by Gerri Hill
“And what do you do there?”
“In the summer, we’ll do slideshows at night. Showing the different animals in the park, stuff like that. It’s also where we meet for ranger-led hikes. And we do stuff for kids there. And when I get a little better, I’ll start leading birdwatching tours.” She laughed at that. “There’s a lady from town who leads them now, but I’m a little—okay, a lot—intimidated by her. She can hear a bird flying over or in the trees and say, ‘Oh, that’s a MacGillivray’s warbler, probably a juvenile,’ and I feel really stupid because I couldn’t ID the bird even by sight, much less sound.”
“And I’d guess she probably has years and years more experience than you do.”
“Oh, sure. I know. And I’ve gotten better. I have. I know pretty much all the resident birds by sound now. Even those that stay the winter. Spring and fall are the hardest when the migrants come through. I’m usually lost and stay off the trails when real birders are around.”
She slowed as they approached the first cluster of campsites. “There’s one of the birding blinds that I keep up. We have three in the park.”
“So Mom’s bird garden—you modeled it after these?”
“Yeah. Pretty much the same. Lots of feeders and running water. Cottonwood Creek only has water for a month or two a year and that’s on a good year. Limpia Creek usually has some water all year long—it’s spring-fed—but during the dry months, it’s no more than a trickle.”
She pulled into the parking lot and stopped. “Do you want to take a look? See what’s about?”
“Sure.”
They leaned their bikes against a tree, and she moved slowly toward the blind. There were four cutouts for viewing and a larger one for those who liked to set up tripods for their cameras.
“What’s that white stuff smeared on that one feeder?”
“Oh, that’s suet. We buy it in a big tub, but they sell it in smaller cakes.”
“What is suet?”
“It’s mostly fat and they put birdseed and cracked corn in there. Some will have fruit. I’ll put the stuff out with fruit in the spring to catch the orioles that come through.”
“Oh, what’s that blue bird?” Lexie asked quietly.
“That’s a scrub jay. They’re kinda bossy. We also have Steller’s jays here. They’re a brilliant blue with a black crest.”
Lexie’s eyes widened. “Steller’s jay? Are they mean?”
“Mean? No. A little bossy with the little birds but not mean. Why?”
“I read a book where a Steller’s jay was—well, he wasn’t really a bird, I guess. He was a spirit that took over the bird. And he controlled this serial killer and there was a psychic—” She shook her head. “Never mind. But if we see one, point him out to me.”
“Okay, sure. They’re pretty.” There were the normal house finches clustered on the tray feeder and four doves were on the ground. “Those are white-winged doves.”
“I’ve seen them before. I was going to ask what they were.”
“Collared doves are big like them, but they have this black neck ring,” she said, making a circle around Lexie’s neck. “And no white on the wings. They’re usually here too.”
Lexie smiled at her. “You don’t give yourself enough credit, I think. You seem pretty well versed to me.”
“That’s because you don’t know any real birders. Come on. I’ll take you through part of the campground, then we’ll hit the trail.”
* * *
Lexie wasn’t as nervous as she thought she’d be as she followed Kyler from the pavement onto the hiking trail. As Kyler had said, riding through the park got her accustomed to—and a little more familiar with—her new bike. However, it didn’t take long for the nice, easy path to turn rocky.
“It narrows up here,” Kyler called over her shoulder.
Lexie felt her hands tighten their grip and she slowed as she approached the curve, which nearly caused her to fall when she hit a rock the size of a softball. She sped up again, her eyes watching the trail and not the scenery that buzzed by.
“Down there is the biggest canyon in the park. This is the best view of it.”
“I’ll have to take your word for it, lest I fall into said canyon,” she managed as she never took her eyes from the trail.
Kyler laughed. “I’d rescue you, of course.”
“I would hope so.”
“There’s a little overlook. We’ll stop.”
Half a minute later, Kyler slowed and pulled to the left. Lexie braked a bit too suddenly and nearly threw herself into a juniper. She rested both feet on the ground, trying to catch her breath.
