Reconsidering Riley (11 page)

They disagreed, passing around the popcorn
bowl. On the TV in the corner, George delivered a dazzling
smile.

"It's true!" She raised her hands to quiet
the hubbub. "The average man isn't going to turn you down. Provided
you don't make your move while he has a Pamela Anderson Lee clone
on his arm, of course."

There was a general outcry about "Baywatch,"
breast implants, and hooter-induced male motor function
impairment.

"I know, I know. Some men can't seem to
simultaneously blink, walk, and avoid drooling when confronted with
a bodacious blonde. But really—"

"My Paolo was like that!" Carla interrupted.
"If you got him within fifty feet of a pair of breasts, his brain
like, shut down. I swear, the guy couldn't ogle and chew gum at the
same time. It was like, 'breast alert! breast alert!' Completely
overloaded his circuits or something."

Heads nodded all around.

Jayne smiled. "Well, sometimes the breasts
were
yours
, Carla. And I'll bet you enjoyed his interest in
them."

With a grudging wrinkle of her ring-studded
nose, Carla agreed. "I guess so. At least until Paolo's commitment
phobia set in, we broke up, and
he
started dating a
different sorority girl every few days. Then it was like, Greek Of
The Week club. Ugh."

Making a face, she passed two mugs of cocoa
to Doris and Donna. The sisters were attired in coordinating velour
track suits—having refused to appear "in public" wearing actual
pajamas.

Jayne grinned. "To get back to what I was
saying...men have their pluses, too. Let's not forget that."

"Their 'pluses?'" Doris hooted. "Never heard
'em called
that
before. 'Zip it up, hon. Your 'plus' is
showing.'"

Donna winked. "Almost gives me an interest
in math."

Jayne smiled, wondering if the sisters
realized they'd nearly agreed on something. "For instance," she
said, bypassing their more ribald slant on things, "who else would
squish bugs for us?"

Murmuring, the women nodded.

"Warm up the chilly side of the bed for
us?"

Nods.

"Carry our heavy suitcases?"

Scattered nods.

"Sleep in the wet spot?"

Boggle
.

"Your guy
does
that?" Mitzi
asked.

"In the
wet spot
?" Carla
clarified.

"No way," Kelly said.

Jayne thought back to her last real
relationship. Yes, Riley had actually been willing to....

"That's beside the point," she said hastily.
"The point is, we're here to get over men—
particular
men—but
not to bash all men in general. Let's remember that."

Reluctantly, they agreed. The game
continued, with Jayne's turn.

"Mitzi, truth or dare?" she asked.

"Truth."

"How long has it been since you've thought
about your ex?"

"Two days."

"
Truth
!" the other women yelled.

Sheepishly, Mitzi hugged her knees. "Okay,
okay. I think about Rodney all the time. He left me for another
waitress at the restaurant where I work, you know. It's been pretty
hard to take."

Jayne knee-walked over to Mitzi's spot in
front of the weathered leather sofa. She gave her a hug. "You'll be
strong when all this is over with. Just coming here makes you
stronger." She spread her arms wide. "And that goes for all of
you!"

They cheered. The game went on. Donna
accepted a dare—nibbling three pieces of non-Atkins-approved
popcorn. Doris accepted a truth, and revealed the simultaneous
relationships she and her sister had unknowingly been having with
Marty, the handyman at their senior center...plus the messy breakup
that had ensued when they'd discovered their unwitting
man-share.

"Since there are more women than men at our
age," Doris explained, "Marty seemed to think it was his masculine
duty to 'service' as many girlfriends as possible."

Indignant outbursts were heard. Donna
growled, and grabbed another handful of popcorn.

They took a break to switch movies at
Clooney Central, then went on. The next to take a turn was Kelly,
who mumbled and twisted the hem of her PJs while deliberating her
choice, then stunned them all by announcing, "Dare."

"Okay," Carla said. "I dare you to...insult
me."

Kelly hesitated. She peered through her dark
bangs at Carla, then glanced around the room before ducking her
head again. She drew a deep breath.

"Ummm..."

"Go on," Carla urged.

"Well...okay. I guess...the cocoa you made
had too many marshmallows in it?"

Donna smacked her forehead. Doris rolled her
eyes.

