Chapter 4
Chapter Four
Nature is my happy place
Tula
Tula watched as Sadie held out her wrist in order for a yellow band to be wrapped around it.
“Look, we’re the Honeybees!” Sadie waved her arms as if expecting the band with an imprint of a fat bumblebee to give her the power of flight.
“Just be careful or you’ll discover you three don’t hold the only stingers in camp.
” As Sadie’s eyes rolled like marbles at Master David’s warning, Wren giggled and offered her wrist. Tula should have been surprised that her reaction hadn’t been to instantly turn and find herself another group to join, but instead wondered exactly how much sting this man could deliver.
If asked to describe the cowboy she’d thought most likely to run the camp along with Travis, Master David was about as opposite that image as a horse was to a fish.
She had to stifle a giggle at the comparison, but she could easily see why those two animals had popped into her head.
Cowboys like Travis handled horses on an everyday basis.
His co-counselor, on the other hand, looked more like he would be at home either surfing on top of an ocean wave or swimming among the fish who called the sea their home.
Of course, it hadn’t been that much of a guess to begin with.
The Hawaiian shirt Master David wore over his camp t-shirt was one clue, the messy man-bun that kept his hair out of his face was another.
The fact that she was now wondering how that hair would feel brushing across her skin was a separate issue.
One that was magnified greatly when the simple brush of his fingertips across her skin to place the band had her breath catching.
Had his touch seemed to linger longer than it had on her friends’ wrists?
Surely that was only her imagination, but a girl could hope, couldn’t she?
“Thank you,” she said and felt her heart skip a beat when he smiled down at her.
“You’re welcome… I’m sorry, I don’t think we’ve met, officially I mean. You’re staying with the Banners?”
“Tallulah Rivers, but you can call me Tula. I joined a bit late, but I am really excited to be allowed to attend. I just love being out in the wild. It’s my happy place.”
Out in the wild?
Happy place?
Her friends’ giggling had her wondering if she could sound any sillier? Before she could think of some way to stuff those words right back into her mouth, he finished fastening the bracelet and then stroked a fingertip across the band.
“You’re a woman after my own heart,” said the most handsome man she’d ever laid eyes on as he smiled down at her.
Heat bloomed inside her in pleasure at his words.
Slow down, girl, he probably says that to everyone.
She really hated it when that inner voice became one of reason. Still, it had saved her from making a bigger fool of herself since she’d been on the verge of gushing how much she loved being his heart. Instead, she remembered his question. “Moses is my uncle.”
“Your uncle?” He cleared his throat before adding, “I should have figured that out.”
“Why?”
“Why what?” he asked.
Why did your voice rise an octave?
Thankfully, Wren chose that moment to bump into her so Tula didn’t embarrass herself by asking that question. “Why what what?”
Oh, right, like that’s not even more ridiculous?
“Never mind, I think all this flying about has made me a bit dizzy.”
Seeing as she hadn’t been the one doing any flying, she wasn’t the least bit surprised when he simply looked at her for a long moment before nodding and walking away.
“Yep, there is no way he bought that,” she muttered.
“It’s a little late to go shopping,” Wren said after she’d finished flapping her arms and buzzing about in a circle.
“I don’t think she’s talking about buying anything from a store.” Sadie’s eyes tracked from Tula to Master David as he walked down the line to the next group of campers. Turning her attention back to her friend, she said, “Spill.”
“Unfortunately, I’m afraid I don’t particularly care for tea,” Tula said.
“Fortunately, I have a bit of a reputation for my ability to squeeze the very last drop out of a pot, whether it’s serving tea or just hot water,” Sadie said with a confidence that spoke of truth.
Tula seized the opportunity to not only pull on her t-shirt, but to change the subject. “Speaking of water, which one of us is going to be the slacker and sit in the middle of our canoe?”
“Only one way to figure that out,” Wren said, holding out her hands, one fisted and bouncing against the palm of her other. “Winner gets first pick.” The other two quickly mimicked her and on the count of three, they declared their choices.
Tula’s fist remained curled and she smiled as she gently smashed the two pair of scissors her friends had displayed.
