Climbing Fear (CoalCliff Stud, #1)

by Leisl Leighton

  ‘What?’

  The shock on her face was priceless, making his smile widen. ‘But we don’t have to be on the move much at all. I can easily move my base of operations here and when I do get back to filming, it won’t be like before. Maybe we can even do a documentary on the kids we’re helping, that kind of thing. I can’t run the business Luke and I had the exact way we did, but I can run it the way that suits me and my new family.’

  ‘Reid! You would do that for me?’

  ‘Absolutely. In a heartbeat. But it’s not just for you. It’s for me and in Luke’s memory too.’

  ‘I love you.’

  ‘I love you too.’

  He pulled her closer, cupped her face in his hands, even though the pull on his injured shoulder made him grimace. When she went to protest, he held her to him, shook his head. ‘The pain doesn’t matter. All that matters is you and the love I feel for you and Tilly. I want you in my life. I always have.’ He let out a little sound like a chuckle. ‘That sentence at the end of Luke’s letter, about me doing the thing I always should have done, that was about you. About me telling you how I felt, how things had never changed. I was never going to because you were with Andrew, but Luke was always so certain he was wrong for you and that you’d leave him one day and then I’d get my chance. He wanted me to take it. That’s what he was saying.’ He pressed his lips against hers, the gesture so soft, she barely felt it. ‘And I’m going to take it. I’m going to take it and never let go, even if it means facing every fear I ever had to keep you. I will climb that wall, I will jump off the cliff, I will fight knife wielding arseholes and go up against ex-parents-in-laws to be with you and be a father to Tilly. Luke said I was strong and for a while I doubted it, but having this with you, being back here again, I realised that I am exactly as he saw me, except for one thing. I will never be as strong alone as I am with you next to me.’

  ‘Reid.’

  ‘Marry me. Stay with me forever.’

  ‘Yes! Of course I will.’

  Their lips met again in a rush, and she opened to him as he opened to her, drinking each other in, promising their souls through touch, through shared passion, through love.

  ‘Get a room.’

  At the sound of the husky words, Nat pulled back with a jerk, then she laughed, the sound matching his as they both turned to look at the woman staring at them from the bed opposite, her eyes gleaming. ‘Barb! You’re awake.’

  ‘I couldn’t help but be with all the chat going on.’

  Reid narrowed his eyes at her. ‘How long have you been listening?’

  ‘Since Bryce came in to question you. It was quite a story.’ She wiped at her eyes. ‘That letter was something, wasn’t it? I always knew my Lukey-boy had the goods.’

  Reid touched the letter on the bed, a warm clench in his chest. ‘Yes, he did.’

  She frowned. ‘I’m sorry about Andrew, love, but I’m glad it brought you back to us.’ Her gaze went to Reid. ‘Back to where you were always meant to be. With family.’ Her gaze went to Tilly. ‘I think she’ll like to be a big sister at some time in the future.’

  ‘Barb!’

  ‘Gran!’

  His gran didn’t look at all chagrined, just flashing a cheeky grin. ‘Now, we’ve got to discuss a wedding. I think a Christmas wedding would be nice. Bob and I got married at Christmas.’

  Nat sucked in a breath and turned to Reid. ‘What do you think?’

  ‘I think it would be the best Christmas gift ever. But I’m pretty sure it takes a month or so to get a marriage license.’

  Barb blew a raspberry. ‘Oh pooh. Spoilsport.’

  ‘Don’t blame me,’ Reid said, laughing. ‘They’re not my rules. I’d marry Nat tomorrow if I could.’

  ‘Then when? Maybe the Australia Day weekend?’

  ‘Don’t we have a ride booked then?’

  ‘Some regular families who’ve been coming for years. I’m sure they won’t mind if we have a little wedding party.’

  ‘Little.’ Nat and Reid both snorted together. ‘As if you’d be capable of throwing a little party.’

  ‘Well, what do you say?’

  ‘How about we wait and ask Tilly when she wakes up?’ Reid suggested.

  Nat sighed in relief. He knew she was worried about how Tilly would take her marrying Reid. Tilly certainly liked him, but she’d only just found out something was going on. Marriage was a whole new ball game. ‘Thank you for thinking of her.’

  ‘She’s your daughter. It’s important to know what she thinks about all this.’

  ‘Why not ask her now?’ Barb said. ‘Stop playing possum, love. I saw you take a gawk when they were kissing before.’

  ‘Granny Barb! Why’d you give me away?’ Tilly opened her eyes. ‘Now they won’t keep talking all the interesting stuff.’

  ‘Tilly!’

  She flashed her mother a smile and scooted out of bed and onto Reid’s.

  ‘Careful, Tilly,’ she said as Tilly swayed. ‘You might have got the all clear, but you still need to take it easy while the bump on your head heals.’

  ‘But I’m so excited. You’re getting married!’

  ‘You don’t mind?’ Nat asked, laughing as her daughter curled up next to Reid and reached for her hand, marvelling at the resilience of children. ‘It’s not too much of a surprise?’

  ‘Surprise?’ She glanced at Barb. ‘I saw you kissing.’

