Chapter 4
“Welcome to the boat barn. This is where the magic happens. Actually, this is where the work begins to make the magic happen on the river.” Fisher led the group into the warehouse where all the equipment was kept. Each of the shelves was neatly organized and labeled. She started by pointing to the large whiteboard just inside the door. “Here is where you’ll find just about everything you need to know.”
She pointed to the section that listed the trip schedules, including which boats were assigned, and the names of the guides that would be working each day. There was a standard checklist, listing all the equipment and supplies needed for each trip. Another section of the board listed equipment failures, down to which tubes or valves to check for leaks. There was a place to request supplies, such as bandages for the first aid kit, patches for the rafts, and hand sanitizer for those times when soap and water weren’t easily accessible.
“There’s also an online calendar that we e-mail to all our guides, but we’ve found it’s a good idea to have a low-tech option, for those times when someone forgets to take their phones out of their pockets before taking a swim.” The group chuckled at that, but when it happened to them, they wouldn’t laugh.
“And here are the rafts.” She pointed to the row of low shelves that held the rolled-up rafts. They had a couple of older Avon rafts that had been in use since Cody and Carson were first learning the river, and the new Hyside boats they had bought when Lily found the money their former bookkeeper had attempted to embezzle. “They’re heavy, so it’s recommended to use the buddy system when lifting them.”
Fisher looked at the group, knowing Kyle would be more than happy to help demonstrate proper lifting technique.
“Dana, why don’t you come over here and stand on that side. Here, take my hands.” She held her arms out and the petite young woman followed directions. “Okay, now rock the raft into position.”
With her shoulder, Fisher guided the heavy raft into their outstretched arms. “Now lift with your legs. Perfect.”
With teamwork, the raft wasn’t as bulky and heavy.
Next she showed them how to unroll the boat, and they took turns rolling it back up and securing it. “Some companies leave the rafts inflated for the season, and store them on trailers, but we like to keep ours inside, out of the sunlight, when not in use.”
“We’ll be meeting Tyler and Brooke as they come off an upper trip.” Fisher had a lot of details to go over before they got on the river. “The river is basically divided into two stretches of about ten miles each. The upper starts at Chili Bar and ends here at the camp. And the lower stretch, which we’ll start on today, starts here and ends at the upper end of Folsom Lake at the Salmon Falls Bridge.”
For the most part, her students were interested and attentive. Kyle was a little too attentive. Every time she looked in his direction, he was staring at her. Smiling in that knowing way. But he’d behaved himself. He hadn’t made his interest too obvious and as far as she could tell, the others hadn’t picked up on it.
Cody had. But maybe that was only because he’d caught her coming home this morning instead of last night. Or maybe it was because he knew her so well, he picked up on her feelings.
No. He didn’t know her all that well. Not since Miranda had captured his attention. And his heart.
Maybe it would have been easier if Fisher didn’t like Miranda. If Cody’s wife wasn’t so cool. The two women weren’t exactly close, but they got along okay. Probably because Miranda was so secure in her relationship with Cody. They’d met on another river, when Cody had been impersonating Carson. But then Miranda showed up looking for the man she’d met, and Cody wouldn’t let her get away.
She led the group over to where the life jackets were hung up.
“Guest safety is a number-one priority.” She made a point of making eye contact with each of them. “Life jackets are to be worn at all times on the river.”
She handed each of them a personal floatation device, or PFD.
“Proper fit is important. Make sure your vest is snug, and then I want you to take turns lifting up on the shoulder straps. There shouldn’t be any movement.” She went around to each student, checking both their individual fit and that they were checking each other. “But you don’t want it so tight that it’s hard to breathe.”
When she got to Kyle, she found it hard to breathe, and she hadn’t even put her life jacket on yet. He looked at her with smoldering eyes. Memories of the night before flooded her thoughts and made the barn uncomfortably warm.
“Is this a good fit?” Kyle flexed his biceps as he gripped the straps on his vest.
Fisher had never had a problem concentrating before. Even when she was with Cody, she was able to keep her focus on her job. On the river.
“I think we should head down to the river.” She took a step back, away from Kyle. “We’ll use the boats already down there, but I do need everyone to grab a paddle and follow me.”
Fisher grabbed her paddle and swung her life jacket over one shoulder. She already knew it was properly adjusted, since no one else ever wore it.
“Even with a life jacket, the river can be dangerous.” She needed to keep their attention, but not make it too terrifying. “It’s important to plan for the unexpected. On the river, the three hazards you’re likely to encounter are lightning sand, fire spurts, and rodents of unusual size.”
Kyle laughed, but the others didn’t seem to get the reference to The Princess Bride.
