Holding On: A Colorado High Country Novel

  Kenzie looked like she wasn’t sure this was a good idea after all. “Like that knife’s edge leading to the Hastings mine?”

  “Nothing like that, but it is exposed with some big drop-offs. I’m going to create an anchor for you so you can belay yourself up that area. I wouldn’t have brought you here if I didn’t know that you can handle it.”

  He could tell she was nervous, but she nodded.

  “Before we reach the summit, we’ll have to do some scrambling—climbing with your hands. The dogs might need a little help. I’ll be right there to talk you through it.”

  She stood. “I’m ready.”

  It meant a lot to him that she trusted him enough to keep going.

  “Hey, I’m with one of the world’s greatest mountain climbers. I have nothing to be afraid of, right?”

  Kenzie reached the summit of Mt. Sneffels, Gizmo at her side, just after two in the afternoon. “I did it! I can’t believe I did it!”

  That last part had been physically tough and more than a little scary, but Harrison had been right behind her, guiding her all the way.

  Harrison grinned down at her from behind his mirrored sunglasses, Gabby beside him. “I knew you could handle it.”

  A handful of people, other climbers, sat around on the small summit, eating, hydrating, taking photographs. Some of them smiled and waved. Others stared.

  “That’s Harrison Conrad.”

  “The dude is a badass.”

  Kenzie barely heard them, her attention on the amazing view. High peaks dotted with snow reached for the sky in every direction. There were lakes and valleys below, rivers and streams, meadows and forest. It took her breath away.

  “It’s beautiful, truly, Harrison.”

  He came up beside her, took her hand. “Everest is more than twice this high in elevation. You stand there on the summit, freezing your ass off and looking down on the entire world. You can feel eternity up there.”

  “How about here?” She knew this posed no challenge for him.

  “Here, too. These mountains were formed eighty million years ago. It’s hard to wrap your mind around that. I’m going to find the summit registry.”

  While he did that, she took out her cellphone and took photos, wanting to remember this place. It was her first fourteener with Harrison, after all.

  “Hey, come sit over here,” Harrison called to her. “You need to sign the registry.”

  She put her phone away, carefully negotiating her way across the jumble of rock that was the mountain’s highest point. “What’s that?”

  “All the major peaks in Colorado have registries. When you make it to the top, you write in your name, the date, and a little bit about your climbing party.”

  She sat on a rounded stone beside him. “Okay.”

  He handed her a steel canister. “Open it up. The registry’s inside.”

  She unscrewed the top and tipped it into her palm. Out came a tattered, rolled-up paper scroll of sorts and a small velvet box. “I wonder what that is.”

  “Open it.”

  Something in the tone of his voice drew her gaze to his. “Harrison?”

  “Go on.”

  She lifted back the top—and stared. “Oh!”

  A glittering oval diamond nestled in white gold stared back at her.

  She looked up, stunned, to find Harrison on one knee.

  “There are probably a lot of reasons you shouldn’t marry me. I go away for long periods of time. My job is really dangerous. I do my best to be safe, but you know only too well that anything can happen.”

  “Dude, you’re not really selling it,” a man’s voice said.

  Kenzie hadn’t realized that everyone else on the summit had stopped what they were doing to watch and listen—and film this with their cellphones.

  Harrison ignored the guy. “But I promise you that I’ll always do everything I can to get home to you. You are my highest height, Kenzie. Without you, nothing I’ve done and nothing I will ever do even matters.”

  Tears blurred her vision, happiness giving her heart wings. “Of course, I’ll marry you. Did you even think for a moment I might say no?”

  As he slid the ring onto her finger, the summit of Mt. Sneffels at 14,150 feet above sea level, exploded into cheers.

  Ten months later

  Kenzie sat in the Ops Room with the others, waiting for her phone to ring, Gizmo and Gabby napping near her feet. For days now, she’d barely been able to breathe. Harrison was pushing for the last summit today and far beyond the ability of anyone to help him should something go wrong.

