Bait Shop Blues

by Nancy Pirri

  “We’re going to drown!” she screamed.

  “You’ve got your life jacket on. Even if we capsize, you’ll be fine. Now pick up the oars and dig in. I need your help.”

  Now that’s a switch, she thought dryly. He needed her help. Since he put it that way, she followed his orders, her muscles screaming in protest with each dig of the paddle. By the time they reached the shore and pulled the boat up onto dry land, they collapsed side by side on the soggy bank.

  Cassandra was so exhausted she lay there until she caught her breath, then said, “Let’s pitch the tent now. If we wait I’m afraid I’ll lose the little energy I have left.”

  Leif sat up took in their surroundings and shook his head. “Nope. This is nothing but an insect-infested marsh. Not too appealing a place to set up camp.” He narrowed his eyes, looked around and pointed. “See that passage?”

  Cassandra sat up and yanked the binder out of her ponytail, following his direction. “Yes. It looks wet, dark and dreary.”

  “I’ve been through it before. In just a short two hundred yards of portaging we’ll reach Snail Lake. It’s a small, usually calm lake, and on the other side of it is a great camping spot.”

  She groaned and slapped at a mosquito. “All right,” she grumbled. “Are you aware that if something happened to you I wouldn’t be able to find my way out of here?”

  He smiled. “Nothing’s going to happen to me. You, on the other hand, I’m not so sure.”

  Later, Cassandra would wonder if Leif’s words had jinxed her.

  ~ * ~

  “Oh, my, would you look at those rainbows,” Cassandra murmured reverently. “I’ve always thought them pretty, but not spectacular. I wonder why I’d never noticed before.”

  Leif snorted. “Cause you live in the damned city, that’s why.”

  Leif sat on a log while she stood, each of them drinking steaming hot mugs of coffee as they faced the sun setting in the west. Never had resting felt so good nor coffee taste so wonderful. She was exhausted from the day’s travels and with the sun setting all she could think about was crawling inside her sleeping bag.

  She gave him a gentle smile. “Your experiences living in a city must have been horrendous. What happened?”

  He shrugged. “Nothing much except for the usual white man’s negative attitude toward Indians.”

  Cassandra frowned. “But you don’t look much like a Native American.”

  “True, but all it took were a few slips from me while partying with my supposed new friends. From then on I got nothing but the cold shoulder. I thought, the hell with them.”

  “But you’re half white!”

  “Doesn’t matter.” He gave her a wry look. “You think diversity is a good thing, don’t you?”

  “Of course I do.”

  “You’re in the minority.”

  “I’m sorry, Leif,” she said sincerely.

  “No pity, Cassie,” he said gruffly and rose to his feet. “I’m accepted here. My people are here. We’d better turn in since we’ve lost time to make up.”

  Cassandra slowly sank down on a log and watched him stride into the woods. Even though there were no modern conveniences, she admitted there was something awesome about the north woods—like viewing all of God’s creation in one big sweep.

  When he returned and said brusquely, “It’s your turn,” she came to her feet with a groan.

  He smiled at her over his shoulder as he moved toward the tent. “Sore?”

  She groaned louder and trudged into the woods.

  Shortly she returned to their campsite and brushed her teeth. Once she swilled cold coffee around in her mouth and spit it out she moved toward the tent. Leif was already inside and as she took off her vest she stared at his back—his bare back, she noted, wondering how the man tolerated the cold temperatures without clothes, and he seemed to be immune to bugs.

  As she eyed his sinewy muscles and his golden tan, right about now she wished she had never made that damned vow to herself.

  She snuggled down into her sleeping bag and lay with her back to him. Even though she didn’t touch him she felt his body heat and was thankful for it. She smiled and cradled her cheek on her hands, thinking about his broad shoulder muscles flexing as he’d paddled the canoe; thought of the washboard muscles in his stomach, which she’d noticed when he’d dunked himself in whatever lake they’d crossed during their travels to cool off.

