Chapter 8 – Storm #2
Grace didn’t take long. Most of her time was spent looking for poison ivy.
She arrived back at the canoe before Robby.
“Grace.” She looked up. Robby was twenty feet above her on top of the rock.
Grace could see small trees up there. “We can eat up here. I’m coming down.
” In no time he appeared, reached into the canoe, and got the insulated bag. “This way.”
It was not a hard climb, with scrub trees to pull up by.
The top was level with a scattering of rocks and minimal vegetation.
They walked out, past a simple fire ring — evidence of past visitors — almost to the edge.
Robby went closer than Grace, but they both looked at the view .
. . back to Getaway and Gunflint Lodges and across to the mostly wilderness Canadian side, Grace noticing more cabins there than on her last visit.
She looked at Robby’s back, his scarlet coat. “Is this the way you remember it?”
He didn’t respond right away, then he looked back at her.
“I was sixteen. It was twenty years ago. I’m pretty sure I was taking all this for granted and focused on sex.
” He laughed and turned to Grace. “I appreciate my surroundings more this time — I’ve lost touch with so much — but I’m still thinking about sex.
Some things just don’t change. Let’s eat. ”
They unpacked Nan’s thick turkey sandwiches, sprinkled liberally with pepper and salt on house-baked cracked wheat bread spread with mayonnaise and mounded with fresh spinach.
Robby took his out to the edge and sat, his feet hanging over.
Grace didn’t comment, but she cringed to see him sitting like that.
She took the green jacket off, bunched it up, and sat on it, leaning back against a small tree.
Pretty quickly her thoughts went to last night’s kiss, which caused a deep, slow breath.
She’d liked it entirely too much. She’d been expecting it.
It was no good denying she was interested.
Attracted. But she had to keep anything with Robby — or anyone else for that matter — under control.
She couldn’t afford — literally — to lose this chance for progress in her career.
It seemed to her that was what had happened last time. That and her dad.
Grace was lost in her thoughts when Robby pulled his feet up and faced her. He was finished his sandwich and had been thinking too. “If I weren’t in music the way I am, we’d probably get along better.”
“Maybe.”
“You said I’m ‘full of myself.’ People important to me have warned me about that.
I take it seriously. Understand, for me, everything has taken a back seat to music.
I’ve had to be better than anybody else because I’m not white, maybe especially because I’m Native.
In this country — not so much in others — it’s easier if we’re invisible .
. . that’s made a fine line for me. Maybe I give myself too much credit.
I think about it a lot. For now, I can back off. ”
“That’s interesting. I obviously haven’t experienced that — not being white — and I hadn’t thought of it with you and music, but it’s not so different from being a woman in journalism.
You’re farther along than I am — you’re older — but I have to be exceptional too, to be taken seriously. So, I guess we have that in common.”
Robby listened. He was quiet and looked at Grace a few seconds before he spoke.
“Again, like last night when you said you always have a tablet, I hadn’t thought of how we have this in common, but you’re right — my being Native and your being a woman .
. . we have similar struggles in getting ahead.
” There was a sudden breeze. He looked up at the treetops. “The breeze is picking up.”
“You picked the east side of this rock because the breeze is coming out of the west?”
Robby stood. “Yeah, the lee side. You . . . with your career focus . . . your determination . . . and now, directions.” He laughed. “How’d you know it was the east side?”
“My father taught me early on . . . to look for shadows, which way trees lean, lichen, those kinds of things. And he wouldn’t let me wear a watch, so I can approximate time without one.
He hated wearing one but had to for meetings and appointments.
I use my phone for that. He came from a long line of woodsmen, up behind Duluth on the Mesabi. ”
“Hmmm. The Giant. I’d like to hear more about that.” Robby looked down at the water. “But we can’t linger long. It’s going to be a harder paddle back, depending on this breeze. Let’s drink some coffee and save the candy bars for an energy boost halfway back.”
“Okay.”
Robby poured coffee. “So, what are you thinking of all this?” He handed Grace a cup and sat next to her.
“I’m thinking I never want to leave.”
Robby laughed. “You’ve never wintered up here.”
“Maybe this winter.”
“You’re not thinking that because of the pandemic, are you? I’m thinking end of summer at most.”
