Reckless Faith

Thirteen minutes. Thirteen minutes until it was midday, and she was dreading every one of them. Like full-sweats, clammy-hands, would-rather-be-anywhere-but-here kind of dread. Because at midday, Elle was supposed to go on a tour of the skywalk.

Tilly, the center manager, wanted everyone who worked here to be familiar with the skywalk in case tourists asked about it. And most people—normal people—wouldn’t have a problem with that request. In fact, she was sure most people would be excited about it.

But she hated heights. Pounding heart, dripping sweat, could barely breathe. That kind of hate.

And sure, she probably could have talked to Tilly about her fear and the woman no doubt would have told her to sit it out…but she hadn’t. She hated people knowing about her fear of heights.

The milk she was heating splattered onto her hand, causing her to flinch. Goddammit, she was so nervous she couldn’t even make a cup of coffee.

Quickly, she wiped the milk off her arm, finished the drink, and took it over to the lady sitting in the corner. On her way back to the counter, her gaze flicked to the time again.

Nine minutes.

Jesus Christ, her hands were shaking. Literally shaking. She should have just bitten the bullet and told Tilly she couldn’t do it. That’s what a normal, sane person with a phobia of heights would do.

The staff of the visitors center were doing the tour in two groups, so the front desk and café could continue running. Molly, the other worker here at the café, was in the first group and would be back any second…then it would be her turn.

Maybe she wasn’t scared of heights anymore. She hadn’t actually tested herself in years. Was that possible? Could someone just outgrow a phobia?

The door opened, and the second Elle saw Molly’s long blond hair, her stomach did a little twist.

Nope. The phobia hadn’t gone anywhere. She didn’t need to be up high to know that.

Molly’s smile was wide as she came around the counter. “That. Was. Awesome!” The girl was significantly younger than her, having only just graduated high school a few years ago. Sometimes the age gap didn’t feel like much; other times, it felt huge.

Elle raised a brow. “You’re a fan of the skywalk?”

“Oh, the skywalk was fine. It was the tour guide I liked. Jace Walker is hot! And when I say hot, I mean capital HOT. That man will star in my dreams tonight.” She grabbed an apron. “You were friends with him, right?”

“Uh, yeah. But that was a long time ago.”

“Pfft. A man like that probably came out of the womb looking like a heartthrob. And that velvet voice of his!” She fanned herself before looking back at Elle. “Do you know if he’s single?”

Single? Jace Walker? Depended on whether he was still a chronic dater. And this was not a conversation she needed to have minutes from a mental breakdown. “I’m not sure, but I’m running late so I should get out there.”

She started to step around the counter, but Molly grabbed her arm. “Do yourself a favor—touch his biceps.” She giggled and leaned forward, lowering her voice. “They’re magnificent.”

Yeah, she knew they were magnificent. Every inch of Jace was magnificent, like a perfectly sculptured piece of art.

“I’ll see you when I get back.”

The skywalk wasn’t far from the café, and right now, it felt too close. Despite that, she was running late. Just a few minutes, but who knew, maybe they’d already left without her?

Ha, then she’d probably have to do a one-on-one tour with Jace. No, thank you.

When the start of the skywalk came into view, she saw two of the guys on the search and rescue team, Jake and Hendrix, and Nikita, the new girl who worked at the front desk of the visitors center. Oh, and Jace. Of course, he was the first to look up. He didn’t smile though. In fact, he almost looked angry. What the heck?

He marched toward her, looking so damn big and fierce, she almost stepped back.

“What are you doing here?” he growled as he stopped in front of her.

Her brows shot up. “Excuse me?”

“You’re not doing the skywalk.”

This time, she did step back. “I certainly am.”

“Really? So you’ve cured your fear of heights, have you?”

Of course he remembered. He remembered everything. “I’ll be fine.”

“That’s not an answer. You’re not doing the skywalk.” He turned and started walking back to the group.

Where the hell did he get off, telling her what to do? Now she wanted to do it just to spite him. She raced after him. “You can’t just make that call.”

“I can, and I am.”

“Uh, no, you’re not. Tilly wants everyone who works here to go through the entire skywalk at least once, and I work here, so that includes me.”

He spun so quickly that she almost bumped straight into him. “Remember ninth grade when we did that tree climb excursion? You got to the top and freaked out. It took an hour for you to let go of the tree.”

Oh, she remembered like it was yesterday. “That was a long time ago.”

He raised a brow. “Has anything changed?”

“Yes, I’m older.”

He crossed his arms. “Why do you want to do this?”

