“I’ll try to be quick,” Darcy repeated. She now sounded openly guilty. “I really will take you on the wildlife tour after that.” She snuck a look over at him as she slicked on some cherry Chapstick, the closest thing to makeup he’d seen on her yet.
Teagan shook his head. She probably had things to do back at the camp. Things she wanted to do on her day off.
“You don’t have to babysit me,” he said. “You could have just warned me about the sweat lodge plans.”
They arrived in a cluster of old, federal-style buildings looming over a few gift shops and cafes.
Darcy’s lips pursed as she parked the car, hand tight and nervous on the gears.
“Well, I couldn’t leave you to your own devices all day if you didn’t want to come, could I?” she asked.
Teagan sighed and unclipped his seatbelt. She seemed to think he’d spent most of his previous three and a half decades passed out in a gutter somewhere.
“I would have been fine,” he said.
He mentally shook himself, afraid that he sounded like a brat. He gathered his composure, which he’d scattered all over a train platform several weeks ago and never quite recovered. He smoothed his face and gentled his posture.
“I’m sorry Rachel treats you the way she does,” he said, meeting her eyes. “But it’s actually not your job to take care of me.”
Darcy visibly flinched.
He didn’t want to be her job. He wanted—well, nothing he could picture actually happening, but he didn’t want her to look at him and see another giant mess she had to clean up.
Despite her frown, he got out of the truck. There was a restaurant on the other side of the parking lot. Maybe it had Wi-Fi. Or coffee. Or bacon.
“Look,” Darcy said, grabbing him by the elbow and drawing his attention to a trailer at the base of the hill. “I’ll be in there, okay? I don’t think the restaurant serves alcohol this early, but don’t order any. Don’t go near the elk. They bite.” She nodded at some large, somnolent creatures grazing on the nearby lawn to the delight of a crowd of tourists. “After I’m done, I promise we’ll go hiking, and I’ll find you a beaver if I have to swim into the goddamn pond myself. Okay? Sound good?” Teagan didn’t know why she was still asking. It’s not like he had a choice but to wait.
Teagan eased her hand off his arm and ignored her worried frown. “You don’t need to worry about me,” he said. “Thanks. Good luck with your interview.”
ten
It took less than an hour. That was the only thing that went as planned.
Darcy trudged across the parking lot, dodging RVs and minivans full of frazzled vacationers in search of restrooms and hot food. She thought about turning onto one of the trails so that she could scream alone in the woods for a few minutes, but she already felt like a jerk for wasting Teagan’s entire morning now that she wasn’t even going to have anything to show for it.
She found Teagan in the largest cafe, seated next to the window. She wasn’t sure whether the stiff, defensive look he sent her was about her phone against his ear, the big spread of animal protein in front of him, or his palpable disappointment that they were not, at this moment, frolicking hand in hand through a woodland meadow, but he didn’t look happy.
Me too, buddy, she thought.
She took the seat catty-corner to him so that she didn’t have to smell his bison burger. On closer examination, Teagan looked even worse. He had a little wrinkle in his forehead as he listened to whoever was speaking on the phone,and the muscles in his jaw were tight. He turned his head toward the window and spoke:
“Hi, yes, still waiting. I understand. Look, I know she’s very scary, but she doesn’t actually have the authority to fire you, and also, technically, I do. No. No, I am not firing you. I just—No. I’m sorry I said that. You’re not getting fired. No, I’m sorry. Right. I just want access to my email—”
Darcy propped her elbows on the table. Since she hadn’t slept much the night before, the downward momentum carried her all the way to her head buried between her biceps. She closed her eyes and slumped on the table.
“I’ll call you back,” Teagan said.
She heard him put the phone on the table. After a moment, there were quiet eating noises. He had a cheeseburger, fries, and a soda. All that shit was going to hit his system like broken glass after three weeks of Rachel’s wild rice and kale regimen.
“Can I have some fries please?” Darcy mumbled without lifting her head.
Teagan didn’t respond, but after a couple of seconds, fries were put in her outstretched hand. She didn’t open her eyes as she shoveled them to her mouth. She put her hand back out, willing Teagan to pay attention to her. She spread her fingers imploringly and more fries were provided.
“You didn’t get the job?” Teagan asked, voice guarded.
“They wouldn’t even let me apply,” she said bitterly, mouth full of fries. She scraped herself into a sitting position and surveyed the rest of Teagan’s food. He had a pickle spear on his plate. She eyed it with sad interest until Teagan rolled it onto a side plate and pushed it across the table to her.
“Why not?” he asked.
