“You’d do that? Come to New York?”
“Yeah. We could see where this goes.”
The excitement that lit her eyes quickly banked. “And in the fall?”
“I don’t know yet. But at least by then we’d know if we want to pursue this further. Just…think about it, okay?”
The radio at his belt crackled and Michael’s voice rolled out. “Beck, where are you? Time to get rolling here.”
Eyes still on Sarah’s, he picked it up and answered. “On my way.”
“Looks like time’s up.” She glanced back at the parking lot. “Guess I’m taking the certification test.”
“You’re ready.”
She grimaced. “Too bad it’s not my job.”
She sent a quick text to Taylor, then they walked hand-in-hand back to the lodge, where the Tullys were handing out the policies and procedures test. Michael took one look at them and smirked. Beckett accepted the test and flipped him off. There’d be something to explain later when he didn’t have a thing going with the actual Taylor, but that could wait. They had to get through this stuff first.
The morning rolled on. They knocked out the written test, passed everyone through final First Aid and CPR certification, and stopped for a quick snack before smaller groups broke off for individual activity certification with the outside instructors who’d been brought in for that purpose. Beckett took his troops, along with Heather,Michael, and the certification instructor, to the equipment shed. No way around it. Sarah was doing the full certification now. Even if Taylor miraculously appeared, there was no easy way to swap them out.
One-by-one, each of them was asked to demonstrate knowledge of equipment. When her turn came, Sarah rolled through it as if she’d been doing it for years, reciting everything he’d taught her without batting an eye. Then they trooped, en masse to Boulder Mountain for the practical demonstration. As he was already certified for far more challenging climbs than this, Beckett took his position up top to observe and intervene as necessary.
When her turn rolled around, Sarah started on lead, working seamlessly with Diego as he took the intermediate path up for his own top rope test. Once Diego was back on the ground, they swapped. The whole process went smoothly, and Beckett shot Sarah a grin as she reached the top.
“Nearly done,” he murmured. “You’re doing great.”
“I’m just ready for this to be over.”
They took the descent together.
“Now, for our last test of the day, each of you will be expected to demonstrate the ability to properly and immediately catch at least three simulated falls,” Richard announced. “Beckett has volunteered to be our test dummy. Now who’s first?”
“Me.” Sarah stepped up immediately.
They went through the safety check and clipped in.
“Belay on?” he asked.
“On belay.”
“Climbing.”
“Climb on.”
Because he could, and because he knew she was anxious to get this over with, Beckett took the ascent fast, mimicking some of the rookie mistakes his people were bound to encounter. She took the first two slips like a champ, stopping his descent exactly as she should. Beckett headed on up to the top for the long drop. He glanced below, judging the distance and pegging the location of the various members of the crowd. And he saw Sarah walking up the trail.
“Oh sh—”
He didn’t have to simulate the fall this time. His fingers just went numb. He hurtled down for two, gut-churning seconds before Sarah—actual Sarah—shouted “Gotcha!” and caught him. They both dangled for a bit, his weight having hauled her several feet up the rock face.
“You okay?” she called.
“Yep.”
“Holy shit!” someone exclaimed. “There are two of them!”
Sarah just closed her eyes.