She’d imagined strutting into Traveler’s Pass with the quintessential one-line comeback that would squelch all of Felicia’s snobby comments. Instead, Darby limped into the campsite, feeling and looking like a drowned rat, and, she suspected, smelling like one, too. But in the irony of life, their arrival was met with nothing and no one. It was the ultimate in inconsequential. They hiked over to the big shelter and found Bonnie and Garrett huddled inside with Dean.
A lantern illuminated the dark interior. “I’m so glad you’re here!” Bonnie leaped up and made to hug her, but Darby waved her off.
“So am I, but hugs later. You might as well stay as dry as you can.”
Dean stood and shook first her hand and then Keaton’s. “Once this cold front moves through the weather’s supposed to clear overnight. They’re forecasting great weather for tomorrow, unseasonably cold but dry.”
Keats nodded. “I can take the cold better than the wet.”
“Amen to that, Buddy,” Garrett said.
“We’re waiting on Lola and Zach, then we’ll powwow and have some hot grub.” Dean gestured toward the low sloping roof attached to the far side. A camp stove was set up on the picnic table, along with a bag of supplies. Two pots simmered on the low flames.
“Speaking of grub, how’d you like my hiker power-bread special?” Bonnie asked. Behind her Garrett made a face, stuck a finger in his open mouth, and pretended to gag. Not helpful, and not very husbandly.
Darby stifled a giggle. “Very filling.” Darby and Keats spoke together. She caught his eye and struggled to keep a straight face.
“Where’s our lean-to?” Keats asked.
Garrett gestured toward the left side of the clearing.
“You can change first. I’ll wait here until you come back,” Keats said.
Darby slogged over the wet ground until she reached the dim shelter. Bonnie and Garrett’s packs rested inside. She quickly slipped off her pack and rummaged inside, grateful to discover the plastic bags protecting her clothes hadn’t been punctured or sprung a leak. Once dressed in dry pants and shirt, she felt almost human again. She looked at the pink anorak hanging on a peg. As much as she longed to wear the dripping garment, she craved the comfort of something warm and dry. She donned a light blue fleece and a green poncho before she dodged the raindrops on her dash back to the main shelter.
She popped in out of the downpour and flipped back her hood only to find Felicia grinning at her. The lantern light backlit her blond hair and flawless skin. Darby nodded to her. The petite woman inched closer to the large man seated with the group, leaned against Haskel’s broad back and sighed. Her ex continued his conversation with Dean, Bonnie, and Garrett, completely ignoring her entrance.
Fine! I’m happy to ignore you, too.
“Glad you could make it, Debbie.”
Ugh! Much harder to ignore the peewee bubblehead sidekick. She would not let this woman get under her skin, not tonight! She pasted on a bright smile. “It’s Dar-by.” She said her name, slowly exaggerating the syllables.
“Oh, that’s right. You’d think I could remember that.” Felicia tapped her cheek with her forefinger. “I know what it is. I almost didn’t recognize you. You’ve lost the carnival balloon pink anorak, or was it more cotton candy? What happened?”
There were two ways to go with this—mature, or cat fight. She’s so not worth it. But then, again, there was more than one way to skin a cat. “I thought you’d be pleased I took your advice, ditched the pink and decided to dress like an uber natural. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I hear.” Kill ‘em with kindness or, better yet, annoy them at their own game.
Felicia screwed up her tiny perfect features into a troll-like grimace.
“You almost look like sisters now.” Darby whipped her head around at Keaton’s slow drawl. Still soaked to the skin, he stood just inside the edge of the shelter. Water poured off the roof behind him like a waterfall.
What’s he doing? He scratched his two-day stubble. “Both blond. Both attractive. Both expert hikers. It’s really hard to tell the difference.”
Darby wasn’t sure she liked the comparison and, from Felicia’s unladylike snort, the other woman didn’t take it as a compliment, either. A moment later she was on her feet and standing in Darby’s personal space, but Felicia deliberately turned toward Keats. “You may have a hard time with it, but Haskel has no problem seeing the big difference.” She held out her left hand as if she were the Queen of England expecting her lowly subjects to kiss her ring. Her ring?