  She’d told herself to get used to this—the helplessness, the anxiety. This wasn’t the only time in her life when she’d be waiting and wondering whether her husband was still alive. She’d signed on for this when she’d fallen in love with him. But that didn’t make the waiting or the worrying any easier.

  “This is the hardest part,” said Joanie, Bruce’s widow.

  When she’d heard what Harrison was attempting and why he was doing it, she’d contacted Kenzie and the two had become good friends. She’d flown all the way from Perth with her two sons, Richard and James, to be here with Kenzie. The boys were outside, playing on one of Hawke’s fire engines under Brandon Silver’s supervision.

  Laurie, Harrison’s mother, glanced at her watch again. “I used to send him away with his father in a bush plane and then spend the entire summer wondering whether I’d see him again.”

  “That would be hard for a mum,” Joanie said.

  Harrison and his mother had mended their fences, and she’d come to be a support for Kenzie—and to get to know her new daughter-in-law.

  Everyone else in the Ops Room was ready for a celebration. Team members stood around, talking and joking, checking gear. Fruit and veggie trays sat on the meeting table with several pizzas, while soda and beer chilled in whiskey barrels of ice. There were bottles of champagne in the fridge, too, ready to be opened at the big moment when Harrison called from the summit of Lhotse.

  He’d summited Nuptse three days ago and Everest yesterday, calling Kenzie from their summits to let her know he was okay and to tell her he loved her. He had sounded strong and in good spirits, which had been a relief. But the moment she’d hung up the phone, Kenzie had gone back to worrying.

  His plan had been to push himself through the night, resting below the Death Zone of 26,000 feet only long enough to eat and recover before moving on again. He’d been expected to summit Lhotse a few hours ago.

  If he succeeded—and he was so close—he’d become the first man in history to climb all three 8000-meter peaks alone and the first to do it in only five days. But if anything went wrong…

  Nothing could go wrong.

  Megs sat at the Ops desk, listening in to one of the adventure climbing sites, just as they’d done the day when Bruce and the Stenger twins had been killed. Every once in a while, a climbing party coming back to Base Camp would say they’d passed him on their way down or spotted him through binoculars somewhere in the distance. But for a while now, there’d been nothing but silence.

  Kenzie willed herself to eat a slice of pizza and some fruit, doing her best to laugh and smile with the others, time seeming to creep by.

  There came a burst of static.

  A woman’s voice came over the Internet. “We’ve got a storm front moving in.”

  Kenzie’s pulse took off, the Ops Room growing quiet as they listened to the rest of the weather report.

  Joanie reached over, squeezed Kenzie’s hand. “He’ll be off the summit by then, love. Bruce always told me Conrad was the brains of the operation.”

  Kenzie hoped what Joanie said was true. Harrison had promised to come home and make a baby with her. She would hold him to that promise.

  Conrad put one foot in front of the other, his fingers aching from cold, his body near its limits. He’d spent more time in the Death Zone on this expedition than ever before, and even with supplemental oxygen, he could feel its effect on min
d and body.

  One step. Breathe. Another step. Breathe.

  He couldn’t sit. He couldn’t rest. If he did, he’d become just another frozen corpse littering the mountainside.

  The summit wasn’t far now. He would have been there a few hours ago if he hadn’t stopped to render medical aid to a German climber who had developed high-altitude pulmonary edema. He’d given the man an injection of Nifedipine out of his own pack and helped his party get him down to a lower elevation.

  Now, the summit was within sight.

  Step. Breathe. Step. Breathe.

  The sensation in his body went beyond fatigue, beyond cold, beyond pain. Every moment brought pure, distilled agony, his mind screaming at him to stop.

  Step. Breathe. Step. Breathe.

  Kenzie.

  He’d promised her he’d come home. He’d promised her a baby. What the hell was he doing here? He ought to be home with her. He could turn around right now and head back to camp, make a meal, and sleep.

  But Bruce had wanted this.

  Harrison couldn’t give up now. He was close, so close.

