“Aren’t you going to say something?” Nicole asked, looking at him. He could tell by her expression she expected him to make fun of her.
“What’s wrong with wanting to make a difference?” he finally asked.
She shrugged. “I don’t know. Everybody says they want to change the world, to make it better, and maybe they mean it, but it seems like, for the most part, nobody does it, you know?”
“Yeah. I get that.” He looked at her and marveled at how different she was from Alyssa, his fiancée. It wasn’t that Alyssa was bad; she just lacked the blind optimism which seemed so inherent in Nicole, and while Alyssa had many good points, he knew the only way Alyssa would ever change the world would be by changing her expensive clothes. Of course, this was the first time he’d ever really thought about life in that context. Always before it had seemed that the bond with Alyssa had been enough. Then again, until there was a basis for comparison, how could anyone know what was enough?
“So you think I’ll be one of those who makes the plans but never follows through?” She looked straight ahead, and Jordan didn’t know why, but he sensed that his opinion mattered to her. Her lips formed a straight line, and her shoulders suddenly tensed.
“No, I think you’re probably too stubborn to give in, no matter what. I think you’ll follow through because it matters to you.”
Immediately those lips curved into a warm smile and she flashed those dark green eyes at him. “Thanks. It’s always good to hear I’m stubborn.”
“Glad I could help.” He shifted his focus back to the list. “Shall we find a new item of choice?”
“Sure.” Nicole found herself smiling despite falling off a bridge and having a close encounter with poison ivy. Strange, really. How long had it been since she’d felt such happiness bubbling up inside her? So long it seemed unreal.
She scanned the area waiting for him to tell her an item to watch for when she spotted a large sycamore just off the path. Squinting, she scrutinized the ground around it was free of greenery, which it was. Without waiting, she veered toward it.
“Hey, where are you going?”
“To get something.”
Jordan snorted. “You might watch for poison ivy this time.”
“Got it covered.” She bent, picked up one of the leaves, and whirled to show it to him. “How’s this for a sycamore leaf?”
He nodded appreciatively. “That will do. Of course, I don’t think we want to put that in my bag. It'll just get ruined.”
“You’ve got a point,” she agreed. “I’ll just hold onto it.”
“Good idea.” He stared at the list for a few seconds and looked up, cocking his head to the left. “I think the river is close. He pointed to where he heard the sound of rushing water. “Let’s go that way so you can wash off your legs.”
Turning, he cut through the foliage, and she followed. About twenty feet ahead, they spotted the forest open up a bit as the land dipped into a recess where the river ran free. Although the water moved quickly, there seemed to be enough shore that Nicole would have plenty of space to wash her legs without falling in.
“Perfect,” she said, suddenly taking the lead. Although her skin had been itching since she’d tried to go for that first leaf, she’d forced herself to ignore it. Now the itching was worse, as though it sensed the water was about to wash it away forever.
Jordan followed at a leisurely pace. “So are you clumsy?”
“Depends on whom you ask,” she retorted, already at the water's edge. She hurriedly tugged off one shoe, then the other, preparing to just wade in.
“Well, you might not want to go in, then. The last thing you need is for Harris to be lurking around and fish you out of the river.”
Nicole waved dismissively at him. “This water isn’t that fast. I think I’ll be fine.” She set the leaf by her shoes so she wouldn’t forget it.
Removing his pack, Jordan stepped up and took her by the wrist. “Okay, so maybe I’m a worry wart. Just humor me.”
She looked at the way his fingers cinched around her wrist and felt a strange warmth suffuse through her. “Okay, since you put it that way,” she said, but she could tell her voice was off, distracted.
She stepped toward the water, and even once she'd set her foot down, she found herself grateful Jordan had anchored her upright. He’d been right to guess the water was moving fast, and had he not been holding her, she probably would have ended up falling in face-first and washing downriver. She tried not to give away how right he’d been but found herself wobbling at the sudden force of the water, and his grip tightened in response.
“You okay over there?”
“Peachy.” She bent and began splashing water over her legs below the knees, trying to wash away whatever residue the ivy have left. More than once, she accidentally got Jordan, and he shook his head.
“Hey, I’m nowhere near your legs, Nicole.”
She shrugged and stood upright. “Near enough--so sorry about that.” She stepped from the river, slipped her shoes back on, and retrieved the leaf.
“You know, I was really dreading this class,” Jordan said, shaking his head. “To me, it seemed pointless.”
She traced the veins in the leaf. “Pointless--well, maybe, but the thing is, if you try to amuse yourself, sometimes even the pointless things get better.”
“True,” he agreed. “Then again, I think part of my surprise about this trip was meeting a friend who makes me feel I can talk about anything.”
A flush dotted Nicole’s cheeks, and she found herself floundering in the sudden silence, unsure what to say. It appeared some part of her had latched onto him as much as some part of him had latched onto her. Of course, although she found herself thrilled to have met someone she felt so comfortable with, it was difficult to understand the timing. Why couldn’t it have happened before he'd been engaged.
“Yeah, it is nice to be able to pretty much talk about anything.” She would have said more but wasn’t sure what.
