A SEAL's Triumph Page 11

  “We might as well close up the manor for the duration, then,” Riley said. “We don’t have any guests coming between now and the end of the show, anyway.”

  The rest of the women were quiet. Walker figured it was because many of them used the manor as a place to get away from everyone or spread out if they had a project to do.

  “Riley’s right,” Savannah said tiredly. “Let’s do a thorough walk-through tomorrow, all of us together, then close things up.”

  There were murmurs of assent all around.

  “What do we do about Montague?” Clay spoke up suddenly. He was wired, Walker saw. Angry that his wife had been made to be afraid. Worried about the intruder. He was a man who liked to do things, not talk about them or sit around waiting.

  “There’s nothing we can do,” Boone said.

  “He sent his men to stake out mansions on our property. He’ll be back, I’m sure.”

  “Let him.” Boone raised his voice. “I said it once and I’ll say it again: we’ve got a few weeks to go. We’re going to be attacked from all sides. We can’t let any of it get to us, and we can’t make mistakes. That means we can’t go after Montague or anyone else. Just ignore him. That’ll make him angrier than anything else we can do anyway.” He looked around the room. “Let’s clear out of here and get back to work—together.”

  As they all tramped down the hill, Walker found himself walking with Harris and Samantha. Elizabeth had been one of the first people out of the house, but then she’d stopped and waited until some of the others caught up. Now she was in the middle of a small knot of people. Was she worried about the intruder? He’d never thought of Elizabeth as the jumpy sort.

  “You’re not going to marry her, are you?” Samantha asked in a low voice, nodding at her.

  “Sam,” Harris warned.

  “What leverage does she have on you? And why does she want to marry you anyhow? I’ve never once seen her look at you unless she was pissed off.”

  She was right, Walker thought. He knew one thing for sure: Elizabeth didn’t love him, didn’t care about him. Hardly noticed he was there.

  “I’ve got to marry someone,” he pointed out. “We’ve got only a few weeks to go.” He imitated Boone’s serious voice, hoping Samantha wouldn’t press the matter.

  She smiled. “That’s true. You’re going to make us or break us.”

  “I don’t care what leverage Elizabeth has,” Harris said. “You’ve got to marry the woman you love, Walker—like I did. To hell with the consequences.”

  Walker nodded and plodded on, wishing it was that simple.

  Or was he the one making it overly complicated?

  “When will the rest of the bison calves be born?” Gabe asked several mornings later.

  “Any day now,” Walker told him.

  It had been awkward when Elizabeth had started joining their group for chores, Avery thought, but now that Gabe was along for the ride, it was downright uncomfortable. He remained cheerful and helpful, and she couldn’t fault his behavior, but Boone had decreed everyone in a work group had to keep in sight of each other at all times, which meant wherever she went, Walker, Elizabeth, Hope and Gabe went, too.

  Gone were the quiet predawn hours she used to love. Gabe was a talker, and Elizabeth was cranky in the morning. The two of them inevitably argued at some point, Gabe remaining stubbornly cheerful all the while, Elizabeth more and more irate.

  Walker didn’t say a thing unless asked a direct question or it became necessary to step between Elizabeth and Gabe. More than once he’d exchanged an exasperated look with her behind their backs, but she found it hard to share any private moment with him, knowing he might soon marry someone else.

  “Wouldn’t be surprised if a few calves came overnight,” Walker went on, surprising Avery. It was the most he’d said in days.

  “Shouldn’t we be here to help?” Gabe asked.

  This time it was Walker and Elizabeth who shared a look, and Avery’s heart squeezed hard. It wasn’t a romantic one, she told herself. Walker had told her there was a herd on the reservation. He and Elizabeth had grown up with bison around; that was all that look was about.

  It still stung. Elizabeth knew Walker better than she did and seemed to feel she had the right to him. It wasn’t fair when she obviously didn’t care about him at all.

