Mayne Attraction: In The Spotlight (40 page)

Elsie had created a ‘pack’ and a ‘pitch’
pile in front of my stuff. I was alarmed at the items that I had
considered most critical which had landed in the pitch pile, namely
deodorant, soap and shampoo.

She explained that part of bear safety is
making sure you don’t smell too good or interesting. An
antiperspirant was fine if it was unscented, and soap and shampoo
needed to be nearly scent free, especially in my case with all my
hair, which holds more smell.

So my vanilla body wash and piña colada
scented shampoo were dangerously unacceptable.

“You can borrow my stuff,” she offered.

Though she assured me the tent I had was
world class, it landed in the pitch pile too because we didn’t need
the extra tent or the extra weight it would put on my pack.

“Besides, you’ll be with me in the girl’s
tent, right?”

I automatically looked at Gray, just now
realizing that he probably had other ideas about that. To my
chagrin, he seemed amused that I would question her statement so
quickly, and he smiled at me, confirming my translation of his
expression. There was an awkward pause as Elsie looked between us,
when I didn’t answer her right away.

Then Gray spoke up.

“I didn’t make the proper introductions
before. Ellie is my fiancée and we’d prefer to sleep together, if
it’s all the same to you.”

The rakishness was turned up full blast.
That got my heart going and I turned away to be suddenly very
occupied with my now mostly empty camping toiletry bag, trying to
hide the blush that was all the way up to my hairline.

I thought we talked about that.

I wasn’t sure if I could make it through
that particular conversation a second time around, and especially
not at camp!

After a surprised and hastily made offer of
congratulations, Elsie got back to the inspection. Holding a
Nalgene water bottle up she asked, “Was your friend in the
Eco-Challenge?”

How did she guess that?

My look of surprise must have been clear.
She turned the bottle around to show the picture on the front of
the container. It was the logo for the Eco-Challenge Fiji Adventure
Race, produced by the same fellow who would go on to create a
popular Survivor reality game show.

“You can’t buy these,” she explained. “They
were a special gift for the contestants only. I know that because
my brother has one just like it.”

What were the chances of that? It was
turning into six degrees of Hayden Christensen. If Gray knew George
Lucas or the Emperor as business contacts the circle would be
complete.

Just then my phone vibrated. I pulled it out
to look. It was a text message.

Sorry I’ve been out of
touch.

See you soon.

I love you Ellery
Mayne.

It was reassuring to get an apology,
information about when I could expect to see him again, and a
confirmation of his affection all in less than fifteen words—very
efficient.

I had mixed and opposite emotions about the
prospect of seeing Ash again soon. I wanted to see him. I ached to
see him. But I was afraid to see him. I had no idea what he might
ask me or what I might say. If he really loved me he probably
wouldn’t kill me for accepting Gray’s ring. And despite what Gray
had just told Elsie, accepting it did not mean that we were now
officially engaged. I specifically evaded giving Gray a straight
answer on that issue, though apparently I was the only one of us
who saw it that way.

Gray and Elsie sat at the table and reviewed
trail maps of the locations we would be hiking, discussing possible
camping spots and key survey areas. She mentioned that there would
be another hiker joining us, her counterpart visiting from a
national park in New Zealand. Gray welcomed this news explaining to
me that it meant more noise to alert nearby bears, increasing the
odds of preventing the often bad consequences of taking one by
surprise. In addition, camp life would be slightly easier with
another expert to help set up and break down and tend to the fire.
But most importantly, according to Gray and with Elsie’s
concurrence, it meant that they could divide more weight between
themselves, reducing the size of my pack even further. This miffed
me just slightly—like I couldn’t carry my weight or something. I
was looking forward to proving that I was as capable as the next
person who looked like they were still in middle school.

Their planning session lasted for about an
hour and I tuned in and out periodically, but my mind kept
switching over to thoughts of Ash, wondering where he was, and what
was going through his mind at the moment. Somehow I’d wound up
desperately in love with two men at the same time. It would have
been funny if it wasn’t so stressful—for all of us.

