“This will get your lover boy begging,” Shane said as he posted it, along with a brief description of where they were.
“I wish you’d stop calling him that.” Krista’s smile faded. “You’ll ruin my chocolate-induced epiphany moment.” When Shane cocked his head, she pointed to her empty plate. “Thanks to my calorific vacation treat, I’ve decided to only suit myself from now on, especially when I return home. I won’t be a shoulder to cry on anymore for Ryan. Zoey can listen to his problems now. So, you know what this means?”
“What?”
“Ryan reallywasusing me as an emotional crutch. Which means”—her lips curled in disgust—“you were right, McDermit.”
“Don’t sweat it, Krista,” Shane said in his most sympathetic tone. “Soon, you’ll realize I’m always right. Abouteverything.”
Eyes wide, mouth open, Krista stared at him.
He stared back, deadly serious. Until she whiffed the nonsense that had just come out of his mouth and cracked up laughing.
Her smile brightened her whole face again, and Shane took another photo of her.
“Hey,” she said. “You’re not gonna post that too, are you?”
“Not unless you want me to. I just thought you might like it. I’ll send you all my photos afterwards if you want.”
“That’ll be awesome. I’m not one for taking pictures. I always seem to forget or never have enough time.”
“Speaking of time,” Shane said, putting his phone away. “We’d better head back to the car and make the most of Lake Louise campground. It’ll be our last night of luxury for a few days.”
“By luxury, you mean showers, right?”
“Showers, toilets. And sinks for our washing up after dinner.”
Krista swung her legs around and stood. “Did you and Michael Adams actually plan to cook?”
“Of course we did,” Shane said, heading back to the trail. “I don’t think Mikey’s culinary skills are much to write home about, but mine are. And nothing beats a camp stove meal.”
“Having just had the best cake ever, I beg to differ.”
“That cake has nothing on my world famous, one-pot sausages and beans.”
“World famous, eh?”
“You’re in for another treat.”
Krista skipped beside him. “I can’t wait.”
***
Sitting at their campgroundtable, Krista stared at the plate of blackenedsausagesthat Shane had just placed before her. What might have passed for beans in another universe were also black and shriveled, and what she assumed had once been the tin of tomatoes she’d seen Shane pour into the saucepan now looked like lumpy black gravy.
“Eat up,” he said, standing by the little stove he’d rigged on the ground. He spooned up a mouthful, and she was both horrified and surprised that he didn’t gag. “Hmmm, it’s come outreallygood.”
And it had smelledsoooogood, too. She’d thought the chocolate cake would’ve ruined her appetite for this first campground meal, but the aromas coming from their pitch when she’d returned from the washroom had been irresistible. How could Shane have ruined it so badly?
It had gone cold too. She hadn’t been in the shower that long, but her meal had already congealed. She poked at it with her spoon. It looked like a bowl of sticks and stones floating in red mud.
Hold up a minute!
Itwasa plate of sticks and stones floating in red mud.
She looked up, and Shane burst out laughing. “Bon appetite!”
“You’re such a jerk.” But Krista couldn’t help cracking up too. She picked a twig out of the bowl and flicked it at him.