  “Bison don’t need any help,” Avery said to spare Gabe the embarrassment of one of Elizabeth’s scathing replies. “They’re pretty good at welcoming the next generation on their own.”

  “Breakfast,” Walker said and led the way to the bunkhouse.

  Avery joined Riley, Savannah, Nora and Clay for the meal, relieved to get away from the others. She felt Walker’s gaze on her but kept her back to him. He was the one who needed to sort out his life. He knew where to find her when he did.

  Clay held baby Connie in his arms so Nora could eat. Avery was happy to see her friend was blooming; she’d been afraid Nora might struggle after her scare at the manor the other day. Nora had rallied, however. Clay kept close to her and Connie, and the new parents were so joyful about their baby they were a pleasure to behold.

  Eve had her phone in her hand, reminding Avery of when they’d all promised each other not to be consumed by social media, back at the beginning of their time on the ranch. As couples had married, the old practice of sharing a cell phone had slid away. After all, the men had never agreed to that rule, and the women who’d arrived later in the year never surrendered theirs at all. Pretty much everyone had a phone now.

  “Oh, for heaven’s sake!” Eve said. A lively brunette who had come to Base Camp to expose Hansen Oil’s wrongdoing and stayed to marry Anders, Eve went on, “I wish those Star News people would just leave us alone. Listen to what they said about us last night!”

  She held up her phone, and a female announcer’s voice cut through the hubbub of the bunkhouse as people lined up to get their food.

  “Star News has discovered that the entire carbon savings of a year of Base Camp’s operations were offset by more than a million times by Anders Hanson’s father’s energy company. The senior Hanson has pledged to switch his operation to green energy, but so far we see no progress on that account. The hypocrisy is stunning.” The woman turned to her co-anchor. “These Base Camp people want to have their cake and eat it, too.”

  “That’s not remotely true!” Anders burst out. “As soon as the show is over, I’ll be working 24/7 on the transition with my dad. He’s already conducting a survey of his operations so we have the information we need to get it done.”

  “That’s the whole point, right?” Eve asked. “That their story isn’t true? They’re trying to make fools out of us—and out of our audience, too. Trying to make people feel bad for supporting us.”

  “They want us riled up. We should ignore them,” Walker said.

  “Easy for you to say; no one’s attacked your family,” Anders pointed out.

  “Figure my time’s coming.”

  Avery knew what Walker meant; it was obvious Star News was working its way through the cast of Base Camp. What would they hit him on? The fact that the Crow were exploiting their own fossil fuel resources on the reservation? Maybe.

  “I’m doing my best to keep up with their lies,” Hope said. “Every time they have a segment, I’m refuting it point for point on the show’s website.”

  “Are you feeding them this stuff?” Eve asked Renata.

  Renata blinked. “Did you forget I’m a part of this community now?”

  “What about you?” Eve turned on Byron. “Or one of the other crew members?”

  “Nothing Star News has talked about is new material,” Avery pointed out. “They’re just lobbing mud at us to see what sticks with their viewership. They’ll take whatever does, turn it into a slogan and repeat it over and over again. You’ll see.” She shrugged at the surprised expressions around her. “Come on, you have to watch the channel only a half-dozen times to know their methodology. Every story gets a catchp
hrase—something that’s easy to remember and easy to repeat. They say that catchphrase repeatedly for a few days, and pretty soon anyone who watches is saying it, too. Today’s catchphrase is: Those Base Camp people want to have their cake and eat it, too. I’ll bet it’s already a social media hashtag.”

  “Maybe we should do a segment about that on our next show,” Chris said from behind his camera.

  “It’ll be too late,” Anders said. “By then the damage will be done. My dad made a mistake. He should have turned his company around sooner, but at least now he’s on the right road. And millions of people are going to attack him for it?”