I really wished I hadn’t told Ash to
consider himself engaged. If I hadn’t said that, things would be
slightly less complicated for me right now. But I reasoned that
since I didn’t have all the facts at Lake Louise, I shouldn’t beat
myself up too badly if I decided to break it off with him, which I
was nowhere near having decided to do just yet. It seemed crazy
that someone as young and backward as I was would have any
followers at all, especially both so amazing and handsome, each in
his own way.

Elsie stood up to leave and I phased back
into the moment to say good-bye. We would meet at seven in the
morning at the Mount Shark Trailhead. She was brimming with
enthusiasm and anticipation. I wasn’t quite sure how I felt yet,
but I was looking forward to life out of doors for a spell, and
getting to know another heroine.

After he closed the door behind her, Gray
came back over to where I was sitting on the floor and studied me
as I looked forlornly at the pitched pile of things I really wished
I could take. He sat down behind me and pulled me into the circle
of his arms to sit inside his lap. I must have looked like I needed
a distraction.

We were facing the window and I gazed at the
beautiful mountain backdrop to take my mind off not being able to
wear deodorant during what was sure to be a highly sudorific
(sweaty) endeavor. The upside was that I’d probably stink so badly
that the bears would run the other way once they got a whiff of me.
At least I’d be contributing to the safety of our journey in that
way.

Gray had his hands on the curves of my
shoulders, squeezing intermittently in a move designed to release
my embarrassingly obvious tension.

“You can wear whatever you want, Ellie,” he
said reassuringly, correctly guessing my quandary. “You just need
to be prepared for the admirers you may attract and the
consequences of their interest in you,” he added, laughing quietly
at his joke.

It was obvious this was about more than the
bears.

“But I’m with Elsie. When it comes to what
you wear, less is more, in my opinion.”

My heart jumped into overdrive when that
last part registered. I could hear the mischief in his voice, but
his face was behind me, kissing my neck now, so I couldn’t see it
for myself.

I wanted to object to his teasing, and to
his tightening hold around me and to the kisses that were about to
make me lose my mind, but just like at Lake Louise cataplexy won
out over fighting or fleeing.

His lips made the circuit back and forth
from my hairline at the base of my neck to where the skin ended at
the fabric of my tee-shirt over my spine. I had no idea such a
thing could be so entrancing. It was a completely new sensation and
it felt so good I nearly passed out—or maybe it was because I
couldn’t breathe. Whatever the reason, after a few short moments of
the best thing I had ever felt in my life, I went completely limp,
landing solidly against Gray’s chest, and he chuckled in response,
obviously pleased with how little effort it took on his part to
chop me down like a tree.

Then I realized that this was exactly the
sort of thing Ash meant by ‘going beyond’ and that Gray had a
completely different opinion on the matter.

When I found my voice again I informed him,
“Gray, I’m pretty sure you know this, but it makes me uncomfortable
when you tease me like that.”

And kiss me like that.

Though, actually it felt amazingly good, so
‘uncomfortable’ wasn’t quite the right word. Perhaps ‘unnerved’ was
more appropriate. I could absolutely understand the logic of Ash’s
rules now. But at the moment logic didn’t seem so important, and it
couldn’t possibly feel as good.

“I don’t know Ellie,” he whispered in my
ear, “you seem pretty comfortable to me.”

He laughed softly and kissed the top of my
ear. I felt dizzy and faint from the illogical pleasure of going
beyond with Gray. But then the phone rang. When it didn’t seem like
it would ever stop, he reluctantly disengaged himself from around
me to go and answer it, sighing heavily as he stood and crossed the
room to take the call.

Once I was free from his hold and his spell,
I rose and retreated to my room, like a mouse making a break for it
while the cat’s back was turned. Then I reached for my own phone
and entered the romantically neutral safety zone of a long overdue
call to my mom, hoping to find my misplaced logic along the
way.