Darby caught the glint of it as the diamond picked up the glow from the lantern. Felicia gave Keats a regal nod before twisting around and thrusting the jewelry under Darby’s nose. “It’s such big news, I wanted you to be the first to know.”
A tidal wave of unexpected emotions broadsided Darby. All this time she’d convinced herself Haskel hadn’t bought her a ring because he was cautious in relationships. For five years she’d fed herself that lie, and now… It was me. Obviously! It was as if Felicia had gut punched her and knocked the air out of her lungs but, as she stared at the ring she’d coveted for so long, her breath and sanity slowly returned. The flash of anger she felt was directed at herself, not Felicia or Haskell. She’d been an idiot for at least the past eight months, probably longer. How much time had she wasted? Shake it off! No sense going there anymore.
She glanced over at Keats and he mouthed something that looked like “sorry.”
Darby shrugged and shook her head. It didn’t matter. She smiled as the truth of that self-discovery seeped into her, all the way down to her toenails.
“Nice,” Keats said aloud. “When’s the wedding, A-li-cia?”
“Haskel just popped the question yesterday at Hunter’s Bluff. We haven’t set the—” The dawning expression on the petite woman’s face was comical. Her mouth popped into an O before she lowered her dark penciled brows and glared at them. “It’s Felicia. I know we met at the trail head, but really I can’t remember your name or anything about you. In fact, if you hadn’t shown up here with her,” she pointed an accusing finger at Darby, “I wouldn’t have known you from Adam.”
“Ah, I see we have a lot in common. It seems we both have trouble recognizing names and faces.”
I can’t believe you just said that! Keats gave her a conspiratorial nudge with his elbow.
Felicia’s mouth flew open as if in a silent scream, but in the next moment she recovered and commanded in a syrupy tone, “Haskel, honey, come here.”
The big man was at her side in a flash, his face stern, his wary eyes fixed on Darby.
Be the bigger woman. Oh! I am the bigger woman. The irony brought a smile. “Congratulations. I hope you’ll both be very happy.” She thought about shaking his hand but impulsively reached out and gave him a quick hug. “I mean it,” she said in a low voice before she pulled back.
“Thanks, Darby. That means a lot.”
Looking at Haskel now, she saw only a guy, albeit a good looking guy, who’d shared some great times with her. And some not so great. “Who’s minding the store?” It was an old joke between them and it popped out automatically.
Felicia stepped closer, the toe of her hiking shoe snubbing into Darby’s boot. The small woman wrapped her arm around Haskel and her narrowed eyes flickered.
“I’ve got Matt in your position,” her former boss said.
Darby nodded, ignoring the venomous snake eyes. “He’ll do a great job.” She felt light and happy, like the elephant sitting on her heart and spirit for so long had finally disappeared. Forgiveness will do that for you. The Heavensent thought set her mood soaring. This was good. Thank You, Lord.
Keats shifted closer to her and Darby turned to him. “Haskel and I worked together back in the day.” So what, if the “day” was a mere week ago? Who was counting anymore?
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think what you meant to say was, you used to work for Roth Sports.” Felicia’s face was pinched with anger and her v
oice smacked of annoyance and condescension. Not attractive!
“My mistake.” Darby smiled to take the sting out of her clipped response. If she wanted to keep this forgiving spirit going, she needed to—
Felicia didn’t give her time to finish the thought. “And as a former employee, it’s really none of your concern what we do with the business, Debbie.”
“True.” She smiled through gritted teeth. Time to get outta here. That woman could make puppies cry and make Mary eat her little lamb. “And, not that it matters, but it’s Darby. If you’ll excuse us, we need to talk with our team about tomorrow.”
Felicia gripped Darby’s wrist. She tried to pull away, but Felicia’s fingernails found their way under her cuff and bit into her skin like an eagle claw. “We’ll be replacing Matt and some of the others soon. They’re too folksy, just not right for our high profile inventory and image.”
Darby shook off the other woman’s cruel grip and felt a flash of sympathy for Matt and her former co-workers, and even for Haskel, but perhaps they’d need more sympathy if they stayed and had to work for Felicia. “As you said, it’s really not my concern. Congratulations again to both of you. Now, if you’ll excuse us.”
