of the closet—isn’t that where you spend your time? Afraid to come out…” She threw him an evil smile.
“My favorite color is pink, after all,” he said as he got up. He placed the bear spray right in front of her. “I won’t be far, so I’d be here long before you’d have to actually use this, but just in case…” He flipped a switch on the top and held it like he would a fire extinguisher. “You have about ten to twenty yards with this—point and shoot. Aim for the eyes. Whatever you do, though, do not run. Got it?”
She took the spray and held it up like he did, making sure she got the logistics of it. There wasn’t much to get. But spraying would be the least of her worries if a bear arrived—not running, or screaming, or curling up in the fetal position waiting to die would probably be the issue.
“Got it?” he prompted again.
“Yeah. I can do it.”
He flashed her a smile. “That’s my girl. You won’t need to, but it’s good to know how just in case.”
She put the spray down as he headed around the rock. “Your favorite color is pink?” she asked to his retreating backside. “Are you serious?”
“No,” he called, disappearing.
She chuckled to herself as she took in her surroundings. It was still beautiful even though she was kind of trapped in it—green and natural. The air smelled as if it had been scrubbed clean just that morning. Small insects buzzed between the plant life, their soft whine mingling with chirping birds. One white moth fluttered across the clearing, the sunshine lighting its wings.
Her thoughts turned to her stomach. She was so freaking hungry. It felt like her ribs were being sucked in. The pit of her stomach felt like a cavern, acidic and turbulent.
She glanced up at the sky. “Touché. I messed up your plans, and this is payback. I get it. No hard feelings.”
“Who are you talking to?” Mikey asked as he emerged from the trees and placed a pile of dried twigs and wood beside her.
“God.”
“You don’t use the bowed head position, huh? You just talk right at Him like you do everyone else?”
“He has probably already sold my ticket to the guy below, so I figure I can at least tell Him when I’ve realized I’ve been a jerk.”
“Hmm.” Mikey created a circle of small rocks. He then sat down to his self-made fire station, looking over his tools. With assured economy, he created a sort of bird’s nest of leaves and tiny twigs. On it he put some tissue paper. After lighting this, he gently constructed on it a pile of the wood he’d just collected, which he’d made within the rock circle. “So easy. Cheating, but so easy.”
“You never follow your own advice with the lighter, huh? Need a girl to save the day?” Sara asked, already trying to lean in to catch a little heat.
As the light was sapped from the sky, the chill of the night crept in, poking her in warning of what was to come. She’d learned that the cold in Montana had a way of slicing through every piece of fabric a girl was wearing, cut through her skin, and start sawing at her bones. Compared to Nevada, Montana’s cold—even the minimal summer cold—was indescribable.
“I carry a lighter in everyday life, but when I deliberately get lost, then no,” Mikey answered. “I make fire like the cavemen used to.”
She got butterflies when he said “everyday life.” A life she desperately wanted to be a part of. She needed to fix this thing between them. She needed to patch up her mistake and get back on track with him. She could not lose him—not after realizing they were still just as close as adults as they had been as kids.
He hunkered down next to the fire and softly blew on the flame, coaxing it to life. Tendrils of smoke spread along the surface before curling toward the sky. A moment later, small orange flames licked at the wood and leaves, sneaking out from the pile and rising.
Mikey sat back on his haunches, surveying his handiwork. After a moment he crawled back a ways, letting the fire grow on its own. He asked, “What were you apologizing for? To the Big Man, I mean. What’d you do?”
“Are we going to try and find food after this?” she asked to sidetrack. This talk was going to happen, but she’d stall as long as