Chapter 17
Chapter
Seventeen
Phin kept up with Rhaz as best she could.
He was so tall and she was so short. Sometimes he got ahead of her.
She didn’t want to trot constantly to keep up, so she let herself lag behind now and then.
Every time he noticed, he stopped, waited for her, and slowed his pace.
Eventually, however, he would speed up again, as though eager to reach whatever destination he had in mind.
Thank heaven she worked out enough that she wasn’t huffing and puffing her way up the hill. It wasn’t steep, just a steady incline that seemed to go on forever.
“I’m sorry,” he said for what had to be the fifth time. “I seem to forget you are smaller.” He looked down at her and smiled.
“Go ahead. Say it. I’m short.” She shrugged. “I’m used to it. Short stuff. Shorty. Hey, squirt. Hey, squatty.”
“Squatty?” He laughed. “That is a term I’ve never heard.”
“My sister calls me that.” Phin frowned. “Jessica got all the height. I got the short end of the stick.” She made air quotes with her fingers.
Rhaz nodded. “I understand.” He glanced farther up the trail. “I do not think it is much farther. Do you need to rest?”
“No, but we probably should have brought water. It’s hot out.”
“Ah, yes. Supplies.” He grimaced. “I am sorry. I did not think of that, and I did not realize it was this far. Would you like to go back?”
“No,” she blurted. Her lips snapped shut. “Um, that is... I have nowhere to be, remember?”
“You will tell me if you are tired or thirsty?”
“Sure. I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.” She bit her lip and kept walking. Could she sound any more pathetic? Good grief. Put her around a handsome guy and suddenly she forgot how to form complete sentences.
She rolled her eyes at herself. “Get a grip, Phin,” she muttered under her breath.
Not long afterward, they reached the pine grove. It sat in a clearing surrounded by pine trees planted in a rough semicircle near a rock outcropping. Her father used to call it a bear’s hibernation spot. Maybe there was one nearby.
Not that bears were common, but the occasional one wandered through the area. Mountain lions too. Mostly, though, the wildlife consisted of skunks, raccoons, possums, and deer. Once in a while, a beaver showed up, though that usually happened closer to one of the lakes.
She stepped into the middle of the grove and looked around. “You know, somebody must have planted these trees. They’re too perfect. Look at the spacing.”
Rhaz walked from tree to tree as though measuring the distance between them. “Yes. Very interesting.”
He clasped his hands behind his back and slowly turned in a circle, studying everything around him. Then he pointed. “The ocean. It is that way.”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
He pointed another direction. “And town?”
“Yes, that way,” Phin said. “Though if you go back down the trail, you’ll hit the edge of town eventually.”
She jabbed a thumb over her shoulder. “And that’s just more woods. Nothing too interesting.”
He nodded and turned toward the forest behind them. “Yet I hear people were recently searching these woods.”
“Oh, that.” Phin laughed. “That was because of Sam Darnell and his wolf story.”
“A wolf.” He gave her a sage nod them kicked at a stick on the ground.
She watched him. “Yep. He claimed he saw this huge wolf. Then hunters showed up, Fish and Wildlife showed up, scientists showed up. Everybody wanted to catch it, study it, or shoot it.”
“It caused problems?”
She made a face. “It drove us crazy at the fire station.”
“How so?”
“False alarms mostly. Somebody’s cat was in a tree, and they wanted it rescued before the wolf got it. Then somebody’s dog went missing and everyone assumed the wolf ate it.”
She shrugged. “To be fair, some pets did disappear around that time. Cats and dogs. Nobody ever found them.”
“But no one saw the wolf again.”
“Nope.”
“Interesting.”
“It is weird, isn’t it?”
“Very.” Rhaz rubbed his chin thoughtfully, then looked around the grove again. A moment later he knelt and began studying the ground.
“Are you looking for animal tracks?” she asked.
“No. Just looking.”
Phin folded her arms. He was definitely looking for something. If it wasn’t tracks, what was it?
When he finally stood, he brushed his hands on his jeans and glanced toward the rock outcropping. “Bears, huh?” He smiled and headed that way.
“Hey, wait for me.” She hurried after him. “You don’t think there’s actually a bear in there, do you?”
Rhaz stopped so suddenly she nearly walked into him. “Is that a possibility?” He fixed his gaze on the rocks. For a moment he looked as though he expected them to sprout legs, transform into some enormous monster, and attack.
Before she knew what was happening, he’d stepped in front of her and gently but firmly pushed her behind him.
“What the?—”
He glanced back. “Sorry. Reflex.”
Phin stared up at him. “What do you mean, reflex?”
“Oh, nothing.” He gave her a sheepish smile before turning back to the outcropping.
