“You sure know a lot for someone who doesn’t talk much.”
I turned to her, frowning. “And you’re pretty mouthy for someone who speaks more than they listen. You sure you want to be my friend?”
She glared, her small green eyes shooting lasers. “I’m starting to change my mind about that.”
“Why don’t you, then? We don’t belong as friends. Go find some kids your own age.”
“What is your problem?” she shrieked, and for the first time since I’d met her, I could see her age written all over her. Camila acted tough, wild, and uncaring, but deep down was more than she presented, and that frightened me the most.
I sighed, figuring it was time to end the conversation for good and put it all out there. I’d meant what I told Camila the first time I met her about not wanting to waste my words. And I’d already said too much. In fact, I had never spoken so much to anyone besides my mother in one sitting.
I stood, extending a hand to Camila to help her up, but she ignored it and got up on her own.
“I don’t need your help.” Then she huffed and started walking down the mountain a different way than she’d come.
“Where are you going?” I called.
“Don’t worry about it,” she yelled over her shoulder. “I don’t need to use your stupid cornfields to get home. I’ll make a new path.”
Rolling my eyes, I watched her walk away until she faded from view halfway down the red and rocky hills. I wanted to go after her, but that would defeat the purpose of calling an official end to our friendship. Besides, if Camila was going to get to the hilltop again, she would have to find another way. It looked like that problem was solved all on its own.
6
Camila
The jagged downhill climb was harder than my stubborn mind had wanted to believe. Getting away from Ridge and anything to do with him had been my number-one goal, but even I could admit that the path I’d chosen to take was the wrong one.
I stepped down on the only rock ledge I could find as my fingers gripped the red rocks above me. The next landing was a four-foot shimmy to my right. I rolled my eyes up to the blue sky and blew out a breath. Now is not the time to panic, Camila. It would be fine. I had gotten myself into stickier situations before.
If it hadn’t been for Ridge and how rude he’d been, dismissing a friendship with me, then I wouldn’t be in the predicament in the first place. It was his fault that I was taking the dangerous route and was one wrong move away from falling to my death. Yet after the way he’d just let me leave, I didn’t think he would care much if I fell.
With a final step, I hopped onto a flatter piece of rock, then I looked around while I caught my breath. The air was chilly, but sweat still beaded above my brow line. My nerves were getting the better of me. I blamed that on Ridge too. I should never have shown him the hilltop. If I hadn’t been so stupid, then I would still have access to my favorite hangout. Now, not only did I have to share it, but I also had to find my own way to and from, if I didn’t kill myself on the way.
The rocks started to get smaller as I descended farther, making it easier to find leverage. When I saw the main landing up ahead, I sighed with relief. I had never traveled to that section of rock before. I’d seen no point in looking for another route when I’d found the path nearest to the cornfields. With the final slope of hill in front of me, I looked back and said goodbye to the mountain that was once mine. I couldn’t come that way again. Even the daredevil in me was smart enough to know when enough was enough.
At the bottom of the final slope, a six-foot drop-off led to a clearing of red rock. I jumped and landed on my feet with my knees bent beneath me, but I miscalculated something. My chin came down hard on my knees, and a howl shot from my throat before I fell back, my eyes opening to the sky.
My ears rang, and the throbbing pain would not let up. A rustle of the tall grass in front of me was like a splash of cold water in my face. Was that a snake? A bear? My mind went wild with the possibilities as I forced it away from the pain.
“Camila!” Ridge shouted.
The relief that flooded me at the sound of his voice came with a rush of emotions. He was the last person I’d expected, but he was the first person to arrive minutes later. I hadn’t even known he followed me.
Just like after my spill on the mountain the day before, he crouched above me with concern in his warm chocolate eyes, which made me melt in his presence. “Why do I always find you like this?”
Despite the pain that was radiating from my chin and all around my jaw, I couldn’t help but laugh. “I never thought I was clumsy before I met you.”
“You really are a wild one, aren’t you?”
I narrowed my eyes. “You keep calling me that. Why do I feel like it’s an insult?”
He stared at me for a moment before shaking his head. “You’re fearless. Brave. But you should be more careful. If I hadn’t been here—”
“I would have been fine,” I cut in, my stubborn bravado back as I lifted myself to a sitting position.
He bent his head and chuckled. “Yes. I’m sure that’s true.”
Ridge extended his hand, a gesture that sparked a glimmer of hope in my heart. I accepted it, fitting my small hand in his as he helped me from the dirt. He’d been living on Harold’s ranch for six months, so I should have expected his rough hands and the dirt beneath his nails. “Your old man keeps you busy, huh?”
He followed my stare and jerked his hand away. “Same way your old man keeps you busy in the vineyard, I suppose.”
I searched his eyes, wondering what other assumptions he had made about me. “I choose to work on the vineyard. I want to learn everything about it so that I can take over for my papa one day. It’s a great responsibility, and I want to do right by my family’s legacy.”
Ridge narrowed his eyes. “Those are big dreams, Wild One. You're a little young to be making those kinds of decisions now.”
“You’re not much older than me. Two years isn’t that big of a difference. You’re telling me you don’t have dreams?”
He chuckled. “Of course I do. They just don’t involve taking over a thousand acres of land.”
“Maybe you need to dream bigger, Ridge Cross.”
His lips tilted into a different kind of smile, one that caught me in the chest. Our age difference clearly bothered Ridge more than it did me. And somehow, in that moment, I didn’t care about rules or family feuds or how things were “supposed to be.” Something about Ridge Cross made me want to hold on to him, no matter the consequences.
He was the first one to break our eye contact. His gaze lifted to just over my shoulder. Something changed in his expression, causing me to turn to see what had caught his attention.
“Is that what I think it is?”
His question came just as I saw what he was looking at—a worn wood-framed entrance with a rusted steel gate that was closed and padlocked. I had to take a step closer to read the engraved words above the door. “Cornett Creek Mine 1875,” I read while my heart pounded. I walked closer to the gate, gripped a section of the bars, and tried to peer inside.