Keats held out his arm and she linked her elbow with his. They sidestepped the “happy” couple and stepped up onto the wooden platform of the shelter. Darby heard Felicia harping something that sounded like, “They deserve each other.”
She ignored it. “Don’t you want to change into dry clothes? I have some stuff in my backpack.”
He extricated his arm from hers. “I am not wearing pink girly stuff. I’ve got my own things in my pack.” He reached around her and grabbed his ragged pack from the nearby corner. “You sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah, thanks. Now, go.” He sketched what looked like a Boy Scout salute and darted out into the rainstorm.
Darby went to the far corner and sat down next to Bonnie. “How’re you doing,” her cousin asked.
“I’m fine. Actually, I’m over it.”
Bonnie’s eyes widened. “Really?”
“Yeah, it was over a long time ago. You were right; a couple days in the mountains swept away the cobwebs. Haskel’s moved on and so have I.”
Bonnie leaned over and deliberately looked past her to where Keats had disappeared into the torrent of rain.
“Whoa, Sister! Not that kind of ‘moved on’.”
Bonnie folded her arms across her chest. “And why not? You could do a whole lot worse.”
Darby cleared her throat and stabbed Bonnie with what she hoped was a stern look. “Worse than a maybe axe murderer?”
“That’s not what I said.”
“You might as well have. Spill it now while he’s gone.” Darby sighed as she replayed the day’s events in her mind: Keats joking; doing tai chi; quoting the Traveler’s Psalm, his clear strong voice ringing out in the stillness of the morning; Keats suddenly aloof and angry, hiking away from her and his troubles; and Keats, her Boy Scout knight in a wet sweatshirt doing battle with ‘Alicia.’ She smiled at his campsite chivalry.
“Ha! You like him, admit it.”
“I do like him as a friend.”
“That’s how the good ones start. Look at me and Garrett.”
“Yeah, yeah, give me a minute. I’ve only known him for two days, and while we’re on the subject, what it is that I’m not supposed to know about this guy?”
Bonnie tilted her head up and looked past her. Darby twisted her torso and followed her gaze to where Garrett and Dean talked together. Keats vaulted in from the outside, past the lovebird couple, and joined the guys.
“I can’t say anything. Garrett would kill me.”
“Understood. How about if I guess it and you just nod if I’m right?”
Bonnie grinned and nodded.
“Did he have a bad break-up?”
“Sort of… in a way, but not exactly.”
“That’s not nodding.”
“Well, I know, but he did get his heart broken, so be careful with him. It was a few years ago and he’s never gotten over it.”
“Was it brutal? Did she leave him at the altar or something?”
“No. Well, yes, it was brutal, but he wasn’t jilted.”
Darby clenched her fists. “Come on, you gotta give me something better than maybes and sort ofs.”
“You need to be a better guesser!”
Zach’s hearty hail interrupted the conversation. “Hail, hail the gang’s all here!” He and Lola ducked into the shelter, packless, and dressed in mostly-dry clothes. “I take it we’re the late Peak Baggers, Too.”
Dean greeted the new arrivals heartily. “You’re just in time for hot stew, my wife’s homemade biscuits, and chocolate chip cookies.”
“That ought to ease the pain of our fourth place arrival.”
“It’s all good.” Haskel came over with Felicia surgically attached to his arm. “We were here first so, according to the rules, we got a one and four arrival time.”
“And they got a two and three?” Lola laughed. “Do the math, Haskel. Five-five is a tie where I come from, but maybe in the city they teach you that new math.”
~
“Hey, this coming from the woman who spells Peak Baggers, Too with no ‘W’”? Garrett ribbed, and Zach howled with laughter.
“I told you it’d be a close match up. Let’s discuss it over dinner.” Dean led the way to the cook stove and served up the meal.
They sat at the not-so-dry picnic table and Keats let the talk drift around him as he shoveled in the hot food. His ribs had been sticking to his backbone all afternoon, and after Bonnie’s non-lunch, real food never tasted so good. He glanced up and grinned at Darby sitting across from him, her eyelids drooping as she fought to keep them open. He’d pushed her hard today, maybe too hard. Sorry. I’ll do better tomorrow. Garrett and Bonnie would be hiking with them so that should make it easier. No more one-on-one with Darby.
