by Kelly, Amber
As soon as we pull up, the boys start unloading the trucks and putting up tents while us girls get the charcoal going on the grill and start a fire. Next, we set up all our lawn chairs around it.
The days are warm now, but the nights still get pretty cold. The fire, as well as the dozen jars of moonshine Walker brought with him, should keep us comfortable.
“This is quite the setup,” Charlotte observes as she looks around.
“Yeah, we don’t play around when it comes to camping,” I agree.
“This is my first time. You guys are popping my camping cherry,” she informs us.
“What? Are you serious? Never?” Elle asks in disbelief.
“Never,” she confirms.
“How is that possible?” Sonia asks. “Don’t you have Girl Scouts or summer camps in New York?”
“Nope. They probably have Girl Scouts, but I wasn’t one.”
“Church camps?” Bellamy chimes in.
“We have theater in the park and Tavern on the Green.” She shrugs.
They all look at each other in confusion.
“It’s the closest we get to outdoor activities. That and ice-skating in the winter.”
“That’s sad.” Elle grimaces.
“Quite,” Charlotte agrees. “That’s why I’m here though. To have a true Colorado adventure.”
“You start with this,” Sophie says as she passes out red Solo cups filled with shots of apple moonshine, homemade by Walker’s granddaddy, using apples from my family’s orchard. It’s the best in the county.
She raises her cup to toast. “To the full Colorado Mountains experience.”
We all raise ours and repeat after her. Then, we down the shots.
Once the tents are up, Braxton and Myer man the grill while we cook beans over the open fire. Doreen and Ria loaded us up with potato salad and banana pudding in the cooler.
We all get our bellies full, and then we start passing the moonshine jars around.
Walker grabs his guitar and starts to absentmindedly strum it, and before long, he’s effortlessly playing it like it’s an extension of himself. I sit back in my chair and close my eyes as I listen to the melody. He starts to softly sing the words, and I let them flow through me. He is really talented. He doesn’t perform for us often, but when he does, it’s always a treat. I love country music. I love the honesty and the emotion in the lyrics. Walker sings them like the pain is a living, breathing thing for him. It’s beautiful.
We enjoy each other’s company. It’s simple. It’s free. It’s the best. The only thing missing is a little six-year-old rascal. He loves camping and fishing.
“Hey.” Myer sits down next to me and says, “You look lost in your thoughts.”
I open one eye and look over at him. “I was thinking about Beau. He would like this. He gets a kick out of Walker playing that guitar. He begged him to teach him how to play it last time,” I say as I close my eyes again.
“We should have brought him,” he agrees.
I really wish we had.
“Next time,” I sigh.
“What are the sleeping arrangements?” Charlotte asks.
“Me, Braxton, and Hawk in one tent. Bellamy, Sonia, and Elle in one tent, Payne and Myer in a tent, Silas and Chloe in their tent, you and Dallas in a tent, and that puts Walker in the small single tent,” Sophie answers.
“That’s me, always sleeping alone,” Walker moans.
“Please, you get more action than the cleanup bull on the ranch,” Braxton says on a laugh.
Walker grins at him. “I do what I can for the poor lonely women of Poplar Falls.”
“That’s you, Walk; you’re a giver,” Myer says as he tips his bottle in Walker’s direction.
“Damn straight.”
Dallas
“I’m out,” I say on a yawn as I stand.
Braxton and Sophie retired about half an hour ago. I hung in there as long as I could. I look down at Myer. His eyes are heavy too.
“You’ve been up since dawn; you should get some sleep too,” I suggest.
“Just waiting for you to say when,” he says as he stands.
“She ain’t the boss of you,” Walker says as he grins at the two of us.
“No, but I didn’t want to be the dude who punked out first,” Myer says and chucks his bottle cap in Walker’s direction.
Elle, Sonia, and Bells are all still chatting away, and Payne and Charlotte look to be cozying up.
