Tobias checked the watch Harper had given him. “From where I started? ’Bout eight miles.”

“So today’s hike will be sixteen total?”

“Around that.”

“What was the elevation gain?”

Again, he consulted his new watch. “Five thousand feet.”

“From what I’ve read, Half Dome is only forty-eight hundred.”

Tobias already knew that. It was one of the reasons he’d challenged himself to this particular climb—it was the closest hike to Half Dome he could get without driving a lot farther. “Half Dome is more difficult. More technical.” It was more dangerous, too, but he didn’t add that.

“But it also offers better views.”

He could hear the smile in Atticus’s voice. “This one seems pretty spectacular right now. But…yeah, I’d have to agree. Not only will you get to see Vernal and Nevada Falls when we do Half Dome, you’ll get a panoramic view of Yosemite Valley and the High Sierra.”

“I can’t wait, man.”

“You getting that GoPro you mentioned for Christmas tomorrow?”

“I’ll treat myself to that once we get closer. I haven’t broken the news of our plan to my mother quite yet.”

Tobias remembered the encounter he’d last had with Susan and her dramatic turnaround—she’d even brought him cookies. “Maybe you shouldn’t tell her.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t want to make her hate me all over again.”

“You need to quit worrying about her.”

Considering his position in Susan’s life, that wasn’t easy. He felt so bad for what he’d done. “Seriously, though. Maddox said she’s being a lot nicer to him. We don’t want to screw that up.”

“Good point. It’s not as though she needs to know every little thing I do, anyway. I’ll just show her the video footage once we’ve done it.”

“Perfect. That way even if she does get mad, Maddox and Jada will have had nearly six months to build a better relationship before we blow it for them.”

“I’m an adult, Tobias. I can go on a hike if I want to.”

It wasn’t quite that simple, but Tobias let it go. “Okay.”

“So what are you doing tonight?” Atticus asked. “Are you coming to Maddox and Jada’s for dinner?”

Maddox had invited him, but as soon as Tobias had learned that Susan would be there, he’d decided not to intrude. “No. I’ve got other plans.”

“Like what?”

“I told Maddox I’d take our mother out for dinner in LA so he wouldn’t have to have her over, either,” he said with a laugh.

“Maybe I should go with you and your mother. I didn’t realize this Christmas it was all about letting Maddox, Jada and Maya hang out with my mother on their own.”