  ‘When?’ Nat said, a flush creeping up her neck.

  ‘In the stables, by the corral, down at our cottage, in the pantry …’

  ‘Okay, okay,’ Reid said, laughing at Nat’s horrified expression. ‘So, not a surprise at all, then.’

  ‘Nope.’

  ‘You don’t mind?’

  She turned and snuggled into Reid’s side and reached for her mum’s hand. ‘You make Mum happy.’

  Nat reached out and hugged her daughter. ‘Thank you.’

  Tilly looked up at Reid. ‘Can I call you Dad?’

  Reid stroked her hair back from her brow, a swell of happiness filling his chest so he almost couldn’t take a breath. ‘If you want to, I’d be honoured. But just know, I never want you to forget your dad or take his place in your heart. And no matter what you call me, I will always be there for you, whether it’s to have a chat, or you want some advice or help with something, or just want to have some fun. Does that sound okay?’

  ‘Yep.’

  Nat looked like the sun had come out inside her, radiantly happy, her hand tightening in his as they shared a look of joy and deep love.

  ‘I can’t wait to tell everyone you’re going to be my second dad.’

  ‘I can’t wait either,’ Reid said, hugging Tilly to him.

  ‘So,’ Barb said, ‘what do you think of a wedding in a month, Tilly?’

  ‘I like the idea of a Christmas wedding.’

  Nat shared a glance with Reid. ‘That’s not possible, but a month from now could be. So what about it?’

  ‘Can I be your flower girl?’

  ‘You can be my maiden of honour.’

  ‘Even with a month there’s not much time to organise anything. What about a dress and flowers and decorations and guests and food?’

  Barb’s laugh joined Nat’s and Reid’s. ‘Good lord, we’re going to make an event planner out of her, you’ll see.’

  Nat wiped a tear from her eye. ‘Reid and I don’t need much, Tilly. Just those we love around us to share our joy.’

  Tilly screwed her mouth to the side, considering. ‘Can I help you choose a dress and some of the food and stuff though?’

  ‘Yes. We’ll do it together.’

  ‘Will Reid help?’

  ‘Of course. We’re a family now. We’ll do everything together.’

  Nat smiled brilliantly at him as their eyes met over Tilly’s head, her excited chatter rising around them as she and Barb planned the days ahead. He reached out and wiped the trail of her happy tear from her face. ‘You okay with that?’

  ‘Yes. Tog
ether. Always together.’

  ‘Always together.’

  Epilogue

  Nat stopped at the corner of the path that led from their house down into the clearing where the climbing wall stood, enjoying watching Reid as he worked with the kids.

  His deep voice drifted up to her, filled with the kind of encouragement and patience that had made their camps such a hit since their first one got off the ground in the middle of the year. ‘That’s right, Carter, just reach up there and clip the lead in. You’re doing well, buddy.’

  ‘What about me, Dad?’ Tilly asked from her position halfway up one of the medium grade climbs.

  ‘You too, beautiful. Just make sure you really feel the grip with your toes and settle yourself before you reach up. There’s no reason to rush it.’

  ‘You’re doing real good, Tills,’ Aaron said, swinging from his perch at the top of the overhang.

  ‘That’s really good, Aaron, not “real good”,’ Reid called up to his young cousin. ‘Perhaps Tilly should help you with your English and you can help her more with her climbing.’

  ‘Sounds like a good idea,’ Nat said as she came up behind them. ‘Carter, your godmother is here.’

  ‘Aww. But I haven’t finished my climb.’

  ‘That’s okay. Barb’s having a cup of tea with her. You’ve got time.’

  ‘Great.’

  Nat kissed Reid when he turned his face to her, a smile lighting his eyes as they met hers that warmed her deep inside and had excitement skittering through her nerves even after almost twelve months of marriage. She touched his face, wiped a fleck of dirt from his brow, then stood back so he could continue paying attention to Carter, and belay him safely. ‘She got it,’ she whispered, loving that his smile widened even further in happiness for the little boy. They’d helped Prita out, looking after Carter, her godson who she had sole custody of, while she took over more and more work from Doc Simpson and started the process of buying a property to live in where she could run her own practice. Her choice of an old refurbished house at Wilson’s Bend was controversial and had caused problems with certain members of the community who didn’t like the new female doctor and all her changes, but she’d stuck to her guns and had put in a bid for the property and had just got word the sale had gone through and they could move in in a few weeks. Prita was waiting to tell him now and rather than go back to their awful rental, they were going to spend Christmas here together. It was going to be wonderful.

  Her musings were interrupted by a loud whoop from Carter as he reached the top then abseiled down.

  ‘Way to go, Carter,’ Aaron called.

  ‘Woohoo, Car,’ Tilly yelled.

  Reid and Nat applauded and went to meet the little boy. ‘All right, all of you down from there. Barb’s got things for you to do to get ready for the Christmas Eve BBQ tonight.’ Aaron and Tilly groaned as they abseiled down the wall, but soon their gear was stowed in the storage shed and they were running off up the hill with Carter who was about to get the best news of his young life; Prita had told her the only thing the young boy had wished for for Christmas was a home of their own.

