Whitewater Rendezvous

reminded her of the calls she needed to make.

“Where’s the nearest phone?” she asked Chaz without preamble.

“Or at least somewhere where mine can pick up a signal?”

Chaz pasted on her best professional smile. “There’s a phone at the lodge. We’ll be there in a few minutes.” She gestured toward the van, and without further ado, Megan picked up her bag and headed for the vehicle. What the hell is your problem? Chaz wondered, watching her go.

“Hi, Chaz, I’m Justine.” A slim, attractive woman with wild auburn hair and a ready smile approached and offered her hand. “I made our arrangements with Sally.”

“Ah, right. Good to meet you, Justine. You’re the one who’s done Glacier Bay, right?”

“That’s me. The rude one, by the way, is Megan.” She gestured toward her sullen companion, who had tossed her bag into the van and settled into a seat. “She’s not really as bad as she seems. She just hasn’t yet realized she’s on vacation. It’ll sink in.”

“Good to hear that.” Chaz smiled back at the redhead. She liked this one already. “Ladies? Shall we go?” she asked the rest.

The women piled into the van as Chaz loaded their bags into the rear storage area. Megan Maxwell’s duffel, she noted, was like her clothes—brand-new, right off a store shelf. And it was easily twice as big as any of the others. She had obviously well exceeded the what-to-pack list that Orion had sent to all the clients. It would be a challenge to get all the gear on the supply raft.

Soon they were underway, and the women began peppering her with questions.

“So what’s this river like?” Pat inquired from the front passenger seat.

“Oh, it’s a blast to run,” Chaz replied, her enthusiasm for their destination evident in her tone. “The fi rst stretch will take us four or fi ve days. It’s nice and easy, with fabulous scenery and all sorts of wildlife and birds. Give you a chance to all get comfortable with the kayaks, and those of you who haven’t done a lot of paddling can get some experience before we hit the faster water.”

“There are a couple of stretches of class IV rapids on the section we’re taking, aren’t there?” Yancey asked, from the second row of seats.

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KIM BALDWIN

Chaz glanced in the rearview mirror, which happened to be pointed at Yancey’s considerable cleavage. She readjusted it to aim at the woman’s face. “Yes, near the end of the trip. And there’s a long stretch of class III in the middle section of the river, where it cuts through some steep canyons. But those of you without a lot of experience don’t need to worry—”

“I need to make some calls when we get to the lodge,” Megan interrupted Chaz from the back row. “I hope we’re going to get some time to ourselves before we have to be somewhere.”

“You’ll get about a half hour to check in and get settled in your rooms,” Chaz explained, trying to keep in check her growing irritation with Ms. Maxwell. She could already see this client was going to test her normally placid and easygoing demeanor. “We’ll meet in the dining room at six. During dinner, I’ll brief you on the trip and answer any questions you have. Tomorrow, you’ll be assigned your gear, and I’ll conduct training sessions for everyone in the creek behind the lodge.

I expect that some of you won’t need much instruction from me, in which case you can use the time to get the feel of your gear.”

“You probably don’t need to spend a lot of time with Pat and me,”

Linda said. “We’ve been kayaking together a lot. We just got back from doing the Middle Gauley in West Virginia.”

“That’s some great water, I’ve heard.” Chaz knew it wasn’t the most diffi cult section of the famed river—the area with class V+

whitewater—but you still had to be a skilled paddler to make it through the Middle Gauley.

“It was awesome,” Pat confi rmed.

“So I understand you’re all friends, right?” Chaz asked.

“Yup,” Justine answered. “We work at different media outlets in Chicago. TV is a very small industry, really, and one where people change jobs a lot. So you get to know those who work in the same market you do. You cover the same stories, attend the same events and parties. Well, a few years ago, Megan and I started up a group called Broads in Broadcasting and invited a lot of women we’d met to join.

I think we have a half-dozen media outlets represented. A bunch of us get together at a pub a couple of times a month to kick back and dish the dirt.”

“And every year, a few of us take a trip together. Last year, ten of us went to London,” Elise supplied. “We stayed at the Hilton.”

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Дата добавления: 2015-11-14