Page 66 of Heal Me
Kate said, “I’m listening.”
He sobered as he pulled out onto the main road and headed away from town. “I need you to understand where I’m coming from with the whole climbing thing. You’re a strong, capable woman, Kate. I love that you’re fearless and that you don’t back down from a challenge.
“I’d feel the same way if this was Tyler or Chase going climbing. I actually talked Chase out of skydiving last year because of the same sort of fear I have. You can ask him if you don’t believe me.”
Kate’s expression turned dubious. “You talked Chase out of skydiving?”
“Yeah. You and him will get along really well because you’re so much alike,” Ric said. “He’s always doing something that terrifies me. There are dangerous sports I’m okay with and then there are other sports that scare the hell out of me, like skydiving.”
“Or climbing.”
“Right,” Ric said. “Kate, I’m just tired of losing the people I love. I lost my mom when I was thirteen. She had cancer and watching her slowly die was heart wrenching. My father started drinking because he couldn’t accept Mom’s death and he drank himself to death when I was twenty.
“My Uncle Johnny died overseas in Afghanistan, which is how I wound up with the Beast. Then I lost Lizzie. Last year, I lost one very close buddy to cancer and another when he went deep sea diving. And just last month, we lost Smiley in that car crash. I’m just tired of death and funerals, Doc. Call me paranoid, but I get crazy when the people I love purposely put their lives on the line.”
Her father was the only family member she’d lost but also at a young age, so she understood the pain. Phil’s was the second person close to Kate who had ever died. She was fortunate to still have all of her grandparents and the rest of her immediate family. Ric had lived through seven significant deaths in the space of fourteen years. “I’m so sorry, Ric, but that still doesn’t give you the right to dictate what I do with my life.”
He fell silent as he turned down a road that was really no more than dirt tracks.
“Where are we?”
“We’re going to Muddy’s. She owns Muddy’s Junkyard, but she also has a place where she lets people go boring around. She made an awesome off-road track and you can go on other trails, too.”
Kate couldn’t hold back her enthusiasm. “We’re going mudding?”
“Yep, and you’re going to drive,” Ric said.
“You’re going to let me drive? I haven’t driven stick in a long time. I don’t want to strip the transmission.”
The lewd grin he sent her made her blood heat. “From what I’ve seen, you’re great at driving stick.”
She smacked his shoulder. “Shut the hell up.”
He laughed as they came out of the woods to a huge field. A track with various obstacles and mud pits along its route sprawled across it. There was even a mountain of gravel to climb.
Kate’s jaw dropped. “God, this is fantastic! It’s an off-roader’s dream!”
“We race here a lot,” Ric said.
She hit his shoulder again. “You’ve been holding out on me!”
His laughter filled the cabin as he ducked away from her. “I wasn’t going to let you come out here without me!”
Kate crossed her arms and stared out the passenger side window.
His light touch on her shoulder made her look at him again. “Kate, there are so many things that I want to share with you, but I can’t do that if you’re dead.” The fear in his eyes made her heart squeeze. “I know that I can’t tell you what to do, but as the man who loves you, who wants you in his life forever, I can ask you not to do outdoor climbing anymore.
“I know that you love climbing, and I wouldn’t ask you to give it up completely. There are plenty of great indoor climbing places and I’ll build you a climbing place if you want. It’s the only thing you do that scares me so much. Okay, that’s a lie. Cliff diving is the other thing that freaks me out. Hang gliding doesn’t bother me, though. It sounds like fun. You could teach me.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re trying to negotiate a deal with me? What if I don’t agree to give up climbing or cliff diving?”
*****
Ric had repeatedly asked himself that question and he had come up with one answer. “I will absolutely hate it if you keep doing those things, but I love you too much to tell you not to.” He held up an index finger to keep her silent. “You’re right. I’m trying to come to an agreement that we can both live with. Are you willing to discuss it?”
Her jaw tightened, but the curiosity in her eyes gave him hope that she’d capitulate that much. “Yes. I’m willing to talk about it.”
“Good. If you stop climbing and cliff diving, I’m willing to give up bull and bronc riding for good. I was going to compete this past year, but I got hurt and couldn’t,” Ric said. “If there’s something else I do that bothers you, I’ll quit that, too. I want to be completely fair about this.”
