Theslack in my rope disappears and stretches tight as from the ground below,Vinceuses his body weight to hold my body weight.Itkeeps me from falling even whileI’mnot holding on.Iset my feet against the cliff face and shake out my hands.
“Doingokay?”Jaceasks.
Inod and smile asIlook around, taking in my view.I’mon the side of a freaking mountain!Thisis the lifeIhave always dreamed of but never thoughtIwould get.Jaceis looking at me like he’s never before been more proud of a human.Ilook back likeI’venever before been so in love becauseIhaven’t.Noteven yesterday.Everyday,Ilove this man more thanIdid the day before.Ican’t imagine how it’s going to be whenI’mninety and he’s ninety-one.
“Thankyou,”Isay, hoping all thatI’mfeeling comes out in those two words.Byhis return smile,I’mguessing it did.
Icall back down toVince, “Climbing!”
“Climbon!” he shouts up, andIfeel my own weight being transferred back to me.
AsI’msearching for my next handhold,IaskJace, “Sodid you ever scale the side of a building likeEthanHuntclimbed that one inDubaiinMissionImpossible:GhostProtocol?”
“Youknow that my job isn’t like theMission:Impossiblemovies.”
Ichuckle, becauseI’llnever tire of bringing up spy movies withJace.Orwhistling, humming, or singing secret agent songs.
Aftera beat,Jaceadds, “Butyeah,Idid.Itwasn’t with suction cups, though.Itwas a stone building andIscaled it pretty much like we are scaling this.”
Myfoot nearly slips. “Forreal?”Iglance over and see his nod.Idoubt this man will ever cease to blow my mind.
Bythe time we near the top, every muscle in my body aches— the ones in my fingers, especially— butIam on a high unlike anythingIhave ever done before andIcan’t stop grinning.Jacewarned me that rounding the cliff to the top is one of the hardest parts, soI’vetried to save some energy for it.Butreally, rock climbing ishard, and there’s not a lot of energy that can be saved.
Weboth connect top ropes to the bolts forVinceandTreytonto climb.ThenJacecrests the cliff first so he can be at the top with a hand to help me asIcrest it.Buthe knows it’s important to me thatIdo it myself, so he lets me struggle without stepping in.Really, seeing his encouraging face and knowing thatI’vegot a hand to help me if needed is more than enough.
Hewas right— cresting the topisthe hardest, andIam grasping at every handhold on the ground thatIcan get while trying to figure out how to find footholds when it feels like my knees need to be able to bend the opposite direction to do it.
Byusing the last bit of arm strength thatI’vegot,Imanage to scramble up onto the top of the cliff and immediately roll onto my back, exhausted, breathing heavily, and feeling the most elated sense of accomplishmentI’veever felt.Whenwe first started indoor climbing a few months ago, there was no wayIcould’ve come close to making it up this high of a climb.I’vegained so much strength since then.Jaceplops down on his back next to me, and we both just stare at the clouds as we catch our breaths.
“Wedid it,”Isay. “Welead-climbed outdoors.Upa sheer cliff face.”
“Wedid.”Jacesounds just as happy asIam.
“Weare pretty great together, aren’t we?”
“Yes, we are.”
Afew moments later, a shadow falls over me, andIraise an arm that is so tired it’s almost shaking to shield my eyes from the sun to see who it is. “Livi?”Igrab her proffered hand. “Whatare you doing here?”
Shepulls me to stand asJace’sbrother,Blake, pulls him up.ThenInoticeCharlie,Jace’smom, more of his brothers, my parents, and my sisters and their husbands. “Iseveryone here?”
“EveryonebutLedger,”Milessays. “Hehad to make a last-minute trip toCairoand is on a plane right now.”
“Andthere’s no cell service up here,”Emersonadds, “so we can’t video chat him.”
“Imean, it’s cool thatIclimbed this cliff and all, but you can’t all have come just to see that.Whyare you here?”
Noone says anything— they’re just smiling.CharlieandLiviare at either end of the group, and both have their cell phone cameras up, looking like they’re either taking pictures or filming.Iturn toJaceto see if he knows what’s going on, and as soon asIdo, he drops to one knee.
Igasp, and even though my arms are exhausted, my hands still fly to my face andIpress my fingers against my lips.
“MackenzieMacNeil, you’re everythingInever knewIneeded.Mylife is infinitely better because of you, andIam better because of you.Youbring out the best in everything.”
Acouple of tears escape my eyes and roll down my cheeks, wetting my fingers, andIdon’t even care.Ijust climbed a mountain.I’veheard that the payoff of reaching the top of your target climb makes it all worthwhile, butInever guessed it would be like this.
“You’reright— wearepretty great together.”Jacereaches into his pocket, pulls out a ring box, and opens it.Thering catches the afternoon sun and shines brightly. “Whatdo you say to making it a permanent, official thing?”
Ifall to my knees, too, and gaze into the eyes of this suave, confident spy who has become my thoughtful, protective boyfriend and say, “I’dsay that’s the best planI’veever heard.”Becausethere is nothingI’dlove more than to be able to call him my fiancé, and later, my husband.
