Climbing High (22 page)

She stroked the layer of gauze on her forearm, felt the pulling of surgical tape across her rib cage and stomach. She’d undergone more surgery, but only one more time in hospital. She’d managed to beat the infection and close the last wound. The plastic surgeon had worked on all three knife wounds in the same session. He’d assured her the once ragged scars would eventually become thin white lines. He couldn’t know they meant little compared to the agony of losing Jake.

Determined to get back to normal, back to him, Siree got on with it, setting herself goals and meeting them each hour, each day, each week. She started physiotherapy to strengthen the muscles that had been damaged around the stab sites. She kept a journal, recording the horrific moments of the attack, the devastation of Jake’s departure, facing every moment full on. She concluded, to prove to her stubborn lover they belonged together, she’d have to show she was stronger and better than before the attack.

Gribbs had called to update her two days earlier. The police continued to work on the case. But ten weeks had passed with no sightings or contact and leads had gone cold. It seemed like they hung in suspended animation. Would this ever end?

The clock on the mantel chimed 9:00 p.m. For weeks, her mother had emailed Jake at this time, reporting on Siree’s condition at the end of each day. The sounds of the chimes made both women look up. But Sharon no longer headed for the computer. She had stopped communications with him when Siree’s wound had finally closed and she’d brought her home from the hospital. Though she never talked to her about him, she knew that her mother, too, missed the dynamic man and worried constantly about Siree’s reaction to his loss. It forced her to put a good face on the situation, a positive thing, she’d decided.
Your attitude created your life
.

A rustle of fabric drew her attention. Her mother marked her place in the book and crossed over to her. “Time to get you settled in your bed, darling.”

“Yes, the therapist really put me through the wringer today,” she said, remembering the physiotherapist’s insistence.
Just one more
, over and over again. She inched her way to the edge of the sofa. Muscles pulled and burned, pain shot up and down her arm and torso. Her mother stayed close, aware Siree wanted to do it alone. Siree hadn’t told her mother, Ty or the team, but she’d set herself a goal and a timeframe. She had every intention of doing the Mexican climb with Josh, Sam and Jake. By the time they hit the summit, Jake would be back in her life.

She had over four months to hit peak condition. Surely in that time the police would have her attacker behind bars. Hope motivated her to struggle daily through the pain and emptiness.

****

Siree’s bandages came off late September. A year and forty days since she’d met Jake.

“They’re looking really good, really good.” Pride suffused the plastic surgeon’s voice.

She stared down at the thin red lines marking her arm, chest and torso. What could she say? They were what they were. She would use them to remind her that in accepting what happened and working to recover from it she’d met one of her goals. She was a stronger, better person now. She’d agreed to counseling. Talking out her fears and facing them helped minimalize the damage. She could walk out into a dark street. She no longer saw a threat in every woman who moved near her.

“Keep wearing loose fitting, smooth textured tops for the next few weeks so you don’t agitate the scars,” He reminded. He squeezed her shoulder in silent empathy. “A few months and you’ll barely see them. Hang in there.”

Thanking him for his kindness and skills, she left the downtown clinic and headed back to her client’s office building. She’d hassled Ty until he’d broken under the pressure and agreed to give her something to do. Though he kept a handle on the goings on in his company long distance, he spent more of his time working on Sharon’s nonprofits, bringing with him a whole new approach and network.

Ty had his CEO shuffle personnel around and assign Siree a Vancouver-based client. Though considerably below her level of expertise, the job gave her a focus outside of Jake. For hours each day she lost herself in a world of streaming algorithms.

Work also gave her a reason to be out of her mother’s condo during the day to make room for the blossoming romance between Sharon and Ty. Siree watched him shed years of accumulated weight and worry. He morphed into a much younger man in front of her eyes, a man who very much attracted her mother. He courted Sharon with romantic dinners and daytime outings.

Siree settled in front of her laptop. She smiled at her screensaver, a photo of her mother and Ty jogging together. Temptation hinted, nudged and then pushed at her.
Just for a few minutes
, she promised herself, tired of acting like a teenager with a crush. Her finger’s keyed in a slideshow of Jake.
My guilty pleasure.
His face filled the screen, laughing, teasing, serious and unaware. Jake cooking, snuggling next to her on the couch. Jake climbing with Josh and Sam, Jake looking deeply into her eyes during one of their face time talks.