  “We have millions of viewers, too,” Eve told him. “And Chris can show them how Star News is manipulating people. That would be even better than just putting information on the website, although I think we should keep doing that. Chris, if we pull together a fact sheet about our intentions and a time line for when Hansen Oil is going to pursue them, can you add it to the story?”

  “Sure can,” Chris said.

  “But what makes you think Star News viewers and our viewers even overlap?” Addison spoke up. “I mean, aren’t you going to be preaching to the choir if you talk about this stuff on Base Camp? Our viewers already know Hansen Oil is transitioning to Hansen Energy. They saw it all unfold on the show. And our viewers probably don’t get their news from Star Television.”

  “There must be some crossover,” Hope said.

  “Some,” Addison repeated. “But not much.”

  “So some is all we can expect,” Curtis said, ruffling Daisy’s ears. The dog sat at his feet. “But family members and friends probably talk to each other about what they watch.”

  “Do they?” Hope asked. “Seems to me like people stick to their own side. Half the country is watching one type of news. The other is getting a completely different story. It’s like we’re not even living in the same world anymore. Every time I update the website, I wonder if I’m wasting my time. Do Star News fans ever come to read it? Probably not.”

  Chris guffawed. When everyone turned to him, he shook his head. “Sorry, but that’s an understatement. When I was a kid, we had three channels to choose from. The national news came on at six o’clock. Everyone tuned in to watch it, and when it was over, it was over. And get this—” He paused for effect. “If someone got a big story wrong, they lost their job!”

  They all contemplated that.

  After lunch, Avery brought her dishes to the bunkhouse kitchen as usual. Gabe and Elizabeth were there ahead of her.

  “You’re supposed to scrape your plates into the compost bucket,” Gabe was saying when she entered the room. “How long have you been here? Have you been leaving your plates and bowls like that for other people to take care of?”

  “I’ve got other things on my mind than compost.”

  “Oh, right, sorry. You’re too busy saving the world to scrape your plate. Let the rest of us underlings take care of the details.”

  “Can’t you give me a break?”

  “Can’t you—” Gabe realized Avery was there and bit back whatever he meant to say. “Avery. Here, let me deal with your dishes.”

  “You don’t have to do that.”

  Elizabeth laughed flatly. “Let him. There’s nothing he likes better than to help.”

  “Seems like a good quality,” Avery retorted. “Why does that make you so mad?”

  “Sometimes people want to do things their way.”

  “Sometimes people want to do things a stupid way. Sometimes people make other people wonder what it is they really want,” Gabe said. “Because if it’s walking right into a trap—” He set the dishes down on the counter with a clatter and walked out of the kitchen.

  “Everyone’s so damn jumpy,” Elizabeth said after a long moment. “It’s that intruder. He’s getting to all of us.”

  “Some more than others,” Avery observed. What was that all about? She knew Elizabeth and Gabe rubbed each other wrong, but Gabe was really upset. And what did he mean about a trap? Was he talking about the danger here at Base Camp or something to do with their work? Several times in the last few days she’d caught the two of them discussing climate change. She was pretty sure they both believed in it, and both were working on ways to mitigate its effects. She had yet to discover the point of contention between them.

  “You know how researchers are.” Elizabeth waved the problem away and left the room, her dirty dishes untouched on the counter. Avery sighed and got to work scraping them. Later that night she was still wondering about what she’d seen when she should have been asleep. In the interest of everyone getting some real rest, Boone had finally broken the twenty-four people into groups of six or so, spreading three of the groups into the nearest tiny houses, the rest of them remaining in the bunkhouse.

  Byron and Leslie were tangled up like puppies together in one corner of the room. The rest of them were spread out. Still, Avery found the room stifling. She never got to be alone these days, and while she’d always thought of herself as a social being, now she’d give anything for a few hours by herself.

  Even a minute or two would suffice.

