She handed him a berry. “This is a thimbleberry.”
He popped it into his mouth and frowned. “That’s kinda seedy and blech, but I’m starving, so I don’t care.”
Sara giggled. “It’s not my favorite berry either, but there’s tons of it.” She pointed toward the pool. “If you want to get more, that area where we came in is loaded with it. The leaves look like giant maple leaves.”
He slowly chewed a plantain leaf. “This could stand some salad dressing.”
“Sorry, I can’t help with that. But the good news is that I saw a big fish in that pool. It was huge.”
A rustling sound came from somewhere near the patch of thimbleberry bushes and they both turned their heads to look. Zack got down on his knees, crawled over closer to Sara, and whispered “What was that?”
She shook her head and they both waited in silence for a moment. Zack raised his eyebrows and Sara shook her head at him. Whatever it was had either gone away or realized they had noticed it. She raised her palms to the sky and shrugged her shoulders in an unspoken “what should we do?” motion.
Zack shook his head again, held up his palm indicating she should wait, and then quietly began moving down the knoll toward the pool. Sara squeaked involuntarily in protest. What on earth did he think he was doing? Whether it was the guy with the knife or a bear, confronting whatever it was couldn’t possibly be a good idea.
Sara wasn’t sure what to do. What an idiot! Pushing the berries aside, she scrambled down the knoll after Zack. Catching up to him, she yanked on the back of his shirt. He turned around, widened his eyes at her, and whispered. “What the…I told you to stay there.”
“What are you doing?” she hissed.
“Checking.”
“Well, don’t.”
Zack yanked himself free. “Ozzy would have shown himself by now. He’s not exactly shy. So I want to know what’s there.”
“Maybe it’s Olivia!” Sara clasped her hands in front of her. “Maybe she found us.”
“Great. Our favorite mini mountain lion strikes again.” He moved into the patch of thimbleberry and shoved a few branches around. “There’s nothing here.”
“Are you sure? I was hoping it might be Olivia.” Sara looked down under the lower branches. “Here kitty, kitty…”
“At least it wasn’t a skunk. I’m going back to my salad.” He grabbed a few thimbleberries and popped them into his mouth. “Blech. It’s like these berries want to be good, but can’t quite get there. The seeds are gross. Berries aren’t supposed to go crunch.”
“Unless they’re crunch berries, right Captain?”
He burst out laughing and shoved her shoulder playfully. “Holy crap, you actually do have a sense of humor. I was starting to wonder.”
“Of course I have a sense of humor!”
“Sorry. Don’t get touchy. I can’t be the first person to tell you you’re kinda serious most of the time.”
Sara glanced at him as they walked back toward the cabin. “No, but most people aren’t insensitive enough to point it out quite like that.”
“I suppose I’m not the most tactful guy in the world. But all that tap-dancing around the truth wastes a lot of time. If you just say what you mean, it avoids a lot of annoying emotional hand-wringing.”
“I don’t think caring about people’s feelings is such a bad thing.” She gestured at him. “If I said something like that to my second-graders, they’d all start crying.”
“If I didn’t say what I mean to business owners, nothing would ever get done. And for the record, I was giving you a compliment.”
“A compliment wrapped squarely around an insult.”
“I didn’t mean it that way.” He sat down next to the pile of berries and leaves. “Are you still going to let me eat your weed salad?”
She sat down next to him. “I suppose it’s possible I might be too easily offended by comments about my sense of humor…or my lack of one.”
Zack ate a thimbleberry and made a face. “How come?”
“My ex-fiancé said that was one reason he couldn’t marry me.”
Zack glanced at her. “Jeez, that’s kinda harsh. And you’re calling me insensitive?”
“I know. At the time, I was completely devastated. But after the sting wore off somewhat, I realized he was right in a way. We never laughed. It was like we had a business arrangement.”
“Okay, I’m a business consultant and I don’t know what you mean by that. So this is probably where I ask an insensitive, nosy question and you get pissed off.”
Sara giggled. “I promise I won’t. Spit it out.”