"Come on, Kelly. Really hit me. Insult
me!"

Kelly looked confused. "Why would I...?"

"It's a dare, silly," Mitzi said. "Just to
see if you'll do it. We dare you."

Uncle!
Kelly's panicky expression
said.
I give up
!

"Truth!" she blurted. "Truth!"

Jayne stepped in, giving a reassuring smile
to her most timid breakup-ee. "Okay, truth. Why did you come to the
workshop, Kelly? You're the only one who hasn't told us about your
ex."

A hush fell over the women. Bathed in the
glow of flickering Clooney-vision, they waited to hear Kelly's
answer. Even the popcorn came to a rest, on the floor near Jayne's
baby blue plush platform slippers.

Kelly hugged a pillow to her middle. She
glanced up. "I was having a torrid affair with a married man," she
admitted.

Everyone gasped. Sweet, shy Kelly? A home
wrecker?

"I didn't know he was married until a few
months ago. And the way I found out...oh, it's too
embarrassing!"

She buried her face in her hands. Jayne went
to her and hugged her, too. "You don't have to tell us if you don't
want to. Not now."

"No. No, I want to." Sniffing, Kelly raised
her head. "We were having a long weekend in one of Seattle nicest
hotels. We...couldn't keep our hands off each other. And just when
Tim took off his shirt so we could,
you know
—"

Everyone nodded, listening raptly.

"—well, that was when I saw
it
."

"'It?' It what? What was it?" Mitzi
asked.

Kelly shook her head. "Someone had written
on his back. With a permanent marker, I guess. Tim's a very sound
sleeper, so that's probably how it happened without him knowing it,
and—"

"
What did it say
?" the women
shouted.

"Oh. It said, 'Property of'—" Here, Kelly
paused. "Well, to protect her identity, 'Property of
Mrs.
Tim. Hands off!"

They all gasped. "And that's how you found
out he was married?" Carla asked. She stared. "His wife, like,
booby-trapped
him for you?"

Miserably, Kelly nodded. Jayne squeezed her
hand.

"That's devious," Mitzi said.

"Very sneaky," Donna agreed.

"I'm going to have to remember that," Doris
announced, with a pointed look at her sister.

"Terrible." Carla handed over a second cup
of cocoa to soothe Kelly's nerves. "And that's when he dumped you?
When you found his wife's lost-and-found message?"

"No," Kelly said. "That's not when he dumped
me."

Everyone commiserated. "Well, we've all been
in relationships that went on too long," Jayne said, "relationships
we allowed to carry on until—"

"That's when
I
dumped him!"

Stunned silence fell. Kelly blushed.

Then, they all cheered. "Yay, Kelly!"
everyone shouted, united in respect for her gutsy move. Carla
pumped her fist, Mitzi shared celebratory pieces of Bazooka, Doris
and Donna choose a new DVD, and Jayne gave Kelly another hug plus
all the kudos she deserved for standing up for herself.

They were six women dressed in comfy
clothes, fortified by the remains of a cocoa-and-popcorn feast, and
entertained by the ever-present gorgeous-George-ness of ClooneyTV.
They were sharing, growing stronger, and preparing themselves for
the days ahead. After this, Jayne realized, none of them would ever
be the same again.

Wilderness, watch out
!

Naturally enough, that was when the men
arrived on the scene...and changed everything.

Chapter Seven

Riley paused in the doorway of the lodge's
common room. He'd come here to introduce the other guides to the
women in Jayne's group, but now...seeing the mayhem before
him...well, he wasn't too proud to admit he considered getting the
hell out of there and breaking out the brewskis with the guys
instead.

Unfortunately, his fellow guide Bruce made
the decision for all of them. One minute, he was standing there
placidly beside Riley, Mack, and Bruce's fifteen-year-old cousin
Lance. The next, he was taking his big blonde lumberjack-type self
straight into the group of women.

"It's a smorgasbord!" he announced
gleefully, gazing from one surprised female to the next. "A buffet
of women! I know you said you had a group here, Riley, but
this...this is an unexpected treat."

Bruce strode further into the room, rubbing
his hands together with undisguised eagerness. "Hell-
lo
,
ladies!"