“In all seriousness, the most common dangers are ejection, wraps, and flips.” She was somehow comforted by Kyle’s presence. Weird. “Ejections happen most frequently. So it’s important that your passengers know what to do if they find themselves out of the boat unexpectedly. The important things to remember are to keep your feet downstream, butts up, and don’t fight the current.”
More nods from her students.
“If they can hang on to their paddle, even better.” She offered an encouraging smile. “Assure them that you will come to them once you get through the rapid and make it to calmer water. That’s when they can swim toward the raft as you maneuver toward them. The paddle can be used to close the distance, if they still have it. Once they get to the boat, you or one of the fellow passengers will grab the shoulders of the life jacket and pull the swimmer into the boat.
“Don’t worry, we’ll have plenty of chances to practice before you get your first passengers. Both as a swimmer and a rescuer.” She made a point to look directly at the petite female guides. “And you’d be surprised at how easily you can lift someone even twice your size, if you let gravity and momentum be your friend.”
Just as they reached the sandy bank, three rafts came into view. Jake, Tyler, and Brooke were bringing their passengers ashore with smiles on their faces and stories to tell when they got back home.
Jake would finish the posttrip debriefing, informing the passengers where they could purchase their photos that were taken as they went through the biggest rapid, giving them recommendations for grabbing a bite to eat on the way home, and inviting them to leave a review. He would also collect any tips and distribute the money to his fellow guides later.
Tyler and Brooke stayed behind to take their students down the lower stretch. It would be a long day for them, but business was booming, and with Cody and Carson shifting their focus to the business side of things as well as helping with their babies, everyone was getting a lot of extra work. Fisher was salary, but the others would get extra pay for the extra work.
The group was split up to about four students per raft. Kyle, not surprisingly, managed to make his way into Fisher’s boat.
“We’ve talked about what to do if you fall out”—Fisher addressed Kyle, Nolan, Leia, and Brett—“and now it’s quiz time. Anyone?”
“Feet downstream,” Nolan answered.
“On your back,” Kyle added, his voice dripping with innuendo.
“Don’t panic,” Leia suggested.
“And don’t fight the current.”
“Good.” Fisher smiled. “You were paying attention. And we’ll all get plenty of opportunities to take a swim a little later.”
“Now let’s practice a few strokes.” Why did she have to look directly at Kyle when she said that? His smile indicated that he was well aware how awkward it was for her. Especially with him sitting practically on her lap. “Actually, let’s move around a bit, to better distribute weight and strength. Leia, I’m going to have you move back to where Brett is. Kyle, take Leia’s spot at the front on the left, and Brett you can sit right in front of me.”
“Where should I go?” Nolan asked.
“You’re fine up front on the right.” Fisher needed to put some space between her and Kyle, but she also wanted to keep an eye on him. “Now Kyle, you’re in the hot seat. It will be your stroke that your teammates will follow.”
Leia giggled quietly behind him.
“Nolan, you’ll want to match Kyle’s rhythm.” That was a better word than stroke, but still, she couldn’t help but recall his rhythms and strokes from last night. Why couldn’t she just let it go?
Because she wanted more.
* * * *
She was killing him. Each command dripped with sexual innuendo. Stroke, harder, deeper, faster. But even when she was talking about how to identify poison oak, he was turned on. Not that he had any fantasies involving calamine lotion, but he liked her confidence, her sense of humor, and the way she didn’t let his presence disrupt her class.
She was a little rattled, maybe, by him being there, when they’d both expected to go their separate ways after last night. But now that he had a chance to spend more time with her, he was going to take every advantage he could.
The hard part would be getting her alone.
They made it through the first rapid, Fisher giving commands and the others following his lead in paddling through the current.
“Now who wants to go for a swim?” Fisher asked.
“I’ll go.” Kyle stood up, ready to jump in. He needed to cool off.
“Good. Just stick your paddle under the tube and slide on in.” Was she doing it on purpose? No. He didn’t think so. He was just so charged up he read too much into everything she said.
He tucked his paddle securely under the middle tube and did a little backflip into the river. The cold water was refreshing.
“Be sure to stay away from the front of the raft,” Fisher called from the boat.
He kept his feet downstream, as instructed. Arms out to the side, head back, he looked up into the blue sky. Gorgeous. And the exact color of Fisher’s eyes.
So much for cooling himself off. He never got this worked up over a woman. Not unless he’d gone a really long time without getting laid. It had been little more than twelve hours, yet he couldn’t shake his lust. And the water wasn’t quite cold enough.
“Now swim on over to the side.” His instructor wouldn’t let him get too far away. He hoped that was a good thing.