“Who knows? I read a lot, and I haven’t seen any reliable forecasts. Cases are spreading and rising every day. Who’d have imagined where we are now? Except scientists, and nobody listens to them anymore, right?”
Robby shook his head. “Right.” He sipped his coffee. “I’m glad we are where we are. Not in New York or some place crowded.”
“Where’s the rest of your band? Are they from around here, too?”
“No. I’m the only one from here, and the only Native.
They’re all white. Drummer’s from upstate New York.
The bass player and keyboard player are from New York City.
Maybe they’ll go someplace else. And the other guitar player .
. . I’m not sure originally. He never stays still for long.
” There was a gust of wind. “Drink up. We need to go.” They both finished their coffee. Robby stood and offered his hand.
“You do have good manners.” She took his hand.
“As they say, I was raised right . . . and in a house full of women. But,” he looked down at her, “I have an ulterior, very male motive now. I’ve got you in perfect position for another kiss, and I’m betting this time you won’t turn away.
” He pulled her closer and kissed her. Grace pulled her hand free from his and put both her arms around him.
“Ummm . . . almonds.” Robby pulled back slightly, still holding Grace close. “I wish we could continue this — feels promising — but we need to leave. I don’t want to be the Anishinaabe man who had to be rescued because he couldn’t paddle back against the wind.”
The return trip was a challenge. The breeze steadily increased, and they were paddling straight into it.
They pulled into a sheltered spot about halfway back and ate their candy bars, but Grace’s shoulders hurt, and she had to stop from time to time to stretch.
As far as she could tell, Robby never stopped.
By mid-afternoon, she could see the point and the lodge dock and got a second wind.
“Grace, turn around.” She lifted her paddle and looked at Robby. “We need to start angling across. I can drop you at the point. You’ve got to be tired. I’m surprised you’ve lasted this long.”
“No. I’m going to do it.” She grinned at him, unzipped her jacket, and stuck the paddle back in the water. Robby shook his head.
Billy was on the dock, checking boat lines, but when he saw them, he walked to the end and looked at Grace. “Looks like you got your chops back. Jim’s been watching for you guys. He says weather’s coming.” He helped Grace out. “Your cheeks are rosy.”
“The wind was blowing right in our faces all the way back. We got a workout.” She looked up and saw dark clouds moving in from the west. She turned to tell Robby, but he was already paddling the canoe to its spot.
She walked down the dock as he was stepping out.
“See those?” she said, pointing to the clouds.
“Yeah. I’ve been keeping an eye on ‘em. They’re coming this way.”
As Grace and Robby started to leave the dock, Billy stood up from securing the canoe. “You guys heading up to the lodge?”
“Yeah, gotta return this.” Robby lifted the insulated bag.
“I’m going up there myself. Let me take it. No trouble.”
Grace looked at Billy. “Thanks, but I have to return this jacket and get mine.”
“Wait, guys.” Billy reached out and held Grace’s arm.
Robby stopped. “It’s like this. It’s Saturday afternoon, Memorial Day Weekend.
Business is down, but the lodge is still full of people.
All ages. From other lodges too.” He looked at Robby.
“I don’t think you want to go in there.” He paused.
“Look, man, I know who you are. I recognized you right off, even before Jim told me. Don’t go to the lodge.
” He pointed up the hill. “Go straight up from here . . . between the A-frames. There’s a path that runs into the road.
Keep the hat on . . . maybe sunglasses.”
“Thanks.” Robby gave Billy the bag and said to Grace, “You want to give him that jacket? You can make it to your cabin without it and get yours tomorrow.”
“Sure. Thanks Billy.” She got out of the jacket. “Does Kirsten know?”
“Yeah, and that’s another reason you don’t want to go up there.
We’ve been sworn to secrecy, but I’m not sure she could hold it together if he actually walks in.
Then it’d be up and down the Trail in hours that Robby Song is at Getaway.
” He rolled his eyes. “The price of fame. I never thought about it past the girls and the money — but you can’t do the simplest things, even on the edge of a national wilderness. Go on, before somebody comes.”
Grace nodded, and she and Robby walked off the dock and up the hill, Robby pulling his sunglasses out of his pocket.
They walked in silence till they were past the lodge, then Robby said, “I need a shower and a nap. Can we eat a simple meal together? Sit by the firepit? Maybe the weather will’ve passed by then. ”