The Christmas Sisters

She gave a half smile, because only Posy would name a tree.

But she knew Suzanne would be the one responsible for putting the tree in her room.

Every year was the same. Suzanne filled the house with a surplus of good cheer, as if lights, decorations and a cheery attitude could somehow compensate for what was missing. In Hannah’s case, what was missing were her parents.

They’d gone climbing four days before Christmas and never come back.

And Hannah hadn’t even had a chance to say goodbye.

14

Suzanne

There had been weather warnings, but that wasn’t unusual. This was Mount Rainier, the highest mountain in the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest and quick-changing weather was a fact of life.

They began their climb at the White River trailhead, hiking through thick forest to a soundtrack of crashing water as the glacier-fed river thundered down the mountain. They’d roped up and safely traversed the Winthrop Glacier and the previous night they’d camped at the Curtis Ridge.

Now Suzanne stood on the snow and watched the dawn light cast a reddish glow over the jagged, snowcapped mountains that loomed ahead. “That storm dumped thirty inches overnight.”

“Hello, deep snowpack, how much do I love you?” Rob slapped her on the shoulders as he trudged past her. “It’s going to be the best damn climb we’ve done in a while. I tell you, I’m psyched.”

“Me, too.” Cheryl joined them. “And it had better be a great climb because this little trip is costing us a ton of money in babysitting.”

“I told you we should have brought the kids,” Rob said, and Cheryl laughed.

“Apart from the fact they don’t issue climbing permits to three-year-olds, you don’t think Posy is a little young to climb Rainier in the winter?”

“Got to start somewhere and that girl has got what it takes. Climbs everything. Last week I found her up on the roof. Can you believe that? I yelled to her, Get the hell off that roof, Posy. Do you know what she said? Why?” He bellowed with laughter. “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. I’m taking her bouldering again next weekend.”

Suzanne imagined a delicate, beaming Posy clinging to a rock. She expected Cheryl to protest that her barely out of toddlerhood child wouldn’t be climbing anytime soon, but her friend was still laughing.

Since Cheryl had fallen in love with Rob, she’d shared not only his home, but also his cavalier attitude to risk.

Suzanne thought about the conversation she’d had with Stewart the night before she’d left for this trip.

“I don’t like you climbing with those two, Suzanne.”

Suzanne had her equipment spread over the floor, and the top of her backpack was open. “Cheryl is my best friend. We’ve climbed together since we were fifteen.”

“But now she’s married to Rob.”

He said nothing more. He didn’t need to.

Suzanne knew Rob was a weak link. Hot tempered, impetuous, fiercely competitive. To be competitive with oneself on a mountain was one thing, but to be competitive with another climber? Rob’s attitude was a constant source of tension between her and Cheryl.

You don’t like him, Suz. I know you don’t like him.

That’s not true—

But it was true.

What were the rules when your best friend married a man you disliked?

“They won’t take risks. They have three kids.”

Stewart grunted. “Since when has that made a difference? Rob is selfish and ego driven and always has been.”

But so were many climbers, Suzanne thought. It was that single-minded passion that drove them to push themselves to almost inhuman lengths.