  His physique was perfect and she nearly clobbered herself when she realized she was easing closer to his sleeping form. She faced the truth that she was falling for Leif, and it wasn’t a fleeting infatuation. It was more—much more. That four letter word ‘love’, loomed in her future once more. She wasn’t happy about it, either. But ever since he’d told her about his past experiences regarding his roots she’d wanted to touch him. Hold him. Comfort him and make love to him.

  She shot up in her sleeping bag and scrubbed her face with her hands. Where in the world had that idea come from?

  Her skin felt hot and flushed, and she realized, with disgust, she was horny for the man beside her.

  “You’re driving me crazy with all the ruckus you’re making. Go to sleep,” he grumbled. “We’ve got a big day ahead of us.”

  “They’re all big days. I can’t sleep.”

  He punched his pillow and asked, “Why not? I checked everything over carefully and there are no creepy crawly things in here.”

  “I can’t sleep because all I can think about is crawling into your sleeping bag.”

  “You’ve got your own.” He pulled himself up onto his elbow and frowned at her “Are you cold?”

  She shook her head. As soon as his touched his pillow she softly said, “I want to make love with you.”

  Chapter Nine

  Leif scrambled up into a sitting position, rubbed his chin and leveled his eyes on her. “What did you say?”

  She clutched her arms around her upraised knees and shrugged. “Have I told you about my ex-fiancé?”

  Dryly, Leif replied, “Not only did you tell me, if you’ll remember, I met the guy.”

  “Oh! I don’t mean Todd.”

  “You were engaged to someone else besides Fairbanks?”

  She raised one eyebrow. “You make it sound as though I make a habit of it. There’s just been one other guy.”

  The woman changed gears faster than a champion bicyclist in a race. “What do any of your ex-fiancés have to do with you wanting to sleep with me? At least, I think that’s what you said.” She hadn’t said sleep, but ‘making love’, which he chose to ignore. She didn’t love him because she didn’t really know him.

  “He’s gay.”

  Leif raised his brow. “Oh, so you didn’t get any while you were together, huh?”

  “As a matter of fact we made love quite often,” she said, her voice laced with exasperation. “I didn’t learn he was gay until just a few weeks before our wedding, about the same time he realized it.”

  “He jilted you, too?” he asked, surprised.

  She nodded. “Yup, guess as the big day drew near he couldn’t face the reality of living with a woman instead of a man for the rest of his life. At least he canceled out so I had time to let everyone know we weren’t getting married.”

  “Okay. I can see where this is going. You want to know if you’re desirable. Right?”

  “I suppose,” she hedged. It was too early to confess her innermost feelings to him. Besides, she wasn’t certain of them herself. They needed time to learn to know each other better, although she couldn’t deny the fact she was very attracted to him.

  He growled, “Well, you are! Take my word and go to sleep.” He scrunched down into his sleeping bag, his back facing her once more.

  She shoved his shoulder. “That’s it?”

  Leif groaned. “Yes, that’s all I’m saying, but doin’ is another thing.”

  He rolled onto his back and pulled her into his arms. Then he planted a kiss on her mouth that left her gasping for ai
r, and limp in his embrace. He felt his heart pounding against her breasts, speeding up when she slipped her arms around his neck and pulled him close. After a long while he turned his head to the side to break the kiss and glared into her dewy-eyed expression.

  “Does that answer your question?”

  She grinned. “You do want to sleep with me.”

  “Hell, yes! From the moment you plunked that fine butt of yours into the passenger seat of my seaplane.”

  “Then why haven’t you made the move on me?”

  “I tried and you threw a fit, that’s why.”

  She shook her head and her silky blonde hair tempted him to touch it. He didn’t, though, and wouldn’t until they’d sorted things out.

  “You said you were trying to scare me off,” she chided.

  He growled, “Well, it was the truth, sort of.”

  “Two engagements, Leif,” she said softly.