“All right, here goes. So a business arrangement is so not sexy. Is that sort of a sideways comment that means the sex was really bad?”
“Wow, when you go for nosy, you certainly go all out. The sex was…fine, thank you. Perhaps not earth-shattering, but it worked.”
“Okay, that’s not exactly a ringing endorsement, but I’ll move on. What did you do for fun?”
Sara looked into his eyes. “Fun? I don’t know. I guess we went out to eat sometimes.”
“Did you have fun?”
“Well, we ate. I guess we didn’t talk much though. I think it was like we ran out of things to say to each other.”
Zack leaned back on his elbow, put a piece of plantain into his mouth, and chewed methodically. “I’m starting to like this weed. Chewy. Yum. Yum. Okay, I’m lying. It tastes like dirty grass. So here’s my take on it. I think you should be grateful to this guy for standing you up at the altar.”
“What? That’s your conclusion? You have got to be kidding me. You’re saying I should be grateful to someone who caused quite possibly the worst day of my entire life?”
“That was just one day. I’m talking about after that. Would you want to be bored your whole life? Never laugh? Never have any fun?” He shook his head. “That sounds totally bleak to me.”
Sara pressed her lips together. Why was she talking to Zack about this? “I suppose I should have asked before, but I have gotten the impression that you are not involved with anyone.”
“I might be. How do you know?”
Sara shook her index finger at him. “If you were married or even seriously involved with someone, you would not have spent so much time groping me last night.”
“We’re in the middle of nowhere. My wife would never know.”
“So you’re saying you do have a wife?”
“No.”
“Girlfriend?”
“No.”
Sara smiled smugly. “I knew it. You’re not that big of a cad. You wouldn’t go groping some other woman if you were married.”
“A cad? Who uses that word? You sound like you’re quoting Shakespeare or something.”
“I was thinking of The Perils of Penelope Pitstop. Unhand me, you cad!”
“At least I’m not Dick Dastardly.” Zack stretched out on his back and chuckled. “I don’t know what to say. I guess it’s flattering to find out you don’t think I’m a cad.”
Another loud rustling noise came from the direction of the thimbleberry bushes and Zack sat straight up. “What the…okay, this is driving me nuts. Something is definitely over there.”
Sara turned to look. “Well, whatever it is keeps running away, so I vote for trying to catch the big trout in the pool and making a fire. It’s getting late and we’re not going to find anything in the dark, so I think you need to give up on treasure hunting until morning.”
“I guess we’ve gotta spend another night out here.”
“I know. Tomorrow, we absolutely have to figure out how to get back.”
“Yeah, I’m gonna have to agree with you this time. I’m tired of being hungry. I want to eat real food again.” He ran his hand across the moss. “At least the moss is softer than that rocky beach.”
Sara stroked the soft carpet of green. “It’s not 300-million thread count sheets and a down comforter, but it will have to do.”
When she lo
oked up, he locked his gaze with hers and his lips turned up in a half smile. “If we ever get out of here, I’d be delighted to let you check out my fluffy pillows too.”
Sara’s eyes widened and she moved to stand up. “Why don’t you go collect some wood? I’ll go see about that fish.”
“Good plan, Sparky.”
Sara sat on a rock next to the pool, trying to out-wait the wily trout. Any fish that large probably had superior survival skills. It was entirely possible the aquatic creature was too savvy to fall for a morsel of food that just happened to be hanging around on a hook. Her stomach growled. Weeds and berries didn’t make much of a dinner. No wonder deer spent all day every day eating.
She gazed down at the pool and watched the ripples dance across the water. It was going to be awkward spending another night out here with Zack. Against her better judgment, she was actually starting to like him. How could this possibly be happening? Half the time he was obnoxious, but he seemed to realize it, and sometimes even apologized. Somehow, that mitigated her irritation. It didn’t hurt that once he’d hosed off two days’ worth of sweat, dirt, and mud, he also was distractingly attractive. His long, lean body was enjoyable to look at, even when he was running around naked along the beach. She smiled at the memory. Yes. Very enjoyable. She watched him wander around the clearing, industriously amassing a pile of wood.