  Reid’s arms went about her. ‘You all warmed up for tonight?’

  She turned in his arms and let her lips linger on his for a long, wet kiss. ‘I’m always warmed up for you.’

  He laughed and rubbed his nose against hers. ‘Glad to hear it, but you know I didn’t mean that. I meant your gig. Everyone is looking forward to it.’

  She wound her arms around him and laid her head against his chest. ‘So am I. I never thought I’d enjoy doing what my mum did, but I do like singing for guests and friends.’ She looked up at him. ‘As long as you are accompanying me.’

  ‘Always.’

  They turned and made their way up the trail back to the main part of CoalCliff and Nat couldn’t help but reflect on the changes in both of them since they came back here just over a year ago. It had been a year of hard work and fighting for what they wanted, getting past the traumas of last year—Tilly sometimes still had nightmares about that night—but they’d done it, had moved forward, were growing from strength to strength.

  Reid had started making plans to film a new show, but instead of it being about his adventures, the emphasis would be on up and coming climbers and adventurers. He didn’t want to do what he and Luke had done but wanted to make it his own. He had even managed to do all the climbs on the wall with her and Barb and Flynn’s support, and was giving lessons to the local kids as well as those they had coming on the camp. They had started to plan a charity climb at Luke’s favourite spots at Mt Buffalo which they’d film, the proceeds going to the Luke Harding Foundation. Even the Garonne’s had ended up giving up their attempts to get custody of Tilly because it was obvious to everyone that there was no more stable place for her than CoalCliff, and that Nat and Reid were a formidable unit together.

  ‘I’m thinking of putting in a tree-surfing circuit down here as well,’ Reid said, breaking into her thoughts. ‘I was looking at the trees over there near the shed and they are all viable. I’d need to get a surveyor in and make sure we don’t do damage to the environment, but what do you think?’

  ‘That’s a wonderful idea. It could be a really great team building exercise for the kids on the Luke Harding camps, but also the school camps as well.’ She glanced over to the area. ‘I was also thinking that maybe we could offer the same kind of experience to businesses to bring their employees here, do some actual camping in the bush around here, teach them some survival stuff and do the wall and tree-surfing, maybe even some horse riding as well as team building exercises. We could do weekend or four to five-day bush camps or more fancy ones putting them up in the cabins.’ She looked a question at him.

  ‘I love it.’

  He put his arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer, and she warmed to his touch the way she always did. But she could wait. The waiting often made it even better. Smiling, she said, ‘Oh, I forgot to tell you, the first edits came in today from the documentary. They’re looking good.’

  He kissed her forehead, their sides pressed together as they walked. ‘Hopefully, we’ll be able to get some good-sized donations out of it too to put into the foundation and sponsor more camps for the kids.’

  ‘I think it will do exactly that.’

  The stopped as they came over the rise and could see the organised mayhem as Barb directed the hands and some local help with setting up tables and chairs around the Christmas tree that had been decorated and lit last week on the final camp before Christmas. Mac and Ben were busy with setting up the three BBQs they needed to feed the hordes that were coming this year for an event Barb said would become a yearly thing, others hauling in eskies of ice and opening boxes of beer, wine, sparkling wine and soft drink to cool in them.

  A whoop came from the side of the group and they turned to see Carter and Prita, Carter’s white arms wrapped around her neck, her face wreathed in joy.

  More laughter lifted to them—Tilly and Aaron as they ran back from the kitchen, arms full of red and green tablecloths, the dogs jumping around them, barking, Tilly’s new puppy, Starbuck, tripping Aaron so he spilled his load onto the ground and Tilly laughing as she bent to help him pick them up and whack out the dust, the puppy jumping to bite at the flapping material. ‘Those two are going to be trouble.’

  ‘Lucky us.’

  She looked up at Reid to see the smile in his voice reflected in the lovely green of his eyes. ‘Yes, lucky us.’

  They turned into each other as one, lips meeting again, sinking into each other, a part of a whole.

  ‘Come on, you two lovebirds. There’s too much to do to stand around gawking.’

  They kept kissing, ignoring Barb.

  Flynn dumped a load of chairs beside his mother. ‘Leave them alone, Mum. It’s their kind of anniversary. They deserve a bit of time alone.’

  ‘Perhaps.’ She raised her voice so they couldn’t help but hear her. ‘But there’s time enough
for that after tomorrow. Come on, stop canoodling and get to work.’

  Nat pulled away from Reid, laughing, her hand tangling with his. ‘Come on.’

  Together they walked into the happy mayhem of family, friends and work that was their lives now, their home, and knew that they would never have it any other way.

  Thanks for reading Climbing Fear, which is Book 1 in the CoalCliff Stud Series. I hope you enjoyed it. Keep your eye out for the next book in this series, Blazing Fear, to be released soon.

  If you liked this book, check out my other romantic suspense title, Dangerous Echoes, Book 1 of the Echo Springs Series. Or if you like your suspense mixed with the paranormal, then you should try my four book Pack Bound series: Pack Bound, Moon Bound, Shifter Bound and Wolf Bound—available now.

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