Page 8 of Just a Plot Twist
And here he is, trying to stick his nose in my trailways business?
I get out of the car so fast, my head is spinning.
It’s that place between night and morning, and the cool spring air lifts the fluttery pieces of hair that have escaped my hastily gathered ponytail.
“Claire Lawson?” Rich shouts across the clearing. “I didn’t know you were a hiker.” His voice is so loud that everyone turns to look at me.
“Yep, yep.” I paste a beaming grin on my face before reaching in the car to retrieve my aluminum water bottle. The whole big backpack thing is highly unnecessary. A water bottle will suffice, thank you very much.
I straighten. “Hiking’s great.”
That is to say,I’m sure I’ll think it’s great once I get the hang of it.
Just because I’m new to hiking doesn’t mean I can’t love it with the same fierceness I’ve reserved for Longdale.
Rich and his wife reach me, and he eyes my regular, old non-hiking shoes, as if they’re quite possibly going to ruin it for everyone.
“Well, we’re glad you’re here. There’s a bit of a hard incline close to the top, but other than that, the trail’s pretty easy.” The way he surveys the land, with his feeble, skinny, farmer-tanned arms folded across his chest, makes it clear he thinks he’s in charge.
I’ve seen that look around the office a lot.
“Oh, I know,” I can’t help adding. At least, that’s what the topography reports from our ecology consultant tell us.
He opens his mouth, probably to ask me if I’ve hiked this trail before. I turn to his wife before he gets the chance.
“And how are you, Liesel?” I ask, pulling down my sweatshirt over my hips and straightening the waistband of my black leggings.
She curls a smile as she surveys me. “I’m out in God’s creation!” she says. “I couldn’t be better.”
Of course she has on cool hiker gear and those brown and orange hiking boots that are just so…cool. They’re the ones I was eyeing on the L.L.Bean website.
And she’s chipper like her husband this morning.Great.
“Doug was pleased I was joining the hiking club,” Rich the bootlicker says. “He said he’ll join in a few of these this summer, so we’ll probably see him sometimes.”
“Doug” is Mayor Whitten. Rich is the only one in the office who can get away with calling him by his first name because Rich’s dad and the mayor are lifelong friends.
Rich grew up mowing “Doug’s” lawn and collecting his mail when he was out of town. “Bootlicker” isn’t a strong enough word for Rich. And I don’t need to spell out what this means for my battle for the city manager position.
If Rich gets the position, he’ll likely stay in it for thirty plus years, which means I can kiss my Longdale city manager dreams goodbye.
I’d be more likely to get the job if it weren’t for the small fact that I’m a woman. I’m not saying the city government of Longdale is sexist, but there is an odd precedence that the mayor loves to bring up. All of the city managers in recent memory have been women…and they’ve all left the job shortly after starting because of marriage and children.
Not that anyone can bring this up legally, but the little side comments and “jokes” do crop up. It’s a thing.
So I may very well lose the position to Rich simply because he’s a man and he’s friends with the mayor.
Am I going to have to talk to Rich and Liesel the whole two hours today? I cringe, but a man walks towards us. He’s tall, wearing a dark blueDri-FIT shirt and grey athletic shorts. His shoes are more of an athletic style and less hiker-ish. Thank goodness we don’t have another wilderness pro know-it-all on our hands here.
He’s not L.L.Bean. He’s Sports Authority. And his coolness is blowing Rich and Liesel’s vibe out of the water.
He smiles. With his thick, dark hair and his intense dark brown eyes, he’s quite possibly the best-looking man I’ve seen in a very long time.
I give him a smile back that might say moreThank you for saving me from the McClainsthan I’d like.
“Hello, have you done this before?” I ask.
He hesitates. “Not here in Colorado, no. I’m excited to get into hiking more.”
