Whitewater Rendezvous

“Yup. Stepped on the dress and took a header into the nearest pew.

Fortunately my dad caught me as I was going down. My mother swore it was God getting me back for playing practical jokes.”

“I see it didn’t deter you any,” Linda said. “By the way, I thought the rubber snakes tonight were a nice alternative to the spiders. Very realistic looking.”

“Thanks. We aim to please.” Sally beamed. She shifted to look at Megan. “Your turn.”

“Right out of college, I was a reporter for about a day and a half at a TV station in Traverse City,” Megan said. I can’t believe I’m gonnatell this.

“You were on the air?” Justine’s eyes widened in astonishment.

“Oh, I want to see a tape of that.”

“There is no tape. I destroyed all copies personally,” Megan huffed.

“So what happened?” Justine asked.

“Shortly after I was hired, I had to anchor the 11 p.m. show. Right before airtime, the regular guy got food poisoning. Well, I was so nervous I took several deep breaths before we went on, and I guess I hyperventilated. I fainted, midway during the fi rst paragraph.”

“Fainted?” Yancey gasped.

“Fell face-fi rst into the desk and caught my chin on the corner of it.” Megan lifted her chin and pointed to a hairline scar that ran beneath it. “Took eight stitches to close. I bled all over the desk while the director decided what the hell he should do. After several seconds, he went to commercial and then to a repeat of Cheers while they called the ambulance. I decided to be a behind-the-scenes person after that.”

Everyone cracked up, but it was Chaz’s reaction that pleased Megan the most. She felt a warm rush of satisfaction to have provided the reason for that dazzling smile and warm, rich laugh.

“Next, please,” Pat said.

“Caught by the law in a compromising position is all I can say about mine,” Elise said, to sniggers from around the campfi re circle.

She smiled at the memory and turned to Chaz. “Your turn.”

“While I was still in college, I was asked to present a scientifi c paper I’d authored to a conference in Seattle,” Chaz said. “It was in one of the ballrooms in this huge hotel, and I was really nervous—I was not used to speaking in front of groups.” A smile lifted the corner of

• 101 •

KIM BALDWIN

her mouth. “I hid out in one of the bathrooms until right before I was to speak, then I came out on this tiny stage and launched right in to ‘How Climactic Changes Impact Musk Oxen Reproduction.’” She paused a moment, chuckling. “In my own defense, the stage was brightly lit and the rest of the room was dark, so I couldn’t see that the audience was made up entirely of rabbis.”

Everyone started laughing.

“They let me talk for at least fi ve minutes before a nice bearded gentlemen told me he thought I might want the Arctic Wildlife conference in the ballroom next door.”

They howled with laughter.

“How have you ever kept that from me?” Sally asked, wiping a tear from her cheek.

Chaz shrugged. “Next!”

They continued around the circle, swapping stories and laughter.

When they fi nished with most embarrassing moment, they covered pet peeves and biggest crushes, then it was on to hidden talents.

“Gosh, hidden talent. That’s kind of hard.” Yancey stretched out on her sleeping mattress and took a sip of wine from her metal mug. “I am so sore, by the way. I keep stiffening up if I stay in any position for too long.”

“Yeah, me, too. Speaking of which, I think I’m due to take another dose of ibuprofen.” Elise reached into her pocket for a small bottle.

“Anybody else?”

The bottle got passed around the circle and Justine, Megan, and Yancey also took a couple of tablets.

“Okay, I’ve got it,” Yancey said. “At least this is what my kids would say my hidden talent is. May I have quiet, please?”

The only sound that could be heard was the crackling of the fi re.

Yancey put her fi ngers next to her mouth, took a big deep breath, and out came the uncannily realistic sound of a taxi horn.

The women all clapped.

“Wait!” Yancey waved away the applause and got to her feet.

“There’s more!” She leaned over and put her hands around her mouth.

After a moment, the distinctive chirp of a cricket could be heard. More applause. That was followed by the slurp of a toilet plunger, then the unmistakable blare of a foghorn.

“Very cool!” Sally said. “You’ll have to teach me how to do that.

• 102 •

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14