  Step. Breathe. Step. Breathe.

  Pain became an aching numbness as he shut out any thought of giving up.

  Step. Breathe. Step. Breathe.

  He willed himself onward, willed his mind to focus, exhaustion and extreme altitude a threat to mental clarity. Climbing without fixed ropes or a belay meant that one slip could mean death.

  Step. Breathe. Step. Breathe.

  Another step and another and another, and, at last, he was there.

  It took a moment for that fact to penetrate his pain and exhaustion. When it did, adrenaline surged through him, boosting his energy. He turned, glanced back at the summit of Everest, where he’d been just yesterday, then looked down at the Khumbu Valley below. He was there. He’d made it.

  A torrent of emotion washed through him, making his throat go tight. He ripped off the oxygen mask, took the sat phone out of his pocket, and called Kenzie, not wanting her to worry. “I made it. I’m here on the summit of Lhotse, and I’m fine.”

  In the background, he thought he heard pandemonium—cheers, shouts, Team members calling his name.

  “Oh, thank God!” She sounded like she was in tears. “Congratulations. I’m so proud of you. We all are. Now come home to me. There’s a storm headed your way.”

  “I see it. I’ll be on my way back down in a minute.” He glanced at the approaching clouds. “Tell the Team and my mom hi. And tell Joanie …”

  Conrad’s throat went tight. “Tell her I got it for him.”

  “I will. Everyone sends their congratulations. I love you. Be safe.”

  “I promise. I love you, too.” He ended the call, tucked the phone back into his pocket, energized by the sound of her voice.

  He reached into another pocket, took out a small steel cylinder. Inside, was the magazine cover of him and Bruce together on the summit of Everest. He pushed the cylinder deep into the ice and snow, stomping on it with his boot, driving it deep.

  Tears filled his eyes, a choked sob rising from his chest. “We got it, Bruce. Do you here that, buddy? We got it.”

  He remained just a moment longer, letting peace sink into his chest. Then he put on his oxygen, turned, and began the long descent back to camp.

  Conrad stopped in at the Tengboche Monastery on his way back to Kathmandu to pay his respects. It was strange to see the place again, to hear the chanted prayers, smell the incense. The days when he’d taken refuge here seemed so distant now.

  The Lama received him, shared a meal and tea with him, listening to his account of the climb. “You are not the same man who left here all these months ago.”

  “No.” Conrad couldn’t help but smile. He pulled a photo of Kenzie out of his jacket. “She’s the reason. My wife, Kenzie.”

  “I am happy for you.”

  “May I ask you a favor?”

  “Of course.”

  “I have a friend at home whose father came from Tibet. Her ancestors were monks here long ago. I would like to take something back for her—a scarf perhaps, a word or blessing from you. It would mean so much to her.”

  The old man nodded, chuckling. “What is that song?”

  At that, the Lama began singing. “It’s a small world after all…”

  It was either the most sublime or the craziest moment of Conrad’s life.

  Ten days later

  Kenzie drove with Laurie and Joanie and her boys to DIA to welcome Conrad home. The media were there in force, thronging around International Arrivals. He was getting a hero’s welcome, whether he wanted one or not.

  God, she couldn’t wait to see him, to hold him in her arms again.

  On the screen above, it said his flight had landed ten minutes ago. He had a lot of gear, and he had to get through customs, so it would probably take a while.

  She, Laurie, and Joanie sat and talked quietly, keeping clear of the reporters, while the two boys pretended to be airplanes.

  “There he is!” Laurie pointed.

  Kenzie looked up, hear heart swelling at the sight of him.

  He stepped out of customs, pushing a cart piled high with duffel bags. Reporters and TV cameras crowded around him, everyone asking questions at once.

  “How does it feel to be the first man in history to conquer all three peaks alone and in only five days?”

  “After this, what’s next?”

  “Which peak posed the greatest challenge?”

  Kenzie couldn’t hold herself back. She ran into his arms, pressed her face into his chest, fighting tears. “I’m so glad you’re home.”

