Page 132 of Free Heart
“He is.”
The door jingles, and there’s Dan with his hands in his pockets, his slight limp, and those searching eyes. They light up when they find what they’re looking for—me. He starts over to us.
“Oh, my gosh,” she whispers. “He’s coming over here.”
I frown, belatedly realizing that she’s a fan of his now. So much for thinking he’s a regular human. I’m about to say something to enforce those boundaries that Pete has encouraged, but the expression on her face as Dan approaches is sheer hero-worship. I decide Dan deserves to see it, even if it makes me nervous that he’ll take it too much to heart. I don’t want his fans to promote his risk-taking ways.
“Doc, let’s go,” he says, rocking back on his heels. “The baker’s waiting. She’s gonna have samples. Let’s get them in my mouth.”
I laugh. “Okay, let me—” I motion toward the back. I can feel Amalia hyperventilating beside me. “Oh, this is Amalia, Dan. She’s a climber and a fan of yours.”
“Hi,” she squeaks out, putting out her hand.
“Hi,” he says, and shakes.
“Uh…I…hi.”
“Hi,” Dan says again.
I leave them to be awkward together and head into the back room to change out of my uniform shirt. I hurry to brush my hair, put the top up in a small ponytail, and then shut my locker.
Back in the café, I look around, but Dan and Amalia are nowhere to be found. Celli’s working the counter, and she points toward the parking lot. I head out to find Dan and Amalia taking turns on the low slackline. The slush on the ground is no deterrent to either of them.
“You should come,” she’s saying to him. “A lot of climbers will be there, and park management typically attends too. Can never hurt to have the rangers on your side, you know? Your friend Rye is there some weeks,” she says with a sly smile, as if she hopes that she can lure him in with the promise of a friend for support.
I lean against the bigger tree that the slackline is tied to and ask, “What happened to wanting to get those samples in your mouth?”
Dan looks up, wobbles on the slackline, but doesn’t fall. It’s impressive given that his leg was broken in half not even five months ago. It still makes my stomach swoop anxiously, though. He grins. “Impressed, Doc?”
“Always.”
“You should be.” He falls off then, and I wince as he lands a little awkwardly. But he straightens up quickly, taps his bad leg with a cocky grin, and says, “Look at that. Strong as a bull.”
Amalia gazes at him with admiration and hops up on the line again. Dan watches her make a crossing, and then says, “I’ll think about it. When is it again?”
“Saturday, nine a.m., Camp 4,” she says.
“Right.”
Dan turns to me, grabs my hand, and pulls me away from the tree, leading me toward my car. He’s had the Versa all day whileI worked, running a few errands and taking himself up to Cook’s Meadow Loop for a hike. He’s recovered enough to start pushing himself in the park and doing some solo climbs from time to time, which scares the crap out of me, but he’s loving it. Despite my fear, I love it for him, though he often returns home tired and goes to bed early to recover.
“What was that about?” I ask as we approach the car.
“She invited me to a climber community event. Coffee at Camp 4. It’s hosted off and on all year.” He gets in the passenger side, and I slide into the driver’s side.
“You’re thinking of going?”
He nods. “I probably should.”
I drive quietly, heading toward Coulterville and the bakery.
“Do you think I shouldn’t?” he asks.
I wrestle with my resentments over how I’ve perceived the community since before and just after his fall. Finally, I admit, “I think it’s a good idea. Peggy Jo’s always saying that climbing is a community sport. You deserve to be part of that world.”
Dan shrugs. “Maybe, but that’s not why I want to go. With Rye being all emotionally caught up in this stuff with Lowell, and fighting with Andrew in court for Jeanie, and getting that damn ‘respectable’ job, he’s not around as much. I need a reliable belayer.”
I wish I could offer to learn the skills to provide this service to him, but we’ve already agreed that my ability to stomach lots of exposure leaves enough to be desired that I’d be dangerous on a real wall.
