Whitewater Rendezvous

She had decided, after lying awake next to Megan for nearly two hours last night, listening to her breathe, that it probably was just as well Megan had cooled toward her again, regardless of the reasons why. It would make it a lot easier to get through the next week.

But now things had fl ip-fl opped again. Megan certainly was looking friendly at the moment. Entirely too friendly. Every time Chaz glanced in Megan’s direction, she found Megan watching her. Watching her like a cat watches a bird in a cage, with heavy-lidded eyes and this bemused half smile on her face… like she has defi nite plans for you,later on.

Feeling Megan’s eyes on her was getting her way too distracted and way too excited. The hand holding the spatula began to shake.

“Chaz?” Megan said softly.

She loved hearing her name said like that. She turned her head to look at Megan and found that Megan was grinning from ear to ear and looking incredibly sexy, her shoulder-length hair tousled from sleep.

“Yes?” she managed, her voice sounding a lot lower than usual.

“I think those are done.” Megan gestured toward the pan that held the hash browns. The way she said it gave Chaz a sneaking suspicion that Megan was suppressing snorts of laughter.

Sally, standing a few feet away, started chuckling.

The pan was smoking. The hash browns were burnt to a crisp.

“Shit!” Chaz dumped that batch onto a plate. “Those are mine,”

she grumbled.

Sally and Megan both erupted into mirth.

“Wise guys. You two…” Chaz pointed to Sally with the spatula and then Megan. But before she could say anything more, the other clients began to amble up, and she let it drop and started more hash browns cooking.

“Coffeeeeeee. I need coffeeeee,” Pat groaned, bleary-eyed.

“Sit,” Linda said. “I’ll get you some, honey.”

“Hash browns!” Yancey peered into one of the fry pans. “And omelets, too! I can’t believe how well we’re eating on this trip.”

“I’ll second that,” Justine said. “I’m glad we’re getting so much exercise or I’d really be gaining weight.”

“So today is caribou day, right?” Elise asked.

“No guarantees,” Chaz said. “But yes, our best chance of seeing a good group of them is at our next campsite.”

• 141 •

KIM BALDWIN

“I can’t wait,” Megan said, and the tone of her voice made Chaz wonder if she was taking about the caribou or something else.

O

They had a long paddle to get there, through more gloriously breathtaking scenery. There were fewer and fewer trees as they went along, and fi nally the river curved out of the valley they’d been in and cut through a pass between the mountains, then emerged onto a wide sweeping landscape characterized by low rolling hills of emerald green tundra, surrounded by distant, snowcapped peaks.

The water was getting swifter all the time as the river dropped in elevation, cascading over rocks and split in channels by boulders bigger than cars. Three times, in the more turbulent water, Chaz pulled them over briefl y so that she could scout ahead. So far, there had been no stretch so bad that she made anyone portage, but she reminded them to closely follow her line of travel through those areas and not to bunch up too much.

It was late afternoon when they arrived at their next campsite, a fl at stretch of gravel surrounded by hilly terrain that partially obscured their view of the distant mountains. “Where are the caribou?” Justine asked Chaz with disappointment as they beached their kayaks.

“We have to hike to higher ground to see them,” Chaz said. “I thought we’d grab a quick dinner fi rst, unless you all would rather wait and eat late?”

“I’m starving,” Pat said.

“You’re always starving,” Linda replied.

“Yeah, well,” Pat embraced her lover tightly and raised both eyebrows suggestively, “I’ve been burning up a lot of calories.”

“Where do you two get your energy?” Yancey grumped. “If my husband was here and wanted to do the deed, he’d be sorely disappointed.

I’m whipped from paddling.”

“Oh, I suppose I could fi nd some hidden reserves if there was a good reason to,” Elise remarked, looking hopefully at Chaz.

Megan was delighted that Chaz seemed to ignore the comment.

All day long, she’d been thinking about the night to come, about lying beside Chaz. About kissing her, fi nally, and more. Her thoughts had kept

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Дата добавления: 2015-11-14