“Look. Down there.”
They lined their horses along the bluff and looked over the side.
“Remember not to look down too fast,” Matt quietly prompted Lucy. “You know how you get with heights.”
Lucy held the mane of her horse with both hands and leaned forward with caution as Matt recalled the day he’d had the misfortune of being seated in front of her on the log ride at Magic Springs Amusement Park. The instant they had completed the climb to the top, Lucy had made the very bad decision to peer over the side and look down. To this day, Matt could tell anyone who asked exactly what Lucy had consumed for lunch earlier that fateful afternoon.
“What are they?” Cyndi asked as she gazed down the ridge.
“Elk,” Rob replied.
“Oooh, elk,” Lucy commented. “I read about them on the Internet before we came.”
Matt glanced over at her curiously.
“Well, I did,” she told him before continuing. “There used to be Eastern elk in this area, like a hundred years ago, but they grew extinct. So I guess in the nineteen eighties, they brought in some Rocky Mountain elk and released them in half a dozen places around here. Now they’ve reproduced and repopulated this whole area.”
“They’re magnificent,” Alison said on a sigh. “Just look at them.”
Matt pulled a digital camera from the pocket of his suede jacket and aimed it at the small herd of five elk.
“They look like they should be pulling a sleigh,” Wendy said.
“If it gets any colder, they might need to,” Rob added.
“Do you think we’ll get snow while we’re here?” Cyndi asked him.
“Oh, no, I don’t think so,” Alison replied. “It’s too early in the season for snow.”
“I’m not sure you can really gauge that,” Matt chimed in. “It is pretty cold, and if the conditions were suddenly right—”
“No, no, we’re not prepared for snow on this trip,” Alison interrupted, as if she had the final word on an inconvenient weather change.
Matt chuckled at that, never taking his eye from the lens of his camera. At the click of the final frame, one of the elk looked up and made direct eye contact with the photo. The instant it was taken, however, the entire herd took off into the woods below.
Matt viewed the photo with pride, and Wendy checked it out over his shoulder.
“Look at that,” she commented. “Like he’s posing for a portrait. Just beautiful.”
Matt raised his camera and pointed it at Wendy. She leaned down and put her arms around the neck of the Appaloosa and gave a broad photo-worthy smile. Backlit by a halo of sunlight that reflected off her shoulder-length blond hair, she looked almost angelic.
“Pretty,” he commented, showing her the viewer.
“Goofy grin,” she said on a laugh and then shook her head.
“I like your goofy grin,” he told her, and it occurred to him that he liked much more about Wendy Marshall than her halo and her smile.
The only thing worse than the way a person’s legs feel after horseback riding for the first time is the way they feel the next morning.
Remember how sore I felt that time I decided I wanted Jennifer Aniston abs and worked my core muscles at the gym for two straight hours? This is worse. And remember when Mattie talked me into trying the rock wall? Well, combine the torture of the ab workout with the morning after the rock wall, and this is still worse.
How did the cowboys do it, Lord? Didn’t they ride for days, across plains and valleys, through all kinds of weather, and from town to town to town? I just meandered down a trail, up a hill, and past a tree that looked oddly like the ones that threw apples at Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, and I could hardly manage to walk from my bedroom to the deck this morning. Waiting for my coffee to brew was excruciating. Never mind the humiliation of wondering whether I should call out for help to get over the tub ledge after my shower. It took half a dozen tries to get my legs to cooperate with me. I sure hope the aspirin kicks in soon.
And what was up between Wendy and Matt yesterday? I really wanted him to keep her occupied so that Justin could focus on me instead of her. But it never dawned on me that he might actually fall for her. Is that what’s happening? Is Mattie falling for perfect Wendy? Is there anyone on this retreat who won’t want to date her or hang out with her before we head back to the city?
It annoyed me the way he was looking at her, and I’m not really sure why. He’s the perfect guy, and she’s the perfect girl. It seems only natural that the two of them would notice each other in such a small group. In fact, she’s just about ideal for Matt. So what’s wrong with me? Any kind of friend would be happy for them both.