She squirmed. “Because I do.”

“Not an answer.” He started to turn, but she grabbed his arm.

“Jace, I have to. I don’t like being scared of anything, and I don’t want to be seen as weak.”

A muscle ticked in his jaw. “Is this because of Casper and his friends?”

Her heart thudded against her ribs, the memory sending her spine ramrod straight. “No. Why would this be about them?”

“Because after the tree climb, they never let you forget it. They were assholes about it for a long time.”

Not a long time…forever. Or at least until Casper moved away and she didn’t have to see his face again. He used to grab trees and scream to make fun of her. Even threaten to push her over anytime she got near any kind of railing.

Okay, maybe that had affected her a tiny bit. “I’ll be fine, Jace.”

He blew out a breath, his head dropping back and his eyes staring into the forest around them before his gaze returned to her. “Fine. But if you’re not okay, you tell me.”

“If I’m not okay, I tell you.”

He looked at her like he didn’t believe her, which was fair; she didn’t know if it was true herself.

With a clench of his jaw, he turned and walked back to the group, and she hurried to catch up.

“Are we ready to go?” Jace asked.

“Let’s do this,” Jake said, clapping his hands together.

Jace walked onto the path first, followed by Jake, Hendrix and Nikita.

Elle tried to step on, only to stop when her belly did a little turn. It almost felt like it dropped into her pelvis.

You can do this, Elle. It’s just a skywalk. You’re safe.

She touched the railing, letting the cool of the metal seep into her skin. When she glanced up, it was to see everyone in the group still moving forward…except Jace. He’d stopped and let everyone pass him. Now he just seemed to be waiting for her. A part of her almost expected him to come back and tell her again she wasn’t doing it. He didn’t. He just…waited.

And that’s when she realized that looking at him took an edge of the fear away. Maybe he was a distraction, or perhaps a comfort. Or hell, maybe both.

It didn’t matter. She let her eyes bore into his ocean-blue ones, and she took a step forward. Then another. Her heart still beat too fast, and her breathing still felt too shallow, but she was doing it.

When she reached Jace, something flashed in his eyes. Pride, maybe? “Good job, Tink. You proved me wrong. That doesn’t happen very often.”

Despite everything, she scoffed. “I’m sure it happens more than you care to admit.”

He threw his head back and laughed. “Glad you’ve kept your sense of humor. Come on.” The second he fell into step beside her, and she couldn’t look into those blue eyes anymore, the fear tried to choke her. But then his hand went to the small of her back, the heat of his skin seeping through her clothes.

His head lowered, his voice almost a whisper. “We both already know this, but in case you’ve forgotten, Casper was a jerk.”

Oh, there was no forgetting that. “He was worse than a jerk, and I didn’t feel sorry for him when he couldn’t find a job here in Misty Peak.”

He’d moved to New York but still came back to visit every so often because he had friends and family here. Anytime she saw him in town, she pretended she didn’t, because she had nothing to say to him. Well, nothing nice anyway.

In a moment of weakness, her gaze lowered, and she saw just how high they were—really freaking high.

Oh God, oh God, oh God!

She wasn’t sure if her breathing changed or her steps slowed, but somehow Jace knew she was internally freaking out, because he leaned down, letting his breath brush her cheek as he whispered, “Hey. I’ve got you.”

She glanced up at him, letting the gravel of his voice fight off that fear again. Let his side touching hers chase away the chill.

He was still looking down at her, and her gaze was hopelessly chained to his when Jake called out.

“Yo, Jace, I need to ask you a question.”

He didn’t look up. His gaze didn’t so much as flit away.

“Go,” she said quietly. “I’m okay.” Or at least, she wanted to be okay. She didn’t want to need him.

“You sure?”

“Absolutely.” To prove her point, she stepped out of his touch. The panic tried to take hold once again, but she breathed through it.

There was a flicker of his brows before he moved forward, his steps a heck of a lot faster than anything she’d attempt. But she’d been telling the truth. She was okay. She was actually on a freaking skywalk and she wasn’t a blubbering mess.

Keeping her eyes up, she walked forward with slow, purposeful steps. Nikita and Hendrix walked together, and behind them, Jake and Jace.

She’d never liked Hendrix. He and another member of the SAR team, Theo, had always been dicks. Jake, on the other hand, was friendly enough.

They were about ten minutes in, and she was so focused on her breathing and remaining calm that she barely recognized that they’d stepped out onto a lookout.

She paused. This felt different. There was a slight wobble to the lookout, probably due to the fact it had a type of support structure designed to let it move with the wind. There was also a sign at the end that read “no rocking.”

