Falling in Fast

by Danielle Arie

  “For the first time in weeks, I think I can actually answer ‘no’ to that question. But I am a little hungry.”

  The rushing turned to roaring, the tops of the sequoias we were level with blocking the view of the river below, the limbs rising and falling in the breeze.

  He chuckled. “Well let's get some food in you before I see the real Emery come out.”

  “So, you’ve dealt with a hungry girl before?”

  “Maybe, once or twice.” He took a final turn on the path, revealing a metal railing at overlooking an enormous waterfall streaming off the hill to our left. We moved to stand behind it. The spray from the rush floated past us, dancing lightly across my skin, particles of water sticking to my arm hairs. Faint traces of rainbows glimmered in the mist. The waterfall crashed into the swirling deep a hundred feet below and he led me past the lookout, to a picnic table in the shade.

  I took a deep breath, releasing a contented sigh as we opened our lunches.

  “Mind if I pray over our meals?” he asked.

  “Not at all,” I said, closing my eyes. And, I really didn’t. After his last prayer, I wanted to hear him pray again. His prayer had done something to my spirit yesterday. Reminding me why I came up here in the first place. To be around people who believed the same as I did. To remind me of my faith.

  Tucker cleared his throat and offered up another prayer. For both of our summers. For clarity for the future in both our lives. For protection and peace over the rest of our day. I could hardly think when he said his amen.

  I kept my eyes closed a few extra seconds, focusing on what he’d said, repeating it in my soul. I opened my eyes, catching him studying me. My cheeks warmed and I opened the bag he handed me.

  He opened his bag and pulled out his sandwich. I chewed quietly, averting his gaze, the way a shy little camper would in the presence of a hot staffer. A hot staffer who loved Jesus . . .

  A little blackbird landed on the edge of our table, fluttering its wings, taking a few quick breaths before it took off again. Better just to watch the bird.

  “You got quiet,” Tucker said, his half-smile hitching again, and if I still was a naive little camper I might melt, but—I reminded myself—I wasn’t. I was here for the peace, and the calm, and the chance to search myself and seek God where I’d always felt closest to Him. Besides, I had to stay focused on basketball.

  “You mentioned you have three older brothers,” Tucker said, randomly, as we threw away our lunch bags and headed back down the trail, the afternoon heat beating the morning cool away, and sticking to my skin.

  “Yeah . . . that was super fun in high school.”

  “Are they big?” he asked, flexing his shoulders, arms out like chickens as he impersonated a bodybuilder, or something.

  I chuckled. “We’re all on the tall side.”

  He ducked his head, nodding. “Just was thinking it probably takes some guts for a guy to ask you out.”

  I swallowed, my smile falling as soon as it had crested. Why would he say that? “My ex said he wanted to ask me out since middle school, but then my brothers are super protective.”

  “Sorry to bring it up,” he said, concern etching his brows.

  “No worries. He’s pretty much the only one who ever asked me out, and it didn’t end well.”

  “Right. No rose.”

  “No rose,” I repeated, taking a deep breath. “But what about you? You must have girls falling all over you during camp.”

  He sucked a sharp breath through his teeth as we neared the truck. “You pretty much pegged it, but I’m not really a summer-fling kind of guy. Doesn’t really work out that great in the end.” It came off a little bitter and I had to wonder which girls he’d dated here before, if not all of them.

  He beat me to my door to open it.

  “Still on your mission?”

  “You know it,” he said, and went around to the driver’s side. “Two more paths today and we’ll be back before dusk.” He slid into the truck, his door clanging shut as he put the key in the ignition. He turned the key and a high-pitched squeal pierced the air. “What?” He frowned, trying again, the same thing happening a second time. And a third. And a fourth. When he turned it a fifth time, it sounded like something slipped, the squeal raising two decibels in pitch.

  “All right. Change of plans.” He pointed to the glovebox. “Can you hand me the two-way?”

