“Hey, tragedy averted, people. Let’s be glad and stop beating ourselves up.” I look around and see most of their faces brighten. “Let’s get back to camp. Despite the intentions of the bite, it still hurts, and I’m not sure how my hand will react to it. Besides, we need to warn the other teams about this meadow, in case there are more.” I turn and start back. I feel Ryan walking besides me.
“I’m really sorry I doubted you.” Ryan’s face is contorted with guilt.
“Hey: look on the bright side. You found your first carnivorous plant,” I say, trying to lighten the mood.
“I hope it’s the last,” he says.
I’m quarantined to the field hospital for the next few days while the bite heals at a surprisingly fast rate. In the meantime, we alert the base of our discovery, and the rest of the team returns to study it further. Our horror over the carnivorous grass is overshadowed by our excitement. As frightening as it is, it’s also a fascinating discovery. Ryan is anxious to determine how it reproduces, and to identify any and all signs that could help us identify deadly meadow before stepping on it. In just a day, Ryan is able to determine that it spreads by both seed and runners, and it springs to life any time it detects motion. So tossing a stick or a rock onto any new field will easily determine if it’s carnivorous.
The reproduction information is enough for the base to decide to destroy it. They can’t chance it getting onto the base or becoming widespread.
We return to the field lab to complete our quarantine, and return to base while the soldiers march out to destroy the field. We don’t want to bear witness to it. While we understand the reasons behind the action, we can’t condone the whole ‘kill first, ask questions later’ attitude.
The next time we travel to where the meadow had been, all that’s left is a deep, muddy pit and scorch marks on the surrounding trees.
Chapter 17
Another Thursday night rolls around, and I’m on the base, which means another dinner night with my group of friends. Andi’s Thursday night dinner plans are working pretty well. I find the table full most Thursdays and tonight’s no exception. I’m happy to see that they all are acting more like their usual selves again. They must have finally overcome the newness of their romantic relationships. This Thursday, Andi insists I come to her lab after dinner. Without asking why, I agree.
When I get there, Andi lets her frustration show.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, not used to seeing her in such a state.
“My field manager keeps rejecting all of my recent inventions without explaining why. I need your help to show him how useful they can be. I’ve made them all with your team in mind.” She takes out a duffel bag and starts pulling things out. She hands me a thick silver rectangle. It’s about the size of a clipboard and is bound with Velcro straps.
“What this?” I ask as I take it from her.
“It’s instant shelter and protection. Try unfolding it and setting it up without instructions. I want your honest opinion on it.” She looks nervous as she waits for me to open it.
I grab what I think might be an edge and let the rest of it unfold. With a quick snap of my wrist, it forms what looks like an igloo, minus the entrance. I look at the bottom portion and notice it zips to the top. I climb inside and zip it shut. A miniscule amount of light filters through the air vents on the sides of the igloo.
“The zipper is waterproof, so you don’t need to worry about rain seeping in,” Andi points out. I can tell she is anxious for me to like it, but I know she’ll get mad if my enthusiasm seems faked.
“Not bad. Now let’s see how it folds back up.”
I unzip it and attempted to refold it. After several attempts and me scrunching my face up in my pursed-lip-thinking way, Andi suggests I turn it upside down. As soon as I do, it easily collapses into itself. All that’s left to do is to fold the bottom flap together and secure it all with the Velcro straps.
“He didn’t give you a reason for saying no?” I couldn’t see any reason for an objection. “Did you run into any problems with your testing?”
She shakes her head almost violently. “No. All he said is I should refocus my attention on something other than camping.”
“Weird. I think it’s pretty fantastic,” I answer honestly, but remember to keep my tone calm enough to sound real. “Now show me the rest.”
I pull the duffel bag toward me and begin pull things out by myself. Andi spends the rest of the evening explaining what everything is for. The only thing I can find fault with is her jerky. She claims it gives all the nutrients you needed to stay alive, but it tastes horrible. Apart from that, everything is brilliant. I‘m just as confused as Andi is as to why it was all rejected. I easily agree to carry the inventions with me whenever I’m in the field, and promise to report every time I find a use for one of them, even the jerky.