“Fun?”
“I think I’m too scared for it to be fun.”
Kyler took her helmet off and ran a hand through her hair. Lexie found herself watching, noting her tanned complexion, her outdoorsy look. Her cheeks were flushed with color, her forehead damp with sweat, her hair tangled. Kyler looked at her, capturing her gaze for a second before Lexie looked away.
“You’re in good shape. Strong. You’ll pick this up in no time.”
“I hope you’re right.” Lexie looked past her, enjoying the view across the rocky and nearly barren canyon. “Are there other trails suitable for bikes?”
“Here around the campground area, this is the only one that bikes are allowed on, other than a really short one over by the tent area. Now, across the road—the main road that you drove up here on—there are two trails there. If you take the loop, it’s a good ten miles in and back. Great views. Nice little canyons where Limpia Creek flows.”
“You ride there?”
“I do. It’s steep and challenging.”
Lexie followed her to a smooth ledge that had a log fence barrier. “Oh, that’s pretty. That’s the creek?”
“Yeah. Hard to believe that little creek carved this out.” She touched Lexie’s arm. “Look. Deer. He doesn’t think we can see him.”
The buck was behind a small shrub of some kind, his ears twitching as he watched them. Lexie relaxed, breathing deeply of the fresh air. The only sound was that of the wind as it passed through the junipers. She absorbed the quiet, smiling as she took her gaze from the deer and back to the canyon. Yes. Quiet. Peaceful.
She turned, feeling Kyler watching her. She widened her smile. “I love it.”
She realized that statement could pertain to a lot of different things. The trail. The bike ride. The deer. The view. But Kyler simply nodded, not needing an explanation apparently. Her declaration of loving it surprised her, though. She’d had her doubts that she would find anything about this remote area attractive, much less find something she could love about it.
“You ready to head out? If we linger too long, dusk will catch us.”
She nodded. “Yes.” Then she paused. “Thank you, Kyler. For the tour, for…for making me feel welcome here.”
“My pleasure. Thank you for riding with me. It’s always more fun with company.”
Whether for her benefit or not, Kyler seemed to slow her pace a little and Lexie had no problems keeping up. All too soon she saw the picnic tables and knew their off-road trek was nearly finished. The trail took them to a little bridge that crossed the creek and in a blink of an eye, they were back on pavement, heading to the lodge.
As Kyler was lifting her bike onto the rack that covered the spare tire, Lexie took in her attire. Not colorful, skintight, curve-hugging spandex but a looser version, black and comfortable looking. She had no such option and she’d worn a pair of her exercise tights under sweatpants.
“What kind of biking pants are those?”
“Yeah, these are almost too hot for today’s weather. They’re windproof, fleece-lined.” She pulled the elastic waistband down, showing her. “Very comfortable, though. I’ve got another pair that are windproof only, not lined. I should have worn them today. The wind is not that bad and it was what? Fifty degrees?”
“I’m plenty warm enough too, but if I plan to ride, I should really get the pro
per clothing,” she said, pointing at her dark gray sweats.
“I got these online. There’s tons of choices so don’t drive yourself crazy shopping.” Kyler leaned an arm across the spare tire. “I’m heading over to the bar for a beer. Want to come?”
Lexie tilted her head slightly. “I usually have a green smoothie or a protein shake after a workout.” Then she smiled, remembering her mother’s words—find something to replace what she was used to. “A beer does sound good. Should we change or…”
“No, we’re fine. We’ll just walk over.”
She quickly put her bike inside her apartment, leaving Kyler standing outside. She locked the door, then stuck her head inside the office.
“Mom? I’m back. We’re heading over to see Mark.”
Her mother came down the hallway, smiling. “Fun? No mishaps?”
“Yes, it was great fun. And as a bonus, I didn’t fall, not even once.”
“Good for you.” Her mother turned her gaze to Kyler. “I’m making a big pan of lasagna on Saturday. Come for dinner?”
