Two hours later, we reach a diner on the side of Highway 78, about a mile off the trail. I tell Bats to order me something light while I drop my pack and dig out my phone. There’s a sign in the window touting Wi-Fi service, and I need answers. It’s a shitty connection, but it’s something. A minute later, I’m connected and scrolling through my weather app and trail reports on the internet. I don’t like what I find.
Bats sits down and places a basket in front of me with a BLT and fries. “Eat.” I grab a fry and stuff it in my mouth, not taking my eyes off the screen. He reaches over and snags my phone out of my hand.
I reach to take my phone back, but he holds it out of reach. “I can do both,” I snarl.
“Bullshit,” he replies. “Eat.”
I take a large bite out of the sandwich and hold out my hand. Bats scowls as he hands my phone back as Belle and Nova join us, digging into matching burgers and fries.
“Are you going to tell us why we stopped for burgers?” Nova asks. “Or do we get to guess?”
I take another bite before Bats can glare at me again. I answer once I’ve swallowed. “There’s a heavy rain front coming in. We’ve got three, maybe four hours until it reaches us. We’ll need to hurry if we’re going to reach the spring.”
Nova puts his burger down and leans back, crossing his arms. “You’re worried about beating this rain front, yet there’s time to stop for burgers?”
“Snow,” Bats replies for me. “He’s worried about the mountains north of here.”
Belle pauses mid-bite, and I ask, “Problem, princess?” Belle shakes her head as she chews. She makes a noise that I assume means nope. “Good,” I say, with a smug smile. “It’ll slow us down, but we should be able to power through.”
“What?” Nova exclaims. “You can’t be serious.”
I shrug, taking another bite of the BLT. For a roadside diner, it’s not that bad. “We expected to encounter a little snow. We’ll be fine.”
“How much?”
“Hard to tell.”
“Fuck that,” Nova spits out.
His push back takes me by surprise. Nova normally goes along with whatever Bats and I plan. This sudden reluctance has me wondering if it has to do with Belle. Dude’s thinking with his dick, and that’s not helping. “Then what would you suggest, Nova?”
To his credit, Nova takes a moment to consider. “We have a supply point in, what, two days?” I nod. “How long is the rain supposed to keep up?”
“Tomorrow. Midafternoon maybe.”
“Then why don’t we head for the supply point and check trail conditions when we get there? If we have to, we stay a night or two, then get back to it when the snow has melted a little.”
Crap. Nova has a good thought there, and Belle’s nodding along with it. Figures she’d be up for stopping. I hazard a glance at her. “Of course you’d be in favor of stopping in town. Let me guess. Need to wash your panties?” Bats cocks an eyebrow. Nova gawks. Yep. I’m an asshole, Belle. Figure it out and leave already. Only, she’s sitting there smirking back at me. What the hell?
“Thinking about my panties, Grinder?” she asks with a playful wink.
My mouth opens to reply with some sort of smartass remark, but I can’t find the words. The playfulness in her light blue eyes and the flirty tone of her voice hold me captive for a moment, making me question why I’ve been trying to push her away. I shake my head. I know why she needs to go. And a pretty smile won’t change that. “Whatever,” I blurt out, wrapping the second half of my sandwich and shoving a few more fries into my mouth. As I head over to store the rest of my sandwich in my pack, I’m left wondering what the hell just happened?
***
An hour and a half later, we’re heading along Penrod Canyon. We reach a grove of oak trees and a few pines Belle could identify for us, when Bats calls for me to stop.
“What?” I demand, my voice thick with agitation. “We’ve got three miles to go and we’re running out of time.”
Bats points to the clouds closing in on us. “No, we’re already out of time. That’s going to hit us before we reach the spring, and it looks like a drencher. We need to stop.”
“Then grab your raincoat and move,” I retort. “It’s not like we haven’t hiked in the rain before.”
“I drop this pack, I’m setting my tent up,” Bats promises.
That gets my attention, because he never uses his tent.
Nova shrugs, adding, “He’s right, dude. Starting in the rain and ending in the rain are two different things. We’re still a day and a half out of Idyllwild whether we stop now or in an hour. If we get caught in that,” Nova says, motioning toward the storm front, “no one’s sleeping dry tonight.”
I turn toward Belle, who’s yet to chime in, but she keeps quiet for once. Probably figures she already has me outnumbered. Damn it. “Fine,” I grunt, and the others drop their packs.
It’s not thirty minutes before the first drops fall. I have my tent up already and toss my pack inside. I set my burner up outside the door to get some hot water going for dinner.
A feminine eek draws my attention as Belle dashes into her tent. Nova helped her get set up before they both helped Bats set up the four-person tent he carries in case we end up at a small campsite. Or if the weather gets bad. Such as the rain beginning to fall from the dark clouds above us, or the even darker ones behind them. Nova may have had a point. I hate stopping early, but it looks like we’re about to get drenched.
Belle emerges from her tent, having swapped shorts for pants, and grabbed her raincoat. The others finish staking down Bats’ tent and take shelter inside with a trio of burners already going outside the door under the cover of the rain fly.
I’m digging into my dinner, listening to the rain beat down on my tent, when the others laugh at something. Across the small clearing, they’re hunkered down inside of Bats’ tent, watching something on Belle’s tablet.
“What are you three doing over there?” I ask over the heavy patter of the rain.
Belle returns my glance and smiles at me. Annoying girl. How the hell did we end up with her, of all people? “It’s called Netflix,” she replies sweetly. “If you promise to be nice, you can come watch with us.”
“Are you sure you have time for streaming with all the research you’re doing?” Belle flips me off. Yeah, smart girl, that one. The others go back to watching the program on Belle’s tablet as I chew away. A few minutes later, I can’t help but ask, “How the hell are you even getting Netflix out here?”
“It’s called downloading,” Belle says, like it should be obvious.
“You sure you don’t want to join us?” Nova asks with a bemused grin.
I scoff at the suggestion, folding my arms over my chest. “If I wanted to sit around watching Netflix, I wouldn’t have left home. We’re out here to enjoy getting away from all that crap.”
All three look at me like I’m being some sort of idiot.
Nova points toward the sky and replies sarcastically, “I’m sure it’s going to be a beautiful sunset tonight. We’ll be certain to finish the show by then so we can all sit outside and watch it.”
Belle gives Nova a playful shove, muttering, “Be nice.”
As they go back to their show, I zip up my tent and pull out my maps. Let them waste their damn time. I need to figure out a new destination for tomorrow. And how much further behind we’re going to fall.
***