An Alaskan Proposal. Beth Carpenter

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      “No worries here,” Leith said. He’d been through a wedding and a marriage, and after that experience he planned to stay as far away from both as humanly possible. If he could get away with it, he’d skip Zack’s wedding, but he was one of the groomsmen.

      “So, who’s the plus-one you’re bringing?” Zack asked Leith.

      “Plus-one? What are you talking about?”

      “The wedding. Caitlyn says you RSVPed that you’re bringing a guest. Who is she?”

      Oh, great. Leith’s sister had volunteered to send in his RSVP card when she did her own. He should have guessed Volta was up to something. She probably had someone all picked out she was planning to fix him up with. “That was a mistake. You can tell Caitlyn I’m not bringing anyone.”

      “No way, dude. If you said plus-one, you’re bringing someone to fill that chair. I don’t care if it’s your grandma. Caitlyn has been going nuts trying to figure out how to arrange the tables. She has all these relatives who she can’t put too close together or she says there will be blood. She’s finally managed to find the perfect seating plan. If one little thing changes, it’ll mess it all up. I’m not going to be the one to make her head explode.”

      “Speaking of explosions,” Erik said with a sly smile. “You ought to ask Explosion Girl. She’s probably great at weddings.”

      “Who’s Explosion Girl?” Zack asked.

      Leith just shook his head, so Erik explained about the beans. Zack laughed. “Sure, bring her. She should liven things up.”

      “I’ll take it under advisement.” Leith stepped away to drop the keys to the company truck into a drawer. “Who are you bringing?” he asked Erik.

      “I invited this woman I met from the parks department. She’s just here for a month, on some government project. No strings. The most important quality in a relationship.”

      “That’s what I used to think, until I met Caitlyn,” Zack said. “Someday you’re going to want some strings.”

      “No way. Leith will back me up, right?”

      “I’m not getting in the middle of this.” After his own marital disaster, Leith was inclined to agree with Erik, but he didn’t want to upset Zack. He had to admit, Zack had been a lot happier since Caitlyn had come into his life, even if she was a little obsessive about the wedding plans. He just hoped their marriage was more successful than his had been. Not a high bar.

      Carson cleared his throat. “Well, if we’re about done with advice for the lovelorn, maybe we can get a little work done around here?”

      They all scattered. Leith went to his desk to fill out his time sheet and a summary of the day’s events. While his computer booted up, he thought about his options.

      Weddings made his skin itch, but since he’d been drafted as a groomsman, he couldn’t miss this one. Now, thanks to Volta, he was going to have to find a date. And it better be soon, before his sister coerced him into taking out whatever new friend she had in mind for him. The last woman she’d set him up with, six months ago, had been a walking disaster. That two-hour date had to have consumed at least ten years of his life. No, if he had to have a date, he was choosing her himself. Volta didn’t get a vote.

      That decided, he opened a spreadsheet and went to work. Work, he understood. He could worry about this other stuff later.

      SABRINA RANG UP a sleeping bag the color of a roadwork sign and a snap-together salt-and-pepper shaker for a woman with a long braid hanging down her back. The customer checked the tag. “This says it’s comfortable down to forty-five degrees. Do you think that’s accurate?”

      Sabrina had spent most of her off time during the last two days since the great bean incident reading product descriptions on the company’s website, but that didn’t help with questions like this. “Honestly, I haven’t tried out this particular sleeping bag, so I’m not sure.” Sabrina called to Clara, “Do you think this bag would keep you warm at forty-five?”

      “Sure, if you’re wearing sweats or thermals to sleep in. It’s a great bag.”

      “Oh, good. Thanks.” The customer waved at Clara and left the store. Clara finished ringing up her customer and handed him the sack of merchandise. For once, no one was waiting in line to check out.

      Clara wandered over to Sabrina’s register. “That’s our most popular summer bag. You’re probably used to a lighter one where you come from, huh?”

      “Mmm. Does it come in any colors besides orange?” Sabrina had found the best way to deflect Clara was to ask a question. Clara loved to talk, and Sabrina had already picked up a few nuggets of wisdom she could pass on to customers and sound as if she might know what she was talking about. Besides, she was curious. Surely not everyone wanted a sleeping bag in a color that could be seen from space.

      But before Clara could answer, Walter hustled over to the registers. Today his bolo tie slide was a silver horseshoe. He hadn’t said anything since the team-builder, but Sabrina kept expecting him to call her in and expose her as the fraud she was. Her stomach tightened in anticipation, but he just smiled. “Say, Clara, do you mind if we borrow Sabrina for a little while? Tim needs some help with a display in camping.”

      “That’s fine. Randy will be back from lunch in fifteen minutes. If I get backed up in the meantime, I’ll call for help.”

      “Great.” Walter motioned for Sabrina to walk with him. “I saw on your résumé that you’ve worked in fashion, so I thought you might have some experience with display.”

      “Yes, I have.” Sabrina used to enjoy creating displays when she was working retail in high school and college. Even after she’d gotten the buyer job, she’d often sent out tips and ideas to the local stores. But she wasn’t sure her flair for fashion accessories was going to be a big help with a camping display. Still, the basics of form and balance she’d learned in her design classes should apply across the board.

      Walter introduced her to Tim, a tall, skinny guy with thick glasses. Tim looked more like a chemistry professor than a camping enthusiast, but he was setting up the tent Sabrina had almost destroyed in less time than it had taken her to shake it out of the bag. Fortunately, she’d found tent-washing tips on the internet and managed to get the bean stain off the rain fly, no thanks to survival expert Leith Jordan.

      Now, that guy made her nervous. Everyone at the store seemed to take her at face value, but Leith wasn’t buying her act. His disdain for her inexperience had been pretty clear at the team-builder. In fact, she’d just about reached the conclusion he was going to expose her to all her coworkers, when he’d suddenly started being nice and loaned her his vest. Which she’d washed and now had to figure out how to return without asking anyone in the store where to find him. She didn’t want to call attention to the fact that she’d been unprepared for the weather. Among other things.

      “Hi, Sabrina,” Tim said. “Would you mind grabbing me a couple of ’biners? I want to hang this canoe from the ceiling.”

      Beaners? She wondered if this was some sort of joke aimed at her, but he didn’t look as though he was joking. “Sure.” Beaners. Whatever those were. Sabrina scanned the area for anything that looked likely.

      “Aisle ten,” СКАЧАТЬ