He looked at the list. “Okay. Why don’t I look for a locust shell while you find some moss? Sound good?”
She shrugged. “Yep. So long as I stay out of the poison ivy, right?”
He smiled. “Leaflets three. Let them be.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” She started off to the left side of the path. As she walked, she heard his footsteps as well as well as her own and glanced over her shoulder at his retreating back, watching him walk. If her best friend Sarah had been there, she’d have been elbowing her and muttering comments about checking out his ass, but something about this went deeper than that. It felt as if she had known Jordan for so much longer than hours. She didn’t know why, and considering he was getting married, it probably didn’t matter, but some small voice inside her insisted that even if he were tying the knot next month she shouldn’t completely lose contact with him. She liked talking to him, and what harm could there be in that?
She was so lost in her thoughts she didn’t watch where she was going. She found it hard to concentrate on much besides Jordan Carroway. Of course, he’d probably just think she were stupid for being so fixated. More than once, she’d thought that herself.
The next step proved to be her Achilles' heel, and it had nothing to do with poison ivy, just one of the smaller areole of a monster cactus, most of which had been well hidden amid the tangles of underbrush, which is why she'd missed it. Her foot, however, stepped on the plant, and the spines shoved themselves through her shoe and impaled her foot.
Although she'd intended to scream from the excruciating pain, all that came out was a whimpering, hissing sound, and as she jerked her foot away, the spines free of the plant and remained in her.
She stumbled to the ground, and tears filled her eyes as she gasped from the fire blazing at the base of her foot. Hadn’t her run-in with poison ivy been enough? For a moment, she just sat there, steeling herself to look at the shoe and prepare for the idea of having to pull out the spines.
“Nic
ole?”
She heard Jordan calling her name and cringed at the embarrassment. Normally, she was self-sufficient. Normally, she knew to stay out of poison ivy. Normally, she didn’t step on cacti. There was no way in hell this was a normal day.
“Nicole?” he called louder, and she realized she might as well just fess up to her clumsiness and get it over with.
“Over here,” she responded, still unable to look at her foot, not with the searing pain she couldn’t acclimate herself to. Who knew a cactus could go through a shoe?
“Over where?” His voice was closer, but she knew she was still going to have to guide him.
“Keep coming. You’re on the right track.”
She heard footsteps on the earth and looked up to find Jordan there. “Umm, Nicole, I don’t see any lichen around here.”
She shrugged. “Yeah, well, I was sort of taking a break.” Gritting her teeth, she moved her leg, starting to lift it so that she could look at the sole.
“Oh, my. You found a cactus.”
“No shit,” she muttered, looking at three large spines, the sight of which made her light-headed.
Jordan knelt and removed his pack. “Yeah, well, you look like you’re about to pass out, so how about you not look at your foot right now and let me deal with it.”
Nicole gladly looked away, feeling her cheeks burn with embarrassment. She lay back and stared at the sky, preferring that to watching Jordan. “Did I mention I wanted to be a nurse until I passed out giving blood?”
“Why does that not surprise me?” he muttered with his usual calm voice.
“Doesn’t anything rattle you?” she snapped, suddenly more than frustrated by the situation.
“Well, this probably would if my foot were the pincushion. Then again, one of us has to be calm, and I don’t think you’re feeling it.” He took a deep breath and looked closer. One hand, the one with the black watch band, gripped her ankle as he examined her. “Okay, I can’t get the shoe off to look at your foot until I pull out the spines. You okay with that?”
“Great.” Nicole gritted her teeth.
“Okay. Deep breath.”
Immediately, she felt more pain as he tugged the spine out, and she held her breath, waiting for him to finish. The pain lingered for a few seconds then diminished.
“One out,” he said and glanced at her. “Damn, you’re pale. You aren’t going to pass out on me, are you?”
If Nicole’s foot hadn’t been throbbing so hard, she might have laughed at the expression of horror on his face; instead, she shook her head and took another breath. “Nope. I’ll stay conscious just for you.”
“You have absolutely no idea how grateful I am.” His words sounded almost like a sigh of relief. He regarded her foot again before glancing back at her face. “Ready to tackle the second one?”
“Sure. Why not?” She shook her head. “Basic outdoor recreation, my ass. This is not---OWWW!”
Jordan cringed as he pulled out the spine. He felt Nicole’s ankle suddenly tense. “Sorry,” he said.
She breathed in and out quickly and shook her head. “It’s not your fault, Jordan. It’s my own. If there’s a cactus, I'll find it. If there’s poison ivy, I'll find it. I’m lucky like that.”
He shrugged. “Well, there's one good thing about the cactus.”
“What?” she exclaimed in disbelief. “What could be good about stepping on a cactus?”
“A cactus spine was on our list.” He waved one of them at her, careful to hide the part that had been bloodied from going into her foot.
“You’re an optimist, aren’t you?” she demanded.
“In the flesh.” He looked back at her foot. “One more to go. You ready?”
“Of course. I’m always ready for pain.”
He nodded and smirked. “Oh, you like those kinds of web sites. I get it. You really did do this for fun, combining the Japanese foot fetish with masochistic tendencies.”