I have the weekend off, so I make plans to spend Sunday with Brody. I haven’t entirely forgiven him for not defending me, but I also figure he can’t make it up to me if I’m not around. I guess he figures the same. When I meet him, he greets me with a blindfold and tells me that he has a surprise. I’m not crazy about the blindfold part, but I play along. After the second time I trip, he scoops me up and carries me the rest of the way.
Finally, he takes the blindfold off and he stands me up.
“Where are we?” I look around. We’re standing in a kitchen with a little dining area to my left and a living room straight in front of me. “Are we inside married housing?” I sputter. I’m not too keen about him breaking and entering for me.
“Yup. I figured we could use the day to relax and just enjoy each other’s company without any distractions.” He gives me a broad smile, like it’s the best idea in the world.
“We could get in a lot of trouble if we’re caught here.” I glance around anxiously.
“Don’t worry. It’s my buddy’s house. He and his wife are out in the field for a couple of days, so he gave me the keys,” he tries to reassure me.
“And is his wife okay with it?” I ask doubtfully.
“Oh yeah, Sheila’s cool. She’s a diehard romantic and all.”
I’m not sure what the ‘and all’ means, but I quickly realize just how much isolation and privacy he’s arranged. “Brody, I hope you don’t expect me to—”
“I’m not trying to make you do anything, honest. It just like I said: I want to spend the day with you just relaxing. Look, I even have lunch.” He opens the fridge and takes out a tray.
I smile and wonder just how much Sheila has to do with arranging everything. I’ll have to thank her when I meet her.
Lunch turns out to be lemonade and ham sandwiches. Nothing gourmet, but I appreciate the thought, and Brody keeps to his word. He never once tries to reach below the waist or under my shirt. I spend the majority of the day cradled in his arms just talking. I sigh as he slowly kisses his way up my neck.
“What’s wrong?” His face crinkles as he looked at me.
“Nothing. I was just thinking what a nice day this has been, but that it’s going to be over soon. It’s almost time for dinner.”
“We don’t have to leave for dinner. I have that too.” He smiles. “I didn’t make it, though. It’s eggplant. Andi told me that it’s your favorite,” he adds with a playful smirk.
“When did you talk to Andi?” I ask, now suspicious that this whole day had been her idea.
“I talked to Andi when I knew you were still mad at me for being such a jerk. I figured if anyone could help me make it up to you, she could,” he admits. He looks like he’s bracing himself to be yelled at.
“Well then you’re a very smart man.” I giggle and throw my arms around him to kiss him. “The only problem is I’m not ready for dinner yet.”
“Then how about we skip to dessert?” I roll my eyes, annoyed at where his mind has wandered. “No, really, I have a cake for you.” He lets go of me and walks over to the fridge “Have a seat while I get it ready.” He even pulls the chair ou
t on his way past.
I sit down, surprised. Just when I thought I had him figured. He places the cake in front of me. I look down and gasp.
On the cake, badly written in icing, are the words ‘Marry Me’. I look over as Brody grabs my hand and see he’s next to me on one knee. He has a jewelry box in his other hand. He opens it up and takes out a gold ring with a large solitaire diamond and places it on my finger. It’s a perfect fit.
Suddenly the room feels too small and I’m having difficulty breathing. I can tell Brody is saying something to me, but I can’t understand what it is: the rushing sound of pulsing blood is just too loud in my head. I try to stand and get outside to get some fresh air, but everything just goes black.
I open my eyes to Brody’s amused face. “What happened?” I look around and realize I’m lying on a bed.
“We got engaged and you fainted.” He chuckles at me.
