Tobias was getting excited to have accomplished his goal—a goal he hadn’t been positive he could reach in the beginning but just the attempt of which had brought him, Maddox and Atticus closer than ever.

“This is fucking spectacular!” Atticus yelled.

His voice echoed back as they continued to climb. Atticus had taken a lot of footage with his GoPro, gotten some good stuff, too. They’d taken a few moments here and there to watch various parts of it when they’d needed a short rest. “I should’ve gotten one of those drones that takes video,” he said. “Can you imagine what we could do with that right now?”

“Those things are fifteen hundred dollars,” Maddox said with a tired but victorious smile.

“Might’ve been worth it,” Atticus said. “For this.”

“Drones are for people who can’t climb to the top,” Tobias joked.

The last few steps were grueling, especially while fighting the wind, but the triumph of reaching the top gave Tobias a fresh surge of energy. “We did it,” he said. “We did it.”

“Woo-hoo! I’m on top of the world!” Atticus yelled as Tobias stood, gazing out at the exquisite beauty he’d wanted to share with the eleven-year-old boy he’d once mistakenly shot.

“Was it too scary for you?” Tobias asked Atticus after several moments of silence during which they’d simply enjoyed the view.

“Riding in this thing feels pretty unstable at times—I’m not going to lie. But I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything.”

Finally, Tobias let Maddox prod him into taking Atticus, which was nice since he wanted to be able to see Atticus’s face—especially when Atticus tilted it back and closed his eyes as if he was absorbing not only the sun but the memory of the whole experience.

“Happy birthday,” Tobias said.

“Too bad we couldn’t bring the girls,” Atticus said.

Jada had had her baby two months ago, so she was at home. Harper and her sister had come with them as far as base camp and had, for a brief time, considered trying to hike the whole way. At the last moment, however, they’d told Tobias that they didn’t want to give him anyone else to worry about or concentrate on except Atticus.

“I owe you, man,” Atticus said. “This was beyond incredible.”

Atticus’s smile was something Tobias knew he’d never forget. “This doesn’t have to be our last hike,” he responded and laughed when Maddox shot him a look that said, Are you kidding me?

“At least let me recover before you start planning another trip,” he grumbled, and Atticus laughed, too.

Excerpt

If you enjoyed this story, you won’t want to miss New York Times bestselling author Brenda Novak’s newest stand-alone novel, Summer on the Island, coming soon…

A summer of healing, friendship, love…and a secret that could change everything.