  I handed him the radio receiver and unbuckled, a light degree of panic flustering my system. It wasn’t like I was an expert, but I’d been around engines enough to know a timing belt problem when I heard one.

  “What? You plan on walking back to camp?” he asked, as I opened my door.

  “Do we have any wrenches in here?”

  “Behind your seat.”

  The chair creaked as I leaned it forward, pulling the toolset out from behind it. I rounded the front of the truck to the hood, and tapped it twice. “Can you kill the engine and pop the hood while we wait?”

  He frowned and nodded, the hood clicking and popping up from its resting position. I swept my fingers through the slats on the grill, the metal groaning as I opened it, setting it on the rest to scan the engine.

  “Okay. Start it again.”

  -Tucker-

  Ten minutes after I made the call to dispatch, Emery came to my door asking me to turn it over one last time. I frowned, noting the grease on her hands and tried it. It started right up, and the squeal was gone. “Wait, what?”

  She breathed a sigh of relief, glancing at her hands. “Do we have any napkins in there?”

  I shook my head in bewilderment because, seriously? She couldn’t be real. “Where’d you learn how to do that?” I slid out of the truck and followed her to the front.

  She pointed to the pulley system. “Usually a squeal like that means something needs a little lubricant, and it sounded like a timing belt issue.”

  Her explanation didn’t make a difference. I was still in shock. “Seriously, Emery, you’re not from earth.”

  She lifted a shoulder, glancing around before wiping her hands on the bottom of her shirt, smearing it with grease. “Not the first time I’ve been told that, but when you’re the only girl in your family, you’re bound to come wired a little different than the norm, right?”

  A little different was an understatement. This chick was an anomaly.

  “Sure.” I held the two-way to my mouth. “Cancel that last transmission,” I said, shaking my head. “Our new recruit fixed the problem.”

  “What?” June’s voice came through in a shriek. “Are you talking about Emery?”

  I grinned as Emery closed the hood and set the wrenches back in place. “Yeah. I’m talking about Emery.”

  “Roger that. Canceling the call-out.”

  “Thanks,” I replied. “On our way back. Over and out.”

  “Over and out.”

  Emery slid back into the cab and closed her door, rolling the window down to rest her elbow on the frame like she was no big deal. I didn’t want to think about how incredible she was. But. Man. You don’t find girls like that even if you’re looking for them.

  Which I wasn’t. I couldn’t be.

  “When did you learn how to work on cars?” I asked, half-way back to camp.

  “A little bit every day growing up. A lot the summer I turned twelve. My oldest brother bought a trashed seventies Chevy. He was determined to fix it up by his eighteenth birthday. I was kind of his assistant, and he taught me as he went.”

  “All right. You’re officially the coolest chick I’ve met, Chuck.”

  The light left her eyes and she shook her head. “It’s that part of me that always repelled my ex.”

  “What?” She wasn’t being serious, was she?

  She shrugged. “I could never understand it. He wanted me in skirts, and makeup, like his friends’ girlfriends. I mean, I was never super girly, but I tried for him.” She released a heavy breath. “I guess it wasn’t enough.”

  “No
offense, but he has issues if he was trying to change you. You’re basically perfect, Emery.” I glanced over to see her face flush, hoping it sunk in deep enough to stick. “Seriously.”

  Actually, the more I thought about it, the more perfect she seemed. In the past I would’ve gone for it, but I had to keep my head this summer. As cool as she was, I couldn’t mess with the idea of a girlfriend right now. I needed to stay focused, and I was her lead. Dating her would mean a demotion, and I couldn’t afford to go back to my old pay. If I was smart, I’d stick her with someone else for training. But we were already building the base for a friendship, and we really did make a good team.

  If it became a problem, I could switch her to another crew member point-blank. Any one of the other guys would die to train her. For some reason, the idea clawed in my gut. “Thanks for keeping it real.”

  She grinned, rubbing her arm. “I don’t do fake, if that’s what you mean.”

  “Keep it that way.”

