All For Anna (27 page)

Now I looked at him,
mouth gaping.

Was he serious? Did he
know my parents at all?

That was way too open
for a family like mine—way too real.

“I’m dead serious,
Tori. That kind of thing will eat you alive. I’d go with you...you know that,
right? If you needed support, I’d be there for you,” Kai said.

I felt my throat
thicken with emotion at his offer.

Why does he care so
much about this?

“Thank you, Kai. You
overestimate me, but I do appreciate your offer...you’re a good friend,” I
said, taking his hand in mine, hoping that would be the end of this
conversation.

“I don’t
overestimate
anything. I call it like I see it, Tori. You’re strong, you’re beautiful inside
and out, and you
deserve
to be loved. My only wish is that you would see
that, too.”

He raised my hand to
his mouth and gently kissed it before cranking the truck engine back up and
pulling onto the road. I told myself to breathe, but Kai had made that utterly
impossible. He was my too-good-to-be-true boyfriend, and I would never give him
up. I could never be
that
strong, and I hoped I’d never have to be.

**********

The last twenty
minutes, on what seemed to be a never-ending gravel road leading to nowhere,
caused me a bit of unanticipated nausea. Kai reassured me we were
almost
there
several times. I kept my eyes closed and my head glued to the back of
the seat. I was kicking myself for not bringing my Dramamine.

I seriously could have
kissed the ground when the truck finally lurched to a complete stop.

Kai came around to the
passenger door and opened it for me, “Let’s get you into the fresh air,
Pele
.
You can sit over here on this rock while I start getting us set up. Looks like
Chief Max, Mrs. Julie and Briggs are already here,” Kai said.

I nodded, trying to
keep the nausea at bay. He helped me over to a nearby rock. I knew I would be
embarrassed when I was feeling better, but I couldn’t even think about that
right now. I put my head in my hands and focused on my breathing.

I could hear Kai
speaking to a female who I was fairly certain was Mrs. Julie. When I tried to
confirm my suspicion, though, I almost lost my lunch. I closed my eyes again and
breathed out slowly.

“...Let me at least get
her some ginger ale, Kai. Poor thing, that road is brutal.”

“That would be great
Mrs. Julie, thank you,” Kai said.

About five minutes
later I heard Mrs. Julie, again. She sat down next to me on my rock and offered
me a tin mug filled with ginger ale and ice. I lifted my head, feeling a bit
more centered.

“Thank you, I’m Tori by
the way,” I said, making eye contact with the pretty red-head that looked to be
about my mother’s age.

“I’ve heard all about
you, Tori. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, sweetheart. I’m so glad you
could come with Kai on this trip, although I’m sorry the journey was a bit
rough on ya,” Mrs. Julie said.

“I’ll be fine in just a
few minutes I’m sure, I’m already feeling better,” I said, taking a sip of the
icy beverage.

“Good, until then feel
free to ask me for anything,” Mrs. Julie said.

“Thank you, Mrs. Julie.
I will.”

In just under a half
hour, Kai had set up both of our tents. They were about twenty feet out from
the fire pit and just a couple feet apart from one another. I had guessed that
the circle of tents would continue to grow as others arrived.

Kai was now helping
Chief Max set up the cooking station. I could sense the anticipation in the air
for our upcoming evening of
Camp Firemen
. My nerves started to wreak
havoc on my insides—as if I needed one more thing to make me nauseous. I rolled
my neck to the side, stretching it out before standing up. My legs wobbled
unsteadily under my weight, it was then that I felt a giant hand grip my arm.

“Hey old friend, you
alright?” Briggs asked.

I eyed him wearily as
he withdrew his arm. “You don’t look so good, pal,” he said, drawing his
eyebrows in to study me.

“I’m just a little car
sick, but I’m starting to feel better now,” I said.

“Well here, let me
help. You up for a little walk to stretch your legs?”

“Uh...sure,” I said.

He offered me his arm
again, after assuring me he wouldn’t bite. I took it, gratefully. It was slow
going at first, but every few yards I felt stronger, more balanced.

“I wanted to talk to
you, Tori. I hope...I hope you understand what I meant at the fireman’s ball.”

I stopped, and pulled
my arm away from his. “Despite what you think, I’m not heartless. I’m not
trying to play games with Kai, and I never was. You can relax, alright?”

“No, that’s just it. I
was wrong not to trust you, Tori. I realize that now, and I’m sorry for implying
anything other than that,” Briggs said, pushing his hair away from his eyes.

“Why now?” I asked.

“At first, I didn’t
think Kai was being very realistic. Things seemed to develop so quickly with
you two and I guess I just couldn’t believe you were all that he said you
were,” Briggs said.

“Okay...so where does
that leave us now?” I asked, still confused.

He smiled sheepishly.
“I hope it will leave us with you accepting my sincere apology. I never should
have doubted what Kai sees in you…because I see it, too. You are what he says
you are. I’d like to be friends, Tori. Kai is...he’s the brother I never had.
He always has my back, and I just wanted to do the same for him. In this case,
though, I was wrong.” Briggs held out his hand to me, “Friends?”

I smiled as I reached
for his hand. “Friends,” I said.

“Am I allowed in on
this secret handshake?” Kai asked, wiping the sweat from his forehead as he
walked toward us.

“Oh hey, I was just
making nice with your girl, bro,” Briggs said slapping Kai’s hand in some sort
of mutual understanding.

I smiled at Kai,
reassuring him that Briggs was speaking for the both of us. He came over to me
then and wrapped his arms around me, kissing the top of my head.

“Glad you’re feeling
better; want to come and see our new digs for the next couple days?”

