Whitewater Rendezvous

“This will certainly be a change of pace,” Chaz remarked dryly.

The women—all but Megan, who was staring out the window—chuckled at the understatement.

“About half the group are your typical I-can’t-be-without-my-hairdryer-and-makeup gals, Pat said. “They tend to sit out trips like this one.”

“The other half are more adventurous,” Yancey added. “We want to get away from the city when we get some time off.”

“So we’ve compromised,” Justine said. “A posh trip one year, an outdoor adventure the next.”

“How do you decide the destination?” Chaz inquired. Quite aninteresting concept, she thought, glancing at Megan in the mirror.

Which type of woman are you? Megan was staring out the window but seemed entirely self-absorbed, and Chaz wondered whether she was seeing any of the beauty of their surroundings. She sure looked out of her element here.

“When we started the group, every member wrote down a destination or type of trip, and we put them all in a jar,” Linda explained.

“We draw one every year. If we select a ritzy location on a year we’re supposed to do an adventure trip, we put the slip back in the jar and keep drawing until we get it right.”

“How many are in your group?” Chaz asked.

“Oh, gosh, close to thirty, I guess,” Justine said. “Although most are in it only for the occasional socializing. A lot of the ‘Broads’ are married with kids and can’t get away for long trips.”

“So none of you fi t into that category?” Chaz inquired. “Married with kids, I mean?” She noticed several of the clients exchange looks with each other—Pat and Linda, Elise and Justine.

“I’ve got a hubby at home,” Yancey answered. “And two boys who love getting a week or two alone with Daddy each year. They get to eat McDonalds and Pizza Hut every day and stay up late.” She laughed.

“What about you? Are you married, Chaz?” Linda asked.

“Nope. Never married. Never close.”

She glanced up to fi nd Elise staring at her in the rearview mirror with a raised eyebrow and fl irtatious grin. Chaz couldn’t help smiling.

So Yancey’s straight, but Elise sure isn’t. And Pat and Linda aredefi nitely a couple. Justine might be a lesbian, too, she thought, but her

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KIM BALDWIN

gaydar was less certain on that one. And who knew what Megan’s deal was—she was still staring out the window and seemed totally removed from the rest of them.

“What about Sally?” Justine asked. “Didn’t she say she was attending her daughter’s graduation?”

“Mmmhmm. Chelsea is graduating from Washington State. Sally and her husband Tom also have a son named Nathan, who’s a sous chef at a fancy Seattle restaurant.”

“Sally and I became phone pals setting up this trip,” Justine said.

“She has a right wicked sense of humor, doesn’t she?”

“That she has,” Chaz agreed. “And a practical joker, too. I advise all of you to check your sleeping bags the fi rst night out for rubber snakes and spiders.”

“Oh, great,” Megan mumbled from the back. “I’m back in summer camp.” It was the fi rst acknowledgement that she’d been paying attention to the conversation.

“Lighten up, your Majesty,” Justine chided, snickering.

“Your Majesty?” Chaz repeated.

“Our auspicious friend back there has quite a reputation among her underlings at work…some of whom refer to her as the Royal Ice Bitch,” Linda supplied, grinning.

“Oh, come on, guys,” Megan grumbled, but the explanation surprisingly brought the fi rst smile to the woman’s face and seemed to crack her cool exterior. Chaz tried not to stare at her in the rearview mirror. She felt a fl utter of something unexpected in the pit of her stomach. She’s an altogether different woman when she smiles.

“We can kid her about it, you see, because we all know what a softhearted ol’ gal she really is,” Yancey added.

“Will you all stop talking about me as if I’m not here?” Megan complained good-naturedly.

“Although she can be pretty intimidating when she has on her I’m-a-vice-president! mask,” Yancey went on.

“Before I knew you, I thought you had no sense of humor,” Linda admitted. “But boy, when you have a few tequilas…”

“That’s enough!” Megan rebuked, but she was still smiling. Chaz noticed a slight fl ush to the woman’s cheeks. There’s certainly more toher than meets the eye.

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