After too many cookies, they hustled back to the group shelter and tossed in their collected tokens. “With a possible eight tokens per team, you both got all eight. Still a dead heat,” Dean said. “What’s it going to take to clinch the tie breaker?”
Keats dug in his pocket and pulled out the rock. “Darby and I retrieved this at Silver Falls.” He looked over at his partner.
She grinned. “What he didn’t tell you is we paid for it. We got soaked doing it.”
Keats polished the top of the stone with his fingertip. “Look there. I believe it’s pink tourmaline.”
The others may have commented; he only heard the woman sitting next to him. She turned to him with a deer-in-the-headlights look. “Pink tourmaline? Seriously? Why didn’t you tell me? I would’ve picked up one like yours.”
The rest of the room fell away and there were just the two of them in the gas lantern light. So much for avoiding the one-on-one. If it happened here in the crowd there’d be no hope for him up on the remote wilds of the mountain. Keep it light. “There weren’t any more like mine. I checked.”
“Well you could’ve helped me choose gold, or silver, or even iron pyrite; something better than just a clunky old rock.”
“Yours has some small garnets in it. I checked.”
“And you know this because…?”
He grinned and put his hand over her cold one. “Boy Scout, remember?”
What happened to keeping his distance? Too late. He let himself slip again. It felt good. It shouldn’t, but it did. Blame it on getting even with the Neanderthal and his nauseating sidekick. Tomorrow he might regret it; tonight he didn’t care.
“Looks to me like the Cloud Busters get their pick of the starting trail up…” Dean paused for a moment. “Drum roll, please.”
Zach and Lola stamped their boots on the floor.
“Icarus Peak. First team to get there and collect the token wins the challenge and a couple of kayaks donated by Roth/Jamison Outdoor Outfitters.”
“Sounds great,” Garrett said. “L
et us put our heads together and we’ll give you poor unfortunate wannabe hikers our choice in a minute.
Bonnie spoke into Darby’s ear and when they reconfigured to check out the trail map, the women left for the sleeping lean-to. “Just tell us what you decide in the morning,” Bonnie said. “If you want us to go all out tomorrow, we need sleep. G’Night.” The cousins left the group shelter.
Keats watched their flashlight bounce off the boulders and the beaten path, picking up the silver glitter of the occasional raindrop.
“You up for the Western Ridge Trail?” Garrett asked. “It’s a little longer but the ascent is easier.”
“That leaves the Hatchet Trail for the other team?” Keats knew the answer. He’d been on this range many times. Hatchet was more direct with some steep climbs, but both trails intersected at Heaven’s Gate and from there it was an all-out race to Icarus Peak.
“Yeah.” Garrett handed him the map. “Let’s tell ‘em the news and get to the lean-to. Bonnie wasn’t feeling so good and I want to make sure she’s okay.”
Keats followed the doting husband, trying not to be jealous of his friends. They were a couple. It wasn’t their fault he no longer enjoyed the pleasure of having someone to care and someone to care for. Long after the even breathing of the others signaled their much needed rest, Keats lay on the hard wooden planks watching the moon play hide-and-seek with the scudding clouds. He must’ve slept some, but not enough to obliterate his restless thoughts: thoughts of Jess, and thoughts of the woman peacefully sleeping on the far side of the lean-to next to her cousin.
He felt the air change and the cold, sharp as an icicle, penetrated his old sleeping bag and seeped into his muscles. As the sky began to lighten, he crept out of the lean-to and traipsed down the basin trail to catch the sunrise over the 2,000 foot granite wall rising above them.
The red aura had just tinted the sky when he felt her presence beside him. “Look,” she whispered. “Rime ice.”
A comforting warmth started in his heart and spread through his chest. Don’t overthink it. She was just a fellow hiker who deserved way better than that Viking wannabe. “You’re supposed to be watching the sun rise.”
Love's Sporting Chance: Volume 1: 6 Romantic sporting novellas Page 35