“Absolutely.”

After showing me our
new
digs
, Kai took me on a walk to the lake; Briggs joined us. The walk was
nothing shy of incredible. The dirt path was sandwiched between three large
hills and pine trees. It was close to five o’clock by now. The sun cast a light
that was bright and focused as it filtered down through the branches above us.

“Tomorrow we hike
that,” Kai said, pointing to a narrow pathway up the side of the farthest hill.

“Oh...wow.”

Briggs tapped me on the
back as he walked past me, “That ain’t nothing for you though, Miss I-can-run-ten-miles-a-day.”
He laughed heartily.

“
Whatever
, running
is not the same as hiking,” I said, kicking some loose rocks in Briggs’
direction.

Kai laughed at the two
of us.

“So last year there was
a contest involving this lake,” Kai said, as we approached the water.

“A contest? Why do I
get the feeling that something inappropriate happened?” I asked.

“You’re in trouble Kai,
she’s already figured you out,” Briggs said, jogging over to us. His shaggy
blond hair blew in the breeze as he ran. It was then I noticed how truly
handsome he was. He was tall like Kai, but leaner. His eyes were a piercing
dark brown, and his smile was nothing short of swoon-worthy. He was a flirt for
sure, but he was also good-hearted, I never doubted that for a minute. I
wondered about his story…why didn’t he want a girlfriend?

Kai laughed, “Well each
man that participated had to stand on one of those rocks out there and balance
on one leg. He also had to hold the American flag up with his right arm,” he
said.

“What on earth was the
purpose of that?” I asked.

“Whoever won didn’t
have to swim in the lake—in their boxers—at midnight,” Briggs said.

“What? You’ve got to be
joking! Who would ever agree to that?” I laughed, looking at each of them.

They both busted up
laughing. The answer was clear as day.

“And who won?” I asked
incredulously.

“Chief Max,” Kai said.

My mouth hung open. A
man twice their age had not only played this ridiculous game, he had beaten
them in both balance and stamina?
Impressive.

“Hey, that guy is a
stud, Tori. Don’t let his age fool ya.” Briggs laughed as I shook my head.

A loud clanging sound
rang out in the distance.

“What’s that?”

“Dinner!” The boys
yelled in unison. They pushed each other as they made their way back up the
path. I walked behind and rolled my eyes.

Brothers?

Yep…that is exactly
what I’d call them.

**********

By the time we made it
back up the path for dinner, the night’s camping crew was all accounted for: Mike,
Carla, Chief, Mrs. Julie, Briggs, Kai and myself. The other three guys were
still on track to be here by noon tomorrow.

“Hey, it’s nice to see
you again, Tori,” Mike said, shaking my hand and introducing me to his new
bride, Carla.

“Nice to meet you both,
officially,” I said, smiling.

We were each handed a
plate as we stood in line to be served by none other than Mrs. Julie herself.
Ladies were pushed to the front of the line, no argument allowed.

“Here ya are, sugar.
I’m glad to see you up and around,” she said as she plopped a giant piece of
fried chicken on my plate, along with pasta salad and a slice of watermelon.
“You’ve got to get your dinner before the rest of these thugs; otherwise you
won’t get to eat.”

That, I could believe.
I had seen the way Kai ate and I could only imagine what it took to feed this
entire crew. But in the end, there was more than enough food to go around. I sat
back and watched the interactions of this closely bonded group. Everyone seemed
to have a story to share regarding a past camping trip or some other kind of
group adventure. Mike and Carla’s wedding came up a few times as well.

“How long have you been
married?” I asked Carla quietly. The guys were wrapped up in some hunting
expedition story.

“Just about six
months.” She looked at her husband and smiled.

“Congratulations,” I
said.

“How about you? Are you
and Kai pretty serious?” she asked, her voice filled with innocent curiosity.

“I uh...it’s still
pretty early, but he’s…pretty amazing.”

I looked at Kai from
across the fire. It glowed bright in the early darkness of the evening, casting
a light on his perfect face. He was laughing at some joke Briggs had just told,
but seemed to sense my gaze. He winked at me, and then went back to his
conversation.

“I guess that’s how it
starts though, right?” Carla asked.

My stomach dipped at
her words.

Only a few months ago
I’d been convinced I would never find love, least of all get married. So much
had changed after meeting Kai. Notions that were once solid and unyielding were
now soft and pliable. Boundaries which had held no room for expansion had
completely caved under his charm.

I had let him in,
totally and completely.

“Can I get your plate
for you?” I asked her, standing.

“Oh, sure. Thank you,”
she said.

I gathered the garbage
from around the campfire and threw it all in the large hefty bag which hung
from a low hanging tree branch. I worked to clean up the mess that had been
created by cooking, when I heard a soft, familiar voice behind me.

“You don’t need to do
that, the guys always clean up after dinner. Go back and sit down. Enjoy
yourself,” Kai whispered to me as I put lids on open containers.

“I’m fine, I want to
help out. I need to earn my keep around here,” I said, half-jokingly.

He stopped my hands by
wrapping his arms around me from behind, holding them to my middle.

“You have more than
earned your keep, now go sit down. We will do the rest.”

I knew by his tone that
arguing was pointless. I dusted off my hands and walked back toward the fire.
Chief Max called the guys to their clean-up duties only seconds later, and in
an instant, it was just the three of us ladies who remained at the campfire. I
was amazed at how quickly they had moved.

“Thanks again for
dinner, Mrs. Julie,” I said.

“Oh, it’s my pleasure.
This is a trip I look forward to every year, such a beautiful area,” Mrs. Julie
said.