  We pulled back into campus and parked the truck at Maintenance. I opened her door and walked her to her lodge, scratching the back of my head. “So, I think some of the guys were gonna get together for basketball later. You’re welcome to come if you want.”

  A weird spark lit in her eyes . . . and trailed through my chest.

  She dropped her brows, nodding. “Do you have room for an extra?”

  “One of our guys didn’t come back from last year so we’re a man down anyway. You’d actually be helping us out.”

  “Yeah. Let me know and I’ll be there,” she said, “for sure.”

  “All right. Cool. See you at dinner?”

  She nodded.

  EIGHT

  -Emery-

  This developing Tucker thing was bad. I mean, red flags and flashing alarms bad. After he dropped me back at my lodge, I took a shower and changed into long shorts, a simple t-shirt, and my Chucks. Lauren walked in as I threw my hair up into a bun.

  “Hey,” I said, with a smile.

  She sighed. “Hey.”

  “Is everything okay?” I asked, running my Chapstick over my lips.

  She shrugged and opened her closet, trailing a finger across the hundred different tops hanging inside. “Fine.”

  She didn’t sound fine at all to me. “Are you sure?”

  Her head fell and she lifted a shoulder. “Okay. So, no. I’m not fine. I dated Tucker last summer. And, I broke up with him for this amazing guy in L.A. It totally seemed like the right thing to do at the time, but now that I’m back at Bridgeport, and I know you’re out in his truck with him all day, I’m starting to question if I made the right choice—”

  “But you’re with Ren, right?” I asked, tensing a little. Carly Graves hurled back to the forefront of my thoughts, a little panic igniting in my gut. Not that it mattered. I didn’t have any more of a claim on Tucker than she did, and I wasn’t thinking about boys this summer anyway.

  Basketball.

  That’s all I had time to consider outside of my Maintenance duties.

  She nodded. “But, we’ve been growing apart lately. I don’t know. We’ll see. Has Tucker mentioned anything about me?”

  I turned back to the mirror, swiping mascara over my eyelashes. “No.” I swallowed, not sure if I should add the next part, but I needed to. For the Emery’s of the world. “It’s not really any of my business, but you should be honest with yourself. I mean, you’re dating someone else. That’s not exactly fair to him, is it?”

  She sighed and came to stand behind me, primping her hair. “If he wanted to talk fair, he should take a second look at how busy he’s been the last few weeks. He barely has time for me anymore. And, Tuck and I did have something amazing last summer.”

  I swallowed, nodding, remembering the misery that came whenever Nick got distant with me. Instead of talking to him about it, I always assumed there was something wrong with me and tried to fix it. “That distant feeling sucks.”

  She moved beside me and pulled her lip gloss from the counter. She ran it around her big lips and pressed them together, trailing her finger along the rim of her lips. “Anyway. We’ll see how things go down. If Ren’s done being serious, maybe I should try with Tuck again.”

  I slid my mascara into my makeup bag and held her gaze in our reflection. I didn’t know what I was supposed to say to that without sounding judgy. But, really? She dumped Tucker to go for someone she thought was better, and she’d just ditch him in two seconds flat so she could try and get Tucker back? My skin crawled. “Good luck either way,” I ended up saying. I zipped my makeup bag and set it on the counter before I turned toward the door because, again, Carly. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

  “See you at dinner,” she said.

  “Okay.”

  I pulled a dinner tray from the stack in the cafeteria and moved through the line, my mouth watering as I spooned a moderate amount of mashed potatoes and gravy onto my plate. A thin slice of turkey came next, a tiny cup of corn the last thing I put on my tray before I took my meal out to the back deck to enjoy the sunset and the sounds of a wooded dusk before anyone else noticed me. Just as soon as I took my first bite, someone cleared their throat behind me.

  “Is this seat taken?”

  I glanced back to see Tucker, my breath shortening when he slid in the seat across the table from me before I could answer. His face was stoic, his shoulders slumped like he’d just lost a fight.