He turned and pointed at the pile. “Is this good enough?”
She nodded at him and he crossed the clearing to the pool and sat down next to her, letting his legs dangle over the water. He leaned over to peer down at the line. “How’s the fishing going?”
“Not so well this time. I think the fish here at the waterfall are smarter.”
“Bummer.” He leaned back, looking up at the sky. “It’s nice here.”
“I thought you weren’t cut out for nature crap.”
“It’s growing on me.” He propped himself up on his elbows. “And if you say ‘like a fungus,’ I’m not gonna laugh.”
Sara giggled. “I might have thought it. There are many fungi here.”
“I don’t suppose they’re edible, are they?”
“Not that I would be able to tell. Eating wild mushrooms can be dangerous. Some of them are extremely difficult to tell apart. There’s only one variety I feel I can safely recognize and they come out in the late spring.”
He returned to lounging on his back. “Man, how do you know all this stuff?”
“Like I said, I grew up south of here and we went camping a lot. It was a great place to be a kid. We had so much fun.”
Zack sat up and looked at the sky. “It’s so quiet. No cars. No city noises. Just the wind and the sounds in the trees. At first, the quiet kinda stressed me out. But now, it’s like I can hear myself think. I’m not sure I’ve ever felt this way before.”
“Have you traveled much outside of LA?”
“Yeah, all over the place, but mostly to meetings. I’ve seen a bunch of conference rooms. And airports. I’ve seen a lot of airports. Even the janitors are starting to know me at LAX.”
Sara laughed. “Well, that’s got to be some type of achievement. You probably have thousands of frequent-flyer miles, so you can take amazing vacations.”
“I haven’t exactly gotten around to that. Mostly I work.”
“You haven’t gone anywhere for fun? I thought you were the one who was endorsing the idea of fun.”
He grinned. “I talk a good game.”
“All right, what do you do for fun?”
“I go out with people after work sometimes. I travel a lot, so after consulting with people, they tend to take me out to nearby restaurants and bars.”
“Well, that sounds fun.”
“It’s okay, but after a while they all start to look the same, you know? I mean, dimly lit room, bar, neon or mirrored signs, sometimes a dance floor, sometimes not. You’re in a different city, but it kinda gets to be the same ole-same ole.”
“I see what you mean. It’s probably exciting to travel, though.”
“Yeah, sometimes. I see a bundle of meeting and hotel rooms, that’s for sure. I’m trying to cut back because the hassle and stress of travel is getting old. I got a computer and with email, phone, fax, and FedEx, I can do a lot of stuff long-distance now. It’s pretty cool.”
Sara glanced at him. “So, what you’re saying is you’re burned out on your jet-set lifestyle and you’re settling down.”
“I suppose if you wanna put it that way, yeah.”
“Why?”
He looked startled by the question. “Wow, now who’s the nosy one? Okay, I guess one thing is that I don’t have many friends. Real close friends, I mean. Because of how I grew up and all the traveling now, I kinda haven’t had normal friendships like most people. I mean, I know people from business, but I don’t have people I can just hang out and do stuff with. Having no family and no close friends is sorta lonely sometimes and I’d like to change that in the future someday.”
She pointed at him. “Aha! You were projecting your lack of fun on me.”
He chuckled. “Fine, you win. Aren’t we quite the pair of boring workaholics?”
“Hmm, yes. Actually, that’s sad, isn’t it? How depressing.”
“Yeah, I know.” He put his hand on her forearm. “This will sound completely stupid and you probably won’t believe me, but running around here in the forest with you has been the most fun I’ve had in a long time.”
She looked into his eyes. “I know what you mean. It’s not like I don’t really, really want to go home, but this has been different…and fun.”
“What do you think would happen if I kissed you?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Let’s find out.” He leaned forward and kissed her lips slowly and deliberately. Zack’s obvious attraction to her wasn’t startling or surprising anymore, and the tension that Sara had been feeling for hours evaporated. She closed her eyes and felt the warmth of Zack’s arms wrapping around her and the pressure of his hands on her back, pulling her closer. The late afternoon chill melted in the intense heat, and every last responsible thought vacated her brain, replaced by wild, delicious sensations.