  “What’s your point?” Damn, but she felt good in his arms. He rubbed her buttocks and felt heat building up through the denim of her jeans.

  She sighed and snuggled in closer. “Oh, Leif, no one seems to want me.”

  He grinned into her woeful expression. “I do.”

  Her eyes widened. “Really? You’re saying you love me and you’ll marry me? Oh! You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to start a family, and...”

  Releasing her as though both hands had been burned, he rolled back to his own sleeping bag. “I didn’t say anything about getting married. And I’m too young to be a father.”

  “Then what did you mean?”

  “We both need a good lay. If that sounds crass I’m sorry.”

  She frowned and lay back down on her sleeping bag. “What did you mean when you said you were too young to be a father? Neither of us is too young to be a parent, Leif.”

  He turned his head on his pillow to meet her eyes. “Just cause you’re afraid your biological clock is running down, it sure as hell doesn’t mean mine is. I’m not ready for parenthood.”

  Leif felt miserable. He knew he’d likely hurt her feelings, not to mention he’d probably lost his chance of her sharing his sleeping bag.

  “How do you feel about marriage?” she asked.

  He’d heard the trembling in her voice trembled and grimaced. “It’s fine for folks, when they’re ready to be parents. There’s nothing worse to my mind, and I’m talking from first-hand experience, in having children out of wedlock. A baby’s entitled to two parents.”

  She settled down as she thought over his words. He’d been born out of wedlock and had never known his own father. She wasn’t sure she agreed with the two-parent families being better for a child. But then, she knew of those kinds of families that weren’t so good. About parents who fought with each other constantly and ended up getting divorced. And she knew of single moms and dads who did an excellent job raising children.

  He was wrong, and his parenting ideas were old-fashioned, but she couldn’t expect him to think differently because of his own life’s experiences.

  It rained during the night. The gentle sound of it calmed Leif and Cassandra during their slumber. But, sometime during the darkest hours they found themselves turning to each other. Their tentative lovemaking began with comforting, gentle touches that built rapidly into a storm of passion.

  She’d roused him from a deep sleep and stroked him into a mindless, glorious erection. He started fitting himself inside her but pulled back when she told him to wait. Deflated, he sank back on his sleeping bag, listened to the sounds of her rummaging through her backpack. He threw an arm over his eyes, breathing deeply as he held back his feelings of confusion and disappointment when he heard her whispering.

  “Oh, thank heavens I found it.”

  Her touching him again made him gasp raggedly. He cursed inside when he felt her slowly roll protection on him. Then he berated himself for having forgotten something so important, but appreciating her even more when she could have allowed him to go unprotected. Which, of course, could have resulted in her getting pregnant, something she desperately desired, but he didn’t. For a fleeing moment he wondered why she happened to have a condom with her in the first place, but only for a moment.

  He covered her with his body and took her as surely and as hard as the storm building as the night passed and dawn approached. They made love as though this were their last time together. And perhaps, in each other’s minds, they believed it was.

  ~ * ~

  “Uh, Cassie, you almost ready to leave?”

  Cassandra looked at Leif as he stood in the tent’s entrance, a hesitant look on his face. She’d just tossed the last piece of clothing into her backpack and was in the process of flinging it around her shoulders and onto her back when he chose that moment to poke his head inside.

  “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

  This adventure couldn’t end soon enough, she thought, squirming and settling the pack on her back. She was tired of the straps cutting into her shoulders. She was covered with mosquito bites, even on places she would never dream of, but then, it was no one’s fault but her own. She wouldn’t have bites on her buttocks if she’d kept her clothes on last night.

  He surprised her when he came inside and helped straighten the backpack. Glancing at him over her shoulder she was even more stunned when he started unloading the pack. Her gaze moved to his face as he concentrated on removing a pair of shoes, mess kit and water jug. “I just packed all of that,” she protested.

  He turned away, carried the stuff outside, saying, “Yeah, well, this pack’s too heavy for you.”

