Page 89 of Crazy for You

“You really want to jump?”

She nodded. “I really do. It’ll be a huge rush. And if you know a spot where I could do a little climbing on the way up, that would be even better.”

He finally smiled, his cocoa eyes crinkled. “All right. It’s a date then.”

“Yay.” She leaned into him, a burst of excitement skittering through her belly. Jumping from the top of the bluffs sounded a little bit terrifying and a whole lot awesome. It had been so off limits to her when she was a kid, wanting to tag along with Ryan and Derek. It seemed somehow fitting that she jumped at one of Derek’s favorite spots after honoring him here today.

She and Ryan stood in the middle of the semicircular memorial, looking at all the names engraved. A steady stream of people moved around them, talking quietly and touching the names of loved ones. A few people had tears on their cheeks.

“You seeing this?” Ryan asked softly.

“Yeah.” Her throat had gotten painfully tight.

“You’ve created something really beautiful here.”

“Well, to be fair, the idea for the memorial was Mayor Clemmons and the Town Council’s.”

“But it could have been stuffy and boring. You’ve made it modern and colorful. It’s a nice place to visit, maybe even sit and hang out for a while.” He spoke with such pride that the lump in her throat grew even tighter.

“Thanks.” She turned to look at the gardens, the people walking through it and sitting on benches. It really had turned out well.

“Ryan!” A man approached, his hand out.

Ryan took it and shook. “Yo, what’s up, man?” He introduced Emma to Steve Fields, one of his rock-climbing students.

“You got a minute?” Steve asked Ryan.

“Sure. I’ll catch up with you later, Em.” Ryan excused himself, and the two men walked off, talking about a climb Steve was planning next month.

Emma headed toward Carly, who was standing alone beside the memorial, texting on her phone.

“Excuse me,” a woman’s voice said from behind her.

Emma glanced over her shoulder and saw a tall, slender woman in her late forties.

“You’re Emma Rush, right?”

“That’s right,” she said with a smile.

“I’m Angela Davenport. I’m the owner of the Silver Springs Lodge.”

“Oh…Ms. Davenport, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Emma had heard plenty about the Silver Springs Lodge. It was a fairly large new hotel being built in Silver Springs. Some people thought it was too big, but the general consensus was that it would be good for local business. Emma agreed.

“Please call me Angela,” she said, extending a hand.

Emma took it and shook. “I’ve heard a lot about the new lodge. It sounds very exciting.”

“Thank you,” Angela said. “I was actually hoping to invite you out to the site on Monday morning to show you around.”

“Really?” Emma hid her confusion behind a sunny smile. “That sounds lovely.”

“I’m so impressed with the new memorial gardens. I’d love to hear more about your work.”

“Oh, well, thank you.”

She and Angela exchanged business cards and said their good-byes. Emma wasn’t really sure what that was about, but she was curious to get a sneak peek at the new hotel. She mingled at the memorial until the crowd had died down, and then she snuck off to get ready to go to the bluffs with Ryan. Finally.

Ryan pulled into Emma’s driveway just past two o’clock. Before he’d even switched off the bike, she had appeared on her front porch, wearing jeans and the blue jacket she usually wore when she rode, a backpack on her shoulders.

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