Chapter Eleven
Fallon wasn’t feeling particularly sociable, so she excused herself after dinner and went to her tent to read.
Not long after, when Nora called her name, she wasn’t surprised.
Nora had tried to catch her eye several times during the day, but Fallon had turned away each time, keeping busy with work.
Nora’s gleeful laughter at her nudity last night still rang in her ears, and while she’d been able to rationalize away some of the hurt, she wasn’t quite sure how to find her way back to their friendship.
After the last time the crew had gotten showers, Fallon had actually studied herself in the mirror—something she normally avoided—and had felt a small jolt of pride.
She wasn’t ever going to be thin like Hannah, but they’d talked about it once, and Hannah had said body image standards were arbitrary, and the ideal was to be happy with the shape you had.
Fallon had flexed her arms, seeing an outline of muscles.
Doing odd jobs, busing tables, even learning short-order cooking from Mr. Jamar, all of it had been hard work, but her body hadn’t reflected it.
Maybe it had to do with eating better too.
Either way, she’d been desperate to leave that chunky, self-conscious kid behind, but when Nora had laughed at seeing her naked, she knew it hadn’t happened.
She thought she understood the reason. Nora’s body had probably always been as gorgeous as it was now, and she might never have had a moment of self-doubt.
Fallon couldn’t pretend she didn’t fantasize about being with Nora, getting her hands on that amazing body and being begged for more.
But after the fantasy was over, she could admit that was all it would ever be.
Nora called again. Fallon closed her book, reminding herself that she had the responsibility of making sure Nora didn’t get into trouble. She’d just fake her way through whatever conversation Nora wanted to have and then get ready for bed.
“Yeah?” she called.
“Fallon, I’d like to show you something, if I may.” Nora sounded oddly formal.
“Come on in.” At the sound of the vestibule zipper, she turned off the battery-powered lantern she’d been using. She heard rustling, then nothing else.
“Could you bring that light in here, please?”
Fallon flipped the switch and pushed the lantern through the flap.
The illumination was dim but adequate to make her way into the vestibule and establish where Nora was standing.
Once clear, she stood, taking an extra breath as her eyes traveled toward Nora’s face.
Was she wearing a towel? Uh, only a towel?
She wet her suddenly dry lips. “Did something happen to your clothes?”
“No.” Nora stood waiting. Barefoot. Smelling like some incredibly delicious spicy candy.
One hand was by her side holding something, the other resting casually on the place where the towel was tucked in over her breasts.
Fallon was sure there was another question she should ask, but she couldn’t find it.
Finally, Nora took a breath. “After last night, it occurred to me that we’re not even.
I mean, I’ve had the opportunity to see more of you than you have of me, so I thought I’d remedy that. ”
Fallon stared, dumbfounded.
Nora added, “If you’d be interested.”
“Interested?” Fallon cleared her throat. She needed to stop sounding absurdly inane. Forcing herself to look at the floor, she said, “Nora, we don’t need to be even. This isn’t a game.”
Nora grinned. “But it could be.” Holding her hand out, she displayed a deck of cards. “Have you ever played strip poker?”
“I’ve never played any kind of poker.”
“I didn’t think so. That’s why I’m giving you an advantage.” She indicated the towel. “See? Keeping it even.” She used both hands to loosely shuffle the cards.
“Wait. I don’t…I can’t…” Fallon stopped, needing to consider her words carefully. “This isn’t what I—” She looked away again.
Filling in when her stuttering diminished, Nora fanned out the deck facedown. “I’ll make it easy on you. Pick one card. Go on.”
Not knowing what else to do, Fallon sighed and chose. Nora pulled one as well, and they turned them over together. Fallon had the nine of diamonds, Nora the jack of clubs. “Am I supposed to take something off now?”
“No, that was practice.” She gave the cards a quick shuffle. “Again.”
This time, her three of clubs lost to Nora’s six of spades, then a seven lost to a ten. “Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Nora muttered.
Fallon had to smile. “I’ll admit to enjoying your frustration, but I need to ask, what are you trying to accomplish?”
“Either find an excuse to flash you or at least make you laugh.”
“Why?”
“Because I think you misunderstood something last night, and I wanted a chance to explain. Once we’re even, I thought you might be more willing to listen.”
Fallon crossed her arms. “I don’t understand this fixation you have about being even. From what I can tell, most relationships ebb and flow.”
