Saving Shelby

by Nicole Taylor Eby

  Oh my God, did they see us?

  “Nice work, Shelby,” Ginny said, sliding in beside her, where moments before Ian had been.

  Shelby stared at her friend; her mind racing. She didn’t know if Ginny was referring to the fire or to her being all cozied up with Ian.

  Seemingly unaware of the turmoil boiling inside of Shelby, Ginny chattered on. “That’s a really great fire.”

  “It is a great fire,” Piper echoed, sitting down on the other side of Shelby.

  “Thanks,” Shelby said. But her focus wasn’t on what Ginny and Piper were saying. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from Ian, who was leading Celeste over to a log across the fire from her. He had taken his jacket off and put it around Celeste’s shoulders. A sickening feeling grew in her belly. How had she fallen for the romance? She should have known better.

  Ginny held her hands out to the fire. “This is nice. I’ll be toasty in a moment. Of course, I did choose to wear a warm coat.” Ginny flicked her head towards Celeste, but Shelby’s eyes were already locked on the scene. “Maybe that was a mistake though. No handsome wilderness man is offering me his coat.”

  Piper chuckled. Shelby just stared. Her throat was too tight to speak.

  “You can have my coat, if you sit right here,” Luke said, patting his lap.

  “Careful what you offer, I just might take you up on it,” Ginny quipped. Luke laughed, and some of the other men hooted their approval.

  “Shelby, can you stoke up the fire? Really get it pumping out some heat?” Ian asked from where he sat next to Celeste.

  Stoke the fire? Is he kidding me right now? She wanted to shout, but she couldn’t in front of everyone.

  Fuming, she only nodded, and then moved to the woodpile. She had completely misread the situation again. She had been sure he had been feeling the same things she was. Had she made it all up? Was she that desperate for a man’s attention? She knew Ginny would tell her that she just needed to chill out. She had had a nice, casual moment with Ian. She didn’t need to analyze it into something it wasn’t.

  But no matter what she told herself, she had the distinct desire to claw at Celeste’s pretty face.

  Shelby knelt on one knee before the woodpile and gathered some wood. It was awkward in her arms, and when she went to stand, she dropped several logs. “Shit.”

  “Here, let me help you,” Waylon said and began gathering the fallen logs. “Let’s get this thing raging.”

  “Thanks,” Shelby said dimly, and then turned quickly back to the woodpile, so he wouldn’t see the tears gathering behind her eyes. It wasn’t Waylon she wanted coming to her rescue. Taking some quick breaths, she turned her eyes skywards, trying to stall the tears. She was not going to let them see her cry. Today had been tough, but it was done, and she needed to move on. She just needed to block Ian from her mind, because despite what her body thought, she wasn’t interested in him or any man. She had just been a fool for a few minutes, that’s all. She was lonely, and he had offered her something she was craving.

  When she had sufficient control of herself to be confident that she wouldn’t cry in front of everyone, Shelby returned to the fire. She added several of the logs and then stoked the fire back to life. It leapt up almost as tall as she was before settling down into a vigorous riot of flames.

  “Now that’s a fire,” Tyler said.

  “And a beer would make it perfect,” Luke said to a general round of agreement. “Don’t worry, Ian, we know the party line. Drinking and camping don’t mix. Sorry, Leo, we won’t be getting you drunk before you get hitched. Not while Ian is watching anyway.” Luke winked to a round of laughter.

  Ian shook his head good-naturedly.

  “You’re getting married, Leo?” Piper asked.

  Luke and Tyler hooted and patted Leo on the back. Leo shoved at them, grinning. “Yes, in a month.”

  “Yup, the fun officially stops when we leave this course,” Luke said. “But let me tell you about some of the things our friend Leo got up to before he got all respectable.”

  The chatter around the campfire got livelier as Luke and Tyler told stories about their buddy. Their stories prompted others to join in until just about everyone was sharing tales of their past antics.

  “They’re sure cozy, eh?” Ginny said in a low voice not to be heard over the stories. She inclined her chin to indicate she was referring to Celeste and Ian across the fire from them. “I mean, Ian’s always been good with the ladies. They pretty much have been throwing themselves at him since we were teenagers, but I thought he would be a bit more discreet at work. Maybe she’s the one. Ian isn’t usually that smiley.”

