“TOGETHER,” SAID MICHAEL, WATCHING THE group struggle to make it across the Wild Woozy without falling off the cables. “You have to work together or you’ll never make it.”
Thankfully, the obstacle was only about a foot or so off the ground because otherwise they’d be spending the day at Urgent Care. As it was, not a single one of the pairs had successfully made it across. It was a simple event, really. Two cables were fastened to one tree and then stretched like tightrope wires to two other trees, forming a V.
In the beginning, the pairs held hands to help each other balance and shuffled along their individual cables, but as the cables stretched farther apart, they had to rely on each other for support. In order to make it across successfully, by the end of the obstacle each person needed to be stretched out straight to meet the other in kind of a human teepee. Add in the differences in height and it became deceptively difficult. Power struggles and personality conflicts were multipliers.
They were practicing with the challenge less than a foot off the ground but during the obstacle course part of the competition, they’d be clipped into harnesses and the event would be thirty feet in the air. Every couple had to get across the Wild Woozy before the team could move forward, which meant the team was only as strong as the weakest link. Literally. And right now that link was Ethan.
Ethan had spent the morning nitpicking Becca’s performance and had tried and failed to coach his colleague, Natalie, who was working with Gabe, Amanda’s brother. Instead of pointing out that he was about a thousand times more qualified to get someone past a physical obstacle than Ethan, Gabe made a joke out of it. He and Natalie had come closer than any of the other couples to making it across. Mr. Bransford’s blonde bombshell of a wife had assets that worked against them and she deferred so completely to him, she had trouble holding her own. It made it difficult for them on multiple accounts.
But Ethan and Amanda were by far the worst. It should be easy for her. Michael had seen her manage much more difficult moves, but she couldn’t seem to do anything without her partner criticizing her. She leaned too far or not far enough, all while Ethan barely bent his body to meet her. They hadn’t even made it past the halfway point on the event and he could tell she was getting frustrated. Hell, he was frustrated for her. Ethan was a controlling disaster. Michael had enough of watching him pick at Amanda, and by their expressions, her siblings had too.
“Take a break,” he said when Amanda slipped off the cables for the sixth or seventh time.
He waited for her to grab her water bottle and take a drink before he walked over to her. Her normally beautiful, hazel eyes looked pinched around the edges and he hated Ethan for making her feel like that.
“Can you coach her?” asked Ethan, inserting himself between them before Michael had a chance to speak. “I’m not getting anywhere.”
“Let’s try a different partner.” He saw her glance around for her brother. When she turned back to face him, he held his hand out for hers. “Come on,” he said, ignoring the crackle of energy he felt when her fingers met his. “Let’s show them how it’s done.”
Leading her to the narrow end of the obstacle, he held her hand while she stepped gracefully onto her wire.
“Ready for me?” he asked, giving her a wink. She smiled back and something warm filled his chest. He really liked making Amanda smile. It might be his new favorite thing.
With less grace than her, he stepped up onto his wire. They paused for a moment to get their balance and then she held out her other hand for him to take. It was just a stupid obstacle. It shouldn’t mean anything. It didn’t mean anything. But he loved that she was so willing to make the first move. Slowly, they made their way down the cables, holding hands and walking sideways until he felt her starting to put some pressure against his palms. She was shorter than him. It made sense that she’d need to lean farther sooner.
Pausing again, he shifted his hands in hers so their palms were about chest height, fingertips laced together. She had a climber’s hands, delicate fingers but with a strong grip the people around her could depend on. They were the kind of hands that could comfort a sick friend, cradle a child, or hold up the world. And he was turning into a chick again. He needed to tighten up before he embarrassed himself in front of the client.
“Slow and steady to the end,” he said, catching her gaze and holding it.
Staring into her clear eyes, he took a sideways step and then another one, letting the weight of his body press against the resistance of hers. He could see it in her eyes when she felt unstable and they’d stop for a fraction of a second to catch their balance. Only their hands were touching, but for some reason the contact felt more intimate. It was hard to hide from someone—from her—when he was staring in her eyes. He let his smile deepen, and she met him with one of her own.
The warmth was just enough to knock him off balance. He gripped her fingers tighter, fighting to stay on his wire, and watched her eyes go wide.
“Got it?” she asked, barely loud enough for him to hear.
“Got it.”
They took a handful of small steps until her body was stretched out in a long, graceful line, leaning toward him. He leaned too but his height meant his body wasn’t as straight as hers. The wires were at least eight feet apart and if either of them lost their nerve or upset the balance, they’d both fall. Keeping their gazes locked on each other, they inched the last few feet to the end of the cables. Arching an eyebrow, he asked the question without speaking, and she answered with a smile and a nod. Together, they let go of one hand so they could both tap their respective trees before jumping the short distance to the ground.
He’d been so caught up in Amanda, in losing himself in her eyes, it wasn’t until the rest of the group started to cheer that he realized they were still there.
“She was perfect with me.” He couldn’t resist the dig at Ethan, but he kept his gaze locked on Amanda and saw the way her skin flushed at his compliment.
Behind him, he heard the other man splutter. He ought to know better. Poking at the client was no way to bolster his business.
“Let’s give it another try. Becca and Ben, you’re up. Amanda, why don’t you stay on your sister’s side and talk her through it?”
Becca Southerland was afraid of heights. It didn’t matter while the obstacle was a foot off the ground, but things could go south fast when they were thirty feet in the air. Michael wanted her to be completely solid on every obstacle before they added the height variable. Working with her sister could help with that. It would also keep Amanda away from Ethan, which made it an added perk in his book.
“Why don’t you guys practice together on the ground?” he said, urging the Bransfords to a flat spot clear of the obstacle. “Mr. Bransford, start out standing up straight and letting your wife get used to leaning into you then reverse it, and you can practice leaning into her.” The couple was close enough in height that it should work. Mrs. Bransford was so used to leaning against her husband and letting him be the strong one; she was having a hard time holding him up.
Michael saw Ethan inching closer to Becca and her partner. Before the other man could reach them and start spewing bad advice, Michael closed the distance between them and took up his spot behind Ben and across from Amanda. She kept up a stream of encouragement for her sister and Becca was surprisingly steady. They were more than halfway across the event and doing much better than any previous attempt.
“That’s it,” said Michael. “You’re doing great. Don’t look down. Keep looking into each other’s eyes so you can see when your partner starts to get shaky.” They made it almost to the trees before they finally slipped off the rope, close enough for it to feel more like a victory than a failure. “Excellent.” He smiled at Becca and winked at her sister beaming beside her, obviously as proud as if she’d been the one on the wires. “Gabe and Natalie, you’re up.”
Amanda stayed on her brother’s side, interspersing encouragement with smart-ass wisecracks. It reminded him of the way his sisters treated him and made him miss them a little bit. Further evidence he was turning into a chick.
Gabe and Natalie made it the whole way across the obstacle and when they touched the trees, the rest of the group cheered. For the first time, they looked and felt like a team, pulling together and supporting each other. Michael had known from the beginning they’d eventually coalesce, but it was reassuring to see it actually begin to happen.
