“How’s Bree?” he asked.

“I don’t know.” River shook her head. “I’m still waiting for them to come out and tell me.”

When they’d started all this, River had never truly considered what would happen if things went wrong. Now, with the Old Man’s summit looming over her, reminding her of her smallness, her insignificance in comparison, River felt her heart shrinking in her chest.

Jessie and Bree were her responsibility.

Closing her eyes, River tried to take a deep, steadying breath. She couldn’t stay there any longer, so River walked to the edge of camp, staring out into the panoramic scenery and for once not appreciating the view.

A heavy arm wrapped across River’s collarbone, drawing her back into a strong form.

“I dated this guy before coming here,” River murmured. “He told me that I was driven to the point of recklessness. Both professionally and in my own personal life.”

“What did you tell him?”

“To kiss my ass. I am who I am, and I wasn’t going to apologize or change for anyone.”

Warm breath against her temple was the only thing warm about her anymore. “Sounds like he didn’t get you at all.”

River rested her chin on his arm. “For a long time, I didn’t think anyone got me. But Bree and Jessie have been the closest. I never thought twice before pitching this project to them. And they never thought twice before saying yes. I barely got the words out before they agreed to be a part of it. And now…”

Trailing off, River swallowed hard.

“Things happen on climbs,” Easton told her, voice quiet as the wind died down to a whisper. As if the Old Man himself were listening. “You can’t plan it, and you can’t avoid it. You can only survive it.”

“Which is why we brought you.” Turning her head, she looked up at him. “So far, you haven’t let any of us eat it, no matter what we’ve thrown at you.”

“And you won’t now, not if I can help it,” he told her firmly. “Which is why I need your help.”

“Uh-oh.” River dug the heel of her palm into her tight neck muscles. “As reassuring voices go, that one isn’t making the grade.”

Dropping his arm to wrap around her waist, Easton drew her in closer to him. “I’m calling the climb as over, River. Jessie’s a midlevel climber at best, and he’s spooked from this. Bree’s accident got in his head. That happens sometimes. Not his fault. He did his best, but Jessie’s climb is done. He needs off this mountain.”

There wasn’t anything River could do to argue that.

“And Bree?”

“Ben thinks two broken ribs. Maybe more. She’s tough, but that kind of pain up here…” Grimacing, he glanced at Bree’s tent, where Ben was still tending to her. “You’re going to need to talk to her. She’s insisting on summiting and won’t listen to us. She doesn’t want to let you down.”

“You think she’ll listen to me?” River wasn’t so sure.

“I think those two are as loyal to you as they are to this film. Jessie’s going to go where we point him for now, but Bree’s determined to go up. If she falls and one of those ribs punctures a lung, she’ll be in trouble.”

When Easton hugged her waist tighter, River accepted his silent offer of comfort. Allowing herself to rest her weight against his, River closed her eyes. She wouldn’t say it, because no movie would ever be worth more than her friends were to her. But to come so far, with the summit so close she could almost taste it…

“I’m sorry. I know how important this was to you.”

River turned in his arms, shaking her head. “Not as important as they are. I’ll talk to Bree.”

The soft pressure of his mouth to her own was exactly what River needed. Then she followed Easton back to the others.

As soon as River ducked into the tent, Bree let out a sigh of relief. “Good, you’re here. River, talk to them. These two are convinced we have to go back down. Tell them I’m fine. A couple of bruised ribs—”

“They’re probably broken,” Ben spoke up, earning himself an annoyed expression from Bree.

“A couple of bruised ribs never stopped me before,” Bree continued, ignoring him. “I’ve had worse on a climbing wall.”

Settling down at Bree’s side, River took her hand. “It’s not only your ribs, Bree. Jessie’s exhausted. It’s not safe for him to keep going.”

Exhausted was nicer than saying it the other way: his nerves were shot. Jessie shot her a grateful look, and River nodded with an understanding smile.

“We were close, okay?” River said. “We got enough footage, and it’ll be good enough.”

Bree didn’t answer for a long time. “Then it’s done.”

Heart in her throat, River nodded. “Yeah. It’s done. We tried.”

“No.” Bree shook her head. “One of us can get up there. You, River. You’ve been outclimbing everyone this whole trip. You look like you could run circles around the rest of us. There’s absolutely no reason you shouldn’t summit.”

“There’s two great reasons, you and Jessie.” River added softly, “And, Bree, I’m tired too.”

“But you don’t really want to go down. If you tell me, right here, right now, that you want to go down, I’ll shut up. But don’t lie to me, River. You know I’ll believe you, so don’t lie.”

River opened her mouth…then she shut it again. Outside the tent, the summit hung above them. A visceral need to reach the top had her even now. Saying she didn’t want to summit would be an untruth of epic proportions.

Bree knew River’s silence for exactly what it was. “I’ll go down with Jessie if you go up. And you take the handheld. Otherwise, I’m staying right here, and when I feel better, I’m crawling up there myself.”

River wouldn’t look at Easton, because she could already feel his eyes boring into the back of her head. This was not what he wanted. This was not why he’d asked her to come talk to Bree. But right now, this wasn’t about him or her. It was about all of them.

Finally, River nodded. “I’ll summit. But you and Jessie are leaving.”

Squeezing her hand, Bree finally relaxed back on the bedding, sucking in a deep breath of oxygen.

“Deal.”

Chapter 15

   River was going to summit.

There was no fighting her when that stubborn look was in her eyes. Which meant Easton’s options were limited to knocking her over the head and dragging her forcibly down the mountain or abandoning her to do it alone. Asking Ben to descend alone with both Bree and Jessie wasn’t even a possibility. It would take both of them to help the pair through the Veil.