“I’ll leave the tent unzipped for you, Charlotte. Just so you know, I’m a snuggler,” I warn as I head to our tent.
“That’s good because I’m a cuddler too,” she calls after me.
I turn to Myer. “Good night. I hope these guys aren’t too rowdy and keep you up.”
“Nah, I’m beat. Once I hit the mattress, I’ll be out. You sleep tight,” he says before disappearing into his and Payne’s tent.
I grab a flashlight and trek down to the outhouse before I settle in.
The tent is large with room to walk around. The queen-size blow-up mattress is made up with our sleeping bags and covered in the pillows I never leave home without. A girl has to have her own pillows to sleep well.
I snuggle into the sleeping bag, throw the extra quilts over me, and fall fast asleep.
I feel the mattress shift, and I roll further to my side to allow Charlotte more room.
A few seconds later, I feel a light tap on my shoulder.
“Dallas, are you awake?” she whispers.
I don’t respond. I just pull the blankets up over my head.
“Dallas,” she says a little louder this time.
Ugh.
I roll over and blink my eyes open. “What?”
“Um, can you switch tents with your brother?” she asks quietly.
“Switch tents? Why?”
“Well, we have been out there talking for a while, and, um … we would kind of like to continue getting to know each other better,” she explains.
“So? Just keep talking outside until you’re ready to go to sleep,” I suggest as I turn back on my side. My groggy mind having trouble catching up.
“We want to continue getting to know each other”—she pauses—“privately.”
“Okay.” Then, it finally registers, and I say, “Ohhhhhh.”
“I’m sorry to ask, but it’s that, or we drive back to his place,” she apologizes.
I close my eyes for a second and consider making my stupid brother drive all the way back home to fool around.
“Please,” she says sweetly.
Who am I to stop anyone from having a good time?
“Oh, all right,” I huff as I throw the covers off.
“Are you mad?” she asks, and a hiccup escapes. She covers her mouth and giggles.
She’s a lightweight, like Sophie.
“No, it’s fine,” I say as I gather up my sleeping bag and pillows.
“Thank you. I owe you one,” she says excitedly.
I exit the tent, and I see my brother adding more wood to the fire. Everyone else has retired to their tents and are all zipped in for the night.
He looks over his shoulder at me and comes to grab my pillows.
“You owe me, Payne Henderson. It’s like high school all over again,” I say as I shove the pillows into his chest and stomp off into the direction of his tent with him close on my heels.
“Yeah, but instead of you switching bedrooms with me, it’s a tent, and I won’t wake up to Momma standing over your bed with me snuggled up to Peggy Clemmer,” he agrees.
I laugh. “I’ll never forget you running around in a circle in your underwear with Momma holding on to your arm with one hand and swinging a rolling pin with the other. Poor Peggy was horrified, and she was never allowed back to the farm either.”
“It was just as well. She kissed like she was trying to eat my face,” he says with a shudder.
“Well, just keep in mind that Charlotte is Sophie’s New York bestie. So, you’d better be careful b
ecause she’s not going anywhere.”
“Don’t worry, sis. We’re both grown-ups, and I made sure we were on the same page,” he assures me.
“All right. Have fun, I guess,” I say as I kiss his cheek and duck into his tent.
He hands my pillows off to me and heads back.
I zip the tent closed to keep any critters from climbing in with us, and I crawl up the mattress beside a sleeping Myer.
I try to settle in as lightly as I can, but he stirs anyway.
He squints up at me. “Dallas?” he asks, confused.
“I’m sorry. Go back to sleep,” I whisper.
“What are you doing?”
“My brother and Charlotte booted me from my tent, so it looks like you’re stuck with me,” I explain.
He smiles. It’s a sexy, sleepy smile.
“I knew that was going to happen,” he states.
“Yeah, once she sat down between his legs while roasting marshmallows, I kind of figured it too,” I admit.
I start shivering. I’m wearing a large sleep shirt, but my legs are bare, and the night has gotten chilly.
He notices and opens his blanket, gesturing for me to get in.
