CHAPTER NINE
Tess
Camping in the rain was one of Tess’s least favorite things. If they had to endure bad weather, she preferred cold, wind, or even snow. But it was what it was.
The hammering raindrops were loud, but not enough to keep Tess from falling into a deep sleep.
Dreams of a large pepperoni pizza were interrupted by a noise outside her tent.
“Tess.” It was Carter. “Tess?”
She turned on her flashlight and unzipped the tent flap. Carter squatted outside, hunched under her tarp, holding a wadded-up sleeping bag. “Somebody better be on fire,” she grumbled.
“I’m sorry to wake you,” he said. “But my tent collapsed. Can I sleep in here?”
Tess swung the flashlight over to where Carter’s tent had been. Sure enough, it was flat. Helping him reset it in the pouring rain sounded a lot less appealing than having a sopping wet roommate.
“Fine,” she huffed.
He wiggled in and plopped down beside her. “You’re soaked,” she complained. “Don’t touch anything.”
“Sorry.”
His size made it impossible for him not to touch everything. By the time he’d lain out and crawled into his sleeping bag, it was as if a recently bathed dog had come in and shaken itself dry.
She switched off the flashlight and closed her eyes. “One mention of hypothermia or using body heat to survive, and you’re out on your ass. Understand?”
“Understood.” He chuckled. “Thanks, Tess.”
By morning, the rain had slowed to a drizzle, but the overnight deluge had left puddles and despair. Now, everyone wasn’t just tired and hungry, but tired, hungry, and wet.
“Carter slept with you?” Ashton asked as Carter struggled out of her tent.
“His tent collapsed in the middle of the night,” Tess explained. “We didn’t have a choice.”
“Maybe if he’d put his tarp on properly…” Logan said.
Tess glanced at Carter’s tent. In the light of day, she could see that Logan was right. Carter hadn’t tied it securely. It had blown up and trapped the water over the tent, collecting the rain until it became so heavy that it collapsed.
“You’d think by now it’d be obvious that Tess is always right,” Grayson said offhandedly. “And if you don’t do what she says, how she says to do it, somethin’ bad’s gonna happen.”
“Geez, I’m sorry,” Carter said. “I thought I tied it correctly. At least nobody got hurt.”
“Weren’t you in charge of covering the fire pit?” Ashton said, nodding to an uncovered pit filled with water. “Now we can’t make a fire. That sort of hurts us all, don’t you think?”
“All right,” Tess said, tamping down her own irritation. “What’s done is done. It sucks, but we have to deal with it.”
They moved to a small clearing in the forest, which gave a semblance of shelter, but even there, it was too wet to start a fire.
Anger toward Carter rolled off in waves from the group, and Tess really couldn’t blame them.
“Instant coffee is disgusting, but it was better than no coffee,” Ashton said. “You’re not going to like me uncaffeinated.”
“Yeah,” Grayson agreed. “Without caffeine, I should probably apologize in advance for whatever might come out of my mouth.”
Tess knew the feeling.
“Maybe it’ll clear up by lunch, and we can make some then,” Logan said.
Tess looked at the sky and shrugged. “Maybe.” She pulled her hood over her head. “I’m gonna go look for berries.”
“Shouldn’t one of us go with you?” Logan asked.
As much as she did not want company, he was right. “If someone’s comin’, get a move on.”
The men all shared furtive glances, mentally playing a game of Not It. Logan sighed and came to her side.
“We’ll try to get a fire going,” Carter offered lamely as she turned to go.
Logan followed silently, no one saying anything until they arrived at the berry bushes.
“You’re hiding your irritation very well,” he said, breaking the ice and causing her to laugh.
“Believe me,” she said. “It’s right under the surface. Especially without caffeine. You were brave to follow me out here.”
“Or stupid.” He smiled. “You needed a second. I understand.”
“Perhaps.” It was kind of weird he could read her like that. She wasn’t really in the mood to talk, but Logan’s presence was calming and she felt herself relax a bit.
“What do you do on solo day?” Logan asked.
“Exactly what you’re supposed to do,” she lied. “Commune with nature, find inner peace, rethink my questionable life choices.”
He raised a dubious eyebrow, and she laughed. “Don’t believe me?”
