Chapter 5
Somehow they had made it to the end of the river without losing any more passengers and Fisher had managed to keep from losing her mind.
Kyle wasn’t making it easier. Not with his muscles flexing with each stroke of his paddle. Or his overeager enthusiasm to do the extra work. But by the end of the trip, she realized he wasn’t the only one. Leia tried to overcompensate for her size, digging her paddle in with more force than was necessary or even useful. And Brett and Nolan seemed to be in competition over who could play it cooler.
What she had to realize was that they were all at least somewhat out of their element. And she could include herself in that group. She wasn’t used to spending the night with a stranger, only to have that stranger show up in her class the next day.
Now she’d just have to get through take-out, making dinner, and getting her students settled in camp.
They pulled up to the riverbank, and Fisher instructed everyone to stack their paddles in a neat pile, take any loose items out of the raft, and help her carry the raft up the boat ramp to the staging area.
“Leia, could you grab the paddles and carry them up?” Fisher hoped she wouldn’t think it was a sexism thing, but being a foot shorter than the rest of them would make it awkward for her to help carry the boat. “The rest of us are going to take the raft. Lift together.”
The three guys lifted the heavy boat at the same time she grabbed the back end. “Now balance on top of our heads and we’ll walk up in unison. Anyone here ever do a potato sack race?”
“No.” Brett shook his head and then reached up to grab the raft as it started to slip.
“The important thing is that we move together. As one.” Shit. Her cheeks flamed as she thought of how well she and Kyle had moved as one last night. He didn’t say anything, but she noticed him stand a little taller, a little straighter.
Had the others noticed? Or had they noticed that so many terms she used every day had sexual undertones? Every time she gave the command to stroke, dig in, go deeper, harder, or with more power.
Or was she just hyperalert to the double meaning of these words due to her long-suppressed sexuality?
They reached the paved area of the commercial take-out. “Leia, prop a couple of those paddles underneath the raft here, so it can dry. The rest of you go back and gather any gear, personal items, or garbage left behind.”
Nolan and Brett hustled down to the river, but not surprisingly, Kyle lingered.
“Is there something you need?” Damn, more innuendo.
“I was just going to ask you the same thing.” He leaned in, occupying her space. Fortunately, Leia had followed the others down to the river, determined to work harder than any of the guys. Fisher understood. She’d been there. Lived most of her life trying to prove herself as capable, if not more so, than any man. She’d made her mark here, at Swift River Adventures. She no longer had to work twice as long and three times as hard to get the same recognition as a guy.
To be fair, she’d never had to prove herself to Carson or Cody. It had been more for her own needs and occasionally for some of the passengers who hadn’t taken her seriously. But usually by the end of the trip, if a guy couldn’t be won over after ten miles in a raft with her, that was his problem. Not hers.
“You know what would be helpful?” Fisher tried to focus on the problem at hand. “If you could act like you don’t know me. I mean, you don’t, not really. But you know what I mean?”
“You think that because I’m from Southern California I must be an actor? That I can just pretend like we’ve never met? Or that you didn’t rock my world?”
“No. It’s just that…” She looked up to see the Swift River van pulling into the parking lot. Maybe it was a sign that her heart didn’t jump into her throat at the idea of seeing Cody after a long trip. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to make our prior connection known to everyone else.”
“Does he know?” Kyle moved in closer as the van pulled to a stop.
“Who?” She feigned innocence.
“Your boss,” he whispered into her ear, his breath doing funny things to her equilibrium.
“You mean Carson?” She realized, once he got out of the van, that it wasn’t Cody driving after all. But for the first time in a long time, she didn’t care. “I’m sure he couldn’t care less, unless it interfered with the business. I am working here, you know.”
Fisher stepped away from Kyle. It wasn’t because she was worried what Carson would think, but she needed space. Kyle was too close. And she was woman enough to admit it scared her a little.