The women responded mostly with raised
eyebrows. Riley couldn't say he blamed them. Although he couldn't
help but notice, Mitzi seemed intrigued. She actually smiled at the
big lug.

"He's harmless, really," Riley told them,
slapping Bruce on the back. "Out here in the wilderness...well,
Bruce doesn't see much action. If you know what I mean."

"Hey!"

"And this is Bruce's cousin." He urged Lance
forward. The boy came, all gangly arms and legs, self-consciously
gelled hair, and overly logo-ed clothes. "As long as no one
objects, Lance here will be coming along on our trip."

"Hi, Lance!" the women said, welcoming him
with smiles and waves.

"Lance's parents took a cruise to Alaska,
and left Bruce in charge of the poor kid." Riley grinned. "I figure
he'll need some
positive
influences while they're gone."

Oblivious to the teasing, Bruce nodded. He
winked at Mitzi, mouthing something to her. She blushed.

"And this is Mack." Riley encouraged the
final guide to come forward. "He comes to you with fifteen years'
guide experience, an unfailing knowledge of the Arizona high
country—"

"And cookies." Mack held up a bag in each
hand.

"Oreos!" all the women cheered. "Yay!"

They descended on a flustered Mack,
chattering and sharing and munching. They took Lance beneath their
collective feminine wings, encouraging the boy to join in the fun
and making him feel welcome. They even included Bruce, despite his
uncouth entrance, and endured his attempts to "chat them up."

Bruce was an excellent and trustworthy
guide, Riley knew, having taken out several adventure travel groups
with the man. But his social skills...well, they needed work. Bruce
tended to say exactly what he thought at any given moment. His idea
of small talk was, "Your place or mine, baby?" And he made no
efforts to control his ogle reflex, no matter who noticed. Bruce
claimed this made him "all man." Riley figured it made him impulse
control challenged.

Mack was another story. Red-haired,
thoughtful, and relentlessly cheerful, Mack was like a sitcom
sidekick come to life. Nothing ever got him down...but he never
seemed to get very much screen time, either. Riley had a suspicion
Mack's "very special episode" was still in his future.

"Hey, Riley! Come join the fun," Bruce
called. He spread his arms wide. "I can't handle all these babes by
myself."

Grinning, Riley entered the cluster of
women. Someone handed him a cookie. He decided to settle in.

The plan tonight was simply to let everyone
get acquainted, since the group would respond better to guides they
knew and trusted. The guides, in turn, would have a better
understanding of the techniques to use with their group members if
they knew the women personally. Satisfied that everything was
satisfactorily underway, he choose a seat on the leather sofa to
watch the proceedings.

An Oreo-munching Jayne sat down beside
him.

"Glad to see you," she said breezily,
sending a gentle waft of her perfume his way. "After the way you
left this afternoon, I started to think you might not come
back."

"Of course I came back. I have a
responsibility here."

She seemed to consider this. "So do I. These
women are depending on me, Riley. I won't let you mess things up
for me."

"I don't plan to."

"Good."

"Good!"

Well. That was that. The sounds of
socializing swirled around them, punctuated with laughter and the
occasional risqué punch line from Bruce. Riley and Jayne sat
stiffly, their apparent truce having affected nothing.

He glanced at her. In her soft oversize
pajamas she seemed fragile. Vulnerable, even. His heart
softened.

Riley was tempted to hug her, to cheer her,
to make things easier for her somehow. But he refused to give in to
the feeling. Everything was different now—now that he knew what
Jayne was really here for. Knowing she was
leading
the
anti-heartbreak agenda put an entirely new spin on his plans to
show her how decent a man could be. He felt stupid for having
thought up the idea in the first place. And he couldn't help but
wonder...

Had she used her best-selling techniques to
get over
him
?

The possibility hurt his pride. And it did
something else, too. Something he refused to contemplate, but which
felt suspiciously like stirring up regret. He was bothered by this
in ways he hadn't begun to untangle. Even his time alone today
hadn't brought him closer to a resolution.

On the other hand, there was still bozo-boy,
Jayne's former boyfriend, to consider. Riley was sure
he
was
the guy who'd inspired her book. Because after all, Riley's breakup
with Jayne had been clean.