Page 22 of Entwined Hearts

“Should we have brought a headlamp?” Anya asks, her footsteps soft.

“The stars will guide us,Grasshopper,” I say, using a Mr. Miyagi voice.

Anya giggles.

“When did you start climbing out here?” she asks.

“My first trip was a boy scout trip if you can believe that. A group of climbers camped next to us. There was this boulder right next to their campsite. I remember watching them try to climb it, wondering if they’d let me join them.” I’ve thought about that fateful trip many times since then, but what sticks out most is the way the guys talked, joked, helped, and supported each other. The idea of being a part of something like that pulled me like a magnet.

“How about you?” I ask.

“I wasn’t lucky enough to start that young,” she says. “And it wasn’t supposed to take over my life.”

I glance back. “Sounds like a story.”

She seems troubled. “Yeah. For another time, maybe.”

I lead her between a set of house-sized boulders. “How are you at climbing chimneys in the dark?” I ask when we reach the backside of two boulders separated by an hourglass-shaped gap.

Anya looks up, squinting. “I guess we’ll see.”

I tuck the beers into my back pockets. “Piece of cake,” I say, giving her a boost.

Using counterpressure from her hands and feet, she inches her way up, one hand on the left boulder, one hand on the right, each foot mirroring her arms. In shadow, she looks like a tree, limbs extended. Once through the narrowest point, I lose sight of her.

“Which boulder?” she asks.

“The right one,” I answer, stepping off my hold on the left boulder to enter the chimney after her. I stem my way up, the hard granite texture of the rock digging into my callouses and pads of my feet.

When I top out, Anya sits on the right-side boulder, her knees tucked to her chest. Behind her, the city lights in the distant valley twinkle while the stars burn white holes in the black sky above.

“What a cool spot,” she says, flashing me a grin.

I slip the beers out of my pocket, then crack them open. After I hand her one, we tap cans and take a sip.

“Will you be in Yosemite this summer?” she asks.

“Here and there, yeah,” I say.

She nods, but I can tell she’s not satisfied.

“I didn’t know you and Kabir were close,” she says. “He’s a good guy.”

“We stayed in touch.”

“So…where did you go?” she asks. “People are asking me.”

I knew when I came back, I’d have to explain, but I’m still not sure how. “North Carolina.”

“Why?” she asks, confused.

I shrug. “My sister needed me.”

Anya seems to think about this.

I take a deep breath. “Scott was deployed, and Paige was on bedrest.” I don’t tell her the reason Maddy came early.

“Is she okay now?” Anya asks.

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