The Bar Code Prophecy Read Online Free PDF

beautiful, certainly. But seeing Eric so much in his element, seeing him so extraordinary at something, was a higher power of beauty.
    “Your turn,” Eric said as he landed next to Grace.
    “That was amazing. I could never do that,” Grace said.
    “Sure you could,” Eric insisted. “Look at all these guys doing it.” He spread his arm and Grace was once more aware of all the other climbers who seemed to hang in midair. None of them moved with the same speed, fluidity, or self-confidence as Eric did. They went more slowly and methodically — but they were climbing. “You could be better than any of them,” Eric remarked. “You have the stuff to be a world-class climber. Like I said, I’ve been watching you.”
    “Better than you ?” Grace asked with a taunting smile.
    “Let’s not get crazy,” Eric teased back. “You have the talent, for sure — but you also have to have the guts for it.”
    The thinly veiled dare was all Grace needed to hear. Never in her life had she been able to walk away from a direct challenge. “I’m not free climbing, though,” she insisted.
    “Not yet,” Eric agreed. “Of course not. That would be stupid.”
    Once they were again connected by belay ropes, Grace was ready to try. “This time allow your mind to be soft,” Eric advised. “Don’t think, just move. You’ve done this wall a bunch of times now. Your body remembers the way. Let it take over.”
    Grace exhaled in a nervous waver. “I’ll try.”
    “Breathe deep before you start,” Eric suggested.
    Closing her eyelids, Grace inhaled, pulling the air down into her lungs before expelling it with a whoosh. Instantly her shoulders loosened, dropping slightly.
    “Don’t think about anything but your breath,” Eric coached. “Stay still until you’re ready.”
    In Grace’s mind she saw a picture of the wall as it had been during the day when it was fully visible; then she pushed the image away and began to climb upward.
     
     
    Grace admired Eric’s profile as they drove through the dark streets on the return trip to Grace’s house. There was something strong and peaceful about the lines of his chin and nose. Sensing her gaze on him, Eric turned. “You are really a stellar climber,” he complimented her. “Totally astral! I can’t believe the way you took that invisible wall — and on your first try, too.”
    “I almost fell when I got to the top,” Grace reminded him.
    “ Almost doesn’t count.” He glanced at the clock on the dashboard. “Hey! Twelve-o-two. Happy Birthday!”
    “Thanks!”
    They were almost to her house, and Grace didn’t want to have him pull right in front. It would be safer if she cut through the backyard behind and went silently back up the oak tree into her room. “Turn here,” she instructed Eric. When he asked where they were going, Grace told him her plan.
    “You mean you weren’t supposed to come out tonight?” he asked.
    “No, I didn’t ask,” she admitted with a shrug. “I wanted to go. I’m glad I did, too. Climbing that invisible wall was beyond stellar. I wouldn’t have missed it for anything.”
    With a grin, Eric pulled to the sidewalk and cut the engine. “We can do it again soon.”
    His words pleased her, and Grace silently vowed to become even better at climbing, no matter what. Not to impress him. Not at all. But to be that good at it.
    A thoughtful look came into Eric’s eyes. Even in the dark, she was so aware of them. “Are you really going to be tattooed on Monday?” he asked.
    The tattoo. She’d gone for hours without thinking about it.
    “Sure,” she said. “Why not?”
    Eric lightly took hold of her wrist, right at the spot where the tattoo would go. “Don’t do it,” he said.
    Grace stared at him questioningly. “You did it,” she pointed out once more.
    Eric’s eyes moved around her face as if he were taking her measure, trying to decide something about her. Then he looked away. “I told you, I’m not sure it was the