I look down on my hand and see the diamond. It looks so strange there. I never actually said yes, did I? I look at Brody’s face and realize it doesn’t much matter if I did or didn’t. He thinks we’re engaged and to say anything otherwise will crush him. I’m surprised by the proposal, but this is what I was planning for in the long term, isn’t it? It’s just a lot sooner than I ever planned on.
Brody leans down and starts to kiss me. His masculine scent overwhelms my senses and a heat surges throughout my body. How can I have any doubts? I reach up and pull him onto me. I feel the weight of his body crush mine into the bed. I run my fingers through his hair and kiss him even harder. He shifts his weight and grabs my thigh, wrapping my leg around him. Then I feel his hand reach up the front of my shirt and feel my heat doused in a frigid, cold anger. I push him off, finally figuring out where my doubt is coming from. He frowns at me, confused.
“You think that asking me to marry you is going to get me into bed?” My voice is harsh.
“You’re already in bed,” he teases, and leans back in to kiss me.
I push him back. “I’m serious.”
“So you want to wait until our wedding night now?” He sounds hurt.
I shivered at the word ‘wedding’. “No, that’s not what I’m saying; I just don’t want tonight to be about sex.” My voice is softer now. I may be having mixed feelings, but I don’t want to spoil the evening.
His response is a blistering cold stare. He gets up and walks back into the kitchen. I follow and watch him toss the eggplant into the oven.
“So because I say no to sex, you’re going to act like we’re an old married couple?” I joke in an attempt to break his mood.
“Brett, I don’t think you realize what you do to me. You’re driving me crazy. I just want to get as close to you as I can and you keep pushing me away.” He continues to look wounded.
“I’m not pushing you away,” I protest, but even as I say the words I know there’s some truth to them. “I want to be as close as I can to you, too. Today has been such a wonderful day. One I’ll remember for the rest of my life. Our first time together will be another wonderful memory I’ll remember forever. It will just be on a different night, that’s all.”
He relaxes his shoulders, and I know the fight is over. I walk over to him and he wraps his arms around me, buries his face in my hair, and sighs. As I hold him, I realize that the long engagement I was considering won’t actually be an option. I mentally chide myself for being the most commitment phobic girl on this planet.
After we eat dinner, we walk back toward the rec halls. Brody tells me that I can find Andi in the library. He jokes that half the fun of getting engaged for girls is telling everyone about it. He couldn’t be more wrong in my case. Just the idea of telling Andi has me full of angry butterflies. He kisses me goodbye, and I head to the library. I stuff the ring into my pocket before finding Andi.
“Hi,” I casually greet her.
“Hi, what are you doing here?” I can hear the anticipation in her voice.
“I just figured I’d find myself a good book to read. What are you reading?” I intentionally grab her book, so she can easily see that my finger is bare.
“It’s just a murder mystery. How was your day with Brody?” She looks confused now, and I have to work to keep a straight face.
“It was nice. We spent the day at his friend’s house, just relaxing and talking. He even had eggplant for dinner.” I watch Andi closely, waiting for her to betray herself.
“That’s it?” Her voice cracks as she questions me. I can tell she isn’t sure what else she should say, just in case Brody had cold feet. The librarian glares in our direction, and I gesture towards the roof access. Andi follows. I can feel her building anticipation with every step we take. We finally reach the roof. Andi cautiously asks, “So he didn’t say or do anything unusual?”
“Ha! I knew you knew!” I shout, pointing at her chest. “Andi, you really need to give me more warning on surprises like that. He caught me completely off-guard, and I almost had a heart attack.” I say the words slowly, emphasizing my distress.
“Surprises are good for you. Besides, you would have never forgiven me if I told you ahead of time.” Andi is back to her usual bubbly self.
“You could have dropped some subtle hints so I at least suspected something was up.” I cross my arms and pretend to pout.
“Oh, stop whining and show it to me already. You’re still standing, so I know you didn’t have a heart attack.” She is smirking now.
“No, but I had a panic attack and passed out.”
I pull the ring from my pocket and place it on my finger.