He shook his head.
“Fine,” she conceded. “The regular campouts don’t do them, so I’ve actually only done a couple. I find food, eat, and try to sleep the day away.”
“Sounds smart. Hope the rain stops.”
“Yeah, me too.”
They picked as many berries as they could, but because they’d been picking off this bush all week, their haul was modest.
On the walk back to camp, a tiny chipmunk darted across the trail, and Logan let out a yelp.
“That’s a pretty high-pitched scream for such a grown-ass man,” Tess said. “You that afraid of chipmunks?”
“It surprised me, that’s all.”
“Uh-huh.” She bit her lip to keep from smiling.
“Think anyone else heard that?” he said, looking toward camp.
She chuckled. “I caught Ashton crying last night after he dropped his berries in the dirt, so I wouldn’t worry too much about it.”
The rain let up around noon, and they spent the rest of the day preparing for their solo excursion. They caught and ate fish, reviewed emergency protocols, and got a refresher course on the basics—shelter, food, and water.
The initial plan required them to build their own shelter for the night. But after the week they’d endured, she gave up on that notion and allowed them to take tents.
Tess assigned each camper a set of coordinates where their “space” would be. They would be about a half-mile apart. And each would have access to the river for water and fish. She centered herself in the middle so she could quickly and easily reach anyone who needed help.
The next morning, after coffee and ash cakes, they stood at the edge of the woods, ready to go—backpacks on and compasses in hand. They would spend today and all night by themselves.
“You got this,” she said, hoping a quick pep talk might wipe some of the concern from their faces.
“It’s what we’ve been gearing up for all week.
Use your flare if you need to, but only for a real emergency.
You can scare off most animals just by making a lot of noise.
Set up camp first, and if you leave it, be back before dusk.
I would advise against venturing too far from your spot. ”
“And hopefully by now,” Grayson said. “We’ve all learned that when Tess ‘suggests’ something, we should do it.” He shot a pointed glare at Carter and Ashton.
“You’ll all do just fine,” Tess continued. “Boredom will be the biggest hurdle, but use the twenty-four hours for what it’s meant to be—a chance to do some uninterrupted soul-searching and self-reflection.”
They all nodded.
“See you on the other side,” Grayson said, crossing himself. “God willing.”
Tess watched as they trudged off like kids on their first day of school. She waited to make sure they headed in the right directions and then hoisted her pack and started off to her allocated spot.
Since she was in the middle, her hike was only an hour. And while she sent them out to places they hadn’t been to yet, she’d picked a known entity for herself—the falls they’d come to on day three.
It might have been a little unfair, but she wasn’t the one paying to learn something. It was just another day for her. And here, she knew there’d be fish and sun most of the day.
After setting up camp, and when the sun was high in the sky, she stripped and dove into the chilly water. She thought about washing her hair, but they were going home tomorrow, so what was the point?
She lay in the sun until her hair was dry and then fished until she caught a few small trout. After cleaning, cooking, and eating them, she took a nap.
All that, and it was barely two o’clock. She’d just taken a sip from a flask of whiskey when Logan popped through the trees.
“Oh,” he said. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know anyone would be here.”
“Why aren’t you at your spot?” Tess asked, screwing the lid back on the flask.
“Um, well, I suppose it’s cheating a little, but I knew where I was and that I wasn’t too far from here. A swim sounded refreshing, and I figured I could catch a few fish too.”
“I sent you in a completely different direction. How’d you find this place?”
“Did I not mention I’m an Eagle Scout?”
“I guess you pass navigation,” she mumbled.
“I’ll head back to my spot,” he said, turning to go.
It had only been half a day, and Tess was already bored out of her gourd. A brief conversation with Logan wouldn’t hurt.
“You can stay and fish if you want,” Tess said. “Since you’re already here.”
“Sweet.” He dropped his pack, set up his fishing pole, and sat next to her. “We drivin’ you to drink?” he asked, tipping his chin to her flask.
“It’s been a long campout,” she said, taking another swig.
“Can’t say I blame you. Herding a motley crew of cats is rough work.” She offered him the flask, and he took it. “Hmm. Don’t mind if I do.”