Phin narrowed her eyes. Uh-huh. Nothing. Right. After a moment, Rhaz headed toward the outcropping. Phin found herself trailing several feet behind, just in case there was some critter hiding in the brush.
He pushed his way through and disappeared.
“Rhaz?” she called. “You aren’t looking at the ground again, are you?”
Silence.
“Did you find some bear poop?”
His head popped up above the brush. “Bear poop?” He laughed and disappeared again. “There is a small shelter here, but not much of one. I do not think a bear would choose to live here.”
A moment later he emerged, brushing leaves and twigs from his clothes. “Well,” he declared, “that was an adventure.”
Phin laughed. “Not much of one. You want a real adventure, hang around Sam Darnell. He’ll talk your ear off.”
“Does he tell good adventure stories?”
“No. The adventure is trying to get away from him. Once he has you captive, he’s got you.”
Rhaz’s expression suddenly turned serious. “Captive? Has he ever held you captive?”
Phin blinked, then burst out laughing. “No. I’m smarter than that.”
Relief washed across his face. “But is he not Louise’s...” He made a circling motion with one hand while searching for the word.
“Boyfriend?” Phin laughed harder. “Oh, come on. You know what a boyfriend is.”
He shook his head. “I’m afraid I do not.”
“You don’t know what a boyfriend is?”
“No.”
She stared at him. “You know. Two people who like each other?”
“They have a word for this?” he asked, cocking his head.
“Of course they do.”
He frowned. “What is this boyfriend?”
Phin buried her face in her hands. “Oh, please tell me you’re kidding.” When she looked up, he appeared genuinely curious. Maybe it was a cultural thing.
“Okay,” she said with a sigh. “Dating is when two people spend time together so they can get to know each other and decide whether they want to be exclusive.”
He stared blankly at her. “Exclusive.”
“Yes.” She nodded. “As in, they don’t date anybody else. They only date each other.”
His brow furrowed further. “People date more than one person?”
“Sure.”
His eyebrows shot up. “At the same time?”
“Sometimes.”
He looked horrified.
Phin laughed. “Then they figure out who they like best and date that person exclusively.”
“How strange.”
“Strange?”
“Yes.” He shook his head. “That does not seem fair.”
“What’s unfair about it?”
“If you are spending time with someone to determine whether you like them, why would you do so with several people at once?”
She sighed. “Because that’s how dating works.”
He looked unconvinced.
“Not judging,” she said quickly, holding up both hands. “You’re not from around here. Different culture.”
“I am not judging you.” His expression softened. “This is new to me. I am learning your customs.”
“Aha.” She pointed at him. “So it is a cultural thing.”
“It would appear so.”
That actually made her feel better. “So,” she said, “have you ever courted anyone?”
His face softened into a smile. “Not recently.”
Phin nodded slowly. “But you have?”
“Of course.”
“Are there lots of women where you’re from?”
“There are plenty of ladies at court.” He paused. “Where I am from.”
She grinned. “You really do have an odd way of saying things.”
“Do I?”
“Yep.” She grinned again. “But it’s kind of growing on me.”
A corner of his mouth twitched.
“So these ladies you courted...” She tilted her head. “None of them really jived with you?”
His eyebrows shot upward. “What is this word? Jived?”
“You know.” She waved a hand. “Clicked. Connected. Made you think, ‘Oh, she’s wonderful. I want to spend the rest of my life with her.’” For dramatic effect, she clasped her hands over her heart, closed her eyes, and made exaggerated kissing noises.
Rhaz burst out laughing. “Phin Ironwood, you are entertaining as well as beautiful.”
The words hit her like a brick. She dropped her hands and looked away. “Gee. Thanks.” Her face felt hot. Hot enough that she was suddenly fascinated by a nearby pine tree.
Rhaz chuckled.
Phin snorted a laugh. “Right then.” She jabbed both thumbs over her shoulders. “Maybe we should, you know, head back.”
“I suppose you are right.” Rhaz nodded. “Anon will be worried. We did not tell anyone where we were going.”
“Yeah.” Phin’s eyes widened. “Oh heavens. What if they think we’re out here ravishing each other?”
Rhaz blinked. “Ravish?” His expression brightened. “I do know that word.”
Phin mashed her lips together. “I didn’t mean it literally,” she said in a rush.
“Oh, I am sure you did not.” The smile he gave her didn’t help. Not one little bit. He turned and started back toward the trail.
As soon as his back was to her, Phin rolled her eyes, smacked herself on the forehead a few times, and shook out her hands.
Good grief. All she had to do was get back to Anon’s house without embarrassing herself further.
By her own admission, that was no small feat.
Phin got out of the car, shut the door, and waited for her parents to do the same.