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My words are unnecessary: she’s on a roll now, and nothing could stop her. She soon reaches the top, stopping just below the anchor. Still gripping the rock face, she gazes down, and even from here, I can make out her stunned expression. It’s like she can’t believe what she’s just done, or maybe she can’t quite believe how high up she is. It always seems higher when you’re at the top looking down.

“I did it! I did it!” Her tone is disbelieving.

“Of course you did! I never doubted you.”

She grins down at me then whoops loudly, just like she did at the rafting. It’s impossible not to be affected by her delight at what she’s accomplished.

This is why I always wanted to be an outdoor instructor. Helping others to overcome their fears is the best feeling in the world. Aidan is right: the hotel doesn’t bring me joy. This, though? If I got to wake up every day and do this, that wouldn’t be a bad life at all.

“All right, when you’re ready, you can come back down.”

“I’m ready!” she says. “As great as the view is, it’s pretty scary up here.”

I chuckle. “No bother. What you need to do, then, is sit back in your harness with your legs out in front of you, about shoulder-width apart, and with your shoes pressed against the rock face.”

“You want me to sit back? There’s nothing below me but air!”

“Aye, well, you’re going to have to trust me. Do you trust me?”

“I . . . er . . . yeah. I trust you, Ally. I think.”

“Good. Then sit back in your harness.”

She takes her time, pumping herself up again, then she does it. She leans back, putting all her trust in the rope.

“Excellent! Well done, Emily.”

The weather picks this moment to start spitting. I hadn’t wanted to freak out Emily, but I’d noticed the clouds overhead getting darker.

“All right, let’s get you down before this rain gets any heavier, eh? Are you ready to lower?”

“I’m ready!”

“Okay, so you’re going to walk down the rock face—one foot and then the other—and I’m going to feed out rope nice and slowly.”

She begins to descend while I keep a close eye on her, as well as on the rope. The rain hitting my upturned face gets heavier, then heavier still.

“Ally, I don’t like this! I’m getting soaked!”

“You’re doing great. Keep it up!”

Suddenly, the heavens open. There’s heavy rain, and then there’s this. It’s like we’re being attacked by the sky.

“Ally! I want off this cliff now!” Emily shrieks.

“Slow and steady. You’re almost there.”

I brace myself against the assault from above, resisting the instinct to look down and protect my face. I refuse to take my eyes off Emily for even a moment.

It’s not easy being hammered by the elements while you’re halfway up a rock face, but she’s staying calm—or at least, calmish. Whenever she yells at me, telling me how much she hates this and how she can’t wait to get her hands on me for making her do this, I remind her how well she’s doing and that she doesn’t have much further to go.

Eventually, her feet reach solid ground. She sighs with relief then snaps, “Didn’t you think of checking the forecast?”

For some reason, her anger brings a smile to my lips, which only pisses her off even more.

“Aye, I checked it, but if you called off everything because of a bit of rain, you’d never get anything done in Scotland.”

She stares me down, furious, as raindrops pelt our helmets. “A bit of rain? You call this a bit of rain?”