Whitewater Rendezvous

doing her no good to worry and obsess about it, so she extinguished the fi re and returned to the tent.

Despite the dim light, she could see that Megan was fast asleep.

She looked so adorable, lying on her side in a half-fetal position, that Chaz couldn’t help but take advantage of the chance to spend a few moments watching her. Her shoulder-length brown hair was tousled, and a strand near her face moved with each gentle exhalation. It was all Chaz could do not to reach down and smooth it away, caress the cheek it rested against. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d wanted to touch someone quite so much.

Quietly, she got into her own bag and ignored an overwhelming urge to cuddle closer, to spoon their bodies together as they had the night before.

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• 138 •

Whitewater Rendezvous

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The next morning Megan awoke alone again, with no memory of Chaz having been in the tent at all. But obviously she had been, because her sleeping bag was unzipped, and her things had been moved around.

She reached for Chaz’s pillow almost without realizing she was doing so, and this time when she brought it to her face, that same scent was stronger, like Chaz had been lying on it only moments before. An ache passed through her as she set it back down. Why does it matter somuch? she asked herself, but she didn’t allow herself to think about it too closely or too long. Get over it. Get up and get dressed and enjoythe rest of your time in Alaska.

She slithered out of her mummy sleeping bag like a snake shedding its skin and reached for a new set of clothes.

“Knock, knock,” Sally’s voice hailed her from outside the tent.

“Megan, you awake?”

“Yes,” she responded. “Getting dressed. I’ll be out in a minute.”

“Do you mind if I have a word with you? It’s kind of personal.”

Megan went to the door fl ap, unzipped it, and stuck her head outside. “Sure. What’s up?”

Sally came over and stooped until they were roughly at eye level.

“Well, I, uh…I talked to Chaz last night.” Megan’s ears perked up.

“Look, this is really none of my business, I know.” Sally looked at the ground. “And if I’m out of line, I apologize in advance.”

“What it is, Sally?” Megan was intrigued.

“Well, I only wanted to say that if you were upset about something last night…” Sally looked at Megan then. “And that something involved Chaz…”

Her heartbeat sped up. Oh, shit. Is it that obvious?

• 139 •

KIM BALDWIN

“Then I thought you should know that maybe you didn’t see what you thought you saw.”

It took a moment for the words to sink in. “Excuse me?”

“If you got to the hot spring early and saw something that upset you, I think maybe you misunderstood what you were seeing.”

Megan’s mind raced. She wanted to deny that she knew what Sally was talking about, but if what she was saying was true…“Let’s say you’re right,” she said. “How do you know I misunderstood?”

Sally bit her lip like she didn’t really want to answer. “Because Chaz told me that Elise kissed her last night…and she thought you might have seen them.” Her eyes found Megan’s. “She also told me that it took her by surprise, and she told Elise not to do it again.”

“Really?” Megan’s funk lifted instantly.

“Really,” Sally confi rmed with a smile. “She’s not attracted to Elise. She’s more interested in someone else.” She winked at Megan and left.

Well. Well. Well. This is certainly an interesting development, now,isn’t it?

O

Chaz fi rst suspected something was up when she spotted Sally approaching from the direction of the tents with an impish grin. When their eyes met, Sally began whistling tunelessly as though the picture of innocence.

“What are you up to?” Chaz asked.

“Nothing. Nothing at all,” Sally replied, as she set to work getting out utensils and plates for breakfast.

Chaz was busy cooking omelets and hash browns over a pair of stoves and didn’t have time to put Sally under the third degree, but she suspected some kind of plot was being hatched.

The clincher was the happy smile on Megan’s face and the glimmer in her eyes when she appeared a minute or two later.

Something’s going on.

“That smells wonderful,” Megan said, choosing the chair beside her. “And I could eat a horse! Can I help?”

“No, thanks,” Chaz said, relieved that Megan’s dark cloud had disappeared, but in a quandary about why. Sally better not have saidanything to her.

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