It was fine. She was safe.

She took a few more steps, only to suddenly stop when the walkway beneath her feet rocked harder, more aggressively. It was a full body rock, and there was no way it was just wind.

She grabbed the railing, her heart jumping into her throat.

Someone laughed up ahead, maybe Hendrix, then Jace shouted at him to stop rocking the walk. But she couldn’t focus on them because the floor beneath her was still moving.

She looked down to the ground beneath the walk, immediately realizing her mistake. Her huge, gigantic mistake.

She was too high, the skywalk too unstable.

Her vision began to haze, a light-headedness coming over her. Her heartbeat sped up so fast she could hear it in her ears. Heavy thumps accompanied by the rushing of blood. She lowered to her knees, her fingers wrapping tightly around the railing in a death grip—and she knew there was nothing and no one that could get her to let go.

“How long does it take to do a full circuit of the skywalk?”

Jace only half listened to Jake’s question. He itched to turn around and go back to Elle.

She hated heights. She’d always hated heights.

Dammit, she was stubborn.

“Anywhere from half an hour to an hour, depending on how fast you walk,” Jace finally answered. “But I’ve had a few tours that’ve taken longer. Usually people who like to stop and take a lot of photos on the way.”

“Has it been busy?”

“Yeah, really busy. I’ve had a few teenagers who I’ve had to yell at for being idiots and doing things like hanging over the railing or rocking the walk.” Of course, it was only the lookouts, like the one they were coming up to, that could be rocked.

Jake scoffed as they stepped onto the lookout path. “I bet you scared them enough that they don’t do it again.”

Hell yeah, he did. Safety was important and part of his job here. No one would be getting hurt or killed on his watch.

He glanced up at Hendrix to see him lightly pushing Nikita.

“Feel good being back?” Jake asked.

“It’s different. I haven’t been back much since high school, and while I feel completely changed from the person I was the day I left, this town feels the same.”

Jake laughed. “Must be a small-town thing.”

Jace just opened his mouth to respond when Hendrix grabbed both sides of the railing and started shaking it from side to side.

For fuck’s sake.

“Hendrix! Stop rocking it!” When the asshole didn’t listen, Jace stormed forward. “Stop. Now!”

Finally, Hendrix turned, a shit-eating grin on his face. “Come on, I was just playing around.”

Nikita joined them, frowning as she looked behind Jace. “Is Elle okay?”

He turned—and his chest pulled too fucking tight at the sight of Elle crouched low, knuckles white as she held the railing with her eyes scrunched closed.

And the fucking lookout was still swaying.

“No one move,” Jace growled as he walked over to her. He kept his steps slow so he didn’t shake the skywalk anymore. When he was close enough, he lowered beside her. “Hey, Tink, you okay?”

She didn’t move and her eyelids didn’t so much as flicker open. All he could hear were her panting breaths.

She couldn’t hear him. She was having a panic attack.

Shit.

He inched closer and gently touched the small of her back, then placed his mouth so that his lips just touched her ear. “Tink, you’re safe. I’m here.”

For a moment, her chest stopped moving. The air stopped rushing between her lips. There was a second of silence before she whispered, “Jace?”

“Yeah, Tink, I’m here. You’re safe,” he repeated, in case she hadn’t heard him the first time. Or in case she just needed it repeated.

“Safe?”

“Yes. I’d never let anything happen to you.”

It took a few heartbeats, and finally she glanced up. Her eyes were slightly glazed over, but they seared into him, so open and vulnerable. “Maybe you were right. I shouldn’t have come.”

He shifted a lock of hair from her face behind her ear. Damn, her skin was so smooth. “Nah, I wasn’t right. You did it. You walked the skywalk. But then, I knew your stubborn ass wouldn’t allow anyone to tell you that you couldn’t.”

Despite everything, she laughed, only to quickly sober. “I don’t know if I can move.”

“I could carry you?”

She rolled her eyes. “That would be weird.”

“Weird isn’t a bad thing.” In fact, having her pressed against his chest sounded pretty damn good.

She sucked in a deep breath. “Can you…get my hands? I don’t think I can physically move them myself.”

He reached up and slipped his hands under her wrists. Slowly, she untangled her fingers from the railing and grabbed his hands, holding him tightly.

“I won’t let go,” he whispered.

“I know you won’t.” She swallowed. “I just have to remember not to look down.”

“Why would you look down when you have someone as handsome as me to look at?”

Her lips twitched. “Thank you.”

“I’ve always got your back, Tink.”