Chapter 3 #4
“I don’t—” He exhaled hard. “It’s not that I don’t want you out there because I don’t trust you. I believe you’re as good as you say.”
Another half step. Close enough that she had to tip her chin up.
“But I can’t focus on finding that cache if I’m worried about you getting hurt.”
The admission hung between them.
Unexpected. Unguarded. Real.
Eden’s anger faltered. “Now you know how it feels.” The words came out slightly above a whisper.
Teague’s green eyes searched her face. For a moment, she thought he might say something that would shatter the last of her defenses.
Instead, he shook his head. Something like defeat flickered across his features.
She cleared her throat and stepped back. “I guess you’ll just have to trust that I can take care of myself. Same way I’m supposed to trust you.”
She turned and walked away before he could respond.
Before she could see whatever was written on his face.
Before she could change her mind.
Her hands were shaking by the time she reached her cabin. Nimue looked up from the couch. “You okay?”
Eden nodded—a lie—and grabbed her phone. She scrolled through contacts she hadn’t touched in two years. Names she’d avoided. Numbers she’d never deleted but never called.
Climbers. Friends. People who’d known her before Landon died. Before she’d walked away from everything that had once defined her.
Her thumb hovered over the first name.
Sierra Vaughn.
They’d trained together. Competed together. Nearly died together on a route in Colorado that had gone sideways in a storm—clinging to rock while lightning split the sky and rain turned the stone slick as glass.
If anyone would drop everything to help, it would be Sierra.
Eden pressed call.
The phone rang once. Twice—
“Eden Garrison.” Sierra’s voice was exactly as she remembered—rough around the edges, warm with genuine affection. That fierce, no-nonsense energy. “Good grief, girl. I began to wonder if I would ever hear from you again.”
Eden swallowed. “Hey, Sierra. It’s been a while.”
“Since the funeral.”
“I’m sorry. I should have called, I should have—”
“Enough with the sorries. What’s up?”
“I need a favor.”
“I’m in.”
“I haven’t even told—”
“You’re like a sister to me, Eden.” Sierra’s voice softened.
“The two years of silence have been hard. But I get it. Losing Landon was hard on all of us, but you—you lost everything. I knew this call would eventually come, and I was always ready to say yes.” A pause. “That’s what lifelong friends do.”
Eden’s throat tightened. “I don’t deserve you.”
“Eh, probably true.” The teasing edge was back. “But it’s a good thing we don’t all get what we deserve, right? Gotta love grace.”
The word hit Eden square in the chest.
Grace.
She hadn’t shut out only her friends two years ago. She’d shut out God. Slammed the door and pretended the ache in her soul was just grief, not something deeper. Something broken.
Opening her life back up to Sierra meant conversations about God were inevitable. Sierra had never been one to let things slide.
“So what are we doing?” Sierra’s playful tone broke through. “Dyeing your hair? Robbing a bank? Flying to Europe?”
“Climbing. In the Grand Canyon.”
A long beat of silence. Then Sierra’s deep breath filled the line. “You’re really doing this? Getting back on the rock?”
“I am. Any chance you know another couple climbers that might—”
Sierra’s voice grew soft, as if she had stepped farther from her phone. “All right. I’m reaching out to Kyle—he’s been asking about you for months. And Trey.”
The knot in Eden’s chest twisted tighter.
Kyle. Landon’s best friend. The one who’d stood beside him at every competition, held Eden’s hand at the funeral when she couldn’t stop shaking.
And Trey—Landon’s younger brother. The one who’d chosen climbing because his big brother made it look like flying.
“Sierra, I don’t know if that’s—”
“They’ll want to help. Especially if it means climbing with you again. Oh, and they both just responded. They’re in.”
That was quick. Eden’s chest ached. She’d avoided them both after the funeral. Couldn’t bear to see Landon’s smile reflected in Trey’s face. Couldn’t handle Kyle’s grief mixing with her own.
“Okay.” The word scraped against Eden’s throat. “But they need to know this is serious. Technical climbs, potentially dangerous. Not a reunion.”
“I’ll make it clear.” Sierra’s voice was steady. “When?”
“When can you get to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon?”
There was a pause. “Trey’s calling in. Let me talk to them and I’ll let you know.”
The line went dead.
Eden stood staring at her phone, pulse thudding in her ears.
Nimue had moved to stand beside her. “You’re really joining the team?”
Before she could even answer, her phone buzzed with an incoming text.
Sierra
We’ll be there by noon on Thursday.
Eden set the phone down.
“Yeah.” She exhaled. “I really am.”
And maybe—just maybe—despite two years of silence, God would help her. Because she had no idea whether it was courage or desperation pushing her back onto the rock.
All she knew was that hiding hadn’t saved anyone.
And this time, failure to do what needed to be done wasn’t an option.