by Debra Holt
Ty stepped in and used an oar to push them off from the bank. Then the oars went into the water and long strokes moved them to the center of the slow-moving river. He aimed for the area where there was shade overhead from the tall Cypress-lined bank.
“Have I totally surprised you? I’m hoping that relaxed smile on your face is telling me you just might like this idea of mine?”
“You could say that. This is definitely a pleasant surprise. And you did say it would be a quiet spot with little chance of a crowd being around.”
He pulled the oars in and then slipped a weighted rope line into the water. Ty moved carefully to join her, balancing his movements to limit the boat’s movements on the water while bringing the basket with him. “I enlisted Darcy’s help with the food. We’ve got club sandwiches, the little dill pickles she said you liked, chips, and fresh fruit for dessert. She packed water and sodas, too. I think we have more than enough food should we get stranded out here.”
“An hour and a half, I said. There will be no stranding.” She gave him a pointed look.
“Of course not. Let’s eat. I’m starved. There’s something about being on the high seas that does that to me.” He handed her a paper plate.
She laughed at his reference. “I doubt this river qualifies as the high seas.” She handed him a bottled water.
“One can use their imagination.”
Conversation was light, and the food was delicious. Calla had to give up before he did.
“Admit it,” he said. “This was a pretty good idea.”
“Hmmmm,” she responded, making a show of giving it some consideration. “I suppose I might have to agree with you… this time.” She mirrored the grin he gave her. Calla leaned back against the seat cushions.
The spot was so quiet, just the sound of water lapping against the sides of the boat and the soft call of birds in the trees… a light breeze keeping the heat manageable. Her gaze became mesmerized watching the play of sunlight through the leaves of the trees over them. Perhaps she could just rest the eyelids for a couple of minutes… then back to work. Just a couple of minutes.
The bed was doing strange things. One side up, one side down… hold steady. With a grimace, she raised heavy eyelids. Then they popped wider. Ty was up and stepped over the seat in front of her. She saw him make a quick grab for first one oar and then the other.
The urgency of his movements wasn’t helping the rocking of the boat. When he settled and turned, the determined look in his eyes was focused on something behind her and over the bow of the boat. She pushed herself up from her spot and gave a wince when a pain shot across her bare shoulder. But that was soon the least of her worries.
“You might want to hang on to something.” He ground the warning out but kept his eyes ahead of them.
“What is the...” She didn’t finish as she had turned her head and saw what he was so focused on. They were no longer underneath the trees, nor anchored in the calm, clear water. They were in the middle of a faster moving current that had them surrounded by dips and hills of white water, hence the increased rocking motion that had woken her. Her attention flew back to Ty.
“How did this happen? Why are we out here? Do you know what you’re doing?” Did her voice sound shrill?
“Well, we both drifted off.”
“Seriously? You can joke at a time like this?”
“I was answering your question. We fell asleep. Is that a better choice of words for you?” A bit testy, was he?
“Get us out of these rapids. Aim for the shore.”
“Thanks for the advice. Why didn’t I think of that?” His eyes flashed a fire of exasperation, but his voice remained steady and calm. Was that for her benefit? Too late.
“You do have experience on the river, right? Having grown up around here all your life?”
“Sure. Between roundups and branding, I squeezed in a few courses in white water rafting.”
“I can hear the pure sarcasm. That’s not reassuring.”
“I’m trying to get us out of this before we make the next bend.”
“I don’t recognize any of this area of the river. Do you know where we are?”
“We’re about a quarter mile from Creed’s Crossing.”
“Creed’s Crossing,” Calla repeated, trying to focus on a blurry map in her brain to get some idea of their bearings. She tripped over the next breath she gulped in too quickly. “After that comes Black Canyon. We can’t go down those rapids. Only experts tackle them.”
“The plan is this,” he spoke ignoring her words. “I’m aiming for the left shore. Even if we get close enough but can’t make it all the way, we may have to get a little wet and wade in. Get ready.”
Get ready. Just great.
The getting ready part was abbreviated. Everything happened in a fast blur when it happened. He shouted for her to slip over the side and stood holding one oar with all his might to anchor the boat in place. The current even in the shallows was working against him, but she stood and then stepped on the seat before reaching for the side to leverage overboard. The boat tipped a bit under her added movement and her gracefulness went overboard… right before she did.
So much for her plan to land on her feet and counting on the water depth to be shallower than it was. Once her feet touched the slick pebbles on the bottom, they went right out from under her and down she went… getting a mouth full of river in the process. Calla fought to get her feet under her, arms flailing. A strong hand closed around her forearm and she was literally hauled up against his tall frame. He rescued a kitten from this river and now her. That thought flew through her mind as they dragged themselves out of the water and up onto the grassy bank.
Once she could, Calla drew her soaking wet hair off her face in time to see their boat continue on its way downstream, without them. Their clothing was plastered to their skins. She should be grateful she had donned a pair of denim capris and a pink tank top that morning. Somehow, she had lost one of her white sandals to the river. Ty had faired just a bit better. He still had both his boots although they were now water-logged. His jeans and blue t-shirt might as well be a second skin on him. He swept his dripping hair back over his forehead with one hand and the other rested on his hip in an exasperated stance.
