Broken Trails

“Lainey?’

She spun around, focusing on Scotch. ‘Um, yeah, over there is fine,” she answered hastily. Whether her sudden forced cheerfulness registered with Helen or not was moot. The smile Scotch gave her more than triggered Lainey’s warning bells. She promptly busied herself with her daypack, extricating her shorts and t-shirt. ‘Shall we?” she asked, doing her damnedest to look innocent.

Scotch led the way. Behind them, the girls and squealed at some game or other they played. Lainey’s last sight was of Martin picking over the stones at the riverbank, rubbing his muscular upper arms. He looked cold, and Lainey suddenly wondered about the wisdom of swimming in an Alaskan river.

“You can change here,” Scotch said, gesturing to a sheltered area behind some huckleberry bushes. ‘But keep your eyes open. The hot springs are right through there; sometimes people cut through here to get to the swing.’

Lainey blinked. ‘Hot springs? Now that sounds like fun.’

“It is,” Scotch said with a grin. ‘And when you get too hot, you can take a dip in the river. It’s a hell of a wake up, let me tell you.’

She laughed. ‘Where are you going to change?’

Scotch pointed to another cluster of berry bushes. ‘Right over there. See you in a couple of minutes.’

“Okay.’

Lainey waited until she saw Scotch disappear into her impromptu changing room before beginning to undress. She shucked out of her clothes, keeping a wary eye on her surroundings as she donned her sleep shorts and a black t-shirt. Folding her clothing, she set her boots on top of the pile. On her feet were the tennis shoes she had purchased at the general store in the village for working in the dog yard.

Now dressed, her attention wavered toward the cluster of bushes where Scotch disappeared. She saw some movement, caught a tantalizing flash of pale skin, but nothing more. Unable to help herself, she took a step closer, standing on her toes to maybe catch sight of her libido’s desire.

“See anything interesting?’

Startled, Lainey jumped and spun around at the loud voice. Howry stood on a passing trail, water still dripping from his body. He shivered, and clutched a towel tighter across his shoulders, but his obvious discomfort did not lessen his joy at busting his friend in a little peeping action. His grin was almost insolent, and he wiggled his eyebrows at her.

Lainey scowled at him. She could not respond the way she wanted, being so close to Scotch’s hiding place, and he knew it. “Nope, just waiting for Scotch to finish,” she said, waving him urgently to move along.

Howry’s smile widened. ‘Hey, Scotch. Need any help in there? Lainey’s offering.’

Her mouth dropped open as she glared daggers at him. She took a step forward, intent on strangling him with his towel, when Scotch answered.

“Naw, I’m done.”

Lainey plastered a pleasant expression onto her face as she turned to see Scotch emerging from her hiding place.

“What do you say we drop these at the truck, and then go to the springs?” she asked, indicating the clothing in her arms.

“I’ll see you there,” Howry said, winking at Lainey before continuing down the path.

“Sounds like a plan,” Lainey agreed, relieved he was going away, but dreading the fact he would now be laying in wait for them.

At the truck, Lainey was formerly introduced to Teresa. The two girls were eating hot dogs, doing their level best to ignore Bon making a mess of his ketchup and mustard just out of reach. The handsome Martin was nowhere to be seen. Lainey figured he was with the others at the hot springs.

There was still time to back out. Scotch would not mind if she took the ATV back, would she? Howry would be a pest, Lainey knew, but his teasing was a known entity. What if this Martin fellow had designs on Scotch? She was a beautiful - and single - young woman; he would be a fool not to notice her in that manner.

What if Scotch felt the same way toward him?

Lainey’s heart sunk further as Scotch showed her the way to the springs. Well, you wanted to know where you stand, she thought, castigating herself.

The atmosphere became more humid as they neared. The springs were just past the boulders, an area both natural and manmade. Sturdy wooden steps led down to the pool, ending at a long deck flanking the two edges of the pool. Large flat stones circled the remainder of the water, and it was here that Lainey discovered Thom, Rye, and a woman who had to be Phyllis Schram. Martin and Howry sat shoulder deep in the water, warming up after their dip in the river.

Scotch called a greeting and went down the steps toward the deck. Lainey followed, displeased at the overt interest she sensed in Martin, who swam closer.

“Lainey Hughes, Martin Schram. Martin, Lainey,” Scotch said in introduction. She slipped into the water with a sigh, not looking to see if Lainey joined them.

“Pleasure to meet you,” Martin said.

Up close, Lainey was heartened to see that at least the man had bad teeth. Unfortunately, that was the only negative thing she found about his appearance. ‘It’s nice to meet you, too,” she lied.

The water was deep enough that Scotch was treading it as she moved away from the deck. ‘You coming in? It’s cooler over here. Warms up as you make your way to the rocks.’

“Sure.” Lainey sat on the deck and put a tentative foot in the water. Her tennis shoe immediately became sodden as warm water washed over her ankle. “Oh, it is nice,” she said with a smile, forgetting Martin’s presence for a moment. She eased over the side, holding the deck to keep afloat.

“It’s really good in winter,” Martin said.

Scotch agreed and they shared a smile. Lainey’s lip curled. When the woman looked back at her, she ducked under the water to hide her expression, surfacing with a grin. ‘I’ll bet it is.’

“Come on,” Scotch said, beginning to swim toward the others.

Lainey had little choice but to follow.

Scotch lounged in the back of the truck. Her brother, Bon, lay beside her, napping. Irish and Teresa had left with Phyllis to stay the night at the Schram cabin. Helen had taken the ATV home, needing to check on one of her canine patients at the clinic. The coals in the barbecue had long since burned out, and the men idled around the clearing in patio chairs, digesting a heavy lunch of potato salad and hamburgers as they discussed life, evolution and politics.

As expected, Martin had put the moves on Lainey. Scotch felt a combination of relief and displeasure at his antics. He had always been a player, even when they were children. She had fended off hundreds of advances from him over the years, so his distraction had been a joy. Still, when he had first begun flirting with her friend, happiness was not her first response.

She watched him walking with Lainey along the river. Scotch was uncertain whether Lainey’s suggestion of a stroll had been to spend more time with the outgoing young man or to be rid of him. Lainey was a healthy woman. Surely she would want to sow some oats here and there; it wasn’t as if she had a steady boyfriend. Traveling the world as she did, she probably had a man in every port and no strings attached.

Did this particular port have to hold Martin though?

And what if Lainey had meant to take a walk with Scotch instead? There was a moment there that Scotch could not tell which her friend wanted. For some reason she had had difficulty reading Lainey’s signals all day, which caused Scotch quite a bit of consternation. After a month and a half of close quarters, she thought she knew Lainey pretty well. Today every look or word made her question that supposition. It was like Lainey was hiding something from her. Did she think Scotch and Martin had a thing for each other, and did not want to cause a scene between them? What else could explain that sense of duplicity she had?