Maybe that was part of the reason she’d held on to her crush on Cody for so long. It was safe. She didn’t have to get involved with anyone else if she continued to hold out for someone she had always known deep down wasn’t interested in her.
She’d worked with Cody for four years. And she’d been able to put her feelings aside for at least half of that time. Surely, she could go a whole week without letting her feelings for Kyle—which were purely physical—get in the way.
Rafters from the other two boats were unloading and packing up. Tyler and Brooke led their students in much the same way she instructed hers. Everyone had the look of a river rat, waterlogged, sun kissed, and gloriously spent.
Even if they stayed up too late talking about their experiences of the day, they’d sleep well. And then they’d get up and do it again tomorrow.
“How’d your pretty boy do?” Tyler came up to Fisher and nodded to where Kyle was loading the rest of the gear into the back of the van.
“Fine.” She tried to play it cool. “All my students did fine.”
“I saw him dump truck on his first rapid.”
“It’s something we’ve all done, and not just on our first day.”
“True, but I think he’s trying to impress you.” Tyler was talking about Kyle, but his eyes were on Brooke. “I think he’s hot for you.”
“He was last night.” She might as well admit it. Then maybe she could just do her damn job.
“So he’s the guy, huh?” Tyler nodded. “Was it a little weird when he showed up here?”
“A little. But I’m a professional.” That didn’t come out right. “I’m a professional guide, that is. I’m not going to let my personal life interfere with my work. Like you won’t let your personal life interfere with your work. None of us would, right?”
“Right.” Tyler stopped watching Brooke and faced Fisher. “What happens on the river stays on the river, and what happens back on dry land…”
He shrugged and walked toward his crew, making sure everything was loaded before he herded them into the van. Brooke did the same with her crew and Fisher did one last check to see that nothing was left behind.
Kyle was the only one still waiting to get in the van. “After you.” He motioned for her to enter before him.
“You go ahead; I’ll sit up front.” She gave him a quick smile and then went to the front passenger door and slid in beside Carson. Yet she could feel Kyle’s eyes on her. If she turned around, she’d surely catch him watching her.
Once the van was on the two-lane highway, the students started chatting in the back. She just sank back against the seat. Even though it had been a short trip, she was wiped. But they still had to set up the camp kitchen, make dinner, and assign kitchen duty for the rest of the week.
Once they got back to the resort, Fisher jumped out and directed the students to begin unloading and putting the gear away. Then they all headed back to the campsite.
“What do you think about keeping our crews together one more day?” Fisher asked Brooke and Tyler as they walked from the boat barn.
“Sounds good to me,” Brooke said.
“No problemo,” Tyler added.
“And I was thinking the first kitchen shifts would be the same crews, at least until we decide to mix things up on Monday.”
“So who gets the first shift?” Brooke asked.
“Doesn’t matter, everyone will get a chance to run a breakfast, lunch, and dinner shift.” Fisher wouldn’t mind if either of them volunteered their crew, but she was fine with letting hers start. She was curious to see if Kyle’s eagerness extended to cooking and cleaning, or if he was only the first to volunteer if it was a physical task.
“I could have my guys start,” she said.
“Sounds good.” Tyler shrugged. “Mine can take breakfast tomorrow and that would leave lunch for Brooke’s team.”
“Alrighty then, we’ll get started on dinner.” Fisher quickened her steps and caught up with the students who were starting to mill about, uncertain of what to do next.
“I’m going to need Leia, Brett, Nolan, and Kyle to come over here and make dinner. The rest of you can take a shower, hang out in your tents, or just sit back and relax a bit. We should be ready to eat in about forty-five minutes.”
Her crew gathered around the picnic table. “So, we’ve prepacked everything for you. By the end of the week, you’ll know how to pack a camp kitchen, plan for meals, and be able to set up, cook, and clean up. We’ll practice as if we’re in a wilderness camp, no running to the store if you forget something or drop the meat in the dirt.”