  Shelby felt her chest constrict at Ginny’s words. She looked over at Ian, but then looked quickly away when her eyes met his. Had he been watching her?

  “You okay?” Ginny asked.

  No, I’m not okay. I’m the biggest idiot on the face of the planet, she wanted to yell, but she couldn’t confess what had just happened. Ginny was right. Ian was into Celeste, and Shelby didn’t need a relationship.

  What she did need to do was stop drooling over Ian like a hormone-crazed teenager and get down to the business of finding herself.

  “Yup. Just tired,” she said, inwardly cringing at the lie.

  “You sure? I know you said you had it all under control, the whole not needing a man thing, but sometimes that’s harder in reality when there’s a hot man cuddling up with some young thing right in front of you.”

  Shelby let out a choked laugh. Ginny had an uncanny way of reading her mind.

  “It’s all good, Ginny. It’s all good.”

  “What about you, Shelby? You got any tales to tell?” Luke asked suddenly.

  Shelby’s head snapped over to Luke, her mind immediately shutting down, as all eyes swivelled in her direction. “Um—” Oh my God, I can’t think of a single thing! “I don’t think so.”

  “Come on. You’re one of those people that shit happens to. You gotta have some great stories,” Luke said.

  Shelby’s gut clenched. “Me?”

  “Yeah, like when you dropped your fire. That was epically funny. You could tell that story forever, am I wrong?”

  Her heart began to pound. Everyone was looking at her, waiting for her to say something clever, and she had absolutely nothing witty to say.

  “What about you, Luke?” Ian asked, coming to her rescue. “I seem to remember you catching your pant leg on fire.”

  Luke guffawed. “Those were my best pants!”

  “And what about when JP flipped the canoe?" Tyler added.

  The whole group erupted into laughter, as Luke re-enacted the event.

  As the conversation drifted away from her, Shelby took a cautious look over in Ian’s direction. He had come to her rescue, again. That was two times this night alone. He wasn’t looking at her though. He was leaning in close to hear what Celeste was saying.

  Stop it, Shelby. I know where your mind is going. And it doesn’t mean anything. Sure, he had arrived with the flashlight at the right moment and saved her from an awkward situation, but it wasn’t like it was a big thing. It wasn’t a matter of life and death. It didn’t change the fact that she had been invisible to him all day. And it certainly didn’t erase the fact that he had given Celeste his jacket; the same jacket he had wrapped around her earlier.

  Maybe there was more to Ginny’s warning than Shelby had originally thought. Maybe Ian was better at pretending to be an upstanding, supportive man than he was at actually being one.

  “He’s just teasing,” Ginny whispered in Shelby’s ear, interrupting her thoughts.

  Shelby looked at her friend in surprise. It didn’t seem like he had been teasing. She was about to comment as much, when Ginny spoke again.

  “He was just trying to include you. Cheer you up a bit.”

  Suddenly, it dawned on Shelby that Ginny was referring to Luke not Ian. She smiled, in spite of herself. “I know. It’s okay. I needed someone to jar me out of my funk.”r />
  “Yes,” Ginny agreed. “This is supposed to be enjoyable. And you look like you’ve been sentenced to prison.”

  Shelby looked across the campfire to where Ian was all cozy with Celeste.

  “Maybe I have,” she murmured.

  Problem was that she had no one to blame but herself. Ginny had warned her, and she had been too stubborn to listen.

  Even without his jacket, the clearing felt too hot. How had things gotten so complicated? Ian had thought he had mastered the impulsive side of himself, but one glance across the campfire at Shelby told him that he had been in denial.

  “I’m still chilly,” Celeste breathed into his ear. She spoke so quietly that he had to lean in to hear her. “Do you have any of your famous hot chocolate I’ve heard so much about?”

  Irritation shot through Ian like a bolt of lightening. Couldn’t Jade keep her mouth shut? She had no right to be sharing personal details with clients. Had he forfeited his entire private life? His job meant everything to him, but this was getting ridiculous. The last thing he needed was Jade meddling.

