The fresh scent of the outdoors felt cleansing to her. This was the place she came to reset. Recharge. She found a semblance of peace in the beauty of the vistas and gorges. The meadows, withan abundance of wildflowers, ever changing with the seasons and elevations, were as inspiring and gave her just as much balance as the wild of the forest.
She had three favorite campsites, all far from the ones popular with the public. They weren’t well-known and were off the beaten path. She set up her tent and took the dogs for a short run along a narrow path she was familiar with that looped back around to her campsite. When she returned, to her astonishment, Zahra’s SUV was parked down from hers, and she was just arriving with her backpack and tent strapped to her back. The Dobermans rushed to her side, eager to greet her.
Zahra looked grumpy, which, on her, translated to adorable.
“Zahra, what are you doing here? You despise camping. I didn’t know you had time off. What did you do with Misty?” Shabina couldn’t believe her eyes.
The last person she’d expected to see was Zahra Metcalf. The woman would rather cut off her fingernails than camp—and she loved her perfectly manicured fingernails.
“Don’t even talk to me,” Zahra said as she shook out her small tent and placed it a few feet from Shabina’s. “We aren’t friends right now.” She stuck her nose in the air. “I’m not certain we can ever be friends again.”
“But what are you doing here?”
“You do realize there is aperfectlygood spa at Sunrise Lake with cabins and decent beds. Right this very minute we could be getting a massage in the lap of luxury, eating a five-star meal, but what are we doing? Camping in dirt. Eating insects. Shivering with cold. Looking out for bears.” Zahra looked suspiciously around her into the trees. “There are bears here, aren’t there?”
“All the food goes into the bear containers,” Shabina assured.“If they were to come around, which they won’t because the dogs are here, we would be safe.”
Malik and Sharif both pushed their heads against Zahra’s thighs, nearly knocking her over. It was all Shabina could do not to burst out laughing, but at the same time, tears burned behind her eyes. Zahra looked indignant and truly annoyed. Only one thing would have induced Zahra to find someone to watch her new puppy and go out into a cold night to go camping—her friendship with Shabina. No matter her posturing, she had dropped everything to support her friend.
“Thanks, Zahra,” she said simply but very sincerely.
Zahra flashed her million-dollar smile. “I did pack food, not trail mix. And chocolate. And treats for the dogs.” She scratched the dogs’ ears until they were leaning into her, nearly moaning with happiness. “No grumpy bear is eating our chocolate tonight. I suppose we’ll have to eat it all in one night. I brought enough for two nights if you’re staying that long.”
Two nights? Zahra had come prepared to camp for the two nights Shabina was staying. That meant she took two days off from her work, all to do something she didn’t enjoy that much so she could support Shabina.
“We can use the bear container to ensure the chocolate is safe,” Shabina said. “Even if they come around, which I’m really sure they won’t, they wouldn’t be able to get to the chocolate.”
Zahra wasn’t supposed to eat very much chocolate. She always carried it, claiming she needed it in case her blood sugar dropped too low. Mostly she carried it to share with the others. She knew each of her friends had their favorites, and she brought those particular types along on their backpacking trips or on the nights they got together.
“It won’t be safe from Stella,” Zahra said, setting a lounge chair in front of the ring of rocks surrounding the firepit, which wasn’t lit.
“Stella?” Shabina echoed. “Is Stella planning on camping with us? She can’t do that. She has to make sure her guests are on the right shuttles tomorrow morning.”
Zahra shrugged. “She has staff to do that if she decides to take a couple of nights off.”
Shabina didn’t know what to say. The idea that Stella would come camping as well made her happy but also put a huge lump in her throat. These women were good friends to her, offering unconditional friendship, and what was she giving in return? She shut the thought down. Zahra was there, and she wasn’t going to waste time feeling guilt. She was going to enjoy her company instead of second-guessing everything going on around her.
Two more cars drove up, one following the other. Harlow and Vienna. That was crazy and made Shabina laugh. How they’d both managed to get time off to come camping at such short notice, she couldn’t imagine. They both had to have called in so many favors with other nurses at the hospital—all for her.
Harlow went over to Vienna’s car, opened the back passenger door and ducked inside. Shabina’s breath caught in her throat as Raine wrapped her arm around Harlow’s neck to allow her to pull her out of the vehicle. Raine? She shouldn’t be camping yet. Her doctors would have a fit. She couldn’t imagine what they would say to her.
“Zahra, Raine’s here.”
Zahra shrugged. “You know no one can stop her when she wants to do something. I’m sure she didn’t tell anyone. She just signed off, closed everything down and left.”
“We could have four branches of the military looking for us.” Shabina was only half joking.
“That’s true, but Raine’s probably found some way to shield us from discovery.” Zahra didn’t sound too worried about the possibility of troops showing up. She could handle irate men with ease.
Vienna hurried ahead to arrange a chair for Raine to sit in. Shabina and Zahra helped carry backpacks and tents and set them up. Vienna was the one to start the low fire in the deep pit. She put a screen over the flames to ensure no embers could fly up to the leaves in the trees.
“Raine decided to join us,” Vienna announced while the others fussed over Raine’s leg, adding a chair to elevate it. “She’s going to get in so much trouble.” The last was said gleefully.
“Unlike the rest of you, I don’t answer to anyone,” Raine objected.
Harlow burst out laughing. “I’m not sure that’s true. I’ve heard a certain doctor bossing you around.”
“If you’re speaking of Rush, he bosses, but that doesn’t mean I listen.” Raine rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Unless he’s talking about my leg. I do listen to him when he’s giving me medical advice. Anything else is pure nonsense, and I have no intention of allowing him or anyone else to tell me what to do.”