“Ha ha, you’re hilarious,” she says dryly, but then seeing the look on my face she asks, “No! You didn’t? Did you?” Andi covers her mouth in an attempt to control her laughter.
“Yeah I did, so next time there’s a big surprise, a little warning would be appreciated.”
I hold out my hand and allow her to inspect the ring.
“Wow, it’s beautiful. You know how strange you are, don’t you? You’ll face wolves, wild monkeys and will go toe-to-toe with any soldier out there, but throw commitment your way and you fall apart.”
“That’s not fair,” I chide her, but drop my eyes and add, “That’s kind of what I wanted to talk to you about, though.” I drop my head into my hands, and let all my conflicting feelings wash over me.
“So you’re having second thoughts, but you already said yes and accepted the ring?” Andi asks incredulously.
“No,” I say harshly. “I never gave him an answer. I passed out. And when I came to, Brody said we’re engaged. What was I supposed to do, tell he we’re not and crush him?” I exclaim with obvious irritation.
Andi scowls at my reaction. “So is Brody the person you want to be with?” I nod; she continues. “Can you see yourself old with him?” Again I nod. “Do you love him?” Seeing the look on my face, she amends, “It doesn’t matter if you’ve said it to each other. It matters if you feel it. Do you love him?” she asks and patiently waits for some kind of response.
Exasperated, I blurt out, “I think so… yes… maybe.” I huffed and threw up my hands. “Oh, I don’t know. My heart tells me one thing, but my stupid brain keeps getting in the way. I just don’t know what I feel and what I should do.” I finally break down into tears.
Andi smiles sympathetically at my forlorn expression and wraps an arm around my shoulders. “Oh, honey, you’ll be okay. For starters, you need to calm yourself down, and stop putting so much pressure on yourself.” I sniff and nod my head in understanding. “Alright, now you don’t need to listen to me, but I suggest wearing the ring for a few days a see how it feels. If in a week it still doesn’t feel right, talk to Brody. He’ll understand, and even if he doesn’t, a decision still will have been made.” She arches one of her perfectly plucked eyebrows at me.
“You make it sound so simple.”
“And you make everything harder than it needs to be. That’s why we get along so well: I balance you out.” Andi laughs and says, “I’m guessi
ng you haven’t had a chance to pick a date yet.”
“No, but I do know who my maid of honor will be.” I look at her with a devilish glint in my eye.
“Really? Oh, Brett, thank you!” She knocks me over with her hug.
“You act as if I might have asked someone else,” I laugh as I stand myself back up.
Chapter 18
The next morning I quickly eat breakfast alone and head to the field lab. I’m wearing the ring like Andi suggested, but I’m not in the mood to be the center of everyone’s attention. I know I can’t put the gawking off forever, but I can at least delay it until after my field visit.
When I get to the lab, Ryan is the only one there. I grab my pack and begin loading Andi’s inventions into it. I notice Ryan’s eyes fall upon my ring, but he’s kind enough not to ask any questions.
I sigh and unpack everything. I can’t get it to zip shut with all of Andi’s stuff added to it.
After struggling for several minutes, I finally get everything to fit. Of course if I need to take something out it’s going be a nightmare getting it back in.
Finally, I relent and take one of the cameras out. I can carry it until I find a spot to place it. I stand up, and see Ryan watching me with an amused expression.
“What?” I demand.
“Since when do you find it necessary to bring the kitchen sink? Up until now, I thought you were a bare essentials kind of girl.” He crosses his arms and chuckles at me.
I roll my eyes and ignore his question. Instead I busy myself with going over the map.
“Oh, Brett, congratulations!” Molly squeals and hurries over to hug me. I’ve been concentrating so hard on ignoring Ryan that I didn’t notice Jake and Molly enter.
“It’s beautiful. When did he ask you?” she squeaks, and I cringe. Molly is only one girl, a girl that I like, and the attention is already unbearable.
Verita Page 18