That got some nervous chuckles.
“First thing is setting up the kitchen. Step one would have been unloading everything from the rafts.” Fisher pointed at the table, coolers, and the dry box that contained the camp stove, pots, pans, dish tubs, dishes, and dry goods. “You’ll want to set up the cooktop on a sturdy surface, as level as possible. It’s pretty easy to set up here and at our camp downriver. But on some of the more remote rivers, finding a good spot can be more challenging. So you’ll want to make sure you set up the kitchen before anyone starts staking out their tent locations.”
She felt like she was talking too much, but there was a lot more to guiding than just getting the passengers down the river. At Swift River Adventures, it was about the whole experience, not just the rafting.
“Now, some people are fine with beans and weenies for camp fare, but we like to take it up a notch.” She took a breath. “Tonight, we’ll be making fajitas. Steak and chicken. But first, we need to get the stove set up and the clean-up station. Who has cooked on a propane camp stove before?”
* * * *
“I’ve used camp stoves plenty of times.” Kyle stepped forward. He wasn’t just sucking up; he really did have experience. Too much experience. He’d lived in a camper for almost a year. It wasn’t right after his dad left. His mom had held on for nearly two years. Until Kyle came down with mono. His mother missed too much work and lost her job. Then without a job and no savings, they couldn’t keep up with rent. A friend of a friend had a small camper that they’d used until they got back on their feet. It took eleven months.
“Good.” Fisher stepped aside and watched him hook up the propane canister. She didn’t know that for those eleven months it had been their only way of cooking since the stove in the camper hadn’t worked. The refrigerator hadn’t been all that great, either.
“So let’s divvy up the tasks, shall we?” Fisher didn’t exactly avoid him, but she seemed to be trying not to pay too much attention to him. “Let’s set up the rest of the kitchen. There is always a menu for each trip, specifying ingredients to be used for each meal. Brett, can you grab the notebook right on top?”
Brett reached into the large metal container and picked up a spiral-bound laminated notebook.
“Good, now open it up. You’ll notice the first two pages are the shopping list for the whole week. Flip to dinner number one.” Fisher was a good leader. Hands on, but she didn’t try to do everything for them. “Read the ingredients for tonight’s meal and the rest of you can start unloading the stuff from the cooler.”
Brett read off the list: chicken, beef, bell peppers, onions, limes, cilantro, garlic.
Leia reached into the cooler and pulled out the ingredients, Nolan stood back. Either he didn’t want to get in the way or he was content letting the woman handle the cooking.
“What about tortillas?” Kyle asked.
“They’re in the dry box, along with cans of salsa and the spices.” Fisher stepped aside so Kyle could find what they needed to get the meal started. He pulled out a cutting board, chef’s knife, and a large skillet.
It wasn’t long before they had found a system. Leia made the marinade, while Kyle sliced onions and peppers and the meat. Nolan worked at grating the cheese while Brett opened a couple of small cans of salsa.
Soon the meat was sizzling in a cast-iron skillet, the aroma making Kyle’s mouth water. It would be even better if he had one of those Strong Blondes to wash it down with. Not to mention an even stronger blonde to curl up with after dinner. He tried not to track her every movement, knowing it made her uncomfortable. But damn, he couldn’t help it.
Just like he couldn’t help the twinge of jealousy he felt when he saw her talking to one of the other guys. He had to remind himself that she was just doing her job, making sure everyone was settling in. And it was his job to make sure the fajitas would be ready so they could all enjoy a well-earned meal.
With Leia’s help, they plated the fajitas and set out tortillas, along with grated cheese, sour cream, and salsa. The two other crews lined up to serve themselves, followed by their guides. A guy named Tyler and a woman named Brooke. Fisher stood back, letting her crew grab dinner before she grabbed a plate for herself.
Kyle found a spot at the picnic table, leaving room for Fisher, but he wasn’t too surprised when she chose to eat her meal standing up, keeping an eye on the group she was in charge of.