  She lay listening to the rustling and breathing of the other people in the room, long past when they drifted off to sleep. When she was sure she was the only one awake, she gave up, slipped out of her bedroll and tiptoed to the kitchen. She knew she shouldn’t open the side door, but she thought she would lose her mind if she couldn’t get a breath of fresh air. She carefully unlocked it and cracked it open just enough to slip outside, keeping her hand on the knob as if that would save her from any danger.

  The stars winked overhead, soothing her a little, reminding her that despite her petty worries, the universe was a big place and all was well.

  She nearly shrieked when she heard a soft noise behind her. She whirled around, sending the door flying wide open, and let out her breath when she saw it was only Walker crossing the kitchen toward her.

  “Shouldn’t be out there,” he said.

  “I know. I wasn’t going anywhere. Just wanted a minute alone.”

  “A minute was all it took and Nora was gone.”

  Did he still blame himself for that? Walker had been with Nora at the grocery store in town when her stalker snatched her. Sue had distracted him, coming at him because she was furious—

  Furious that Walker was falling for her, Avery reminded herself. So in a way, Nora’s kidnapping was her fault, too.

  “I’ll go back to bed now.”

  “Wait.”

  Avery held her breath when he touched her arm. Waited for him to marshal his thoughts.

  “I was seventeen when I promised to marry Elizabeth,” he began. “I never thought she’d follow through with it. Never thought she’d want to. Thought I was safe saying it.”

  Avery’s thoughts spun as she tried to process what she was hearing. The last thing she’d anticipated when she’d come outside was that Walker would follow her—or that he’d finally confess his life story. “Safe? What do you mean?”

  She sensed his frustration. Walker wasn’t one for explanations or for talking in general, for that matter. It was hard to get him going, especially when the topic was himself. In the long hours they’d spent together doing chores this past year, he’d opened up only a few times.

  “Elizabeth’s grandmother, Netta Blaine, was Sue’s best friend—always,” he finally said. “There was trouble between our families, but it never touched them.”

  Trouble. What kind of trouble? That word could encompass so much—and so little.

  “Netta meant everything to Sue. She’d lost everyone else. My grandfather. My father. Netta was all she had left.”

  “Except you,” Avery pointed out. He talked so little about his family. She had no idea what had happened to his parents except that they were dead.

  He nodded. “I was a kid.”

  “What happened to Netta?” It seemed the safest question and a good place to start untangling this knot. It felt
intimate standing in the darkness so close to Walker. She wished she could touch him and let him know how much she appreciated him talking to her like this.

  “She was diagnosed with cancer—too late. She hadn’t spoken up about the pain she’d felt for months. Never liked to complain. Thought it was age, she said. I think she knew she had something she couldn’t fight,” Walker added. “Sue was so angry with her for not getting treated sooner, that she’d waited too long. She was beside herself. She still felt guilty—” Walker stopped and started over. “She wanted to make up for something that had happened years before. Wanted Netta to die happy. We all did.”

  “She told you to propose to Elizabeth?” He still wasn’t explaining any of the mysteries, and that bothered Avery. Didn’t he trust her after all this time?

  Walker shook his head. “It was Elizabeth’s idea. She just… said it one day when we were all sitting around at Sue’s house and Netta was feeling bad. She announced we were engaged. Said we were going to buy a ring when we could. That we hadn’t said anything because we wanted to graduate and go to college first. That was a priority to Netta and Sue, so she knew they wouldn’t question it. You could have knocked me over with a feather.” He spread his hands as if to encompass the surprise he’d felt back then. “I knew immediately what she was doing, though. She wanted to make Netta happy, and why not? Netta wasn’t going to be alive by the time we made it through college. She barely made it to our high school graduation. Once she was gone, it would be over and done with. Just words.”

  “What happened?”

  “Sue kept saying them—then and even after Netta was gone. Told everyone we were engaged. Said we’d marry as soon as we graduated from college. Said how happy Netta would be in heaven to see it. Went on and on and on. The whole reservation knew about it and was waiting for the date to be set.”