“Do you think I should take the lessons? I don’t want to be a bother. I mean, he seems like a pretty busy guy.”
“If he’s offering, then yes—why not? I’m sure the two of you would get along like nobody’s business. Plus, imagine how great it would be if you got your license. No more trudging through the snow.”
I brightened at the thought. “Yeah, I spoke to Graham about it, and he says his insurance will cover me. So I’m free to use his car if I do get my license.”
“That’s great, honey. I definitely think you should go for it, then. It would make your life a heck of a lot easier.”
On my first driving lesson, Gabe picked me up in his battered station wagon, and we practiced around the back streets.
At first, it was terrifying. It felt as if the car was going way too fast and the tires were made of glass and couldn’t possibly keep us pinned to the road.
“Easy on the brake—you’re doing okay,” said Gabe, after I jammed my foot down sharply on the brake for the hundredth time.
“Shit—okay.” I took a deep breath.
“It’s a bit freaky the first time you get behind the wheel, so don’t worry. You’ll get the hang of it soon.”
He was right. After a while, I managed to avoid doing the stop-start thing and drove down the entire length of the street.
“Oh my God! I can’t believe I’m actually driving!”
“See? Nothing to it—just takes a bit of getting used to; that’s all,” said Gabe. His face broke into his trademark good-natured grin. “Now signal for the turn up ahead.”
I continued to drive at a crawl, pulling over each time a car came up behind me. I got used to signaling and making turns. It was actually not that different from playing a video game.
“So how come you’ve never gone for your license, back home?” Gabe asked.
“I’m not sure,” I frowned. “I suppose I didn’t have a big enough incentive. I moved out of home after I left school, and my work was in walking distance.” I didn’t want to tell him it was mainly because of my anxiety issue.
“And I’m sure it doesn’t snow where you were.”
“No, the weather in Australia is pretty tame compared to here.”
“How was the test?”
“It was easy. I mean, a memory game more than anything, and a lot of it was common sense.” I had gone for the written test a few days ago and left the office proudly with my learner’s permit in hand. It felt oddly liberating. I wanted to call Rad and share the good news, but something told me to stay strong. I had come this far on my own. I had to see how much further I could go.
I signaled for a turn up ahead. “You know what the weird thing is? If I hadn’t stopped at your cart that day, I probably wouldn’t have done this. And I’m so glad I did.”
“Me too. You know that movie The Matrix—the scene where Morpheus shows Neo how he can download all these different skills?”
“Uh-huh.”
“I think life is kind of like that. You are a toolbox, and you have to add stuff to it and build on it. I think the more tools you have, the better life gets.”
“I like that idea.”
“That’s my mission in life. To keep adding to the toolbox.”
“You know what? I think I’m going to do the same.”
A few days later, Gabe called to tell me he had something special planned for us the following day.
“You’ll have to get up before dawn, though. Do you think you can manage that?”
I groaned inwardly. I was not a morning person.
“Sure, I can do that. I might need a wake-up call, though.”
He laughed. “Okay, noted.”
Next morning, true to his word, my phone went off at five, interrupting a deep and peaceful sleep. Against my better judgment, I had stayed up late the night before working on an idea for a new story. I was so engrossed in it that I lost track of the time. Reluctantly, I reached toward the nightstand and fumbled in the dark for my phone.
“Hey,” I said, groggily.
“Good morning.” Gabe’s baritone cut through the chilly air.
“I’m going back to sleep. It’s too cold to go out.”
“No, you’re not. Put on some warm clothes and a good pair of hiking boots. I’ll be at your house in twenty minutes.”
About an hour later, I was riding shotgun in Gabe’s car as we headed out farther and farther away from civilization.
“It’s not dangerous all the way out here, is it?” I asked.
“Not really.”
“What about bears?”
“It’s winter.” He grinned at me broadly. “They’re all asleep, Audrey.”
The road got more and more gritty, with stones jumping up and biting the underside of the car. We were driving by a rocky mountain face when Gabe slowed down and parked by the side of the road.
“We’re here,” he announced cheerfully.
We got out, and he popped the trunk, grabbed a backpack, and slung it over his shoulders. He pulled out a pair of flashlights and handed one to me.
“So we’re going for a hike, I guess?”
“You guessed it.” He motioned to the top of the cliff face that loomed over us at an impossible height. “We’re heading up there.”
My face fell. “Seriously? In the dark? What if we get lost?”
“We won’t; I’ve done this a thousand times. I’ll admit it’s a tough track, but it will be worth it when we get up there.”
“Okay,” I said, still a little reluctant. “Lead the way.”
By the time we made it near the top, I was struggling to catch my breath, and my legs felt ready to give way. Gabe had just pushed off the last foothold to step onto the summit, and he turned and stretched his hand out to me. “Almost there.”
I grabbed his hand and, dipping into the last reserves of my energy, lunged upward and over onto the rocky surface. “Wow!” I stammered, as my eyes drank in the view before me. We were caught in that brief moment when the sun is just on the cusp of the horizon; golden streams of light burst from its pale, soft glow. Below us, the wilderness stretched on and on right out to the horizon, and it was like we were the only two people in the world. “This is Ultima,” I said under my breath and wished Rad was here to see this.
“What was that?” asked Gabe.
I shook my head. “I was just thinking out loud—the view here is spectacular.”
“It’s really something, isn’t it?”
He peeled off his backpack and sat down on a large, flat rock. I went to join him. Reaching into his bag, he pulled out a bright red thermos.
“Coffee?”
“Oh yes!” I said.
I watched as he carefully poured the coffee into plastic cups before passing one to me. I took the cup from him and sipped the coffee slowly, feeling mildly euphoric. Being in Gabe’s company made me feel at ease. It was hard to believe we’d only met recently. I felt as though I had known him all my life.
“How often do you come out here?” I asked.
“Every chance I get. It’s been really busy at the garage lately, so I’ve been helping my uncle out with extra shifts. But he made me take the day off today.”
“The two of you are close, aren’t you?”