  “I might,” he said noncommittally. Maybe, Celeste wasn’t really serious. Women like her didn’t drink hot chocolate, did they? They were always worried about their waistlines.

  “The rumour is that you’re always well-stocked.”

  He groaned inwardly. He didn’t have to meet her eyes to know what she was suggesting. He felt it in the way his body reacted. It doesn’t mean anything. Any guy would be turned on. Celeste was undeniably sexy, and she was clear about what she wanted. She had been since she arrived, and under normal circumstances, he would have found that refreshing.

  He let his eyes sweep around the circle. He had a professional reputation to think about. He loved this job. He didn’t want to be doing this here in front of everyone, but nobody seemed to be paying any attention to them.

  Except Shelby—he had felt her eyes on him, and he had felt like an ass. He had wanted to rush over and explain. Who was he kidding? He couldn’t do anything like that. He needed this job. So, he had better watch his step, because sometimes what a man wanted and what he needed weren’t quite the same thing.

  “Do you believe in rumours?” Ian cringed a little at how easy it was for him to turn flirtatious.

  Celeste smiled coyly. “Just the big ones.” She drew out big, adding heat to it.

  He needed a distraction and quick, if he wasn’t going to embarrass himself in front of all his students. He had known joining the campfire was a bad idea. Normally, he just made sure it was lit and then left the students to their fun, coming back later to ensure the fire was extinguished properly. Celeste had insisted he stay, and he wasn’t in a position to refuse her anything—not if he was going to achieve what mattered to him.

  He fumbled in his bag to pull out the thermos. He glanced over at Shelby again. The hot chocolate brought back the warmth of the memory of sharing it with her. Shelby had her head together with Ginny, and they were chatting about something. From where Ian was sitting, it looked to be something intense. She seemed to have recovered from being singled out by Luke.

  What an ass. Ian’s protective instincts flared. Couldn’t Luke see Shelby was the type of woman who didn’t like to be the centre of attention? It had been a risk to come to her aid, but he hadn’t been able to just sit there and watch her flounder. Of course, Luke wasn’t the only ass in this situation.

  Ian pulled his gaze away from Shelby, turning his attention back to Celeste, who was waiting expectantly for her hot chocolate. His hands shook just a little as he poured the hot chocolate into the thermos lid and then offered it to her. He kept his eyes focused on Celeste. He didn’t dare look back at Shelby, because the last thing he needed was Celeste catching him making eyes with her. Even so, he was sure he could feel Shelby’s eyes on him, taking in his every move.

  “Mmm, looks delicious,” Celeste said, taking the lid from him.

  Ian mechanically matched her grin. He wasn’t one for big displays of emotion, but women responded to having their emotions matched—this much he knew. Still, it didn’t feel right. He valued honesty and nothing about this attention to Celest felt honest; even if she knew the real deal. He just had to make it through the rest of the evening intact, and then he would get a reprieve.

  Tomorrow was the first spa part of the course. Kirk was leading a hike to the hot pools, leaving Ian behind to help Adrien with meal clean-up. Celeste had opted to not go on the hike. Instead, she would be having a spa treatment in her room. It was exactly what Ian needed, a little bit of breathing room so he could get his head together. When he joined the group, he would have some space to just be the lead instructor with no pressure.

  He knew it was all necessary. He just hoped it would be worth all the trouble and that nobody got hurt.

  CHAPTER 17

  It can’t be morning. I’m not ready. Shelby groaned as she rolled over, pulling the grey wool blanket up around her head. She hadn’t slept well, and the light coming through the window was too bright.

  “Come on, sleepy head, rise and shine. Today’s the day that puts the spa into this Survival Spa,” Ginny chirruped in her perky receptionist voice.

  “Leave me be,” Shelby grumbled, pulling the blanket tighter around her to block out Ginny’s cheerfulness—a stark contrast to Ginny’s grumbling over coffee the previous morning. Luke must be rubbing off on her.

  Ginny grabbed hold of the blanket and with one sweep pulled it from her fingers.

  “So much for Miss Adventurer.” Ginny laughed and held the blanket higher as Shelby frantically tried to grab it.

  “It’s cold!”