Cyndi hosted worship last night by leading a Bible study on the book of James. It’s really one of the most practical books in the Bible, I suppose. For each problem James writes about, he also provides Your solution to it. If you don’t have faith, here’s what you do. If you resist the devil, he will flee. If you want to live a life of faith, then pray and read the Word. It’s cause and effect. And it’s all so simple, to hear James tell it. But life doesn’t feel quite so simple for me these days.
For one thing, I have this burning attraction to Justin and yet I feel irritated when Matt looks at another woman. Am I really so selfish that I don’t want my best friend to find love, just in case it might mean I’m not the center of his life anymore?
Then there’s the fact that I’m inexplicably drawn to an outdoorsman who spends his time fishing and riding horses, both of which make me want to run in the opposite direction as fast as my muscle-torn legs will carry me.
Speaking of which, horseback riding is a pain in the thighs, Lord. A big old massive pain in both thighs. Not to mention the back, the neck, the arms, and all twenty fingers and toes.
Feeling like I’m sixty,
Lucy
Chapter Seven
“WHAT ON EARTH HAPPENED TO YOU?” BRENDA ASKED. “YOU’RE WALKING like my aunt Rose.”
“I’m so happy you’re amused,” Lucy said, her face contorting as she eased herself down into the chair opposite Brenda.
“Good,” she replied on a residual chuckle, “because I am amused.”
“Traitor.”
“Well, at least the bug bites seem to be healing up nicely.”
“The great outdoors is taking me down, Bren.”
“I can see that.”
Brenda smoothed her helmet of black hair with the palm of her hand and then inspected the wine-colored polish on her manicured nails.
“This is why I passed on the fishing poles and why I didn’t haul my fanny up on one of those horses,” she said, leaning across the table toward Lucy as if she were sharing a secret. “I’m older than most of you here, and I need to choose my battles in a way that keeps me fresh. My time for trying new things is best spent in front of a mirror in a Macy’s dressing room or sampling appetizers on opening night at a new restaurant. Neither of those activities is going to leave me hunched over with that pained look on my face.”
At the moment, with her entire body throbbing like an open heart on an operating table, Lucy saw the beauty in Brenda’s plan.
“Besides,” Brenda said, her voice suddenly dropping to a whisper, “I want Jeff to see me at my best. And my ideal angle is nowhere in sight when I’m climbing up on a horse or standing in a river with water up to my knees.”
Lucy snagged Brenda’s gaze and held it there. “Jeff? Really?”
“From the top of my head to the tips of my toes, Lucy.”
Jeff.
Lucy never would have guessed. She followed Brenda’s eyes over to the buffet table where Jeff was doctoring a cup of coffee. The navy blue sweater he wore over khaki pants brought out the blue of his eyes, and his thick silver hair was cropped short around his ears and collar. Lucy couldn’t hear the conversation, but when he shared a laugh with Tony, Brenda’s hand rose to her heart and she came just short of an actual swoon.
“Music to my
ears,” she whispered.
“Brenda, I had no idea.”
“Well, it’s not like he’s ever given me the slightest bit of encouragement, or even the time of day if I’m honest with you. But I keep hoping.”
Brenda’s entire face softened, and she looked to Lucy not like the oldest woman in the singles group, but like a schoolgirl in love.
“Please don’t rat me out to him,” Brenda asked her.
“I promise.”
Lucy sent a prayer upward on Brenda’s behalf. She would have reached across the table and squeezed her friend’s hand afterward if not for the pulsating pain pounding through her body.
Matt and Justin came through the door of the lodge together, and Lucy groaned as she pushed herself up from her chair.
“I think you just made my aunt Rose’s noise,” Brenda teased.
“Laugh it up, my friend,” Lucy said. “The first time Jeff Burnett invites you to ride a camel across the Sahara, my money is on the fact that you’ll be walking like this for a month.”
“Oh, you’d win that bet.” Brenda chuckled. “But who are you out to impress? Certainly not Matt.”