Kyler nodded with a smile. “I’ll never turn down your lasagna, Susan. Thanks.”
Her mother then looked at her. “I’m actually making a new recipe. A vegetarian one. How is it I didn’t know that you don’t eat meat?”
Lexie shrugged. “I guess because we only saw each other a couple of weeks each year. Our phone calls really didn’t revolve around food. And I do eat chicken occasionally. But Mom, you should make the one that everyone likes. I can pick around what I don’t eat.”
“Yes, I know. You’ve been picking around nearly every meal I’ve served you. So I want to make something that you can eat too.” She waved them away. “Go see Mark. Tell him about dinner on Saturday.”
“That was nice of her,” Kyler commented as they walked around the lodge.
“Yeah, but I’m sorry I ruined dinner for you.” It was nearly dark, but she noticed that Kyler checked out the bird garden as they went past it. “Anything still there?”
Kyler smiled a bit sheepishly. “Habit.”
Lexie bumped her shoulder with her own. “Don’t apologize.”
The lights on the back side of the lodge were plenty for them to see by. The crunching of their footsteps was the only sound as they crossed the rocks on the trail before hitting the restaurant’s parking lot. There were five or six vehicles and she saw Mark through the window, chatting with someone at a table. The Christmas lights were blinking in every window, and behind Mark, she saw the tree, lit up as well. It made for a pretty scene.
“The decorations look nice,” Kyler commented, as if reading her thoughts. “I don’t think he had this many last year.”
“I think I put up every light he had.”
Kyler held the door open for her and she nodded her thanks as she went inside. She could sense everyone turning to stare at them. A few called greetings to Kyler and Kyler returned them. They sat at the bar—the same stools they’d used the other morning. Their eyes met in the mirror that hung behind the bar. Kyler smiled first and Lexie matched it.
She couldn’t believe how quickly—and easily—she had made friends with Kyler. She had envisioned herself leading a lonely, solitary life up here, with only Mark and her parents for company. Yet, here she was, about to share a beer—and perhaps dinner—with a very pretty woman. She raised an eyebrow as their eyes still held. Could she call Kyler pretty? She was a bit too outdoorsy for that. Cute, attractive, certainly. But “pretty” conjured up a more feminine image and—
“What?”
She turned, meeting Kyler’s gaze close up instead of in the mirror. She smiled again. “I like you. And you’re attractive.” The words were out before she realized how they sounded, but she couldn’t take them back.
One eyebrow arched at her. “Are you flirting with me?”
“God, no!”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course I’m sure! I don’t care what you look like one way or the other. I told you, I’m not interested in anything like that.”
“Okay.” Then she smiled. “Sure seemed like you were flirting, though.”
“I was not!” she hissed as quietly as she could when Mark came over.
“So how was the bike ride?” he asked as he pulled two mugs from the freezer.
Lexie playfully kicked Kyler’s leg, hoping to get in the last word on that subject.
Chapter Nineteen
Kyler paused at the back door, seeing her reflection in the glass. She was glad she’d gone back inside her cabin to change, but it put her behind and now she was running late. For some reason, instead of wearing a regular pair of jeans, she’d put on her best pair—black ones. And instead of a T-shirt with a sweatshirt over the top, she put on a real shirt—buttons and collar and she’d even ironed it. And she’d even put on a sweater—a charcoal gray one. She looked nice. And then she panicked. Why in the world was she dressing that way? Mark would notice. Probably Susan too. She in no way wanted them to think that it had anything to do with wanting to look nice for Lexie. Because it did not. So she’d quickly changed and now she looked like she always did. Only it wasn’t a plain old blue sweatshirt. No, she’d opted for one with the park’s logo.