  Shocked, she could only stare at the vacant opening. This was three days into their trip and he’d just now decided that? Why, she wondered? Then it hit her hard, like an axe biting into a hunk of wood. The man was feeling solicitous toward her because they’d made love last night and he felt guilty.

  Hmm, she could play this out one of two ways; confront him with it, or pretend nothing had happened. As she stalked outside with the now lighter pack she saw him down by the lake loading up the canoe. She’d never been one to stick her head in the sand. It was time they talked, because they sure hadn’t last night.

  She frowned then and sighed in exasperation, realizing for the first time he’d enticed her into breaking her vow of celibacy. Damn! A little guilty voice inside her warned her not to go down that road. Hadn’t she been the one to make the first move?

  Cocking her head to one side she stopped behind him and stared at the muscled contours of his rear as he bent over the canoe’s edge, arranging things. Khaki-colored shorts revealed long, tanned legs that didn’t appear to have a single mosquito bite on them. His T-shirt stretched across his back and shoulders with his movements, his well-developed muscles rippling as he worked.

  He straightened and turned quickly, nearly bumping into her. Stepping back, he moved around her. “We’d better take down the tent.”

  She dumped her pack on the ground and followed him. After collapsing the tent they worked opposite each other to fold it into a narrow cylinder to fit it into a nylon bag.

  “Weather should be pretty decent today, right?” she asked.

  “Yup.”

  “Of course, portaging is going to be sloppy since we’ve had so much rain.”

  “‘Fraid so.”

  His short responses to her questions as they folded the tent were maddening.

  “You were incredible last night,” she said softly, staring at him.

  No response. But he met her eyes for a split second and she was surprised to see his face redden. Embarrassment just didn’t jive with his actions last evening. What in the world had changed overnight?

  He threw the tent bag over his shoulder and she traipsed after him.

  “Did you hear me?”

  Again, no response, except, “We’ll eat on the water.” He stepped back and waved his hand at the canoe. “Get in.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  His gaze snapped up to meet her own. “W
e’ve lots of water to cover today so we’ll talk about it tonight.”

  “It? You mean us, don’t you?

  She narrowed her eyes when he looked away from her and across the lake.

  “Leif?” she insisted.

  He said softly, “Yes, us.”

  With a sigh she climbed into the canoe and noted his relieved expression. Oh, she wasn’t through with this discussion by any means but he was right about them moving on.

  Once they paddled away from shore he handed her a chocolate bar and an apple. “This is breakfast and lunch. Let me know if you want more.”

  In other words they wouldn’t be stopping until much later.

  The weather didn’t improve over the day, and by mid-afternoon Cassandra felt her throat getting raw and she’d started coughing. Damn. She was coming down with a cold.

  They paddled across a small lake, portaged, then crossed another before Leif said they’d make camp soon.

  Cassandra was having doubts about her stamina. With the onset of the cough and sore throat her body ached, she couldn’t stop shivering and she felt weak. She knew she had come down with some kind of virus, and all she could think about was climbing into a warm, comfortable bed, dreading the night ahead in a sleeping bag on the hard, cold ground once more.

  When they paddled through another narrow opening leading to a much larger lake, Cassandra groaned. “I thought we were going to set up camp,” she whined. God, she never whined but she couldn’t help it. She couldn’t recall ever feeling so uncomfortable in her entire life. “What’s the name of this lake?”

  “David.”

  She stopped paddling and turned in her seat to face him. “What? They run out of Indian names?”

  His lips twitched, threatening a smile. “Smart ass. No idea why it is called Lake David, but I’ll tell you it’s a fairly calm lake for its size. Shouldn’t take us more than an hour to cross, then we’ll make one more portage to our campsite.”

  Within the hour, as he’d predicted, they reached the other side. It was slow going when Cassandra climbed out of the canoe, shivering and aching from head to toe, though she tried concealing her flu symptoms. She didn’t want Leif calling an end to the trip, which would in effect make her the loser.