Page 55 of Take Me to the Wedding

In front of us, Tyler was standing in the middle of the path, rubbing his arm and fuming.

“Thatchild,”he said, “Tater Tot or whatever—just winged a rock at that tree, and it ricocheted right into my arm.”

“My name’s not Tater Tot!” Tater said in an angry tone.

“Tyler!” Ani exclaimed. Then she turned to Tater. “He didn’t mean to make fun of your name.” Then back to Tyler. “Did you?”

Tyler rubbed his arm. “He could’ve really hurt me.”

“But he didn’t,” Ani said. “It was an accident!”

“Tatum Albert, no more rocks!” Marin said, walking back to see what was going on. “I’m sorry, folks. Tater’s a little out of sorts because his friend is sick and couldn’t come today.”

Oh well, that explained it. So far literally no one was bonding this bonding weekend—at least of the people that should be. We trudged onward, Ani walking far away from Tyler. On one side, a drop-off appeared, rocky and steep and of course unfenced, something else to worry about. Tater had stopped throwing rocks and pocketed the video game, thank God. But then he started tossing stones off the cliff, standing precariously close to the drop-off.

And Mia had not lost her train of thought. “I want to know your intentions. Sam doesn’t ever put herself out there. I don’t want to see her hurt. So tell me the truth, Caleb.”

She said my name, with emphasis on theCaylike the zillion other times she’d lectured me in our childhood. Even thoughIwas the older sib. “I’mtryingto tell you the truth, if you’d just listen. Sam is different. Sam is… special. I’ve never met anyone like her. And I’m not going to do anything to hurt her.”

She gripped me hard enough that I stopped walking. “I cannot reinforce enough what I am capable of doing to you if you hurt my best friend, do you hear me?”

“Could you please reinforce that without hurting my arm?”

She released me, fortunately. But now Tater was standing on a rock, taking selfies of the drop-off behind him.

“Just a sec,” I said to my sister. “Hey, buddy,” I said to the kid, “that’s a big drop-off. Want me to take a photo for you?”

I glanced over at Marin. She was oblivious, settling an argument between Quinn and Tyler about a plant that might’ve been poison sumac, but no one knew for sure. The kid was fooling around, pulling faces, leaning over to get better and better shots. Below was a scenic fork in a river—waydown below, that is. If I could get him away from the edge, I’d have less of a heart attack. I didn’t want to yell at someone’s kid, as Tyler seemed to have no problem doing, but I couldn’t stop picturing imminent disaster.

That was the thing with being an ortho resident—with being a doctor in general. You heard about everybody’s accidents, because that’s what usually brings on the broken bones. Falls on an outstretched hand, tripping over the dog, toppling over on the bicycle, crashing the scooter, bouncing off the trampoline. The list was endless. I wasn’t a catastrophizer, but I was one step away. If I was ever a parent, I would probably consider locking my kids in the house and never letting them leave.

Tater gave me the okay about taking some photos, so I did, but I made him stay far from the drop-off. Then I stepped away so that he had to get down from the rocks to get his phone back. But a minute later, he’d wandered right back to the edge of the drop-off again.

I jogged to catch up to his mother and tapped her on the shoulder, “I’m a little worried about Tater. He’s a little bit of a daredevil, getting close to the cliffs like that.”

She guffawed. “Aw, Doc, don’t you worry. We lead this hike three times a week. He knows all the ins and outs.”

“Yes, but—” Tater had run ahead, where he’d climbed even farther down the incline to take more selfies. I could hear pebbles and rocks scraping and bouncing their way into oblivion as his feet scrabbled for purchase. “A lot of folks get injured taking selfies.” I didn’t saydie, but that was a fact. Tourists on hikes for one.

Marin patted me on the shoulder. “Don’t you get your britches in a twist, Doc.” She yelled at her son, “Hey, Tater, you’re making Doc here a little nervous. Keep to the path, okay, kid?”

Tater made a face at his mom.Figures.

Marin pulled us over to show us a view of some beehives in the valley below. I looked down to see bee boxes lined up in a clearing. She was discussing the ins and outs of honey production when Sam met my gaze. I could see worry in her eyes. She lifted her chin and pointed—there was the kid, standing on a jutting-out rock, shooting yet another selfie with the winding river gurgling in the valley far below.

I was just about to call out to him to get down when he lost his balance.

Why hadn’t I just done it, yelled out? I never thought I’d say this, but I should’ve been more like Tyler. I should have shouted at that clueless kid, no holds barred, to get the hell away from the edge.

His phone dropped, clattering downward as it bounced off the rocks. “Wh-wh-whoa,” he cried, his arms flailing.

Without thinking, I dove forward, grabbing his skinny-assed ten-year-old body by the torso like I was a defensive end sacking a quarterback and pulled him forward with all my strength. He landed on his butt, but I stumbled, tripping on something—a raised root maybe?—or something harder, because pain seared through my foot as I hit the ground hard, scraping my leg and right shoulder as I pitched down the steep hillside.

“Grab that branch!” a voice cried.Sam.

I tried to clutch onto scrub, tree branches, grass—anything—but objects were passing me fast, and the hill was too steep. Around me, dust kicked up and small rocks rolled along right beside me as I plunged downward.

Unbelievably, I felt a tug on my foot. It dawned on me that I wasn’t alone.Sam.In horror, I realized she must have plunged right behind me, attempting to hold me back. But now she was sliding down the rocky incline with me.

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