Nicole huffed up and threw some leaves at him. “I am not mas—DAMN! That hurts!!!” she screeched.
“Yeah, but it’s out, and you were so busy yelling at me you didn’t seem to notice the pain until the spine was almost free.” He grinned and waived a particularly large spine at her.
“That was in my foot?”
He nodded. “Why do you think I distracted you? Sneaky, eh?”
She laughed. “Definitely.
“All right. Let’s take your shoe off and get a look at that foot.” As he leaned over, she spotted a gold cross dangling from a chain around his neck. It was kind of different, though, a Celtic design.
“Okay.” She raised up so she could prop her elbows behind her and support her body as she felt Jordan untying and removing her shoe. Then he gently tilted her foot so that he could get a better look.
“Well, Bones, what’s the verdict?”
He chuckled and in his best Deforest Kelley, said, “Damn it, Jim, I’m a graphic designer, not a doctor.”
Picking up a bunch of leaves, Nicole hurled a handful at him, and more than a few got stuck in his hair. “Boo! That was terrible.”
He wagged a warning finger at her. “You started it!” He glanced at her foot again. “You’ve got three punctures in your foot that need cleaning.” He reached into his bag and pulled out a small spray container whose contents he quickly applied to her foot, and while she thought it might sting, all it did was tickle, and he fought to keep her still.
“This isn’t getting the germs out, Nicole.”
“It tickles!”
He shook his head. “Okay. That should be good.” He also pulled out three bandages and put them on her foot before putting the sock and shoe back on.
Once he'd put the first aid items away, she pointed to his hair. “You have leaves in your hair, Jordan.”
He nodded. “Of course I do. You put them there.” He started batting at them, and all but one fell out. The last he actually had to pull free, and he looked at it as he tugged it loose.
“Hey! Good work.” He flipped the leaf toward her and said, “Viola--moss. You just scored two points—moss sample and cactus spine.” He slid his pack on and rose, lowered his hand to help her up.
“Yay, me.” She grabbed it and got to her feet, but the first step she took on the wounded foot almost made her fall. Jordan quickly steadied her.
“You okay?” He nodded to her foot.
“Yeah, it just hurts like hell.”
He pulled off the backpack. “I figured. Here, put this on.” He held out the pack.”
“What?” She reluctantly took the pack.
“Trust me.”
Shrugging, she slipped it on, and he turned and bent for her to climb on his back. Blushing, she stepped away. “I don’t need a piggyback ride.”
“Okay, have it your way.” Without warning, he hefted her over his shoulder. “Of course, it’s probably going to be much harder to find things this way since the list is in my back pocket.”
“Put me down!” Nicole said between giggles.
“Nope. You’ve achieved your disaster quota today. Could you kindly get the list and tell me what I’m looking for?”
Figuring there was no point in arguing, Nicole saw the edge of the list protruding from his pocket and eased it out before unfolding it. “You know reading from this angle isn’t easy.”
“But think of all the cactus and poison ivy you’ll miss.”
It took another hour to gather the last few scavenger items, and Jordan didn’t complain about carrying her. She eventually did switch to riding on his back, figuring that if he were going to carry her one way or another, it might as well be the way that made her less dizzy. He spent most of the time telling her jokes or stories, distracting her from thinking about a humiliating day, and when they returned, she found herself sad, knowing the day was drawing to a close and that each of them would be returning to worlds that had nothing to do with the other.
After completing their final assignment, a quiz about what they had learn
ed, Nicole found her foot able to withstand the weight of her body, and Jordan walked her to her car, where she reached into her glove box and pulled out a scrap sheet of paper which she jotted her name, phone number, and email address.
“I’d like to keep in touch, if that’s all right. One can never have too many friends, if you know what I mean.”
He laughed. “You just like me because I’m good with cactus spines.” He looked at the information and tore away the lower half of the paper so he could jot his information, which he gave to her. “And you’re right about friends.”
He offered her one last smile, and she drove away, watching him standing there, staring at her car until she couldn’t see him anymore.
Chapter Three
“So, tell me all about your weekend class,” Sarah said, eating her spinach salad as they sat in their apartment living room. Sunlight spilled through the Bohemian-style curtains, making the dark burgundy of the sofa and walls appear lighter than they really were. A soft, cool breeze wafted through the open window as Nicole stared at her own salad, suddenly not hungry.
“There’s not much to tell. I went canoeing and hiking. That’s about it.” She averted her gaze, not wanting her best friend to see the mixed feeling buried there.
Mmmhmm,” Sarah said, brushing the long auburn strands from her brown eyes. “Nothing happened. That’s exactly why you came back with a nasty limp.”
“You know I’m clumsy,” Nicole said.
“So what happened?”
Nicole rolled her eyes and leaned back against the couch. “Well, okay. I stepped on a cactus and Jordan had to pull these huge spines out. They were so sharp they went into my shoes, if you can believe that.” She took a bite of her salad, something to take off the nervous energy she felt. She hadn’t talked to anyone about Jordan because she was still trying to sort out her feelings.
“Who’s Jordan?” Sarah set down her fork and crossed her arms over her chest.
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