“No. Matt loves me just the way I am, thank the Lord. Unathletic, unadventurous, and completely unequestrian.”
“Who then?”
Lucy paused for only an instant, making the immediate decision that enough secrets had been spilled for one morning.
“I have no good excuse, Bren,” she replied. “Apparently, I’m just an ignorant glutton for punishment.”
“Yeah, well, I think I’d give that up, if I were you.”
Lucy’s smile shattered as she took her first step away from the table and the burn of muscle pain sped through her body like a bullet on a mission.
What was I thinking? she wondered as she pushed her spine into a fully upright position and took a few more steps. Why am I doing this to myself?
“Good morning.” She greeted Matt and Justin with a radiant smile that made it almost all the way to her eyes.
“Morning,” Justin replied before he turned to focus on a cup of coffee.
“Why are you doing this to yourself?” Matt whispered as he leaned in close to her. “My nana had osteoporosis, and she stood taller than this.”
“Hush.”
“Go sit. I’ll bring coffee.”
“Bless you.”
Lucy scraped the nearest chair away from its table and lowered herself to the seat with a thump.
“What’s on the activity list for today?” Rob asked Alison. “I forgot my sheet up at the cabin.”
“Oh, it’s going to be great fun!” she exclaimed. “We’re going on a three-mile hike out to a waterfall for a picnic.”
Lucy felt as if she were falling, but before she hit the proverbial ground, Cyndi cried out on her behalf.
“Ali, I can hardly move from the horseback ride. The only hike I want to do today is from the buffet table to my chair.”
I could kiss you, Cyndi.
“Why can’t we do something a little less strenuous today and save the hike for tomorrow?”
The blotches that rose to Alison’s face betrayed her. Appalled that the letter of the schedule was not being respected, she pursed her lips and sat down across from Lucy.
“Alison went to great pains to organize our daily activities,” Lucy told them. “I work at a hotel. I know how painstaking it is to bring things together on a schedule.”
Alison’s features softened, and she looked at Lucy with gratitude.
“So if we want to change things around at all, I think we’d better give her a chance to look over the list and figure out which activities can feasibly be adjusted without unraveling all of the work she’s done.”
“Thank you, Lucy,” Alison said with a rigid nod.
“Maybe we could ask Betty Sue about moving the cooking class to this afternoon. What do you think, Alison?”
Alison sniffed and pushed the wire-framed glasses up over the slight bump on her small, sharp nose. “That could work. I’ll have a chat with her while you all have your breakfast.”
Matt took the chair Alison vacated and slid one of two coffee mugs across the table toward Lucy.
“I suppose you’ll be expecting a donation from me to your political campaign.”
“Pardon?”
“Nice diplomacy with Alison. You could run for president with that party line.”
“Oh. Well, she did work really hard putting all of this together.”
“And I’m sure it had nothing to do with the fact that Cyndi was your mouthpiece?”
“Not knowingly, she wasn’t,” Lucy said with a grin. “Can I help it if I’m not the only one all stiffened up like a starched shirt?”
“Well,” he commented, “it did Ali a world of good for someone to acknowledge her efforts. So you do get points for that. Do you want me to bring you a plate?”
“No, I’d better go myself,” she replied, pushing herself up from the chair with a suppressed groan. “If I stay too long in one place, you might have to get a shovel and dig me out.”
Lucy spooned a generous helping of scrambled eggs onto her plate. Two biscuits with black raspberry jam and several spears of cold cantaloupe rounded out the fare, and she thudded down to her chair with a sigh of relief.
“What’s that on your face?” Justin asked her as he joined the group and sat across from Lucy.
“Lucy provided a full meal for several thousand biting bugs out at the campfire the other night,” Cyndi announced.
“Well, I like to be charitable that way.”
“Yesterday, we thought she might have the measles.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t even notice,” Justin admitted. “Is it painful?”
“Not so much today,” she replied.
In fact, I’d forgotten all about the bug bites in light of the excruciating pain in the rest of my body.