He had finished his first fajita and was working on the second when Cody showed up.
“How’s it going?” Cody asked Fisher. “Looks like everyone made it down the river in one piece.”
“Well we had to patch a couple of them back together, but they’re all as good as new now.” Fisher didn’t look at him as she said it, but her posture had stiffened. Yeah, he still had an effect on her. But Cody wasn’t the one in her bed.
“Just make sure the glue is dry before they get back on the water tomorrow.” He gave her a pat on the shoulder and Kyle saw her flinch even more.
He pushed his plate aside and walked over to them. “It’s going great. Fisher is an excellent instructor. She’s informative, entertaining, and inspirational.”
“Inspirational?” Cody’s eyebrows shot up. “And exactly how did she inspire you?”
Fisher’s face turned a dark shade of pink.
“Not just me.” Did the fool not know what he was missing? He’d find out soon enough, when he lost her along with the rest of his company. “She helped Leia find her strength and power. And she showed incredible patience with the guys who didn’t know what they were doing but would never admit it.”
“She is good. The best.” Cody’s words were a compliment, but he obviously didn’t notice that they cut Fisher even more than any insult ever could.
“You’re lucky to have her as a guide.” Kyle wanted to put his arm around her, to stake his claim, but he didn’t know her well enough to know if she’d find the gesture sexy or suffocating. He’d be here a week or maybe more. Plenty of time to learn how to read her reactions and make her feel more comfortable.
Hopefully she’d help him feel more comfortable on the river after he got the hang of reading a current, learning how to make adjustments without overcorrecting, and figure out how to instill confidence in his passengers even when he didn’t know what the hell he was doing.
“You’re even luckier to have her as your guide.” Cody stepped in front of Fisher. Almost as if he was trying to protect her from Kyle. “She has a lot of experience, expertise, and enthusiasm.”
“Yes, she does. And I plan on doing whatever it takes to learn the most from her.” Kyle edged closer to both Cody and Fisher.
“You know, we don’t give grades here.” Cody crossed his arms over his chest. “No gold stars for top student.”
“I’m not looking for a special award.” Kyle put his hands on his hips. “I just want to be the best I can be at everything I do. And I know when to give credit where credit is due. And I have a feeling I’ll be giving Fisher a lot of credit before this week is over.”
Cody just glared at him. If he had to guess, Kyle would say Cody was wondering what else he’d be giving to Fisher before the week was over. To his credit, he didn’t say anything. Maybe out of respect for Fisher, who was standing right behind him.
“Sorry to interrupt such a fascinating conversation.” Fisher gave Kyle a serious glare. “If you’re done with your dinner, I was just about to show Brett and Nolan how to get the dishes started.”
“I can help with that.” Kyle dropped his hands and turned toward her.
“You and Leia did most of the cooking. The other two can handle cleanup.”
“I don’t mind doing extra work.”
“Not necessary.” Fisher gave her head a small shake. “You already know we don’t give gold stars around here.”
It pissed him off that she remembered Cody’s exact words. He wanted her to forget all about the guy. Well, he would find a way to do just that.
“I’ll get my plate.” He walked back to the table, finished off his now-cold dinner, and took his plate over to where Fisher was showing the other two guys from their group how to wash dishes along the side of the river.
Kyle didn’t say much, but he watched as she made kitchen duty seem like a special treat. It wasn’t long before she had Brett and Nolan laughing and joking around. They dumped the solid waste into a bucket lined with a trash bag. Then they washed, rinsed, and sanitized in buckets of river water that had been boiled or treated with bleach.
As soon as the dishes were dried and put away and the kitchen packed up into watertight containers, Fisher gathered the group for a quick pep talk, wrap-up of the day’s events, and reading assignment for the night’s homework.
Kyle took the booklet she handed out and went reluctantly back to his RV to shower and figure out his next move.