“Hope you didn’t rent that boat.” She cast one last glance as the boat disappeared around a bend bobbing along in the current.
“Hope Darcy understands about her picnic basket.”
Calla looked around them for some sign of civilization. “How far did we come down the river? Are we even close to the road?”
“Near as I figure, we have a little bit of walk down to Brewer’s Bait Shop… maybe a mile or so.”
“Just a mile? Oh well… that’s just great.”
“I note the sarcasm.”
“Good! But I’m just going to call Darcy and…,” she stopped, a dawning light crushing that thought. “I would call her… if my phone wasn’t in your truck back at the dock. You’ll have to use yours.”
“I would if it wasn’t on the river bottom someplace. It flew out of my pocket when I went in after you.”
Great. “So, we walk.” She took a couple of steps. “Ouch! What the…” She had stepped on a sharp stone with her bare foot.
“We won’t get far with you in one shoe. Hop on.” He turned and bent his knees, tapping his shoulder.
“Are you serious? You can’t piggyback me. I’m not a twenty-pound child.”
“We can argue, or we can get moving. Get on.” It was clear he wasn’t going to listen to her.
She placed her hand in his and found herself unceremoniously swung onto his back, his arms around her legs while she clung on to him for fear of being dropped into a prickly pear cactus or any of the other wild undergrowth he was picking a path through. The sun was beating down unmercifully. The muscles in her shoulders and arms were aching under the uncomfortable strain. Her skin felt as if it was baking.
“I’m not going to dump you off
, so you might try loosening the strangle-hold on my neck a little.” It was the first words he had spoken to her in several minutes of being on the move.
“Sorry. If you put me down, I can hold your arm and hop along.”
“And be out here until dark trying to get home? Besides, I finally have you with your arms and legs wrapped around me.” The tease was back in his voice. “So, I wonder who would be taking advantage of who in this situation?”
Calla bit back the comeback that sprang to mind because he was simply getting her back with the words she had said to him. She was trying to keep her mind occupied with other things and away from the fact that every nerve in her body had tightened like a piano wire with the effect the connection with his body was having on hers. His sexual innuendo was not helping the situation nor her physical discomfort. And when she tried to remember when was the last time she had been in such an embarrassing and frankly, crazy situation, she couldn’t think of one.
“Are we at least getting close?”
“Don’t tell me you were one of those kids who sat in the backseat on family trips and kept asking that question…are we there yet? Figured that might be Jaz, not you.”
Her chin rested on the top of his shoulder and she closed her eyes against the harsh glare of the sun on the rocky ground around them. She supposed talking passed the time or at least made it seem to go faster. Ty was doing all the hard work.
The fact he wanted to talk about her sister didn’t sit too well. Another male falls for the pretty ‘peacock’ of the family. “Jaz kept busy with reading maps and helping our dad navigate. She always liked to keep an eye on the road ahead of us. Lily was a bookworm and would keep her head in one of the many books she always brought along in her overstuffed book bag.”
“And you?”
“I slept. Until we got to the towns and then I would pay attention. I always wondered what it would be like to live in a city with so much to do and places to see. Their lives always seemed so much more interesting.”
“So that’s why you ended up in the big city and left this little town behind you. You fell for the bright lights of the city.”
“Bright lights aren’t so bright after a while. Their glare can hide a multitude of dark things.”
“So somewhere along the way, the little country girl lost the blinders from her eyes. Must have been a rude awakening.” He shifted her weight a bit higher, his hold repositioning as they were going over a small incline.
“It was an eye-opener in more ways than one. It was a lesson well-learned. Mom always told us to take some bit of knowledge away with us from each experience in life… good or bad. I think I did that.”
“And what did you learn from your ‘experience’ with the poor excuse of a male that helped you put up such a rock-solid wall?”
“To trust my instincts more. Rely on myself. Don’t expect anyone else to do things for me.”
“Well, trusting instincts is good. Relying on yourself is good, too. But sooner or later, we all have to get a little help along the way. It doesn’t make you less weak. In some cases, it makes you even stronger.”
“Do you know that sometimes your attitude can be a bit grating? Like you have all the answers and people should always listen to you.”
“I think you just called me ‘a know-it-all.’ And given the precarious situation you find yourself in at the moment, perhaps your instincts might tell you that you could be a little more cautious and respectful.”
“My instincts tell me that you’re also a gentleman and, in this situation, you will…” Her words ended abruptly just as her bottom met the hard rock he turned and deposited her on with no warning.
“Ouch! What was that for? Why are we stopping?”
He didn’t answer right away but calmly went about pulling the still slightly damp t-shirt over his head. Calla took a quick look at the amount of tanned, hard flesh in front of her, before finding great interest in a small butterfly flitting along the wild mustang grape hedge growing beyond his shoulder.
“Prop your foot up here.” He pointed to a spot on the thigh he positioned with a foot against a toe hold on the rock she sat on.
