Jen snorted. “Firstly, after that raccoon execution yesterday, I think you’re the last person any of us will worry about out here. Secondly …” She arched an eyebrow and lowered her voice. “I may have stuck my head out of the tent and seen that you weren’t alone.”
As she spoke, Lacey’s gaze flickered across the campsite to where Victor was packing down the final tent.
She didn’t want to like Victor. It was all sorts of inconvenient, not to mention unwise. Not as foolish as the time she had begrudgingly said yes to allowing a trainee to do her bikini wax, but still unwise.
At least her undesirable softening toward Victor was only damaging her ego and self-respect. The wax had had her sitting on a bag of peas every night for a week.
“I say go for it. It’s not fraternization until the companies merge.” Jen gave her a wink as she stood.
Meredith wouldn’t care about technicalities. And no man, let alone that one, was worth putting her career on the line for. “We should get into the canoes. We have a few hours on the water today.”
Lacey stood and scanned the campsite. Victor was tying the last tent into one of the other canoes. Apart from a few backpacks waiting to be loaded, the campsite was clear. You leave nature like you were never here. Her father had drilled the mantra into her growing up.
She bent and picked up a smooth stone from the beach, rubbed her thumb across it, and idly flicked it at the surface of the lake. It skipped. One. Two. Three. Four times! She gave a little squawk of triumph, only to realize Victor had his back turned and hadn’t seen her moment of redemption.
“Everything secure?” Kelvin came to stand beside her, his grey beard bristly like a toilet brush. “We’re going to hit some bumpy water today.”
“I need to check Victor’s canoe, then we’re good.” Lacey covered the distance to the third canoe and checked the ties holding the gear in, tugging on them for good measure.
“I can be trusted to tie some knots, O’Connor.” She couldn’t tell from Victor’s tone if he was teasing her or offended, and didn’t want to look into his face to see.
“Just doing my job. You alright to paddle with Louisa in the three-man?” Victor and Louisa, Richard and Jen, her and Cassie. She tried to always team a strong canoeist with a weaker one. Kelvin sat in the back of the three-man and only chipped in to help if they hit rough water. Must be the easiest gig he’d ever had.
“Right as rain.”
“Actually, we need to swap Victor and Cassie.” Lacey hadn’t even noticed that Kelvin had followed her over to Victor’s canoe. “I’d rather have Cassie in the canoe with me.”
Cassie was by far and away the weakest canoeist, but Lacey bristled at the insinuation that she couldn’t manage the canoe with her in it. “I don’t—”
“I know you’re captain, but there are some things that guides retain the decision rights on, as per the rules. Canoe allocation for days with rough water is one of them.”
“Fine.” She’d been going for airy, but the single syllable came out sounding like she’d been asked to clean the camp commode.
Kelvin put his fingers in his mouth and let loose a piercing whistle. Everyone looked up. “Everyone, we’re going to be hitting some rapids early today. Canoe allocation is Richard and Jen, Victor and Lacey, Louisa and Cassie with me. Remember what I told you. We’ll be taking the first set of rapids from the left. My boat will be the first one down. Follow our lead. And whatever you do, don’t stop paddling.”
At Kelvin’s nod, people shrugged into their life jackets and dragged their canoes into the water until the stern was the only thing left on land. She would have to be in the front. Weight distribution during rapids mattered. Victor had to be at the back, no matter how much she hated the idea of him having control.
One of the many reasons why she’d rowed with everyone except him the last few days. Lacey clambered over the gear and settled herself into the bow of their canoe as she grabbed her oar.
Behind her, Victor pushed the boat off, then jumped in and settled himself in the stern.
The bottom of the canoe scraped across the bottom of the lake as the canoe rocked and his weight settled. Grabbing her paddle, she pushed