Dean glanced around, tears spilling down his cheeks. “We did it.”
Megs drew the two of them into a group hug, their down suits, gloves, and packs making it awkward. Her voice strained, whether from the lack of oxygen or because she was on the brink of tears, he couldn’t say. “There’s no one I’d rather share this moment with than the two of you.”
“Yeah.” Mitch couldn’t agree more.
Dean cleared his throat. “I don’t know where I’d be without you two.”
They stayed on the summit for an hour, taking photos of the three of them together and the landscape below, drinking in the scenery that they knew they would likely never see again. Then they started the dangerous descent back to Camp 4.
Megs closed the journal,a bittersweet ache in her chest.
God, she missed Dean.
Kurt blinked away the sheen of tears in his eyes. “Thank you for sharing that, Mitch, and thanks for reading for us, Megs. I’m so grateful that it’s all written down. All I’ve heard about that climb is what my father told my mother. This gave me a much better idea of what it meant to him.”
Megs understood that. “I think Everest mattered more to him than any of the other eight-thousand-meter peaks, even more than K2, which was a much tougher climb.”
Kurt nodded. “My mother told me that he climbed to exorcise demons from the war. She said it was on Everest where he finally broke free. He believed that if Everest hadn’t destroyed him, nothing would.”
Mitch looked like he wanted to say something, grief in his eyes. His lips moved, but no words came out.
Megs rested her hand on Mitch’s thigh, tried to be his voice. “Regardless of the anguish he suffered as a result of the war, your father was a strong man and brave.Nothingbroke him. We loved your father, Kurt. He was our best friend.”
Kurt nodded, smiled. “Your friendship meant the world to him.”
Megs remembered the mayhem that had ensued when they’d returned from Nepal. “Reporters were waiting for us when our plane landed in Los Angeles. Remember that, Mitch? Everyone wanted to do a story on the first American woman to summit Everest. One reporter asked you and Dean why you had decided to climb with a woman.”
Mitch rolled his eyes.
“How did you answer that?” Kurt asked Mitch.
Megs answered. “Mitch said something like, ‘This woman is one of the best climbers in the world. We’re lucky she let us climb with her.’ Your father said, ‘We needed someone who would know when to stop and ask for directions.’”
Kurt grinned, making eye contact with Mitch. “Good answers.”
“Then someone asked if we felt we were too good to climb in the US, given how much time we spent abroad. I told them we didn’t feel that way at all. We were just doing our best to avoid disco.”
Kurt laughed at this. “And who can blame you?”
“The three of us already had a variety of sponsorships—gear, energy bars, clothing. We were making good money climbing right at the time when the sport exploded. Companies started signing us to do ads—and not just us. The dirtbags had been doing some pretty amazing climbing in Yosemite. By the end of the Seventies, most of us had landed lucrative advertising contracts.”
She smiled as she remembered. “Your father did commercials for running shoes, though he’d never been a runner. Baker, who’d gotten into free soloing, did ads for shaving cream. Cook did a series of ads for Chevy pickups. President Carter pardoned draft dodgers, so Gridwall was off the hook. He stumped for some electric razor. Accardo had a contract for some goofy breakfast drink. Mitch did commercials for watches.”
“How about you?” Kurt asked.
“Mostly deodorant and feminine hygiene products. ‘Do you ever worry about body odor or feeling fresh while climbing Mt. Everest? No? Neither did I.’” Megs couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of it.
Kurt laughed, too, but Mitch looked tired now.
Kurt must have noticed because he glanced at his watch and stood. “Thanks for the visit. Can I come see you again, Mitch? Would that be okay?”
Mitch nodded, held out a hand.
Kurt grasped it, placed his other hand on top of it, and said a brief prayer. “I’m so glad to see you back with us. Please call if you need anything.”
Megs stood, gave Kurt a hug. “Thanks for stopping by. Come again soon.”
Kurt closed the door behind him.
