“Thanks,” I reply, happy to have an ally.
“But she didn’t know you worked for Elite. Or anything about you. I couldn’t figure out how you two knew each other. And then I saw you being all gooey-eyed on the boat. I thought maybe the whole rooming situation put her off—” She stops mid-thought.The pieces fall into place. “Holy Shit, Hudson. You’re sharing a room with both of them!”
“I know,” I say. “It’s an actual nightmare. If Dante ever wanted inspiration for an additional circle, he need look no further.”
“Fuck,” Vanessa says, drawing out the word. “You have to tell her.”
“Who?”
“Mira. Duh,” she says, smacking my forehead.
“I’m pretty sure I fucked that up already,” I say solemnly. “She hates me.”
Vanessa shakes her head. “I very much doubt that. No one gets that defensive over someone they don’t care about. Trust me. You can still salvage this.”
“I just want her to talk to me. She’s freezing me out.”
“Wait until she comes to you. Or better yet, do something nice for her. A girl always loves a grand romantic gesture.”
“Like what?”
“I’m sure you’ll figure something out,” she winks, finding Adrian and wrapping an arm around him and whispering in his ear. I’m not even mad that she’s gossiping about me. Because it means I still have a chance.
Before I can brainstorm my options, my mother appears at my side, digging her sharp nails into my arm, making me jump. “Can you do something about this sun? I’m sweltering out here.”
I have to control my response. It’s not like I can change the rotation of the Earth on her whim.
“There’s not really much I can do,” I reply.
“Maybe hurry this along then? I’d really love to get back to civilization in this lifetime.”
“Let me check out what’s going on,” I say, just as eager to get out of here as she is.
I find the adventure guides congregating around the far end of the boat. Bo is setting out aluminum trays of premade food on foldout tables. The baked beans look burnt, the potato salad is an artificial yellow, the coleslaw is watery, and a tray of congealed Mac and cheese is reheating in the sun. When he unveils a tray of pre-formed burgers, I can still see the freezer burn along the edges.
“I think that meat’s gone bad,” I say, noting the discoloration.
“Someone put all the ice in the beer coolers,” Tonya says, aiming the blame at Bo, as she strikes a match and lights the grill. The grates are covered in a thick layer of blackened char and I can’t imagine they’ve been cleaned in a decade.
“Hudson here teaching you the proper way to make a fire?” Grant says, taking a swig of his beer.
“Just trying to ensure none of the guests get food poisoning.”
“Don’t let this one give you a hard time. We can’t all be purebred wilderness leaders.”
“Wilderness leader, eh? Are you in the forest service?” Bo asks with genuine interest. Uttering the words “Elite Elevation” to a guy like this is like feeding a gremlin after midnight, but it doesn’t stop Grant from doing it anyways.
“Hudson works for Elite Elevation,” he says with a shit-eating grin, and I regret not going through with putting Nair in his shampoo when he was sixteen. “His dad is the owner. Elder Elite if you will. And little Hayes here is going to be taking over next week.”
Bo stares at me as if I’m the messiah about to guide him to the promised land. “Working there is like my dream, man,” he says shakily. “Do you have any openings? I’d be happy to email my resumé.”
I consider letting him down gently until I realize I might be able to use this to my advantage.
“One of the things we admire at Elite is ingenuity and problem-solving, especially on location. I’d love to get your insight on a solution to our problem here.”
“Our problem?” Bo asks, confused.
“Well, the food doesn’t look very appetizing, if I’m being honest. This is a wedding party, as you know, and there’s a certain level of expectation. Don’t you think it might be best to head back to the resort? Where there is an actual café with food that hasn’t been sitting in the hot weather for hours without ice?”