With a sigh, she went inside the back door. So she liked the woman. What wasn’t to like? She was cute. She had an easy smile and she used it frequently. She was normal. No pet pigs. Kyler smiled a bit as she headed up the stairs. She was cute and she liked to bike. They seemed to have things in common. She paused at the door. Lexie wasn’t her type, though, was she? No, she wasn’t. None of that mattered. She and Lexie were becoming friends, which is what they’d agreed upon. So it didn’t matter what she looked like. Wasn’t that what Lexie had said of her? Friends. Lexie wanted to be friends. Nothing more.
She took a quick, deep breath, then knocked on the door. She heard a “come on in, Kyler” and she opened it. She absently looked around, her gaze settling on Lexie, finding her staring back. The smile she was getting used to was there and Lexie beckoned her over.
“You’re late.”
“Yeah, sorry.”
“Toilet again?” Mark asked.
“No. With that front coming, we had some pipes to tend to. Out by the corrals.”
“They say we’ll be in the low teens tomorrow night,” Susan said. “What would you like to drink? Cocktail?”
“I can get it, Susan.”
“Sit down and visit. I’ll fix it up. I’m fixing one for Dale too.”
“You have corrals?” Lexie asked, patting the cushion beside her.
“Yeah. People bring their horses up here to ride.” She sat down, taking care to leave a safe distance between them. “That trail I was telling you about across the road, that’s a horse trail too. They’ve got a camping area up by the creek for those who want to stay overnight out there.”
She could tell Mark was grinning at her and she finally looked his way. He smiled more broadly but said nothing. He didn’t have to. She knew what he was thinking.
“You guys made your bike ride sound like such fun, it made me want to join you.”
“Why don’t you?” Lexie leaned forward to look at him. “It’s nothing like being on the road in Austin.”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ll think about it.”
“You should,” Kyler said. “Get you out of the bar for some exercise. You keep eating that food, you’re going to get fat.”
“Yeah, but I hear my sister is going to overhaul the menu.”
Kyler turned to Lexie. “Are you? Do I get any input?”
Lexie smiled sweetly at her. “Want fish on the menu?”
“If you could swing fish and shrimp, that would be super.”
“You don’t ask for much, do you? We’re like a thousand miles from fish and shrimp.”
Kyler grinned. “I’ll make it worth your while.”
Lexie met her gaze, still smiling. “Dare I ask what I’d get out of that deal?”
Kyler leaned
closer. “I’ll let you play with my telescope.” She lowered her voice. “Stars at night—incredible. I’ll give you a tour of the planets.”
Mark cleared his throat. “Really? You’re going to flirt with my sister right in front of me.”
Kyler leaned back, away from Lexie. “I wasn’t flirting with her. Just offering my services.”
“Who’s flirting with who?” Susan asked as she handed Kyler her drink. “You two?”
“No!” they said in unison.
“Yeah, they were.”
“How sweet!”
“Mom…no. We were not. We were just…kidding around.” Lexie looked at Kyler. “You know that, right? I was just—”
“Yeah, of course. I know. Me, too. God, I told you. Us? No way. You’re not my type.” She turned to Mark and tried to glare at him, but he was still smiling. When she looked back at Lexie, those green eyes—yes, green, not blue tonight—met hers. The eyes seemed to be smiling, much as her lips were. What did it mean? She returned the smile. At that moment, she didn’t care what it meant. She only knew it made her feel good. Inside. Way down deep inside, Lexie’s smile made her feel good. She didn’t remember the last time someone’s smile made her stomach roll quite like it was.
Oh god no.
She looked away, staring at the wall, letting that thought settle. Feel good? Inside? No. No, no, no. Lexie wasn’t her type. She was too much like Britney and she didn’t want to ever be attracted to someone like Britney again.
Dale came in, rubbing his hands together. “Front just blew in. The wind is vicious tonight.”
The spell was broken, thankfully. When she glanced at Lexie, she was looking at her mother. The conversation turned to the weather and Kyler relaxed, leaning back against the sofa, feeling at home here with these people. Lexie went to help her mother and she and Mark chatted with Dale. Dinner was over all too soon, with Susan’s new lasagna recipe getting praise from all of them.