  He held her tight, kissed her, ignoring the reporters. “God, I missed you.”

  “Your mom, Joanie, and her boys are here, too.”

  “Harrison!” Laurie hurried over.

  “Hey, Mom.”

  Kenzie stepped aside, making room so Laurie and Joanie could welcome him home, the two of them hugging him tight.

  Joanie blinked back tears. “He loved you like a brother.”

  Harrison kissed Joanie on the cheek. “I loved him, too.”

  Harrison answered a few questions from reporters before they headed out to the minivan Kenzie had rented to transport both people and gear.

  He looked up at the Rockies. “I can’t wait to get home.”

  Kenzie had to warn him. “The town has gone crazy over this, so be ready. They want to have a reception for you at Knockers tomorrow. They’re talking about naming a street after you.”

  “What?” He grinned, shook his head. “That’s bananas.”

  They drove out of Denver and toward Scarlet Springs, the boys asking Harrison a thousand different questions, including the heartbreaking, “Did you see our dad?”

  “No, I didn’t see him, but I did feel him up there.”

  They were a couple miles outside of Scarlet when they saw their first sign.

  Welcome home, Conrad, you badass!

  It wasn’t the only one. As mountain residents often did in the wake of big events, people had spray painted messages onto old boards, squares of plywood, or anything else they had lying around.

  It warmed Kenzie’s heart to see how the words touched Harrison.

  Just outside Scarlet, they came to the town limits.

  Scarlet Springs Town Limit, Pop. 1,458, Elevation 8,936.

  But the sign had changed. Someone had tacked on a two-by-four.

  Home of Harrison Conrad.

  “Good grief.” He shook his head again, but there was a smile on his face.

  “You must be tired,” Laurie said. “We should let you catch up on sleep.”

  Harrison nodded. “Pretty beat, yeah.”

  Kenzie dropped Laurie, Joanie, and the boys off at the Forest Creek Inn and headed home. “The dogs are going to go crazy when they see you.”

  He grinned. “I can’t wait.”

  He stepped through the front door, arms loaded, to a welcoming committee that whined and licked an
d wagged tails and jumped on him. “Hey, Gabby, girl. God, I missed you. You, too, Gizmo. Hey, Prince, you loverboy. Yes, good doggies!”

  Kenzie helped him carry his stuff inside, finally alone with her husband. “Do you want anything to eat before you go to sleep?”

  He had to be seriously jet-lagged, not to mention depleted from the climb. He reached for her, drew her against him. “I want you.”

  “You have energy for that?”

  “Are you kidding? I haven’t seen you in two months. Besides, I promised you a baby, didn’t I?”

  Those words put a flutter in her belly. “Yes.”

  They went upstairs to the bedroom and undressed each other, Kenzie running her hands over the skin of his chest, his body precious to her. “You’ve lost weight.”

  “Up there, you can’t eat enough to keep up.” He palmed her breasts, teasing her nipples. “You’re just as beautiful as I remember.”

  He made sweet, slow love to her, telling her how much he’d missed her with every touch, every kiss, every caress.

  Afterward, he held her close. “On the last stretch of the climb on Lhotse, I kept wondering what the hell I was doing up there, why I wasn’t home with you. You matter more to me than summits, Kenzie. I won’t do anything that extreme or risky again.”

  “I don’t know about that.” Kenzie ran a hand over the muscles on his belly. “Your next adventure is pretty risky.”

  His brow furrowed. “What adventure?”

  She tilted her head back, smiled up at him. “Parenthood.”

  Thanks for reading Holding On. I hope you enjoyed Harrison and Kenzie’s story. Follow me on Facebook or on Twitter @Pamela_Clare. Join the Scarlet Springs Readers Group on Facebook to be a part of a never-ending conversation with other Scarlet Springs fans and get inside information on the series and on life in Colorado’s mountains. You can also sign up to be added to my mailing list at my website to keep up to date on all my releases and to be a part of special newsletter giveaways.