  “You look a little down,” I dared.

  He grunted, stabbing his fork through his food before lifting his eyes to mine again. “Sorry. Just got off the phone with my mom and I’m not exactly in the mood to chat it up like everything’s fine right now. I was planning to eat by myself, but then I saw you out here.”

  “Oh. I can move tables, if you want to eat alone.”

  He closed his eyes, shaking his head. “No. I’m actually glad to see you. I wanted to tell you we’re on for basketball tonight.”

  “Really?” I swirled my fork around my plate. “You sure you still want to play with a girl?”

  He shook his head, narrowing his eyes. “Why? You scared?”

  I lifted a shoulder, chewing my food as Lauren sashayed into the dining hall to our right. She glanced around, her smile falling as she talked to Mal. Her eyes traveled to the windows, landing on me and Tucker. He followed my line of sight, grunting again.

  “What happened with you guys?” I asked, not really sure I wanted the details, but I was having a hard time seeing how they ended up together if she was as two-faced as she seemed.

  “We had a great summer last year, but everything kind of fell apart when she went back to school. I couldn’t afford to visit her, and she freaked. I guess she thinks I would’ve made her a bigger priority if I really cared about her.”

  “But, didn’t you say your dad left after last summer?”

  He stabbed another victim on his plate and nodded. “He ruined a lot more than he thinks when he left. But, I guess it was for the best. It’s like she’s a completely different person this year.”

  I nodded, taking another bite as the door opened and Hunter came to join us. “What’s up, guys? We still down for some ball later?”

  -Tucker-

  I thought about Mom and the boys all through dinner and on my way to the courts. Money was tighter than ever, and the landlord decided now was a good time to raise the rent. Mom was scrambling to make ends meet, even with me gone. I needed to find a way to make more money. I had to talk to Pastor Gregg. Tomorrow, if I could. I stretched and hydrated, Mal grinning beside me as Emery made her way up the path in basketball shorts and a Sun’s Out-Guns Out t-shirt, her high-top Nikes and muscular shoulders making me think she was the real deal. Girls didn’t own shoes, or shoulders, like that for looks. At least, not Bridgeport girls.

  “She came,” Mal said, nudging me with his elbow.

  “Go easy on her, all right?”

  “I’m not a jerk,” Mal countered.

  I held a hand up for her as
she approached.

  She gave me a weak high five and stooped to adjust her laces. “You’re sure you really want me here?” she asked, standing again.

  I frowned. “I invited you, right?”

  “You could’ve just felt bad for me or something.” She set her water bottle on the bench beside ours and turned to face me with a weird look in her eyes.

  Mal whistled and headed out to the court, shooting around with the other guys.

  I turned to Emery, furrowing my brows. “You acted like you wanted to play at dinner. Why the change?”

  “You don’t have to be nice to me, Tucker. Just because you’re my lead doesn’t mean we have to be friends if you’re just throwing some kind of pity party for me.”

  What was her deal?

  I rubbed the back of my neck and shook my head. “We’re a man down, and you said you would play. If you don’t wanna be out here, no one’s going to make you stay.” Something in her posture was triggering my patience level. I mean, I should’ve seen this coming, right? No girl was as perfect as I thought she was before.

  She shook her head and closed her eyes. “Sorry,” she opened them again, searching my face. “I’ll play. It’s just. Lauren just reamed me out in our room for not inviting her to eat with us at dinner.”

  “What?”

  She nodded. “She’s not over you, Tucker. She told me earlier.”

  A streak of dread shot through my chest. Lauren was a gamer, and I was so over trying to play. “Why would she tell you that? She has some L.A. guy now. What’s her deal?”

  Emery lifted a shoulder and blew a deep breath. “I don’t know. Maybe you should talk to her.”

  “We talked enough when she broke things off. Sorry, but she’s on her own there.” My whole body tensed up, and I had to make an actual effort to keep my mouth shut about it. “Anyway. We should warm up.”