“I’ll take the back as I love to steer,” Tula announced. “You two go again. Winner gets to decide if they want to lead the way or be a lazy bee and just go along for the ride.”
Wren pumped her fist in victory as her flattened hand covered the closed fist of Sadie’s rock. “Being the magnanimous victor, I’m going to let you be our guiding light.”
Tula giggled. “How about we keep it fair and rotate positions every day?”
“Or if we just happen to flip upside down?” Sadie asked with a note of glee in her voice that warned Tula to be prepared to be taking an unexpected bath at any time.
“Do you know how to get back into a canoe that’s upside down?” she asked.
“Um, no, but then I don’t recall that being a requirement. Which means it can’t be all that hard, right?” Sadie asked.
“Depends on the depth of the water and the current,” Tula said. “But don’t worry, with three of us, it will actually be pretty easy. I have this little trick in case you’re intere…” The rest of her sentence was left unsaid as the shrill of a whistle cut through the clearing.
“A matching strip of colored tape has been added to your backpacks. Once you’ve packed your extra shirts away, meet up by your assigned canoe and we’ll come around and measure you for the proper paddle…”
“Ooooh, we’re getting paddles!” a Little called out, making every other Little giggle.
Tula was glad to see Master David had a sense of humor.
Instead of even attempting to curtail the amused Littles, he simply grinned.
“That’s right, but know this, Master Travis and I have more than one.
Add in the fact Master Derek could pop in at any time…
well, it’s up to you, but let’s just say if it were my butt on the line, I’d keep those paddles where they belong.
Which is with your canoe in case you haven’t figured that out. Any questions?”
Just one. Can I volunteer to demonstrate how you handle your paddle?
“Huh?”
Tula could only shake her head and put her finger to her lips as if to remind the others to pay attention.
Catching Sadie’s side-eye, Tula had a sneaky feeling that she might have said that out loud.
Either that or the girl was already flexing those muscles necessary for all that squeezing she’d warned was coming.
The girls were smart enough to not so much as touch a paddle, much less stick a toe into the water before they’d slathered sunscreen on each other and donned their life vests.
Though she felt it was a bit unnecessary, when wearing one included being patted down to make sure the fit was snug, and that inspection was done by Master David himself, she discovered she didn’t feel the least bit of discomfort.
Not even when he grinned and pulled out his tube of sunscreen and added a dollop to the tip of her nose.
“Since it’s not time for Rudolph to make his appearance, make sure you protect all of your face, okay?”
“Okay.” If she sounded a bit breathless, she’d blame it on the life vest constricting her lungs.
The chaos of the first outing soon turned into a well-oiled machine as the men split the campers into two groups with Master Travis leading the first in a canoe loaded with a pile of backpacks decorated with strips of brightly colored tape across their surfaces.
Tula was a bit disappointed to discover their canoe was in his group rather than Master David’s, but the look of pleasure on Wren’s face was enough to make Tula smile.
“Sure you wouldn’t rather be riding with your Daddy?” Tula asked as she held the stern of the canoe steady while Wren stepped into it.
“And give up my status as queen bee of this hive? Not a chance,” Wren quipped as she settled into the center of the canoe.
“What she means is he’d make her paddle. Especially since he’d be able to ogle the muscles of her little bee bubble butt flexing with all that work.” Giggling, Sadie wagged her hips as she stepped into the bow of the canoe and braced her paddle against the bank so that Tula could join them.
“And most likely leading us all off course as he thinks about all those paddles Master David referenced,” Tula contributed as she settled in place. “Ready to make like bees and take off?”
The sound of loud buzzing was her answer as Tula pushed off to begin a week of what she hoped to be full of adventure and knew without a doubt would be a ton of fun.
Glancing behind her, she found the canoe at the very back of the pack.
This one was also full of camping gear and powered by a solo canoeist. As long as she was dreaming, she might as well toss in her hopes that she’d be the recipient of a few more of those looks and several dozen additional soft strokes of a certain camp counselor’s finger.
Despite the press of the life vest against her, Tula felt her nipples tightening when Master David’s eyes met hers.
“Hey,” Wren whimpered, “you two do see that tree, right? The one with the spider web that probably houses an entire colony of flesh-eating arachnids!”
