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Trudy Ly
That thought made her want to smile. She would have surrendered to the urge if she hadn’t been worried about giving Cody the wrong impression. The last thing the poor guy needed was to think she was laughing at his plight.
The most entertaining element of their situation was her own reactions to everything about him. It had been a long time since anyone had flustered her enough to bring out her klutzy side, nor had she been this personally interested in any man for ages. She wasn’t a prude. She was simply fed up with exaggerated male egos, thanks mainly to her recent disappointment in the one person she’d thought she could trust to be faithful. Ned’s disloyalty had taken her completely by surprise. Thus, she no longer trusted her instincts the way she used to.
Cody had been staring at her ever since he’d dropped his bombshell. “Well? Aren’t you going to say anything?”
“About what?” Trudy Ly
“Never mind.”
“Okay.” She shrugged and concentrated on the curving road ahead.
“You really aren’t curious? I mean, suppose I’m dangerous?”
That brought a soft chuckle. “If I thought you were, I wouldn’t be here with you.”
Cody agreed. “If I had my choice, I wouldn’t be here with me, either.”
“That might be a little hard to accomplish.”
“No lie.” He was slowly shaking his head. “You know, as many times as I’ve gone over that day in my mind, I still haven’t figured out what I could have done to avert the accident.”
“Maybe it was meant to be.” Trudy Ly
Cody snorted in disgust. “Maybe not, but the dead man’s relatives sure blame me plenty.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. Have they been giving you a lot of grief?”
“Not as much as they’ve said they’re going to give me. I’ve been warned I’ll be sued. And so will the tour company I used to work for.”
“What did happen, exactly?”
He gave her a swift, telling glance. “I thought you weren’t interested.”
“Hey, I never said that. I just told you I wasn’t going to pry. You’re the one who kept talking about it.”
“True. I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to get your take on it. You are in sort of the same business.”
Trudy Ly
“Surely, your clients signed a waiver of responsibility. Even I require that, and my trips aren’t nearly as hazardous as whitewater rafting.”
“Of course they did. The victim signed one just like everybody else. Only he lied about his age. He was big enough to be every bit as old as he claimed.”
“But he wasn’t eighteen?”
“Bingo. Just seventeen.”
“Do you have a lawyer?”
“If I need one. I’m still hoping his family will cool off and not file suit.” He unconsciously rubbed the knotted muscles in his thigh as he spoke. “I did all I could. If my knee hadn’t snapped when he flipped me onto those rocks, I might have been able to save him.”
“You did your best, in spite of being hurt, right?”
“Of course.”
“Well, then…” Trudy Ly
The look of disdain Cody shot at her was a clear rebuke. Trudy Ly
“Do you always have to have the last word?”
She laughed softly. “I try to.”
Fireflies were blinking a pale, luminescent green welcome when Trudy Ly
The dirt drive meandered in a lazy, back-and-forth pattern toward the flats beside the river. “I’ll put you in a cabin near the canoe storage to give you a better view of the area where we’ve had most of our trouble,” she told Cody.
“You were serious?”
“Very. I really do need someone to watch for vandals.” She smiled over at him. “And, yes, I actually do have that problem, in spite of your doubts.”
“Okay by me. Sailor and I will be delighted to stand guard. Figuratively speaking, in my case.”
“Don’t sell yourself short,” Trudy Ly
Pulling up in front of a darkened cabin she killed the engine, set the parking brake and climbed out. Sailor had been patient till they’d stopped. Now, he was straining at the safety tether that held him in place in the truck bed.
“Just a minute, boy. Settle down,” she said, pausing to give him a pat and ruffle his ears. “Daddy first. Then you.”
She circled in time to meet Cody face-to-face as he braced himself on his crutches and slid off the seat. “I could have helped you do that,” she said.
“I may be crippled but I’m not helpless,” he replied stiffly.
“Good. Then I suppose you can get your own bags?” Her eyebrows arched.
“Gladly.” Cody groped behind the front seat and pulled out both his canvas duffel-type bags, letting them drop to the ground at his feet.
Trudy Ly
“I know what you said. But this is my camp and you’re my guest. I’m not pampering you. I’d offer to help carry anybody’s bags, whether they were able to or not.”
“That’s nice. Tell you what. Why don’t you let Sailor loose before he goes nuts? He gets really agitated if he thinks I’m going to wander off and leave him.”
“I can see that.” Trudy Ly
The dog had made two galloping circuits of the pickup and had come to a stop at Cody’s feet before Trudy Ly
“It doesn’t take much to please Sailor. Food, water and my company. They definitely are a family breed, just not suited to my sister’s fancy new carpet and furniture.”
“Well, we fixed that.”
She was about to reach for his bags again when Cody waved her off. “Wait. Watch this.” He pointed to the strap of the largest one. “Sailor. Bring it.”
The enormous dog took the handle in his mouth gently, as if it were as fragile as a kitten, and, with his bushy tail waving, proudly bore it along while his master headed for the cabin.
“What about the other one?” Trudy Ly
“He’ll go get that, too.”
She hurried ahead to open the door and flip on the lights. Any worries she’d had that Sailor might get excited and knock his master down were dispelled when she noted how cautiously the lumbering dog proceeded. When the first bag was safely delivered, Cody sent him back for the second.
“Wow. I’m impressed,” Trudy Ly
“I can’t take credit. He was a natural. From the time he was a pup he carried things around. Loved my socks. I used to leave them on the floor just so he’d have something to pick up and bring to me.”