His line tugged, and he pulled in a nice-sized brook trout and reset the pole.
“To be honest,” he said. “I’m glad I ran into you. This sudden isolation is kind of uncomfortable.”
“Technically, we’re not alone anymore.”
“Touché,” he said. “And I mean, I live alone, so it’s not like I don’t already spend plenty of time by myself. It’s just that being alone out here, in the vast, vast wilderness? Is different. And terrifying.”
“I get it.” She chuckled. “I live alone too. We’re just so used to phones, radios, and TVs filling the silence that true solitude feels unfamiliar. And having only your thoughts for company can get weird fast.”
“Is that really why you’re drinking?” he teased.
“Ha. Ha.”
Her feet were still bare from her swim, and she noticed him staring at her ankle.
“So, are you just exceptionally confident, or is there a story behind your tattoo?”
“Well, I am pretty confident,” she said.
“But it was my jersey number in high school.” At his confused look, she continued.
“The other night, I mentioned that our basketball team won the state championship. Well, because the town’s so small, it was a pretty big deal.
My team and I all got tattoos to celebrate. ”
“Oh, that’s cool.” He caught another fish, but kept talking as he reeled it in. “Is it possible I saw your picture in the entryway of a restaurant in town?”
“Yeah, that’s a thing around here. You know what they say? It’s easy to make a big splash in a small pond.”
“Don’t sell yourself short,” he said. “I bet you’re pretty good. You gonna share any more of your contraband or what?”
She passed him the whiskey. “This is my reward for surviving the week.”
“I ain’t heard no fat lady,” he said, taking a healthy swig.
She assumed he was quoting from the movie Independence Day —another of Tess’s favorites—and she followed up with the line that came next. “Forget the fat lady. You’re obsessed with the fat lady. Drive this thing out of here.”
They laughed.
“I’m not getting so hammered I couldn’t handle an emergency if that’s what you’re insinuating.”
“I meant to suggest no such thing,” he said. “I have no doubts whatsoever regarding your ‘roughing it’ prowess. How’d you end up with this gig anyway?”
“It was a marketing idea I had for The Outpost. Turned out to be a you catch it, you clean it type of situation.”
“How long have you worked there?”
“Since I graduated from business school. So, almost five years. I manage the place. For now.”
A shadow crossed his face, an expression she couldn’t read. He didn’t ask her to elaborate, so she didn’t. Then again, what did he care if her livelihood was being sold out from under her?
“You like living in a small town?” he asked, taking another sip.
The question usually made her defensive. Most people who asked it had a sneer in their tone that indicated judgment. But he sounded sincere, like he genuinely wanted to know.
“I do,” she said. “Growing up, I was always gunning to leave, but after college and coming back here…I don’t know. I like it now.”
“It seems like a pleasant way to live,” he mused. Again, totally sincere.
“Look,” she whispered, pointing across the river to where two deer had come to drink. Strong and sleek, they spread their legs for balance and lapped up the water. One was bigger than the other and had antlers.
“A buck and a doe,” she said. “Bet they’re on a date. He was probably like, ‘Hey baby, I know this great place. Come on, I’ll buy you a drink.’” The Jack Daniels convinced her that was funny, and she laughed to herself.
“They’re beautiful,” he said, voice deep and husky.
His gaze turned to her, and the way his eyes bore into hers caused her brain to turn to mush. It might still be the whiskey talking, but she would swear he was about to kiss her. And damned if she didn’t want him to.
Instead, she snatched the flask from his hand. “Okay. You’re cut off.”
He stared a second longer and then chuckled. “Yeah, right.” He shook his head. “Booze on an empty stomach can mess a guy up. Guess I better get back and cook up these fish. Don’t want any trouble from the boss for not having camp set up by dusk.”
“Good luck.” She raised the flask in a toast. “See you in the morning.”
She stared as he walked away.
“Are you staring at my butt?” he called without turning around.
“No.” She smiled. “Well, now I am.” It was another quote from another movie.
No denying it was a nice view. She watched until he disappeared into the trees and then smacked herself on the forehead. What had just happened? Why had she let him stay so long? And how had she come so close to kissing him?
“Get it together, Walker,” she mumbled. “One more day, and then you’ll never see him again.”