The others were laughing just as hard as Shabina. “She has a point,” Shabina said. “Thank you for the compliment. It’s nice to know I can still throw a meal together.”
“Speaking of men,” Stella began.
“We were speaking of bears,” Shabina corrected. “The American black bear, to be exact. We have to listen to Zahra’s plansince she went to all the trouble of making one to save Raine.” She wasn’t quite ready to have the women give her their opinions on whether she could possibly really be in love with Rainier Ashcroft, and she knew that was the direction the conversation was veering to.
“I do get saved in the end, don’t I?” Raine asked. “Because I don’t want my face ripped off by a bear.” She gave a delicate little shudder.
“I wouldn’t let you get your head bit off by a bear,” Zahra assured. “According to everything I read, the bears aren’t aggressive unless you happen to come between a mother and her cubs or them and food.” She looked a little smug. “Food. Which is why I’m eating so much. You should all thank me for saving you.”
“Is that your excuse? I thought you were showing off,” Stella objected. “Everyone knows you can eat twice as much as anyone else and not gain an ounce.”
“Um, that’s my one and only claim to fame, and I’m not giving it up,” Raine protested. “I can eat more than Zahra. I love you, Zahra, especially since you have a plan to save me from a bear, but I can’t let you take my eating crown from me. It’s all I’ve got.”
Zahra waved a magnanimous hand. “The crown is yours. The bear should be afraid if we make ourselves big and yell quite loudly. Ordinarily, we could back slowly away, flapping arms and retreating as we told the thing to go away. But someone has to stay and defend Raine. Stella can’t be the one because she married Sam. I objected strenuously to babies, but I’ve had to rethink my position on that subject. I’ve decided Stella and Sam need to have a baby or two running around driving Sam crazy.”
“Sam crazy?” Stella nearly squeaked it. “Sam never goes crazy. He’s always calm and steady. I’m the crazy one. Don’t be wishing babies on me now after all your objections.”
“I was just jealous,” Zahra admitted without the least bit of embarrassment. “I didn’t want to lose you. I should have known I wouldn’t. I just gained Sam.”
“Silly. You’ve always had Sam.” Stella blew her a kiss.
It was dawning on Shabina what true friendship was. She’d never had that before. She’d been in boarding schools, but she’d never gotten close to other students for a variety of reasons. When her father began taking her with him on some of his trips, they went from country to country, and she had tutors. After she’d been kidnapped, she stayed to herself until Stella, a force to be reckoned with, had come into her life. Stella had brought the others.
These women had been around her for several years, but she’d always held herself apart from them, believing herself so flawed she couldn’t possibly fit in. They couldn’t understand her. She couldn’t really understand them. What was real friendship? She was sitting right there in the middle of it. They didn’t seem to mind flaws—in themselves or each other. They were just there for one another when they were needed. They gave honest opinions—sometimes not wanted but valued nevertheless.
“Vienna needs to marry Zale. The man is crazy about her, and someone has to save him,” Zahra declared. “Shabina’s been through enough for ten people. Harlow saved me once already. And we’re not sacrificing Raine because she’s too amazing. So, sadly, it’s me.” She heaved a sigh. “If the bear comes and collectively we can’t scare it off, Vienna or Harlow has to pick up Raine and get her to one of the cars. I’ll keep the bear’s attention centered on me while you all make a run for it.”
She slumped back in her lounge chair a bit dramatically like the heroine in a movie and forked rice into her mouth with another moan of appreciation.
Shabina coughed into her sleeve and busied herself rolling thelast of the chicken in foil to keep it hot. She had to remove the stones from the embers once they burned clean. It gave her something to concentrate on to keep her laughter at bay. Zahra might be a drama queen, but she was absolutely serious.
“Good plan,” Harlow said. “But you are kind of small, Zahra. If we’re supposed to make ourselves huge to scare the bear, I think you might need a couple of us to make the bear think we’re enormous.”
Zahra lifted an eyebrow. “Did you not listen, Harlow? I saidifthe bear didn’t respond to our collective noise and size, then you make a run for it.”
Harlow nodded solemnly. “Yes, yes, of course. I think that plan’s a good one, although we should add in there that Shabina should sprint to her car and drive it up so you can have a fast escape. That would give you a better exit plan.”
“We just have to make certain all the food is put in the bear containers and all the smells are covered,” Shabina said. “We don’t want to attract them to this site. We can clean everything up carefully, Zahra. I’m used to scrubbing the stones and cooking pots so there isn’t evidence of food left for the bears.”
“Nowcan we talk about men?” Vienna asked. “Or one man at least?”
Shabina continued to work clearing the food. Stella and Harlow helped. They wanted the camp pristine from all food sources. Shabina kept her head down. She knew the inevitable had been coming. The women had come to support her so she wouldn’t be alone, but they were going to weigh in on whether her feelings for Rainier were realistic. She didn’t think talking about it mattered one way or the other since he didn’t return her feelings. If he knew, and maybe he did, he would consider her emotions juvenile. That would be even more painfully embarrassing.
“If I get a vote,” she said without looking up, “I vote no.”
“We’ve all had to endure the endless talks on men,” Stella pointed out. “Look at all the times we talked about Sam.”
A collective groan went around the campfire. Zahra covered her eyes. Harlow her ears. Vienna attempted to do both.
“Sam is dreamy, we get it,” Raine said. “No more Sam discussions or you get fed to the bear, baby or no baby.”
“I’mnothaving a baby,” Stella said decisively. “Stop saying that. You’ll jinx me.”
“Even if the baby looked like Sam?” Zahra asked, her mischievous expression very much in evidence.
Stella paused before she answered. “Well, if it could be guaranteed the baby had his eyes and his laid-back manner, then I’d have his child in a hot minute. But it would be a girl with a nasty little temper and she’d give me attitude night and day.”
“Which you would deserve,” Zahra said.