I slide in beside him and snuggle into his warmth. He’s wearing flannel pajama pants and nothing else. He wraps his arms around me and pulls me in close to tuck my head under his chin. The shivers stop, and in no time at all, I’m cozy and falling fast asleep.
Dallas
I’m lost in the most amazing dream. I’m on the deck of a gorgeous home. Beau is playing in the yard just beyond the railing, and I’m watching from my lounge spot. Two strong arms are holding me, and I have an overwhelming sense of serenity.
Giggling. I hear giggling. Girls.
I look out into the yard, and Elle and Sonia are swinging Beau between them. Where did they come from?
The arms around me tighten and shift, and I feel warm breath on the back of my neck. A shiver runs down my spine, and I burrow in closer.
That’s when my eyes pop open.
I’m in the boys’ tent. The giggles I hear are the girls starting to stir outside, and those arms in my dream are securely pinning me to a sleeping Myer. He rolls onto his back. My face is pressed against his bare chest, which rises and falls with his deep breaths. He has a smattering of dark hair on his chest. Curiosity gets the better of me, and I take my hand and run it through it. It’s soft. I sigh, close my eyes again, and cuddle in closer. I haven’t slept beside a man in six years. It feels nice. Comfy, warm … content.
I start to doze back off to sleep when I hear the tent unzip, and Payne pokes his head in. He stops and does a double take as his eyes find Myer and me wrapped around each other.
“Morning,” he says with a question in his voice.
Myer stirs and opens one eye. He tilts his face down to me and smiles a sleepy smile.
“Hey,” he says as his hand roams down my back.
Payne clears his throat.
I untangle from Myer, sit up, and stretch.
“Good morning,” I mumble.
“How was your night?” Payne asks.
“Uneventful, compared to yours,” Myer answers for us.
Payne grins a wicked grin and reaches in to grab his duffel bag. “It was eventful. You guys get up. We’re cooking breakfast, and as soon as it warms up a bit, we’re throwing the inner tubes in the water,” he tells us before ducking out.
I feel shy all of a sudden once he zips the tent back up. Looking down at Myer with his sleep-mussed hair feels too intimate.
“Did you sleep okay?” he asks.
I nod as I focus my eyes across the tent and not on his chest. “How about you?” I manage to ask.
“Like a baby.”
“That water is too cold,” I exclaim as I dip my big toe in the river.
“Don’t be a baby; it’s not that bad,” Walker taunts from his perch on an inner tube.
“Sorry, I haven’t ingested as much antifreeze as you this morning,” I gripe.
“Then, get to drinking, woman. Don’t make me chase you down and toss you in,” he threatens.
I narrow my eyes at him. He grins, but I know his ass would do it, so I take a deep breath and cover my nose and mouth and jump in.
Ice-cold water pricks my body like a hundred tiny knives, and I scream as I surface.
“You liar. Not that bad, my ass,” I yell as I splash water up into his face.
“Calm down. You’ll get used to it in a minute,” he says as he throws his hands up to defend himself against my assault.
Braxton ties off a tube for the cooler, and we all spend the next couple of hours floating in the water and drinking beer. It’s tranquil—other than the chattering of Elle and her friends.
Did I talk that much when I was their age? Don’t they know every second doesn’t have to be filled with conversation? I think that’s just a sign of maturity—to be able to spend time with your best friend in complete silence and still feel the connection.
My body finally acclimates to the water temperature, and I decide to dive in for a quick swim. Walker suggests a friendly game of chicken, and we are all just drunk enough to oblige.
“Hop on,” Myer says as he goes down to his knees in the water.
I jump up and wrap my legs around his head. When I clamp my thighs to the sides of his neck to hold on, he stands. Sophie is on Braxton’s shoulders, and Charlotte is on Payne’s. Walker looks around and then grabs Elle’s hand and tugs her off her tube.
“Come on, Elle. Partner with me,” he pleads.
“No, you’ll let me fall,” she protests.
