Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 79319 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79319 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
I hoped so.
Sleeping in and missing the abrupt exodus of two more campers hadn’t made for a great start to the day, but a little coffee and a break from Trinsky improved my mood immediately. I loved hiking, and I’d been camping in the Four Forest area my whole life. I knew these woods well.
The trail between Pinecrest and Wood Hollow was the flattest portion, and most of it hugged the lakeside—ideal for swim breaks on warm summer days. We’d completed that portion yesterday and were about to embark on the Wood Hollow-Elmwood crest trail.
“Is it far?” Ray paused to take a swig of water with one scuffed Nike perched on a boulder.
“No, just a few miles.” I signaled for Denny to go ahead, hoping Trinsky would join him, but he stopped in the middle of the dirt path and tapped his watch meaningfully. Asshole.
“Miles?” Ray croaked.
I smiled kindly. “It goes fast. There’s a swimming hole with a rope swing at the next ridge. We’ll have something to eat there and run a few games for the kids. Nothing too crazy. From there, we head inland, away from the lake. The trails thin out and the forest gets pretty thick as we climb to the vista point. From there, it’s downhill. Kind of steep, but the views are spectacular. If you don’t get any good footage of Trinsky and me, that view alone will make it worth your while.”
Ray sealed his water bottle and sighed. “I have some decent footage already. Probably more than enough, actually.”
“Oh?”
He wiped sweat from his brow. “Mostly of you bickering.”
I frowned. “About what?”
“You name it. Which camper had the best backstroke, Red Sox versus Dodgers, how to toast a marshmallow…”
“You recorded all that?”
Ray nodded. “That was the job. Thanks for making it easy. I don’t think you agree on anything, and that’s what the PR firm was looking for, so they should be happy.”
“Oh. Right.” I fiddled with my sunglasses and inclined my chin. “We should continue.”
He didn’t seem excited by the prospect, but he shoved his water bottle away and gamely trudged toward Trinsky, who greeted us with a tight smile and ushered Ray to move ahead of us.
“Denny and his team didn’t stop. We’re gonna get lost if you don’t keep up, Milligan.”
“No, we won’t,” I snapped. “I’m the guide here, remember?”
“Hmph. What’s with the slowpoke?” he whispered, tickling my earlobe and sending an unwelcome spark of awareness along my spine.
The memory of my clandestine midnight session with my right hand hit me out of the blue.
I chewed on my bottom lip, gaze forward. “He’s fine. He’s just…running out of steam.”
“We’re supposed be in this together, so maybe we should take turns hanging with him,” he suggested.
Wow, that was…unusually considerate.
“Good idea. Stick with him for a while, and I’ll lead the way.”
“Let’s do this, Magellan,” he snarked.
“Magellan?”
“Yeah, don’t you know your history? Ferdinand Magellan was Portuguese, but he led the Spanish expedition that discovered the strait that makes it so you can pass from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Don’t ask me where it is, but—”
“Chile.”
Trinsky raised a brow. “Oh, look at you. Guess you know shit too.”
This was where I’d make a snide comment about remembering basic junior high history, but I went with the truth instead. “It was a recent Jeopardy question. My dad and Smitty love that show, and I can’t escape it when I visit them.”
“Ahh. Well, I’m a history genius on the side.”
“Really?”
“Nah, my kid brother is my history dealer,” Trinsky said offhandedly, turning with a nod to Ray, who’d circled back to us. “You ready to hike?”
Ray held up his cell triumphantly. “I am now. That’s the first interaction between you two that didn’t sound murderous. If you can get me to civilization, I’ll forward this to PR and call it a day.”
“You’ve been recording us on your cell?” I asked dubiously, though I knew that he was the only one besides the guides with a phone since he wasn’t technically a camper.
“I have a camera built into my rucksack to capture candid, real-life moments too. Nothing scripted.” He grinned, obviously pleased with himself. “Yes, this is exactly the content I was hoping for.”
And with that, Ray headed off, a lighter bounce in his step.
“Huh. If the video man leaves early too, this is over. We should call a ride for him and be done with it. What do you say?”
I bit my bottom lip, shifting my gaze from our lone charge, practically skipping up the trail to Trinsky, who was…staring at me.
“Do I have toothpaste on my face?” I licked at the corner of my mouth, unthinking.
He cleared his throat as he rubbed his scruffy jaw. “No, you’re just…hairy. I’ve never seen you with a beard. It doesn’t look terrible.”
“Was that a compliment?” I snarked, tugging at my baseball hat.