The fishing line jerked and Sara moved away from Zack. Breathless, she blurted out, “Fish!”
Pulling her closer again, he pushed her long ponytail to one side and did that thing to the back of her neck again that made her insane. Sara gasped as tingles ricocheted throughout her body. She tilted her head to give him better access to her neck as she slowly pulled in the line. Little waves of pleasure skittered down her arms, making it hard to manage much of anything, much less the flimsy strand of fishing line. Finally, she exhaled loudly. “Zack! You have to stop that or you aren’t going to get any dinner. If I drop the line, we’ll lose the fish.”
Zack moved his head to face her and ran his thumb across her chin before kissing her lips again. He looked into her eyes and smiled. “I never knew fishing was so much fun.”
After a long day full of doctor trips and phone calls, Kat sat on the sofa next to Joel, with her injured ankle elevated on a pillow on the coffee table. Because it had become apparent that Holly wasn’t going anywhere, they’d finally done the canine introduction routine and the dog was milling around the living room while the resident dogs napped.
Kat leaned her head on Joel’s shoulder. “This dog is driving me nuts. So far, we have completely failed to tire her out.”
“Hey, I performed my dog-walking duties. And I’d like to state once again that I’m extremely glad your ankle isn’t broken, not only because I hate seeing you hurt, but also because I have a lot of stuff to do other than walking dogs.”
“I know. Picking thousands of over-sized vegetables in the garden and endlessly walking the Canine Super Athlete is time-consuming.”
“How does your ankle feel?”
Kat lifted it from the pillow. “It’s hardly swollen at all now. I probably didn’t need to go to the doctor.”
“Yes yo
u did. I’m glad it’s not serious.”
“Me too. I should be able to walk Holly tomorrow if I go slowly.”
“If you can do that, I can start working on the fencing for the play yard. I hate to say it, but if we’re stuck with this critter for a while, we’ll need a secured Frisbee-retrieval space sooner rather than later.”
“You’re right.” Kat reached over to pet Holly. “Come on Holly, would you just relax? See how everyone else is resting? There’s no reason for you to wander around like this.”
“So what do your dog books say about the dog you can’t tire out?”
“Well, my idea of putting a pack on Tessa and attaching her to Linus worked well. Having a two-hundred-pound dog act as the dog walker is great, and Tessa is like a different dog when she gets enough exercise. But I don’t feel completely comfortable doing that with someone else’s dog. Linus and Tessa had lived together for a long time before I tried it on them.”
“Well, if we’re stuck with Holly forever, you might get to try it out on her too.”
“Don’t say that. Sara will return soon. Well, I hope so. I’m trying not to think about what must have happened to her. I called the camp and everyone else I could think of, and there’s no sign of her.”
“In the meantime, do you have any other ideas? Like for right now? This dog doesn’t sit still.”
Kat sighed. “I know. She needs a StairMaster or something.”
“Sorry, but we’re fresh out of gym equipment.”
“But we do have stairs.” Kat grabbed his arm and grinned. “I have an idea!”
Kat got up from the sofa, went to a cabinet, and opened a drawer. The dogs gathered around her to see what she was up to.
Joel stood next to her while she rummaged through the copious miscellany in the drawer. “What are you looking for in the junk drawer?”
“A tennis ball.”
“Are you taking up racquet sports?”
“Not in this lifetime. Sara said Holly loves retrieving and she even brought tennis balls, but they’re outside in the Tessa Hut. I’m going to give Holly the StairMaster treatment.”
Kat pulled a ball out of the drawer and Holly and Tessa started bounding up and down around her in excitement. Linus, Lori, and Lady looked vaguely interested and Chelsey went back to her bed and curled herself into a small brown pile of fur.
The Treasure of the Hairy Cadre (An Alpine Grove Romantic Comedy Book 8) Page 10