“Well then, I feel like I’ve been stuck in an ebb.
You didn’t hesitate to let me crash with you when my tent got trashed, and you put yourself on the line for me with Reva.
Then, after I had that nightmare, you…” She broke off.
“Let’s just say, you’re a nice person, and I haven’t been.
” Fallon started to say something, but Nora pressed on.
“But you need to know that I started laughing because…well, for a minute, I thought you were with someone, and that made me momentarily irrational. When you told me you were acting peculiar because you were naked, it struck me as funny because you were being so damn cute about it, but it was also, like, relief too.” She took a step closer.
“Then it got more absurd because I was super stressed about having heard from Tina, and I was in an absolute panic about what Gwen might do to someone, probably you or Jade. I just…you need to know that my hysteria wasn’t about you being naked. Not at all.”
Fallon studied her. “For real?” Nora nodded vigorously. After a few long seconds, Fallon said, “You thought me being naked was cute?”
“I thought the way you were acting all shy and modest was cute. After all, I’ve already seen your, uh, lower extremity.”
“That was an accident.”
Nora grinned, saying nothing.
Fallon cleared her throat. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Yeah, okay. You can take the towel off now.” The expression on Nora’s face showed even more shock than she’d expected, and she burst out laughing.
Nora stared at her until she’d collected herself. “So you’ve had your laugh at me now.”
“I couldn’t resist.” Fallon was still chuckling.
“But I suppose you can resist this.” Nora turned away, unzipping the flap before slowly lowering the towel, revealing her muscled back and for half a second, her shapely ass. She quickly refastened the towel around her and stepped out into the night without turning. “Sleep well, Falcon.”
If she’d been a dog, she would have panted. Maybe she would anyway. Resist? Not in her dreams, she wouldn’t.
* * *
Fallon looked up as Nora stepped into the kitchen area. “I hope you slept better than I did,” she whispered, winking as she scrambled the eggs. To her amazement, Nora blushed.
“I honestly don’t know what came over me,” she whispered back. After a quick glance to confirm that no one else was up yet, she moved closer. “I’ve never done anything like that before in my life.”
“Hmm.” Fallon rubbed her chin. “In that case, I’m going to suggest we’re still not even, and you should bring your cards over tonight.”
Nora swiped at her arm. “You wish.”
“I sure do.” She hadn’t meant to sound so earnest. Nora broke off her questioning gaze at the sound of someone coming for breakfast.
But after that, it felt like there was something different between them.
Nora photographed everyone, but Fallon began to catch the lens pointed at her more often.
Sometimes she made a face, just to ensure the picture wouldn’t be used.
Still, Nora sat by her, though they didn’t talk more than usual, and almost every time Fallon felled a tree, she’d catch a glimpse of Nora grinning at her proudly.
They often worked near each other, and once, when Fallon saw Nora put her hand on her back to stretch, it brought a very vivid memory of the way she’d looked without that towel.
Fallon knew her attraction to Nora was deepening into something more, but she told herself repeatedly that there was no future for them.
Acknowledging that reality didn’t help much.
By the second Sunday day off, the crew was nearly on schedule.
Ranger Reva had visited and seemed duly impressed with their progress.
They’d had their showers the night before, and everyone was looking forward to sleeping in and enjoying a well-deserved day off.
Fallon was awake but not dressed when she heard voices outside her tent.
“Fallon.” It was Jade’s voice, and her tone was urgent. “Hannah’s been stung by something, and I think she’s having an allergic reaction. She’s getting hives and maybe a fever. I need you to take her to the clinic in town.”
“On it.” Fallon threw on something that wasn’t too dirty and hurried to her car. Hannah seemed dizzy as Kennedy and Delores helped her into the back seat. Nora held the door, watching with a concerned expression.
“I’ll stay here with the rest of the crew,” Jade said, digging into her medical kit. “But here’s the credit card, and take this EpiPen in case she gets worse.”
“I’ve never used one of these,” Fallon said, hoping her voice didn’t indicate her rising panic. “And how will I give it to her if I’m driving?”
“I’ll go with you,” Nora said. “But I can’t stand the idea of needles. If she gets worse, I’ll drive, and you’ll have to administer it.”
Fallon agreed, the thought of Nora’s presence easing some of her worry. “Let’s go.”