Page 54 of Italy and Forever

He arrived at Kira’s anchor point efficiently and dangled, clipping the grips back onto his harness, both hands now free to manage his equipment. Ginny wasn’t sure if it was reassuring to see he was firmly attached to the rope or even more terrifying that he wasn’t holding on. With the strap slung over his head, he peered at his camera, then lifted it to his eye – taking a test shot, Ginny guessed.

A moment later, the lens was pointed at her and, although she couldn’t see or hear at this distance, she felt the moment the shutter clicked, capturing what must have been a look of horror on her face. He lowered the camera and grinned at her, giving her a wave as he swung on the rope a little, on purpose she was sure.

Despite the possible questions it would raise with their audience, there was only one way Ginny could respond to that. She lifted her middle finger.

‘Good to see you’ve learned how to deal with the team at Great Heart,’ Willard said with a chuckle. ‘Shall I belay you?’

She shook her head. ‘Someone else can go first. Mattia!’ She gave Kira’s boyfriend a firm nudge.

‘Hey!’

She found herself at a loose end as the first members of the group went up. Kira belayed Tash, while barking encouragement to Mattia, who was on his second attempt at the easy route where she’d set a top rope. Andreas was already most of the way up to where Rhys was perched.

Ginny could have belayed someone, Kira had thoroughly trained her, but everyone here was more skilled than she was. She might have taken photos, except Rhys was up there with his bird’s-eye view and it didn’t seem necessary, which left her with only her usual hobby: overthinking.

‘Do you feel afraid, when you go up there?’ she asked Willard.

‘Oh, yes,’ he answered immediately. ‘But the first time you do something is a special kind of fear. I can understand that the rock looks daunting, but it becomes a friend over time.’

‘A friend? That’s an odd way to describe a rock face.’

‘Why? It’s sturdy and dependable and you can trust it, when you’ve got to know it. You might find all of us at Great Heart will trust a rock before we’ll trust a person.’

‘With my dating history, I suppose I get that,’ she joked.

‘Indeed,’ Willard said softly. ‘But we’re no different, you know, Great Heart and I Do.’

She studied him, but he was carefully watching Mattia, struggling up the wall on the end of Will’s rope. ‘I’m not sure I agree,’ Ginny said. ‘You’re all sceptics and cynics whereas we stay hopeful.’

‘That’s certainly your great strength, Ginny,’ he said, making her wonder what her boss had told him about her. ‘But do you understand what an adventure it is to promise to spend your life with someone?’

She opened her mouth to insist that of course she did. She’d planned over forty weddings. She’d seen cold feet and hyperventilating grooms and fainting mothers-in-law. But for all her serious dates and earnest searching, she’d never come close to that decision herself.

She’d imagined her own wedding countless times, with a faceless groom who didn’t matter to the illusion. But visualising the process leading up to that moment? Her skin crawled.

I don’t take risks.

‘We all take marriage very seriously,’ Will continued, ‘which is why I’ve never done it myself,’ he added with a wink. ‘Isn’t that right, Andreas?’ he called out to the groom, whose feet had just touched down on the ground again. ‘Marriage is a risky adventure?’

‘Terrifying,’ Andreas confirmed without hesitation.

‘But he’s a pro with risk assessment and mitigation and he has a cool head and a determined heart. He and Sophie will have a rare kind of happiness, I think.’

‘He can certainly trust Sophie. She loves him.’

She could see from the faint blush on Andreas’s cheeks that he’d heard her. Ginny sighed, crossing her arms as a chill breeze gusted. Perhaps that was her role: creating happiness for others. She certainly couldn’t imagine the courage necessary to grow a love strong enough for the trials of getting married.

Oh dear, she really was starting to sound like the cynics of Great Heart.

‘It’s beautiful here, isn’t it?’ Will prompted, when she ran out of conversation.

Ginny nodded as she stared out over the dwarf mountain pines at the green-and-gold valley.

‘It’s more beautiful from up there.’ He gestured with his chin at the wall.

She laughed. ‘Nice try.’

‘Come on, Ginny,’ Andreas called out from where he was coiling a rope, preparing to belay Laurie. ‘You didn’t drag yourself up here for nothing and put yourself through hours of classes with Kira.’