  “Aren’t we whiney this morning? And so delicate. I think you might be the first wilderness guide who was allergic to the cold. I can hear it now. Sorry folks, we can’t go out today, it’s too cold,” Ginny said in a high-pitched girly-girl voice.

  “You’re crazy,” Shelby groaned and swung her legs over the edge of the bed.

  “Yeah? Well, you look terrible.”

  Shelby laughed ruefully. “Thanks, I didn’t sleep well.”

  “Are you still obsessing over yesterday?” Ginny asked, sobering. She dropped the blanket and sat down beside Shelby on the bed. “So, you made a few mistakes, no big deal.” Ginny held up her hand to stop Shelby from speaking. “I’m not trying to minimize things. I know this is important to you. Most of us are just here for fun, but you’ve got a lot riding on this with your family. I get it. But I also think that if you could relax and just go with the flow, things would come easier for you.” Ginny squeezed Shelby’s hand. “Just a thought.” Getting up, she glanced over her shoulder. “I’m going to go get some breakfast and coffee. See you in the Cookhouse?”

  It was impossible to deny Ginny was right, and it sounded so easy—just relax. But there was a whole element to her frustration that Ginny was missing—the whole Ian dilemma.

  “I’ll be just a few minutes. It won’t take me long to get ready.”

  Ginny slipped out the door, seeming to know instinctively that her friend needed some space to absorb the information. When the door clicked shut, Shelby hoisted herself out of bed. Moving over to the mirror above her desk, she peered at her reflection. She needed to go and face this day, and she knew that “just relaxing” wasn’t going to be easy.

  “Oh God, l look tired and old,” she groaned, rubbing at the dark smudges under her eyes, as if she could erase them. Then, she let her hands drop from her face and looked directly into the mirror, locking her gaze with her reflection.

  “Ginny’s right. You’ve got a lot riding on this course,” she told her duplicate. “Your family is expecting you to fail. If you prove them right, it will be the first step down a slippery slope leading right back to Blake. Is that what you want?” Her reflection stared back at her with determined eyes. Shelby squared her shoulders. “Enjoy the process. Don’t be too serious. And stop thinking about Ian McLean.”

  With a new resolve that felt kind of thin and frag
ile, Shelby began to prep for the day. She needed to hurry if she was going to get breakfast before round two of first aid. And she definitely didn’t want to miss breakfast, not like yesterday.

  Acutely aware of the chill lingering in the air, Shelby stripped off her pyjamas. She seriously needed to learn to embrace the cold. Quickly, not giving much thought to which one, she chose a base layer shirt and then buttoned a flannel shirt over top. She grabbed the yoga pants from the day before and was about to step into them when her eyes fell on the survival packet Ian had given her. She hesitated. Sure, she had let Ian’s charm dupe her, but it didn’t mean she couldn’t carry the survival packet. She draped the yoga pants back over the desk chair and tugged her thrift-store cargo pants out of her backpack. Pulling on her pants, she squirmed a bit trying to get used to the feel of the stiff fabric against her skin.

  Not bothering to use a brush, she pulled her hair back into a rough ponytail. Then, with one last wishful look at her yoga pants—they looked so comfy hanging there on the chair—she adjusted the waistband of her pants and slipped Ian’s survival packet into the pocket on her leg. She squared her shoulders and gave her reflection a nod.

  She was ready for the day. Or at least to get some breakfast.

  As Shelby hiked along the path towards the Potholes, she breathed deeply, enjoying the fresh air. She could smell the promise of rain in it. The clouds had just enough grey in them to suggest the rain might come soon, but the sun was high in the sky and promised an idyllic spring day.

  Maybe not the kind of day that made one think of swimming in the river, but they had been promised the Potholes were more refreshing when the air was a bit crisp. Despite her worries over the course not really going as planned, and whatever the heck was going on with Ian, Shelby felt like she had found herself in a little piece of paradise.

  The morning had been a little rough. She had had just enough to time to make herself a bacon sandwich before dashing off to the first class; that had been the end of the easy stuff. They had spent the morning finishing up the first-aid lessons, and she had been so tired from her sleepless night that concentrating was difficult.