2. Beck
two
Beck
“Is that bacon?” Reid asks.
I look toward the common room. Reid slept through getting kicked, conversations, footsteps, cabinet doors, a coffee grinder, and music coming from a speaker in the kitchen. But bacon hits a skillet, and the dead rise.
Reid pushes himself upright, hair sticking up on one side, and squints toward the kitchen.
Ivy stares at him. “Seriously?”
Reid rubs a hand over his face. “What?”
“I tripped over you and you didn't so much as twitch.” Ivy crosses her arms. “Even Tessa tried to wake you.”
Tessa points a spatula at him from the stove. “I kicked you. Twice.”
His eyebrows go up. “Is that why my leg hurts? I thought it was just a cramp.”
I laugh into my coffee.
Reid untangles himself from the sleeping bag and gets to his feet. “Is the bacon ready?”
Ivy makes a sound somewhere between a laugh and a groan. “Unbelievable.”
I've known Reid for six years. I've watched him wake instantly to a radio call in the middle of the night and be completely alert before his feet hit the floor.
I've also watched three grown men attempt to wake him after he'd been asleep for less than an hour.
They failed. Apparently, they should have tried fried pork.
Reid wanders into the kitchen and reaches toward the plate of bacon beside the stove.
Tessa smacks the back of his hand with the spatula. “That's for everybody.”
“I am part of everybody.”
“You haven't done anything.”
“I woke up.”
“Congratulations.”
He waits until she turns back toward the stove, then takes a piece anyway.
The crew house is a different place than the one we arrived at six hours ago. Early morning sunlight streams through the windows. Coffee is brewing. Somebody opened the back door, letting cool morning air into a kitchen already warm from the stove.
People drift in and out wearing shorts, T-shirts, pajamas, and whatever else they found first. A guy I don't recognize who appears to be fresh out of high school comes into the kitchen, looking about as awake as Reid did five minutes ago.
Ivy catches my glance. “That's Nolan. First summer.”
Nolan lifts his head in greeting. “Hey.”
“Beck.” I nod toward Reid. “That's Reid.”
Reid raises a piece of bacon. “Welcome to Blackpine.”
Nolan looks at him. “I've been here three weeks.”
“Then I'm a little late.”
Another guy leans in the doorway, still holding a mug. “That's Trevor,” Ivy says.
Nolan pours himself a bowl of cereal and takes the open seat at the table. Dani claimed a chair near the window and is drinking coffee. The cat is stretched across the patch of sunlight at her feet.
Dani looks down at the cat. “Did Tessa feed you?”
“Yes,” Tessa says. “But she tried to recruit Ivy first.”
Dani glances at Ivy. “She got you?”
“At five in the morning.”
“I'm sorry.”
“No, you're not.”
Dani takes another drink of coffee. “I'm a little sorry.”
Mabel rolls onto her back.
Ivy points at her. “Look at that. No remorse.”
“She's a cat,” Dani says. “Remorse isn't part of the package.”
Ivy pours herself more coffee. She's been doing a good job pretending nothing unusual happened this morning.
Considering she woke me by landing on top of me, got flipped onto her back, and then had an audience show up before either of us had figured out what was happening, I can't blame her.
I'm willing to pretend it didn't happen too. Mostly.
I've known Ivy for a few years, but only in pieces. A couple days around the crew house. An afternoon in town when Reid and I had a few days between assignments. Long enough to know I like her. Long enough to know I’m attracted to her. Never long enough for either fact to matter much.
Tessa slides eggs onto a platter. “Food's ready.”
That gets everybody moving. Nolan abandons his cereal. Dani gets plates from the cabinet. Ivy grabs the toast as it pops up. Within a minute, every open section of counter is covered with food.
There's no real dining room and not enough chairs at the kitchen table. Tessa sits on the counter. Ivy leans against the sink. I end up standing beside Reid. I load my plate with eggs, toast, and bacon. Reid reaches over and takes a piece of bacon off my plate.
I slap his hand away. “You already stole some.”
“That's why I know it's good.”
“Get your own.”
“The plate is all the way over there.”
It's four feet away. I move my plate to my other hand. He grins and goes to get his own.
A guitar riff comes through the speaker on top of the refrigerator.
Nolan looks up from his plate. “Who is this?”
“Tom Petty,” I say.
Nolan squints, like he's deciding whether to be impressed. Reid doesn't even look up. He already knows I'm right about these things.
Nolan reaches for the cereal box again, then stops. “Wait. You're the Beck?”
“Depends what everyone's been saying.”
“That you free-fell into a bog once and didn't get out for two hours.”
“It was a marsh,” I say. “And I got out in twenty minutes.”
Nolan looks between us like he's contemplating something. “Okay, but you jumped. Actually jumped. Out of a plane. On purpose.”
“That's generally how it works.”
“Was it terrifying?”
“First time or every time?”
Nolan blinks. “There's a difference?”
“The first time you're too busy following your training to be scared. It catches up with you later."
Reid snorts. “Tell him about jump six.”
“Nobody needs to hear about jump six.”
“Jump six is a great story.”
“Jump six is a cautionary tale, and not the kind you're making it out to be.”
Nolan sets down his spoon, fully invested. “I need to hear about jump six.”
“Reid tells it better. Mostly because none of what he says is true.”
Reid grins. “Every word is true. I've just improved the pacing.”
Eventually, the conversation moves on to what everybody plans to do with a Saturday that doesn't involve swinging a Pulaski or several miles of trail.
“Alder Lake,” Dani says.
Trevor perks up. “I'm in.”
“You're always in,” Tessa says.
Ivy grabs a notepad from the end of the counter. “I'm going into Timber Creek this morning for the weekly supply run. If we need anything, tell me now.”
Three people start talking at once.
She holds up a hand. “One at a time.”
“Ice,” Dani says. “We're almost out.”
“Bug spray and sunscreen,” Tessa adds.
“Chips,” Nolan says.
“Actual food,” Ivy says, writing.
“Chips are actual food.”
“Not when I'm shopping.”
Nolan sighs.
Reid contributes, “Protein powder. The chocolate kind.”
Ivy glances at Reid. “That's not crew-house stuff.”
“It could be, if you're generous.”
That reminds me. I packed for a reassignment, but I packed fast. If we're here for two weeks, what I brought will get me through. If we're here for two months, it won't. I need blades for my razor. More socks wouldn't hurt. And bar soap.
“What time are you leaving?” I ask.
Ivy looks at me. “Ten minutes.”
I push away from the counter. “Mind if I come with you?”
She pauses. Then her fingers close around keys. “Sure.”
“Give me five minutes.” I head toward the stairs.
Behind me, Reid calls, “Since you're going anyway, toothpaste. And deodorant!”