“I’d never let you fall, woman,” he exclaims and kneels down.
She hops up on his shoulders.
“Hey, you be careful with my sister,” Braxton calls out as he frowns at them.
“You and your girl had better watch out; we’re coming for you,” Walker calls back, and the battle begins.
I lean down and talk into Myer’s ear, “Let’s kick some ass.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he replies, and we charge into the midst of them.
It doesn’t take long for us to dismount Charlotte. The city slicker in her is too worried about her nails getting ripped off to put up much of a fight. She goes sailing into the water with a splash two minutes in. Elle is a little harder to tackle. Mainly because Walker is too stubborn to let her go. He holds her legs on to him by sheer force of will until Sophie and I gang up on her and finally tear her from his grip. She goes into the water, squealing, and surfaces, laughing.
Left to face off is me and Myer and Sophie and Braxton. It is a pretty even match between Myer and Braxton. Both are a little over six feet tall, built strong. Their shoulders, chests, and arms have been sculpted to perfection by the hard work on the ranch, but we have the advantage because I’m definitely more of a scrapper than Sophie.
“Don’t let me down, Dal,” Myer calls up to me.
“I got this,” I state assuredly.
We charge them, and Sophie and I lock into a hold. We wrestle until my arms and thighs are burning. Finally, I am able to snake my right arm out of her grasp, and I wrap it around her shoulder and throw my entire body into a twist. She lets out a yelp and dismounts. Braxton tries to hold her on, but all he can manage is to keep one of her legs pinned to the side of his neck.
I throw my arms up in victory. “Yes! We are the champions,” I bellow into the air.
Everyone starts clapping, and Myer drops a shoulder and plunges me into the water. I come up sputtering and jump at him. He effortlessly catches me. I wrap my legs around his middle and try my damnedest to pull him down. He doesn’t budge. He’s like a freaking tree trunk.
“I can’t believe you did that. You’re supposed to be on my team,” I complain.
He laughs as I splash water into his face.
Everyone starts to exit the water, but he just stands there, clutching my bottom and holding me to him. Then, he brings his forehead to mine, and my breath catch
es.
“You cold?” he asks against my lips.
I nod.
“Come on. Let’s get you up to the fire,” he says, his voice husky.
He doesn’t let me down. He keeps his hold and walks me right out of the river and up the bank to the firepit. When he sets me down on my chair, I look around, and every set of eyes is watching us.
“What?” I ask loudly.
They all quickly look away.
Myer
After a late dinner of burgers and hot dogs on the grill, we all pack up and head toward Rustic Peak.
Payne and Charlotte ride back with Walker, and the three of them plan to head out to Butch’s Tavern tonight. I’m beat from the day in the water, and that early morning alarm I know is coming is sending me home.
“Hey, Myer. Do you mind picking me up tomorrow afternoon? I want to stay the night with Elle. Doreen and Ria are having a Gilmore Girls marathon,” Bellamy says as her eyes light up, “but I promised Momma I’d go to Janelle’s with her after lunch.”
“What time? I have Doc coming out to look at one of the heifers tomorrow,” I ask as I unload Dallas’s tent from my truck.
“Around eleven?”
“I don’t think he’ll be done by then, Bells. Momma will just have to pick you up,” I answer.
Her face falls. “She’s giving a piano lesson from ten thirty to eleven thirty. That won’t leave her enough time to come all the way out here before our appointments. It’s fine. I’ll just go on home. I can stay another time,” she says, disappointment clear in her voice.
“Why don’t I just leave you my truck?” Dallas offers.
Bells looks to her. “Really?”
“Sure. Myer can drop me off on the way home. My parents are keeping Beau another night, and Momma will take him to school in the morning on her way to the bakery. I have the lunch shift at Faye’s, so you can swing by and get me, and I’ll drop you off before work.” She fishes her keys out of her bag and hands them to Bellamy.
“Thank you, Dallas,” she squeals and hugs her neck.