LEITH PULLED THE truck into its assigned parking spot near the back door at Learn & Live. Erik jumped out and opened the tailgate.
Leith grabbed the checklist and followed. “Do we need more maps for tomorrow’s demo?” he asked, his pen hovering over the clipboard.
Erik pawed through the supplies in the crate. “No, looks like we have plenty.”
Leith checked off the item and locked the truck. They headed inside the office. As soon as they stepped into the lobby, a black-and-tan dog dashed out of Carson’s office. Leith knelt to give her an ear rub. “Hey, Tal. There’s my girl.”
Their boss, Carson, followed her out. “Good. You’re back. Did the Orson Outfitters demo go okay? Anything you need to change before doing it again tomorrow?”
“No problems.” Leith stood but continued to stroke Tal’s head. “I think they all got something out of it.”
Erik laughed. “Except for Explosion Girl.”
“Explosion?” Carson narrowed his eyes. “You were teaching orienteering. How can that explode? Was anyone hurt?”
“No,” Leith assured him. “It wasn’t at our demo. For some reason, this management trainee Orson Outfitters hired decided she should put cans of beans directly into the fire.”
“Oh, yeah?” Carson grinned. “I thought that was an urban myth. Did they really explode?”
“Launched a couple of cans like rockets. One of them splattered a tent that was a good twenty feet away. We managed to get the rest out of the fire before they turned into grenades.” Leith shook his head. “She was clueless. Brand-new hiking boots, no jacket. She’d obviously never been camping a day in her life.”
“She was cute, though,” Erik pointed out.
“The cute ones are the most dangerous.” And Leith should know. His ex-wife used her looks like a precision tool. “They’re so used to everyone falling over backward to make them happy, they don’t realize nature can kill you no matter how pretty you are.”
“Uh-huh.” Erik nudged Carson. “That must be why our white knight over here gave her his vest.”
“Nuts. I forgot to get it back from her.” Now Leith was going to have to decide whether chasing her down or paying for a new company vest was the lesser of two evils. That was what he got for being a nice guy. He probably should have stayed far away from Sabrina, but it was painful to witness her struggle to set up a simple tent. Then when he’d noticed she was shivering, he couldn’t just stand there and watch.
When Carson raised his eyebrows, Leith shrugged. “It would look bad for the company if someone went hypothermic on our watch.”
Carson snorted. “I’m happy to hear the company’s reputation is so important to you.”
The break-room door opened and Zack walked out, his phone to his ear. “It’s too bad you couldn’t get the ones you wanted, but I think daisies sound fine. No, really, they’ll look great. Okay, babe, I’ve got to get back to work. Love you, too. Bye.”
Zack pocketed his phone and rolled his eyes. “If any of you guys decide to get married, my advice is run off to Vegas. Weddings are killers.”
“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