“I think she looks kind of cute,” Wendy offered.
“I see you’re a little bit charitable, too,” Matt interjected, and they all laughed.
“I do. They’re like little red freckles.”
“Okay, enough about my adorable gaping insect wounds,” Lucy declared. “I incurred these battle scars in the name of my first experience with s’mores, so it was well worth the suffering. In fact, why don’t we have s’mores on the breakfast buffet, huh?”
“Eggs and s’mores,” Jeff commented. “I love good Southern cooking.”
“Then you’ll love your cooking class this afternoon,” Betty Sue chimed in as she and Alison approached the table.
“It worked out then,” Cyndi said. “That’s great, Betty Sue. My sore thigh muscles thank you.”
And mine as well, Lucy thought.
“Changing the schedule is just fine,” Betty Sue told them as she tied the strings on a green apron with the State of Arkansas embroidered on the front.
“So what’s on the menu?” Wendy asked her.
“You’ll be broken down into teams of two, and Dave and I will walk you through all of the preparations for some beautiful Arkansas cooking,” she said. “We’ll start with sweet potato bisque and then put together a pork tenderloin with Arkansas Black apples and pumpkin jam, which will be served with a side of bowtie pasta with Cajun spinach and sweet onions.”
The whole group moaned in harmonious anticipation.
“And for dessert, we’ll create some luscious moon pies with graham crackers, fresh marshmallow cream, and dark chocolate drizzle.”
“Hey!” Lucy exclaimed. “Gourmet s’mores!”
They erupted into laughter at that, and Brenda smacked Alison lightly on the shoulder.
“Now this is the kind of activity I can get behind.”
“Unfortunately, it will also get behind you,” Rob cracked.
“This is special-occasion dining,” Betty Sue advised. “There are no extra calories when it’s a special occasion.”
“Maybe we could make it an extra special occasion then,” Wendy said ho
pefully. “To make up for all the not-so-special ones.”
“That sounds like a plan,” Betty Sue replied. “I’ll meet you all in the kitchen at three, and we’ll bank on sitting down to a homemade feast at six sharp.”
Lucy grinned at Matt with excitement. Cooking in a big group was going to be a barrel of fun, and best of all, it meant that the most exertion she’d have to put forth all day would be in chopping, mixing, or stirring.
When she noticed Alison seated at a nearby table making notes, Lucy was inspired with a stellar idea.
“Alison, can I talk to you for a minute?”
“Certainly.”
“I wonder if you’d assist me in doing a good deed?”
“I’m always up for one of those.”
Leaning in toward her, Lucy softened to a whisper. “When you’re making up the teams, would you put Brenda and Jeff together?”
Alison arched a brow at Lucy. “Really?”
“It’s supposed to be a secret, but I know I can count on you to keep it quiet. I just thought it would provide, you know, an opportunity.”
“I had no idea.”
“I know. Me neither.”
“I’ll be happy to assist the good cause of romance.”
Lucy considered asking for one more leg-up in the romance department by pairing her with Justin, but she thought better of it. This would be Brenda’s happy coincidence. Brenda was due.
Lucy & Matt — Sweet potato bisque
Tony & Rob — Pork tenderloin marinade
Jeff & Brenda — Pumpkin jam
Wendy & Justin — Spiced apples
Alison & Cyndi — Cajun spinach with sweet onions
Betty Sue & Dave — Dessert
Lucy quickly read down the list posted on the kitchen door. She was paired up with Matt. Unimaginative, but it was sure to be fun. Jeff and Brenda would be co-creators of pumpkin jam. Excellent.
As she read on, Lucy bit down on her lip so hard that she thought she might have drawn blood.
Wendy and Justin?
At just that moment, Alison stepped shoulder-to-shoulder with Lucy, shooting her a conspiratorial grin.
Yes, Jeff and Brenda. I see that. Nice work. But Wendy and Justin, Alison? Are you kidding me with this?
Love Finds You in Snowball, Arkansas Page 7