The sigh that quivered up from the depths of her soul caused her whole body to tremble.
You’ve indulged yourself enough for today. Now get back to work or you’re going to end up as obsessed as Crazy Lady
. Pulling up the spreadsheets from which she would eventually excavate the answer for her client, she dug deeper for the money missing from the company income.

Her phone sounded.

Siree read the caller’s name and decided to answer. “Siree McConnell.”

“Ms. McConnell, Patricia Wallace with CTV. I wonder if you would speak with me a minute.”

She puffed out her lip, took a second to think. A highly respected journalist, Patricia offered the respect so many of her comrades couldn’t seem to find.

“What can I do for you, Patricia?”

“First I’d like you to know how sorry I am that you were attacked and injured so badly. I hope you’re doing well.”

“Thank you. I’m feeling fine.” Her mother’s advice echoed.
Stick to the minimal.

“That’s lovely to hear. I wanted to give you plenty of recovery time before asking you to consider doing an interview for my show.”

A lot more than the other hungry hyenas had offered
, Siree mused. They’d ripped and torn her peace in a feeding frenzy the minute she’d been wheeled out of the hospital doors to a private limo.

“I respect your journalistic integrity and watch your show whenever possible, Patricia, but can’t see that my story is even current.”

“Any act of courage is current. You fought off your attacker and fought your way back to life. I think you’d inspire a lot of other people who are settling for being the victim instead of choosing to be victorious like yourself.”

“Thanks, Patricia. I’m just not ready for more publicity. It’s over and done with and I want to move on.” Though warmed by the journalist’s admiration, she left no room for debate.

“Well, thank you for speaking with me. If you change your mind, please call me. This is my private line and it’s on 24/7. I wish you a full recovery.”

Patricia rang off, leaving Siree staring at the phone. She took a minute to save the number into her address book.
You can never have too many contacts. Yikes, I’m turning into my mother.
I’m going to beg Ty for a real job, one that will hold my attention for more than a few minutes. Definitely time to move back to my own place.

Thanksgiving came and went.
People Lookout
printed a photo of Jake at a charity function to which JDI had donated a large amount. Command performance, Siree guessed. A director, who’d just finished her latest flick filmed in Montreal, featured in the photo with him.
Just a coincidence
, she soothed her hurting heart.

Though almost fully recovered, she hadn’t been able to return to the Toe Hold. It seemed some trauma still hung on. Instead, she joined a climbing club and every weekend climbed in the Rockies. The temperatures dropped and waterfalls became curtains of ice. She toed her way up the side of them. She tackled another glacier and, using skins skied into pristine back country slopes with the group. She found it great therapy, useful in building her muscles to full strength. Equally valuable were the new friends and long weekend excursions. They filled up the empty hours without Jake.

One weekend Sam drove up from Seattle to make the climb with her. Josh kept in touch by phone. Siree had let them know her intentions of climbing Iztacchuatl and Citlaltepetl with them. When she explained the climb was her Holy Grail, a wonderful surprise for Jake, they reluctantly agreed to keep it from him. From various locations on the continent, they started training in earnest. She spoke with them often, teasing Josh when he got lost in his work and missed yet another training session, arguing with Sam about the best pieces of equipment for a glacier climb. They never spoke of Jake.

Winter dumped cold rain on Vancouver, but couldn’t hold back the pre-Christmas party season. In front of a fire in her mother’s study, she wrapped the last of her gifts. Sharon and Ty had gone out to a party she just didn’t have the heart to attend. She’d been to many over the last month, met lots of men who’d expressed an interest in dating her, taken a few up on it. One of the men in the climb group had teased her into a lunch, then dinner and a movie. When she’d agreed to be his escort to his company Christmas party and watched his face light up, she bowed out. She didn’t want to leave him living with false hope. She knew how painful it could be.

