“I’ll go in your place,” she announced, leaning conspiratorially close. Her parents were still in bed at the other end of the house.
“You will not,” Ethan managed to say through dry lips. He closed his eyes and moaned. “God, do I feel awful.”
“I’m going, Ethan. Web has been looking forward to this—I heard him talking. There’s no reason in the world why he has to either cancel or go alone.”
“For Pete’s sake, Marni, don’t be absurd.”
“There’s nothing absurd about my going mountain climbing.”
“With Web there is. You’ll slow him down.”
“I won’t. I’ve got more energy than you do even when you’re well. I’ve got youth on my side.”
“Exactly. And you think Web’s going towantyou along? You’re seventeen and absolutely drooling for him. Come on, sweetheart. Be realistic. We both know why you want to go, and it’s got nothing to do with the clean, fresh air.” He rolled to his side, tucked his knees up and moaned again.
Marni knew he was indulgent when it came to her attraction for Web. He humored her, never quite taking her seriously. So, she mused, fair was fair … “Okay, then. I’ll go over to his place and explain that you can’t go.”
“Call him.”
She was already on her feet. “I’ll go over.He canbe the one to make the decision.” And she left.
Web was more than surprised to find Marni on his doorstep at the very moment Ethan should have been. He was also slightly wary. “You’re trying to trick me into something, Marni Lange,” he accused, with only a half smile to take the edge off his voice.
“I’m not, Web. I like the outdoors, and I’ve climbed mountains before.”
“When?” he shot back.
“When I was at camp.”
“How long ago?”
“Four … five years.”
“Ahhh. Those must have been quite some mountains you twelve-year-old girls climbed.”
“They were mountains, no less than the one you and Ethan were planning to climb.”
“Hmmph…. Do your parents know you’re here?”
“What’s that got to do with anything?”
“Do they know?”
“They know I won’t be home till late.” She paused, then at Web’s arched brow added more sheepishly, “I told them I was driving with a couple of friends down to Old Orchard. They won’t worry. I’m a big girl.”
“That’s right,” he said, very slowly dropping his gaze along the lines of her body. It was the first time he’d looked at her that way, and Marni felt a ripple of excitement surge through her because there was a special spark that was never in his eyes when Ethan was around. It was the spark that kept her spirits up when he went on to drawl, “You’re a big girl, all right. Seventeen years old.”
When she would have argued—like the seventeen-year-old she was—she controlled herself. “My age doesn’t have anything to do with my coming today or not,” she said with what she hoped was quiet reserve. “I’d really like to go mountain climbing, and since you’d planned to do it anyway, I didn’t see any harm in asking to join you. Ethan would have been here if he hadn’t been sick.” She turned and took a step away from his door. “Then again, maybe you’d rather wait till he’s better.”
She was halfway down the hall when he called her back, and she was careful to look properly subdued when he grabbed his things from just inside the door, shut it behind him, then collared her with his hand and propelled them both off.
It was the most beautiful day Marni had ever spent. Web drove her car—he smilingly claimed that he didn’t trust her experience, or lack of it, at the wheel—and they reached the appointed mountain by ten. It wasn’t a huge mountain, though it was indeed higher and steeper than any Marni had ever climbed. She held her own, though, taking Web’s offered hand over tough spots for the sake of the delicious contact more than physical necessity.
The day had started out chilly but warmed as they went, and they slowly peeled off layers of clothing and stuffed them in their backpacks. By the time they stopped for lunch, Marni was grateful for the rest. She’d brought along the food Cook had packed for Ethan and had made one addition of her own—a bottle of wine pilfered quite remorselessly from the huge stock in the Langes’ cellar.
“Nice touch,” Web mused, skillfully uncorking the wine and pouring them each a paper cup full. “Maybe not too wise, though. A little of this and we’re apt to have a tough time of it on the way back down.”
“There’s beer if you prefer,” Marni pointed out gently. “Ethan had it already chilled, so evidently he wasn’t worried about its effects.”