She reached down and grabbed the shoulder straps on his life jacket. He was almost in the boat when she pushed him back in. Maybe she wasn’t as interested as he’d hoped.
“Okay, Leia. Now your turn. Bring him in.” Fisher moved out of the way and let her smallest student try to fish the biggest guy out of the water. The girl wasn’t tiny, but she wasn’t as strong as Fisher.
“Like this?” Leia grabbed him and he threw his weight toward the boat. Somehow, it worked. He was about a foot taller than her, and probably outweighed her by close to a hundred pounds, but she had managed to get him back into the raft.
Next, the rest of them took turns jumping out and pulling each other back on board.
“Now that you know how to get your passengers back in the boat, what should you do if you’re the one to fall out?” Fisher quizzed her students.
“Hopefully, you’ve gone over how to retrieve swimmers,” Leia said.
“Yes. And while you assure your passengers that if they fall out, you’ll bring the boat to them,” Fisher said, “if you’re the one to fall out, you’ll want to get yourself back to the raft as quickly and as safely as possible.”
Fisher stood up abruptly and let herself fall into the river.
Kyle’s first instinct was to dive in after her. But he’d been given the task of leading his fellow passengers, so he figured the first thing he should do was to act calm. Just like he’d done before he jumped overboard, he secured his own paddle, and stood ready to haul her in once she swam toward the raft.
He grabbed her outstretched paddle and pulled her right up to the side of the raft. He tossed the paddle aboard and reached for her shoulder straps. He pulled her in with enough force that they both fell into the middle of the raft. He was flat on the inflated floor of the boat and she was sprawled on top of him.
Without thinking, he grabbed her hips, pulling her close to him. His heart hammered beneath the thick padding of his life jacket and he wondered if hers was pounding a similar beat.
“You can let go of me.” She sounded a little out of breath.
“Yeah.” He knew what he should do. But he couldn’t quite get his hands to agree. She felt so good.
“Kyle,” she pleaded. They weren’t alone. In a bed. They were on the river, with three others in the raft with them. He finally released her and she scrambled to the back of the raft where she picked up her paddle and gave the command to “forward paddle.”
Kyle found his spot and the crew got back into a steady rhythm. Fisher complimented them on their ability to paddle in sync with each other and follow commands. She warned them that every crew was different. Sometimes they would encounter a group of ten-year-olds who would be more interested in splashing each other than maneuvering the raft downstream. Other times they would get that one guy who thought he was stronger, smarter, and more experienced than everyone else, the guide included, and he would try to do things his own way. With experience and practice, they would learn how to deal with all kinds of situations.
They each took turns paddle captaining, which was the official term for leading a group of paddlers down the river in a raft. Fisher pointed out things like how to position the raft before a rapid, how to read the current, and how to correct a bad angle with one or two strokes from the guide.
Kyle was feeling confident by the time his turn came along. Leia had gone first, taking a cautious yet competent approach. Next, Brett managed to bounce off a few rocks, but with no major damage. Then Nolan got the raft stuck on a rock, but one of the other boats came along and bounced them off.
When it was his turn, Kyle was determined to make a good impression. On his fellow students, but mostly on his instructor. He wouldn’t be too cautious or too cocky. He would show that he’d been paying attention, soaking in Fisher’s words of encouragement and instruction.
He gave the commands. “Forward paddle. Stop. Left back.”
His crew did exactly as he instructed. The raft was perfectly positioned. Except the current was faster than he anticipated. They were headed straight toward the rock in the middle of the rapid. He used his paddle to make a correction, but he dug in a little too deep and he managed to spin them 360 degrees around. They hit the rock dead on, and the front of the boat lifted in the air, almost vertical, and everyone went flying into the river.
Well, not everyone. Kyle felt himself being jerked backward and tossed to the floor of the boat like a fish. He scrambled to a sitting position and found Fisher was maneuvering the raft through the rapid.
“I’m sorry. I guess I screwed up.” Kyle couldn’t remember the last time he’d admitted to a mistake. He’d made plenty, but never admitted them. But for some reason, he knew Fisher already knew he was in over his head, and she’d call bullshit if he tried to deny it.
“Help pull the crew back in,” she commanded as they came alongside the swimmers. “We’ll talk about it when everyone can benefit.”
Leia was the closest and Kyle was able to get her aboard; then she helped pull Brett into the raft while Fisher grabbed Nolan.
“Well, that was interesting.” Nolan shook his head and ran his fingers through his wet hair.
“Kyle has just demonstrated the dump truck move.” Somehow, Fisher kept her cool. Made it almost seem normal. “And the important thing is that he was able to account for all the passengers.”
What a loser. Instead of impressing her, he nearly drowned his fellow students.