Jed nodded to himself, as if fitting this new information into a narrative.
“So they could have five or so hours on us,” Knox said. “I don’t see the point in going after them, then. By the time we caught up to them they’d be at the parking lot.”
“Maybe,” Jed said, worried. “But they might not have gotten that far while it was dark.”
“I still don’t see the two of them together,” Walt said. “I’d guess they’re traveling separately in the same direction.”
Russell said, “Fools. On their own they might get lost.”
D’Amato cleared his throat. “I volunteer to go after them. After all, it’s my fault…” He didn’t finish the sentence.
“You’re not going anywhere on your own,” Knox said flatly.
“They’ll be okay,” Russell said. “It’s their deal, not ours. It was their choice to leave.”
Jed nodded and addressed his comments to Donna. “I don’t think they’ll get lost or anything. Hell, the trail just parallels the shore of the lake nearly all the way back. There are a few side trails, but they’d follow our tracks from yesterday. I’m sure Dakota will find them. That girl can
Walt said, “It just doesn’t make sense to me. Just because there was a disagreement on which trail to take-it just doesn’t make sense.”
Gracie’s dad agreed. Rachel said nothing.
Donna Glode said to the fire, “You don’t understand. Tristan is all about control. And last night he lost it.” She looked over at D’Amato. “You’re not the reason he left.
D’Amato stared at his boots, still pointedly ignoring her. No one followed up with a reguest to Donna for clarification.
“But why Wilson?” Rachel Mina asked. “Why did he leave? He didn’t seem that concerned about the vote or which trail we are going to take.”
“Who knows about that guy,” Walt said. “He was a hard guy to read.”
Knox agreed. “It doesn’t break me up too damn much that guy’s gone. He seemed kind of strange from the start, I thought.”
“Hear, hear,” Russell said.
“Tristan is another matter,” D’Amato said, as much to himself as anyone. “I think maybe it would be a good effort on my part to go try and get him. I want to do this. I want to make things right.”
“Forget it,” Donna said, ending the discussion. “He won’t listen to you, of all people. And he’s never listened to me.”
She stood and turned to Jed. “I know exactly what he’ll do, so you might as well prepare for it. He’ll go straight to the top, to the superintendent of the park, and demand that your license be taken away for deviating from the scheduled trip. And I would be surprised if he didn’t get his way. That’s the way he is.”
It was only for a second, but Gracie thought she saw real fear in Jed’s eyes.
“Dakota will find him,” Jed said, assuring no one.
Gracie found the whole scene fascinating and a little sickening. There was no filtering of words or emotions for the sake of Danielle, Justin, or her. She felt suddenly older and more mature but she didn’t like the feeling.
Jed said to Gracie, “What you probably heard last night was one or both of them clearing out their tents to leave. Maybe one of them tripped on a tent stake or something.”
Gracie shook her head. “I don’t think it was that.”
“Then what was it?” her dad asked, suddenly perturbed. “If you can’t say what you heard, maybe you shouldn’t say anything at all.”
Gracie felt her face flush. She knew his anger had more to do with her snub of him than anything else. She said softly, “It sounded more like a fight.”
No one said anything. The silence around the fire became oppressive.
Finally, Jed said, “I don’t see much sense in discussing this any further. It’s time to eat up, pack up, and mount up. We’re burning daylight, folks.”
The sound of hoofbeats filled the awkward silence, and everyone turned toward the sound.
Dakota rode up and reined to a stop. She was alone.
“I couldn’t catch them,” she said.
Gracie looked up to see Jed glaring at Dakota, his hands knotted into fists at his side.
Dakota didn’t meet his eyes.
Gracie walked with Danielle back toward the tents. When they were far enough away from the adults, Danielle said, “Fuck this. This trip sucks. Why couldn’t we go to Mexico or a beach or something?”
Gracie shrugged.
Danielle said, “Who cares if those two guys are gone or what trail we take? It’s just stupid. I’m glad that creep Wilson is gone anyway, so he won’t be sneaking around trying to look at me when I go to the so-called toilet. And I want to take a hot shower.”
“What do you think about Dad and Rachel?”
“I guess I would have liked to have known about it before we did this,” her sister said. “But Dad needs to get a life. This might help. Maybe he won’t be so clueless and intense all the time.”
“That’s all you think about it?”
Danielle shrugged. “She seems kind of cool. I don’t have anything against her.”
“I don’t know her well enough to say,” Gracie said.
Danielle said, “What I think is if the rules of this trip are everybody sleeps around with everybody else, then they ought to just say so and I’ll stay with Justin. He can rub my back and tell me how beautiful I am and we’ll see what develops.”
Gracie sighed and unzipped their tent so they could repack their things for the day’s ride. As she did she saw Rachel Mina come out of a green and blue tent with her sleeping bag bundled in her arms. Gracie thought she looked angry and puzzled, as if trying to struggle through a difficult problem. Then their eyes locked for a moment and Rachel’s face softened and changed. Rachel took a deep breath, blew a strand of hair out of her face as if she’d just made a momentous decision, and let her sleeping bag drop to a pile at her feet.
“Uh-oh,” Gracie said.
“What?”
“She’s coming over.”
“Who?” Danielle asked, then saw Rachel working her way through the other tents toward them. “Oh, her.”
Gracie looked around. There was nowhere to run.
“Hello, Danielle,” Rachel said. “Hello, Gracie.”
“Hi,” Danielle said. Gracie stood and nodded.
“We haven’t officially met,” Rachel said, looking from one sister to the other and extending her hand. “I’m Rachel.”
They shook her hand.
Rachel said, “I wanted to take this opportunity, since we’re away from everyone, to set the record straight regarding your dad and me.”
Gracie braced for it.
“I want you to know something,” Rachel said, talking mainly to her. “I don’t want to be your stepmother. I don’t necessarily want to be your best friend. But I want to get along with you and I hope you’ll give it a shot to get along with me. We all know the situation, even though the truth came out much more awkwardly than I wanted it to.
“I’m very, very fond of your father. I know he feels the same about me. We’re both lonely, and there’s a very good possibility we’ll be together in the future. That’s where you two come in.”
“Hey,” Danielle said, “as long as you don’t try to run my life, I’m okay with it.”
Rachel still spoke primarily to Gracie. “I’ve been around the block. I don’t try to pretend your father is young, single, and carefree. I know he’s got a family. And I know he absolutely adores you two girls. This isn’t an either/or
