A California Christmas (Silver Springs #7) - Brenda Novak Page 0,5
to get back on her feet in what felt like a safe environment mattered more than anything else.
* * *
It was late when Dallas returned from hanging out with his two older brothers at the Blue Suede Shoe, a popular bar they often visited to play pool or darts whenever he was in town. Elijah and Gavin were both married with children, but Eli, the oldest, helped run New Horizons and lived on campus not far from Aiyana. Dallas rode with him, returning to Eli’s house to watch a recorded Lakers game after they left the bar. By the time that was over, it was almost two, so Dallas walked home rather than having Eli drive him.
All the lights were off, so after he let himself in the back door, he was surprised to hear the soft drone of the television. Aiyana rarely stayed up late; she got up too early. And his younger brothers wouldn’t be watching TV in the middle of the night. Bentley had school in the morning; Liam had work.
As he neared the family room, the floor creaked under his weight, causing the small figure on the couch to sit up and take notice.
He could tell he’d surprised Emery Bliss just as he had when he first came upon her in the kitchen this morning. Only now if she didn’t have any pants on, he couldn’t tell; she was covered by a blanket.
“Hello.” She lifted the remote as though she felt she should turn off the TV and scurry back to her bedroom.
“Go ahead and finish watching your show,” he said before she could hit the Power button. “This is a big house. The TV’s not going to bother anybody.”
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“Positive.”
Standing about ten feet away from her, he shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans. She was watching an episode of Dateline.
“What’s this one about?” he asked.
“A young mother has been kidnapped.”
“From where?”
“Her house in Iowa. Right in the middle of the day.”
Dallas was far more interested in learning if Emery had been able to determine whether Ethan Grimes had been rehired by the television station from which they’d both been fired than getting involved in the crime drama unfolding on TV. He’d thought about her and her situation all day. But he guessed Emery wouldn’t be excited to discuss it with him. For one, she barely knew him. For another, it had to be more awkward for her to talk to a man, especially one she barely knew, about the sex video her ex-boyfriend had posted than it would be a woman.
Still, he came around the couch and sat at the opposite end. He’d been so infatuated with Emery ten years ago that he couldn’t help wondering what she was like now.
She didn’t speak, though, and he didn’t interrupt, in case she was as invested in the show as it seemed.
When Dateline ended and she navigated to Hulu to put on another episode, he got up and told her good-night. His mother was right—what Emery was going through was none of his business. He needed to leave her alone and give her the space to work out her own problems.
“Aiyana tells me you’re a rock climber.”
Surprised that she would initiate a conversation when he’d just given up on the idea, he turned to face her. “I like to climb, yes.”
“She said you often free solo.”
Most people didn’t agree with climbing without ropes. They considered it too reckless, too foolhardy. He couldn’t tell whether she was one of those who would judge him, label him an adrenaline junkie or whatever, but he couldn’t help feeling slightly defensive. “Occasionally. But only when I know the climb well, have done it many times with ropes and feel certain I can make it.”
“What happens if you encounter something unexpected, some water or slime on a narrow ledge that makes it too slippery to grip—or a rattlesnake that slithers out of a crack in the rock?”
“Surprises like that generally don’t end well,” he admitted. “Encountering a rattlesnake while hiking could end as badly, though.”
She studied him. “Do you know the guy who climbed El Capitan free solo?”
“Alex Honnold? I’ve met him. Why? Do you know him?”
“I interviewed him on my show in 2018, right after the documentary came out. Since you probably climb in Yosemite, too, I figured you might’ve run into him.”
“I’ve encountered him in the valley a time or two.”
She adjusted the blanket she’d been using. She had on the same faded Van