“Shut up, loser.” I throw a cushion without looking, which hits him in the face. “Thanks, Bas. You’re the best.”
His cheeks deepen in color, but his smile is genuine, and that’s a big comfort. Somehow I think the cold is going to be the least of my problems during the internship.
I guess I’d better go stock up on that terrible perfume at the drugstore because my hormones are going to be on overdrive being around him all day, every day, and I’m in as much danger as ever of pining hopelessly after him like that lovestruck eleven-year-old did all those years ago.
Come to think of it, it’s practically a sauna in here. I pull off my sweater, but I still can’t keep the heat from rising up my neck and the restless energy from making me want to squirm in place. “Come on. Whose turn is it?” I say, just for a distraction.
Thankfully it works and soon everyone is too focused on what Dad is drawing on the whiteboard. Everyone except Bas, who keeps casting looks over his shoulder at me until I get the weirdest feeling he’s nervous about this too. Only that’s ridiculous, isn’t it? Because my big brother’s best friend has no reason to be nervous about the girl he thinks of as his kid sister trailing around after him for a couple weeks.
FIVE
Bastien
The scent of Vera’s cheap perfume hits me as soon as she opens the front door, and I have to turn away for a moment to avoid letting her see the way my nose wrinkles. God, I miss the real scent of her. I haven’t really ever thought about it before, but ever since Christmas a couple weeks ago, it’s been running through the back of my mind. It’s driving me crazy that I can’t remember the exact bright notes of it.
“Hey, sorry. Just give me a second.” She leaves the door open, hurrying back inside the house to grab a rucksack and a bottle of water and an enormous puffer jacket that looks like she’s smuggling a sleeping bag for an elephant into my truck.
“Did you want to pack a tent and a hot water bottle too?” I tease her. “We’re only going to be out of the office for a few hours today.”
She pokes me in the chest defiantly. Well she tries, but she’s so much shorter it ends up being my belly she jabs her finger into, and I have to hold back a laugh.
“Who is always complaining about how people are always underestimating the national parks to their peril? Hmm?”
She has a point. “Well, good to see you’re going to take me seriously as a mentor.”
I expect a joke, but she stops in the act of climbing into the passenger side of my truck. “Of course, Bas. Seriously. You don’t know how much this means to me. Helping me finish my course, that is. You’re a real life saver.”
“Nah, it’s nothing. Don’t mention it.” I hurry around to the driver’s side so she can’t see how fucking awkward her gratitude makes me. Of course I’d do this for her. I’d do just about anything for her. I just don’t want her to get the wrong idea about what that means.
I start the engine, and she turns to me with a big, excited grin as I pull out of the driveway. “So what are we doing today, boss?”
“You, ah, you don’t have to do that.”
“Do what?” She gives me an innocent look as if I don’t know she’s winding me up.
“I’m not your boss.”
“Oh, OK, teach.”
“Yeah, no. Not that either.” God, that makes some of the inappropriate thoughts I’ve had about her recently basically criminal.
“Jedi master?”
A laugh bursts from me, and I shake my head. “OK, if you want to be a total nerd.”
“Fine, fine, but if you’re not the boss, then I get to choose the music.” She reaches for the radio dial on my stereo before I can stop her and switches the channel.
Not that I mind. I do not mind one bit listening to her singing and watching her dancing in her seat all the way to the ranger station at the entry to the park.
The sky is gray and getting darker as I drive. Looks like snow. It’s sure cold enough.
My truck eventually heats up, and Vera warms her hands in front of the heater vents, still singing. I’m surprised she didn’t complain more, to be honest. It’s pretty frosty in the early morning air. I don’t normally feel it, but I’m sure a little human her size is freezing!
I park the truck in front of the shed where we keep most of the large equipment. There’s a small visitor center to the right-hand side, with an office behind and a basic kitchen. And that’s it, really. Just us and the wilderness. I’ve never really thought about how isolated my work is until now when it’s just me and her.
I wonder for a second if I should have asked Riley to come along and chaperone. Which is ridiculous. He has been back in the city since the day after Boxing Day, back to work. And anyway, there’s no risk here because Vera and I are just friends. She’s basically like my kid sister. I’ve certainly never worried about being alone with her before.
Shaking my head at my own stupidity, I lead Vera to the visitor center and open up. Inside, the building is cold. The boiler has been turned off to conserve power over the holiday shutdown, and the center is still closed to visitors.