The rest of the afternoon was spent running
errands that mostly involved collecting last minute supplies for
the trip, including scent free toiletries. Our final stop was the
grocery store. He caught me smiling big several times while we
walked down the aisles with a grocery cart, Gray doing the pushing.
I refused to explain myself, but the mirth was rooted in the idea
that even Grayson Lionel Gregory the third (he was named after his
grandfather) had to get his camping supplies just like normal
people.

Lidia had given me some nice outdoor meal
ideas which paid dividends in impressing Gray as I led him away
from the dried camp food section to the rice and pasta mixes and
aluminum pouched chicken and fish products. We gathered protein
bars, and nut mixes and yogurt covered raisins and pretzels.
Breakfast meals would include granola bars or instant oatmeal and
instant hot chocolate—he picked out the kind with the tiny
marshmallows without any prompting from me. I selected some
on-the-go water additives to give a little flavor variety to the
beverage selections during the day, but especially with dinner.

During a pass down the candy aisle Gray
reached for a bag of miniature Hershey Bars, not for himself, but
according to his historical information about my preferences. I
stopped him, though, and explained that although they had once been
a favorite, thanks to him, that avenue of indulgence was now closed
to me forever. He laughed hugely and kissed me full on the lips,
right there in the aisle…people saw.

When I could safely wiggle free from his
affection without offending him, I chose a bag of fun size Snickers
and a package of Swedish Fish for my dessert on the trail. He
didn’t select anything from that section of the store and it made
me wonder just what his notion of dessert might be, though I felt
like I already had a pretty good idea.

Chapter 33
–
Kiwi

It was just before seven and the morning was
cool and clear. It was a reassuring and inviting way to begin a
trek into the wilderness. We pulled into the gravel lot at the
trailhead in the vicinity of Mount Shark. There were two other
vehicles already parked there, and ours made the third in a row. I
could see Elsie standing behind her pick-up truck, tinkering with
something that was hanging off the open tailgate. The fourth person
in our party was standing next to her, his pack on the ground at
his feet, back turned to us, assisting Elsie by holding something
in place while she worked to secure it.

We stepped out and moved to the back of the
Jeep. Our packs were ready to go, they just needed to be pulled out
and secured on our backs, which is a particular science, I learned:
the proper placing of one’s pack for optimum comfort and ease of
movement while trekking.

I was turned away, leaning over my pack,
about to place my water bottle in a side compartment when Elsie
came over to our vehicle to greet us and make the introductions
with her counterpart.

“Gray Gregory, Ellie Mayne, I’d like you to
meet Phil Boyens.”

I had been squatting over my pack and had my
water bottle in my hand as I rose and turned to greet the new
person, taking my turn after Gray. In one of my signature smooth
moves I dropped my water bottle in the gravel as I got a good look
and shook hands with the naturalist from New Zealand, who wore an
unusual bracelet on his left hand...

I just let the bottle roll away like I
wouldn’t need it and smiled nervously at my other fiancé, or
‘Phil,’ as he would be known on our journey.

Gray leaned down to retrieve the escaping
bottle and laughed as he teased me.

“That’s good thinking Ellie, getting any and
all clumsiness out of your system right here in the parking
lot.”

From my peripheral vision I could see that
Gray was smiling at me as he returned the bottle to my hands. But I
was caught in uncertainty as ‘Phil’ spoke to me. The words were
clear, just articulated in a perfect Auckland accent, making the
scene and accompanying soundtrack surreal and bizarre.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Miss. I
understand from Elsie that congratulations are in order.”

He was like a different person. If I closed
my eyes it would be almost bearable, sort of like the famous Kiwi
director Peter Jackson was talking to me. But my eyes were stuck
open. I hadn’t seen him in a day and a half and I felt huge relief
followed by sudden and heavy trepidation. His opening statement had
set the tone and I was convinced that things could only go downhill
from here. I cheered myself with the idea that if the situation got
too unbearable for me, I might be able to talk Elsie in to sneaking
me out when their backs were turned.