Carefully maneuvering upward only after making sure her hands and feet were always firmly on each narrow rung, she was only a few yards off the ground before Hank interrupted again. "Can you go a little faster? I'm getting kind of hungry."
Glancing over her shoulder, she cleared her throat before answering. "I have a broken wrist, if you can't tell."
He held back a smile, keeping his lips pressed together and causing faint creases to appear at the edges of his eyes. "Oh, yeah? How'd you manage to do that?"
Returning her attention to the climb, Ali reached up with her good hand and pushed up with her feet. "I fell off a horse," she grumbled, realizing full well he already knew that.
"Is that why you're here?" Hank's voice was mixed with amusement and curiosity.
Knowing dozens of eyes were on her—and feeling as if they were boring a hole right through her body as she struggled to complete the challenge—Ali had to regain control of the situation. "Good grief. Is this a therapy session now? Of course it is." There was no way to deny the obvious, and her blunt answer earned a few giggles from the women below.
"But why? Anyone who's ever gotten on a horse has fallen off one," he countered to similar murmurs of agreement.
Ali moved farther up the pole. "True. I've been bucked plenty of times."
"Then what's the problem?" he asked, continuing to prod.
"I shouldn't have been there," she mumbled, catching a view of the increasing height from the corner of her eye.
Hank either didn't hear or wanted to know more. "What was that?"
"It wasn't my stable, and it wasn't my horse," she called out, feeling her legs shake. The sensation continued up her body, reaching her arms and fingers as they gripped the supports.
"So you're blaming yourself for what you claim was an avoidable mistake."
It was not quite a question, and she didn't answer.
"But don't you show jump at a national level?" His tone now clearly demanded a response, but his use of such a personal revelation finally got to her.
"Yes. Jesus! So now this is an interrogation?" Ali took a deep breath and moved up one more rung. The faster she finished, the faster she could get away from Hank and his third-degree treatment.
"Well, an expert horseman should be good on any animal they put under him." He sounded like he was thinking out loud. "Or her."
Ali recalled Robert's reasoning for getting her to the stables that day. "That's what he said."
"He who?" Hank's query came hard and fast.
"You know, my singing voice is terrible, but I think I'd rather you distract me by breaking into a song instead right about now," she suggested, realizing that nothing good could come out of continuing with this subject.
"Thanks for the offer, but I'm quite enjoying this conversation," Hank said with a laugh. "Ladies?"
Another round of hoots came from the crowd.
"Majority has spoken," Hank gloated. "So, you were saying? Who's the he?"
Ali smiled. It was the first time she had alluded to a prior relationship in front of him and apparently it had touched a nerve. If this is how he wanted to play, it was fine by her. "My ex."
"He sounds like a smart man," Hank said, but there was a bitterness lacing the compliment.
After picturing the guy who cared more about getting into the infamous Skull and Bones society than actually having enough credits to graduate from college in time, she couldn't hold back a giggle. "No, he really isn't."
"Then what did you see in him? Was he rich or good looking?" he asked, and the audience clearly continued to be entertained as they laughed along with the speculation.
"Both, if you must know." Ali's heart was pounding in her throat as a perfect comeback crossed her mind. "And he was incredible in the sack."
Hoots and claps erupted from below, and she missed Hank's response to her lie. It was torture not to at least take a peek at his reaction, but there was no way she'd make it to the top after seeing how far up she was already. Instead, Ali cleared her mind and scaled the final rungs as fast as she could. With nothing more to hold on to than the flat top of the pole—which couldn't have been more than a foot across in diameter—she hesitated.
"Now stand on top," Hank yelled to her.
She felt like throwing up, and his pestering didn't help. "I know, shut up!"
Ali tried to place one foot onto the top of the wooden stump, but her trembling legs—combined with the wind at this height— made the tall, thin pole gently sway with every move.
"I can't do this," she yelled, gripping the post for dear life.
"Yes, you can," Hank replied without hesitation. There was a tug on her harness as he adjusted the line. "You can't fall. I won't let you."
Her heart rate must have spiked so fast, Ali thought she'd black out any second. Hearing Hank promise not to let her fall— the same assurance he'd made back at Garden of the Gods— added to her anxiety, but also reminded her of the safety measures in place. Yet even if her head knew she had very little chance of getting hurt, her body was doing everything to keep her from crashing to the hard forest floor.
It really was now or never, so she acted without further thinking, and in a blur, she somehow made it to the top of the pole. Standing with her feet together and arms out to balance against the terrifying sway, Ali heard only the beating of her own heart in her ears and saw nothing but the plate-sized rubber ring hanging in front of her that she had to touch. Pushing off the vertical log and swinging her arms forward, she squeezed her eyes shut and held her breath. Her fingertips barely grazed something cold and smooth before she felt herself falling. In that split second, she thought Hank had been wrong, and she waited for her body to hit the ground. But the rope suddenly tightened to slow her descent, and although the harness dug painfully into her shoulders and thighs, Ali was elated.
The adrenaline, which had given her the ability to complete the challenge, was now fueling her glee at having succeeded. Breaking into uncontrollable, almost frantic laughter, she finally opened her eyes just as her feet touched the ground.
"I knew you could do it." Hank grinned as he released the line.
Ignoring him, she leaned on Captain Northcutt as two other team leaders undid the harness. Her legs were now like jelly, and as soon as she was free, Ali collapsed on the spot. Still laughing, she waved off their help before managing to sit up.
