Nothing ever worked out for her.
By lunchtime, she was barely holding on to her sanity, wondering what Walker and Elizabeth had been getting up to all this time. When she arrived at the bunkhouse for the meal, she found they’d beaten her there and were sitting on logs near the empty fire pit, balancing their plates on their laps. Elizabeth was watchful. Both of them silent. Avery slipped past them, entered the bunkhouse and got in line for food.
“When’s that woman going to leave?” Hope asked her. She and her husband, Curtis, were in line ahead of Avery, and Curtis was already being served by Kai and Addison. Hope was tall and dark-haired, but Curtis was even taller, a big, burly man who worked on the houses with Clay and the rest of the building crew and carved wonderful things out of wood. Their dog, Daisy, waited patiently by the door.
Avery picked up a plate and moved along behind Hope. “I don’t know.” She didn’t want to talk about it, either.
“Here,” Curtis said, handing his wife a full plate and taking the empty one she held.
“Walker’s going to get rid of her, right? He wants to marry you.”
Avery could only shrug. When Curtis’s plate was full, he guided his wife outside. Daisy followed.
“I’ll save you a spot,” Hope called back at her.
Avery envied the couple their happiness. Curtis was always like that: solicitous of Hope’s comfort and safety. Ever since she’d gotten pregnant, he’d grown even more careful around her, ready to guide her past the smallest obstacle in her path. They were always cuddling and kissing.
It was infuriating.
“Hi,” she said to Kai and Addison when it was her turn.
“Salad today and Potatoes Montana.”
Potatoes Montana was one of Kai’s signature dishes, and Avery knew it contained bison meat, something she didn’t allow herself to think too deeply about. She carried her plate outside, took a seat near Curtis and Hope and tried not to look at Walker and Elizabeth across the way.
“Hey, have you guys seen this video?” Hope said suddenly, her exclamation cutting through the rest of the conversations. “Looks like Star News started a new daily segment about us. It’s supposed to showcase the ways in which viewers are changing their lives since watching Base Camp. That’s what the tagline says, anyway. I get a notification when people talk about Base Camp online,” she explained, taking in the confused expressions around the room.
“That’s interesting.” Riley perked up and reached for the phone, but Hope held on to it.
“Wait, Star News?” Boone asked. Avery understood his question. Star News didn’t generally talk about subjects like sustainability—unless it was to downplay the need for it.
“Yes, Star News.” Hope made a face. “I can only imagine what they have to say. I’ll play the clip.” She tapped the screen and held up the phone again. Even with the volume all the way up it was hard to hear, and everyone leaned in to try to make it out.
“It’s a reporter on the street,” Hope said. “She’s interviewing people.”
“Base Camp? It hasn’t changed my life any,” a man said on-screen. “I’m not interested in some hippie commune.”
All around her, Avery heard her companions huff out exasperated breaths. One thing she’d learned this past year was that Navy SEALs don’t care to be compared to hippies.
“My life has been changed by Base Camp. Now I gas up my Humvee every week and drive extra, just to show them!” another man said. “I don’t need anyone telling me I’m ruining the environment.”
Avery exchanged an alarmed glance with Savannah. Could their show really make people want to pollute more?
“I’ve started using reusable shopping bags,” a woman said brightly. “I think we can all do our part to make this a better world.”
“Base Camp? Never heard of it,” another woman said.
“It’s the one where everyone gets married,” a younger voice piped up. The woman’s daughter, maybe? Avery couldn’t make out the images on the little screen.
“I think those people need to get off their asses and see how the real world lives,” another voice said. “All I hear about is climate change. What about jobs? What about crime? When we figure them out, then we can figure out this climate thing.”
“And there you have it,” a cheerful announcer’s voice finished the clip. “Base Camp. Seems to me it’s not changing much of anything.”
Hope lowered her phone and slipped it into the pocket of her green gown, exchanging a look with her husband.
A babble of voices welled up around Avery, none of them happy.
“They cherry-picked those comments,” Clay said angrily.
“They weren’t interviewing anyone in California, that’s for sure,” Savannah said.
“I never watch them anyway,” Addison said.
“Why the hell are they running that segment?” Boone said. “Our show doesn’t air on their channel.” He caught sight of Walker, sitting by Elizabeth. “Why aren’t you pissed?” he demanded.
“Told you ages ago. People don’t change,” Walker said. Beside him, Elizabeth nodded grimly.
“Walker’s right,” she said. “People don’t want to hear about climate change. And other people don’t want them to be told. It’s against their interests.”
“People change all the time,” Curtis said to Walker. “If they didn’t, there wouldn’t be any progress at all in the world, and there’s plenty of progress.”
“There’s plenty of money ready to stop it, too,” Elizabeth countered. “You can’t just be passionate; you have to be smart. This isn’t a fight you can win in one television season. It might not be a fight you can win at all.”
Her cynical statement left a stunned silence in its wake. After a moment, Walker got to his feet. Avery found herself holding her breath. Surely he couldn’t believe that. Surely he’d say something—
But he didn’t say a word. Instead he walked carefully to the bunkhouse with his dishes and came out again a moment later, empty-handed, to walk toward the barns.
“Guess lunchtime is over,” Elizabeth said dryly and followed suit.
Avery ducked
