. She arrived at the top so fast it shocked her, and she cheered as she slammed her fist onto the bell. “Releasing,” she called out, and a heartbeat later she leaned into the harness and Oliver gently lowered her to the padded mat.
“Good work.” He looped the rope as he approached her. “That was your fastest climb yet.” He placed his hand on her shoulder and her brain swam with reckless intoxication when she inhaled his musky scent.
She stepped back and wanted to slap herself. His smile was so genuine, so real, that he seemed as proud of her achievement as she was. “Thank you.” A pleasant flush of triumph washed through her, but before she did something silly, she dragged her gaze away from Oliver’s stunning eyes.
Oliver was a nice guy, and the brutal reality was that she was confusing his professional attention with affection. Yet despite accepting that her confusion was justified, she still had to fight the blaze of heat curling up her neck.
She’d survived a tornado of life changing events that’d ripped everything she’d loved from her grasp. Top that with her reclusive lifestyle and nearly zero personal contact and she’d created her very own perfect storm.
It was a storm that she needed to quell before she’d be forced to lock herself away from the world all over again.
Extreme Limit Page 8