She tucked a gold envelope into a gold mesh bag and set it under the tree for her mother. Her lips curled up in a smile she rarely felt these days. She’d conspired with Ty to buy her mother a ticket for back-to-back cruises Ty had arranged. He wanted to take Sharon south into warm waters to avoid the cold, drizzly months of January and February. They would leave right after Christmas. From Florida they would work their way through the Caribbean and then hook-up with a second cruise to Rio de Janeiro before coming home. Siree figured Ty planned to propose to her mother. She had no doubt they’d come home engaged. Hopefully, by then she would have finished the climb in Mexico and have Jake back in her life.

Somewhat cheered by the thought, she patted the gold bag. “A five star cruise for a five star mom,” she whispered, her throat aching. Her mother’s love and support had kept her going many times when she’d floundered. Now she wanted to give something back.

The few times she’d talked about returning to her condo in Toronto, her mother had urged her to stay a little longer. Ty suggested, as Siree had a friend subletting her apartment, it made more sense for her to house sit her mother’s condo, using it for a base, until they returned. Then she planned to move out and get on with her life. Until the climb, until Jake’s reaction, she had no idea where that would be.

Just yesterday she’d listed her apartment. If Jake rejected her again, living there would be too hard. If he didn’t then they’d be together at his estate and she wouldn’t need it.

She now received her assignments from the new CEO of Stegner Financial Inc., and though it meant no more hugs and sticky buns, she respected the man Ty had groomed to take his place. He’d sent her to Paris for ten days in November. The weather made a climb impossible, but she’d had a wonderful catch-up with Lara and Frankie. They’d asked about Jake, remembering him from the climb, unaware of the attack or their breakup. She preferred not to rehash it for them.

She was slated to fly to Chicago in the morning and hoped she’d solve her client’s problem quickly and be back to Vancouver in time to avoid the holiday fliers. They were hosting Christmas dinner for a mixed group of friends and acquaintances who had nowhere to go or reasons why they couldn’t be with family. Her mother and Ty had pored over cookbooks, putting together an eclectic mix of various traditions. She helped bake the mince tarts and Christmas pudding that always graced their tables. The smells in the kitchen brought back memories of her father. For the first time since his death, she’d talked freely about him with her mother and Ty.

She’d laughed and teased and joined in the music, parties, and shopping of Christmas. On the surface she appeared whole, hearty, and healthy. Yet she felt like someone had spun the dimmer switch on her spirit to low. She sank back against the sofa, wondering what Jake was doing.

****

Two thousand miles away Jake stepped into his dressing room and breathed deeply. A faint scent of Siree clung to the suits next to where she’d hung her clothes. He’d returned them months before. He pulled open one of a dozen custom-built drawers in a towering bank and reached in for a clean handkerchief. His fingers settled on the gold toned scarf he’d stashed there, the only thing he’d kept back. Lifting it to his face, he breathed in her scent, remembered the silken feel of her skin and hair, and heard the joyous peal of her laughter. He’d hoped by now some of it would be fading, that he would no longer carry such vivid memories through every second of his day.

Once Josh and Sam had brought him to his senses, he’d returned to Toronto. A few meetings with strategic people in his network got the truth out to many others. On the QT they heard he’d put on an act to foil the media and hopefully trap his stalker. Word spread, stocks started selling. He travelled nonstop to bring in new contracts. JDI looked healthy again.

He’d gone back to his initial plan of separating himself from the press, freeing up his time. He delegated more responsibility to those who had earned it. Most important, he started taking care of himself again, using the upcoming climb in Mexico as incentive to get in top condition. He ran daily and climbed with a few friends whenever possible. In November when he flew to South America on business, he scheduled in a climb in the Andes. None of it made him forget her.

Tonight he had to show up at the annual JDI Christmas party. He’d toyed with taking a date, but put off asking someone until it was too late to look like anything but an afterthought. He no longer saw the type of women he’d showcased before. None of them could ever replace Siree. Though he doubted any woman could, he forced himself to start looking. He’d dated a lawyer, a biochemist, and the head of a research facility, all of them bright, attractive, and interested in a relationship. However, his need to protect any woman from the interest of his stalker made a relationship impossible and feeling he led them on unfairly, he’d backed off. Bottom line, they were developing feelings he just couldn’t dredge up. He came away believing it wasn’t worth the effort. He’d felt a frisson of relief when he’d finally allowed himself a period to coast.