“Why? I…”
“Were you always as argumentative as a child as you are now? No wonder you chose the legal profession. But in the interest of not spending longer than needed in this blazing sun, just be helpful and do as you’re asked… for once?”
She planted her unshod foot none too gently on the thigh he proffered. He simply gave her that amused look he seemed to reserve just for her. He made quick work of taking the shirt and rolling it length-wise. Then he began wrapping it around her foot, until he had snug-fitting padding. His hands rested on her foot a while longer and she found the nerves in her lower extremities were just as susceptible to the man’s touch as the rest of her body. He didn’t seem in any hurry at the moment.
“Thanks for fixing me a shoe I can walk on. Guess you were losing your strength carrying me so far on your back.”
Why did he have to lean in closer that way? The heat of the day had transferred into the jade gleam lighting his eyes as his hand held her foot and thus the rest of her body in place. Her fingertips tried to dig into the rock’s face to keep them anchored from temptation of the bare flesh of chiseled pecs and a hard six-pack that screamed an invitation to touch… if she dared.
“Yes, my strength was giving way a bit. Thought it wise to not keep your sexy voice tweaking my ear. It was making it hard to concentrate on getting us out of here and focusing more strength into other areas of my body… putting it as g-rated as possible.”
Her body was already hot from the sun, but he had just shot its internal core temp up at least twenty more degrees. Hopefully, the sun-touched cheeks of her face would hide the infusion of what had to be a ridiculous blush. Her eyes wouldn’t stay in place but shot straight to his when their noses were just a bare inch apart.
“You are a mighty tempting distraction, Calla Rose. As much as I’d like to kiss you right now, it’s best to get you home as fast as possible. That fair skin of yours is looking more like ripe tomatoes and the pain won’t be far behind. Let’s go.” He pulled her off the rock and kept his arm around her waist to support her as she hobbled beside him up the rest of the trail and then they paused to take in a welcome sight. The road.
“How are you at hitching?” He asked with a grin.
“Where’s Jaz when you need her?” She bit out, trying to keep a little grace and dignity in her efforts to hobble down the incline.
They didn’t need to put much effort in to their thumb use when the first truck to come along stopped as soon as they saw them. Bless Texas friendliness. It was only a few minutes before they were back at Ty’s truck. To her relief, he found a t-shirt in the back seat of the vehicle and shrugged into it before heading them back toward town. Calla busied herself with unwrapping her foot, not daring to glance at the mirror on the visor in front of her as she could just imagine how awful she looked after the afternoon’s adventure. He had just put the truck into park when she had her door open. Much to her chagrin, he joined her on the sidewalk in front of the vehicle.
“I’ll wash your shirt and get it back to you.”
“Sorry our picnic sort of went over your allotted time frame.”
“You might try that line again without a smile… might make it more believable. I hope you find the boat downstream and the damages won’t be too expensive.”
“It’s money well worth it as long as I can get you to agree to another picnic one of these days?”
He was really shameless. And he didn’t deny that possibly the boat had a little help getting loose from that weighted rope. She tried to feel just a little mad at him, but where was her anger when she needed it?
“If I were to consider another picnic, it will be on dry ground.”
“Count on it.” He gave her a wink and dropped a quick kiss on the tip of her nose. “I’d put something on that cute nose of yours… it’s cherry r
ed, too.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
“Cute nose? Cherry red? He might as well have said cute, clown nose!” Calla winced out the words as she looked at the sight looking back at her from the mirror above the bathroom sink.
“Oh, wow. That looks painful.” Darcy stood in the open doorway of the bathroom, her look of concern framed in the mirror in front of Calla.
“It’s beginning to feel worse than it looks.”
Darcy stepped forward to stand beside her at the sink. She held out the small pink jar in her hands. “Ty saw me crossing the street in front of the diner and stopped. He told me about what happened to the two of you. That had to be scary. At least you got out of the river before you reached Black Canyon. But Ty was right, he asked if I could stop by and bring you some of the burn ointment I have for sunburns. It’s a homemade recipe, but it does take the pain out and moisturizes the skin. I think the redness fades faster with it, too.”
Calla took the jar. “Ty asked you to bring it to me?”
“Well, I was heading this way later today anyway with items from the printer, but yes, he was concerned that you might need something. Nice and thoughtful of him, wasn’t it? You may want to thank him later.” The smile on Darcy’s face as she said the words brought a grimace from Calla.
“Get those ideas out of your head… yours and everyone else around here, including my sisters. The last thing I have time for or want, is a man in my life right now.” She began lightly dabbing the cream on her nose, then smoothing it over her cheeks and down around her chin.
“Whatever you say.” Darcy continued with the smile. “I have more jars of that if you need extra. I also put the extra box of wristbands for the dance on the table in the kitchen. The printers had them ready when I stopped by to pick up my new menus. Thought I would save you a trip. Worked out well when Ty stopped and asked for the cream for you.”
“Well, considering he is partly responsible for this after his floating picnic went down the river,” Calla commented, wincing a bit when Darcy took the jar and dabbed some cream on her fingers and then helped her cover the redness along the back of her neck and shoulders which she couldn’t reach.