It didn't matter where she looked, her mind kept replaying the entire ordeal as if she were an outsider watching the climb on a loop. She wondered whether she could have jumped farther or if there was anything else she could have done differently, while wavering between the hope of perhaps trying to do better next time and the knowledge that once was more than enough.
"You were bloody brilliant, love!" Wylda gushed, running over and giving her a hug.
"How did I look from below? Could you tell I wanted to vomit the entire time?" Ali laughed.
Her friend scrunched her nose. "Maybe a bit at first. It's good Hank said all the right things to light a fire under ya, if you know what I mean."
Ali stared in horror. Had it really been that obvious? "No. What do you mean?"
"Excuse me, ladies." Hank's sudden appearance prevented Wylda from answering. The petite blonde made an "oops" face, jumped up, and theatrically backed away.
"Wait!" Ali called after her, but Hank offered her his hand.
"No, she's heading the right way. But we need to get going, too."
"I'm not going with you." She shook her head.
"So you're giving up your prize?"
Ali put her hand in his and got to her feet. She must have still been lost in thought and missed an announcement. "What prize?"
"The four of you who climbed the pole get to ride back to the lodge. Everyone else has to walk two miles," he explained, keeping a hold on her fingers longer than necessary. "Are you coming or not? I wasn't lying when I said that I'm hungry."
Ali pulled her hand away. There was no way she was walking two miles. "Fine."
Most of the others had already begun their trek on foot, and Ali waved to Wylda in the distance before heading in the opposite direction. She followed Hank through the trees, expecting to find one of the tractor-pulled flatbeds waiting on the other side, but instead, she was met with a surprise.
"Horses?" She motioned toward the five animals tethered to a hitching rail.
Instead of answering, Hank walked to a palomino mare and began checking its tack. He pulled on the saddle and found it too loose, so he began fidgeting with the girth strap.
"Oh, let me do it." Ali couldn't help interrupting when he ended up bunching up the saddlecloth in the process. After taking over and quickly finishing the adjustments, she stepped in front of the animal and stroked her muzzle. "Is she for me?"
Hank nodded before examining the other horses' setups. Finding them all acceptable, he helped the newly arrived Shawna, Maria, and Beth take their mounts. When he rejoined Ali, she was still holding the mare's nose strap, lost in the mysteries of the big brown eyes staring back.
"You could walk her, if you want," Hank offered. "I won't force you to ride if you're not ready."
"You'll go ahead with them?" Ali nodded toward the waiting women.
Hank shook his head. "I can't leave you alone. And I can't let them go without me, either."
"Liability issues?"
He smiled. "Something like that."
Ali sighed. "But the weakest link sets the pace."
"That's right," he said with a sage nod.
She looked at the women—their cheeks smudged with dirt and their hair flying out of their ponytails—and then back at the horse. "I'm fine. Let's go," Ali said before she untethered the mare, stuck her foot into the stirrup, and mounted her ride. Hank also sat atop his horse and began to lead the procession out of the woods. They followed a clear path, and she only had to keep an eye out for low-hanging branches, occasionally ducking or pushing them away.
In the open field, the others quickened to a trot, but Ali's sluggish pace soon put her in the back of the group. On the way, she overheard Maria already dreaming about the double order of French fries she was going to be eating for dinner—diet be damned. Shawna on the other hand was hoping for nothing more than a quick shower and a long massage. Beth was more pragmatic, and Ali didn't begrudge her wish for a cold beer and a movie because at the moment, that sounded like heaven to her as well.
When Hank slowed the others and circled around to rejoin her, she didn't even wait for him to talk. Taking a deep breath, she gripped the reins and nudged the mare with her heels. The only thing that mattered was getting back to the lodge, and she swallowed her percolating anxiety. Overtaking her stopped companions, she kept her head down and her focus on each passing yard of ground. The horse's trot turned into a canter and eventually to a full gallop, bringing her back to the open stable doors faster than she expected.
Dismounting as soon as the mare had come to a stop, she handed off the reins to the waiting Winston. After pausing to catch her breath, she didn't get more than a few steps away before the rest of her group arrived.
"You were brilliant," Hank gushed, jumping out of the saddle. "I knew under the right circumstances you'd get over that last stumbling block, but I wasn't sure if this would be enough."
She waited until he was facing her before crossing her arms. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"You rode back here like a bat out of hell without giving it a second thought." He pointed toward the stables. "A week and a half ago you couldn't even sit in the saddle, and today you were so focused on everyone else's needs, it overcame your fears about falling off that horse."
Her eyes narrowed as comprehension set in. "You deliberately tricked me?"
"No, I redirected your attention." Hank pushed the brim of his hat up and gave a satisfied smirk. "Anxiety is a very selfish little bastard. Your brain uses it to defend you, but when you act on behalf of someone else, you replace your own emotions with empathy for others."
"But you used information that I shared with you privately to do it," Ali whispered.
"Isn't that why you came here? To get over that fear? To reclaim your confidence?" he asked, reaching out to touch her shoulder. "Does it really matter how we got there?"
"So the ends justify the means, is that it?" Ali shook off his hold. "Did you learn that from Napoleon as well?" Without letting him answer, she said before walking away, "I trusted you, and you betrayed me. And that's not what I came here for."