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Melanie grabbed the wall, stepping up to lift both feet clear of the floor. “Climbing?”
He’d support her as high as she wanted to go. “Climb on.”
One move followed another. Deliberate. Cautious, yet not. She tested her grip before releasing each previous hold, but she didn’t take the simplest route up the wall. She reached and stretched, using her muscular legs and flexible core to attempt challenging holds.
Nathan stepped behind him and spoke quietly as if afraid to disturb her. “What’s she doing?”
Derrick shrugged but kept his eyes locked on her rising body. “Proving something to us? Something to herself?”
“She doesn’t have to prove anything to me.”
Melanie didn’t even hesitate as she passed the fifteen-foot marker, progressing one hold at a time. Pride swelled inside Derrick at her fearlessness. “I couldn’t agree more.”
Halfway up the wall she paused. “Take.”
“Got. Fabulous work.” The poise she showed highlighted how far she’d come in the past five months.
“Oh, I’m not done.”
Derrick waited, watching her peer down at him from her perch. “What’s up, sweetheart?”
She flashed a grin on them both. “Give me slack. I’m climbing the rest freestyle.”
Shit. “Melanie…”
“Do it. I’m good. Really I am.”
He paused. Assessing. Looking into her bright eyes, her confident face. It took a lot for him to release his own fears. “As you wish.”
She blew him a kiss before facing the wall resolutely. “Climbing.”
Derrick forced himself to obey her request—mostly. She wouldn’t get hurt. Worst-case scenario, if she did slip off a hold, the rope he still controlled would halt her before she’d fallen far. He wasn’t strong enough to let her completely free, so he cheated, just a little. Gave her a loose rope, but took up the extra slack to make sure the most she could fall was less than five feet.
It wasn’t a case of not trusting her skills, but loving her enough to care even when she didn’t ask him to.
“She’s beautiful when she’s climbing.” There was a note of awe in Nathan’s voice.
“She’s beautiful all the time,” Derrick corrected.
And when Melanie reached the top of the wall and sounded the bicycle horn mounted on the ceiling, Derrick fought back tears.
“Take.” Sheer delight tinged her voice as she called out.
Derrick tightened up the extra rope to secure her in position. “Got.”Got you.
Now.
Forever.
Far above them, a loud shout echoed off the walls as Melanie cried out her victory, both hands raised over her head. She spun in a lazy circle as he lowered her to the ground and into his arms.
“I did it.” The words brushed past his cheek as she whispered in his ear. “I really did it.”
Derrick squeezed her close in spite of the ropes and harnesses tangled between them. She’d more than accomplished her goal. She’d risen above her fears, and he was going to enjoy every moment of watching her face the future.
Together, they could rise above any challenges that came their way.