Tula’s head whipped forward. “Yep, I see it and spiders aren’t called a colony. They’re a clutter.”
“Call them whatever you like but what they are is icky and if so much as a single furry leg lands on me, you’ll be teaching us how to get back into this canoe because it will definitely be flipping.”
The fact Wren spoke without so much as raising her voice told Tula exactly how serious her friend was. “Sorry, I’ve got you,” Tula declared, sinking the blade of her paddle deep into the water and using her muscles to turn the canoe away from the bank and toward the center of the river.
Wren shrieked as droplets of water fell on her when Sadie began to paddle a bit too energetically.
“You can stop with all that caterwauling,” Sadie announced as she lifted her paddle free and waved it toward the web. “It’s water, not icky legs.”
“You do know that spiders won’t be the only creatures out here, right?” Tula asked once the canoe was positioned correctly which meant she lost sight of her dream man.
Dream Daddy perhaps?
Ignoring that inner voice and concentrating on Wren’s assurance that she knew they were invading the homes of several species, Tula had to suppress her giggle when Wren added, “As long as those animals don’t scuttle about on eight legs, I’ll be fine.”
“Good to know,” Sadie said, once again splashing her companions. “Now, as fascinating as clutters might be, how about we talk about the elephant on the river instead.”
“Please tell me you don’t seriously believe there are actual elephants on this mountain,” Tula said as all that erratic paddling from the bow meant she was constantly correcting their course.
“Oh yes there are.” Wren took the liberty of her position to not just turn her head but to rotate her body one hundred and eighty degrees to sit facing the stern of the boat. “In fact, if I’m not mistaken, I can see an elephant over your shoulder.”
When Tula actually turned her head, Wren giggled. “Oh, wow. You’re right, Sadie. Our friend definitely has a case of peanut envy.”
The statement jarred Tula enough to have her looking back without even glimpsing said elephant. “What? That makes no sense.”
“Sure it does,” Sadie said. “What do elephants like to eat the most?”
“Peanuts!” Wren shouted loudly, the word actually echoing a bit off the cliff face to their right.
“Exactly, which means someone in this canoe is, at this very moment, picturing herself as a delectable legume just waiting for some elephant to come along and gobble her right up.”
Tula felt her cheeks heat but wasn’t about to concede. Not yet anyway. “I’ll have you know, if all that imaginary elephant wants to do is gobble, he belongs in a group of rafters rather than a herd.”
“Oh! I know this one!” Wren clapped in glee. “Did you ever hear about the rafter of turkeys at the Ranch?”
“Or how they were saved from becoming Thanksgiving dinner?” Sadie added.
Enthralled at the ease of which the two managed to switch topics as quickly as a bee flitted from flower to flower, Tula shook her head. “Nope, but I’m guessing there was some sort of prank involved?”
That was enough to change the topic from elephants to turkeys and Tula listened to the tale of how a giggle of Littles had chained themselves to the Ranch’s fences to save a rafter of turkeys named after the cast of the sitcom Friends.
When Wren’s laughter once again pealed across the water, Tula’s joined her as she imagined the sight of turkeys on parade.
Once the three had settled a bit, Sadie turned her head to look back. “Don’t think for a moment that I’ve forgotten about your case of peanut envy.”
Tula rolled her eyes. “I told you, I’m not interested in being gobbled.”
“That’s right,” Wren said in support. “I saw you with that lollipop. You’re definitely more of… how do I say this delicately? Let’s just say, you’re a woman with varied tastes.”
“Delicate smellacate,” Sadie said with confidence. “Let’s call it like it is. Our girl wants to be slowly licked all over before her elephant sucks her princess peanut into his mouth.”
Tula didn’t know whether to gasp, shriek, or confess just how right Sadie was, but the question proved to be moot when a shrill whistle and a wave of an oar drew their attention to the bank.
“Saved by the whistle.”
Wren’s grin assured Tula this subject was not going to be dismissed by nothing more than a signal they were breaking for lunch.
Tula could only hope that peanuts were not on the menu because if they were, she wasn’t positive she’d be able to look that Hawaiian-shirt-wearing elephant in the eye ever again.