CHAPTER 4

AN: I loved writing this chapter. Hope you enjoy reading it as much. Please leave a comment if you do...

Paige was going to die. This was it. She was just waiting for a gaping hole to open up in the ground and swallow her. Well, a girl could always hope.

They'd brought their entire house with them and half of the garage too. How? How did she manage to forget her own clothes? She'd put her overnight bag down by the front door. It was probably still sitting there. She had been dreading this weekend so much, she anxiously over-packed again. She'd made it to the car with her smaller bag that contained her toiletries, but she had obviously forgotten to go back and get the heavier bag stuffed with her clothes. Not only was she without pajamas, she didn't even have a clean pair of underwear! Her mind raced trying to figure out what to do. And she didn't have her car with her to go to the nearest store which was at least thirty-five minutes away, let alone go all the way back to LA for her things.

A bubble of hysterical laughter threatened to burst out, as she thought about wearing the same pair of underwear for three days. It might serve as a chastity belt. She hadn't spent a night with Tim since they started dating. Of course they couldn't do anything with their tent side-by-side with her son's, but she had to share a tent with him and lie beside him and try to sleep for two nights. She didn't know how she felt about it. Paige wasn't trying to string Tim along, and she did find him attractive, but the thought of finally getting physical with him…wasn't as exciting as it should be. Maybe she was just nervous. It had been a long time since she'd been intimate with anyone.

Tim was at the big campfire area. The leader had taken him over there to introduce him around to the other campers after the cars were unloaded and the campsite was set up for the night. Paige was preparing to head for the ladies' restroom to get ready for bed and was just thinking sourly that the guy could have asked Walter and Ralph to come and meet everyone too, when she made the discovery about her clothes. Sighing and plopping down on the picnic bench at the campsite, she leaned her elbows on the table and rested her forehead on the heels of her hands. She commanded herself to think. What did she need to do?

That's when Walter walked up. "You look perturbed," he said. For a moment Paige had a flashback to the night they'd kissed in the garage after the whole satellite case. Her face flushed as her temperature spiked up a couple of degrees at the memory. Well, at least she knew her libido was still…there. Great. Just great.

Embarrassed and impatient with herself, she implored him, "Swear you won't tell Toby? I can only imagine the conclusions he would draw from this. I'd never hear the end of it!" At his nod, she admitted,"I left my clothes back at my place. I'm trying to figure out what to do so I don't look and smell like I live under a bridge this whole weekend."

To Paige's relief, all Walter did was give her a small smirk before, logical as always, he suggested, "I probably have something that will do for you tonight. Tomorrow you can take my car and go into the closest town and purchase some things to get you through."

"I'll owe you big for this."

Walter's smile grew. "I'll collect on it, I'm sure." Her pulse kicked up again at his unintended innuendo.

That's how Paige found herself going commando in a pair of Walter's navy blue swim trunks and wearing a T-shirt with the slogan "Save the Brainforest" emblazoned across her chest. The shirt hung down to her mid thigh and even with a drawstring, the shorts kept threatening to slide down, the hems of the legs sagging almost to midcalf. Hardly high fashion. Or sexy night wear.

Tim took one look and started laughing good naturedly.

She threw him an disgruntled look and said, "Don't ask." He was a good sport about it. Of course.

Lying wide awake beside Tim, his arm heavy around her middle, she heard Walter and Ralph settle in after setting up her son's telescope and taking some time to star gaze. She could hear the two geniuses talking for a while as they tried to make geometric shapes on the side of their tent using the shadow of their hands and a flashlight beam. They made a circle, a triangle, and a rhombus, but they cracked up laughing when Ralph suggested a tetrahedron. They almost managed it after propping the flashlight and using all four available hands. But the light was attracting insects, so they finally decided to give up and go to sleep.

Paige was still awake when the two in the next tent went to sleep, both of them mumbling things occasionally as if solving equations subconsciously. Tim was quiet and still, breathing softly and inoffensively. He didn't snore or talk or kick or fart. His nose didn't whistle when he exhaled. He even slept perfectly.

XXXOOOOXXX

The previous night, when Paige stood in front of him, her form lost in his clothes with that pout on her face, Walter just wanted to hug her. But he resisted. Barely.

That image had to sustain him through the morning he was having. As Paige drove off in his car after breakfast, all the campers divided up into teams. Their team went on a nature hike first. That's what started the Ralph tug-of-war with both men competing for his attention. They would both point things out like signs of wildlife or which plants were edible or rock formations that the boy frankly already knew. Walter could tell they were trying his patience, so the older genius decided to back off and keep quiet. It didn't help matters that Tim had an entourage of adoring youngsters dogging his heels and drinking in his every word about survival skills. Adults and kids alike asked enthusiastic questions about eating bugs and making temporary shelters. They asked about his boots and what kind of knife he had and what was the longest time he'd had to survive in the wild on his own. Walter and Ralph dropped further and further toward the back of the group quietly watching everyone trample all the signs of nature on the trail.

Then things got worse.

The next activity for their team involved games. They competed at horseshoes. Walter sucked at anything involving tossing. Ralph sucked worse. Tim tried to coach them being very encouraging and tolerant of their lack of skills. Walter wanted to throw the horseshoe and get a ringer on Tim's thick neck. Their team won because of Tim's high score. And the crowd went wild.

Walter and Ralph spent the rest of the game period competing on the giant chess board while the others played an impromptu game of soccer...at Tim's suggestion.

OOOXXXXOOO

This was intolerable. Phase four was not going well at all. First the hike was ruined by everyone's hero. It should have been an enjoyable outing looking for mineral deposits and wildlife, but it turned into worship of all things Tim. Then the over zealous gym teacher had to point out everything he and Walter were doing wrong at horseshoes. He didn't even like horseshoes. What was the fun in throwing objects at a stick?

And his mom wasn't even here to observe the contrasts between the two men or note Walter's clear superiority. Last night he was sure she was going to be impressed with the tent he and Walter constructed, but that kid's 'weird' comment destroyed that plan. And this morning she was absent!

And if that wasn't bad enough, the current situation took the prize. At the moment Ralph was hanging upside down in a repelling harness from the side of a twenty foot rock face. Also Tim's fault!

Tim had badgered him into the rock climbing activity telling him participation was key to getting along with the other kids. When Ralph tried to explain that athletics weren't his strong suit and he didn't care for heights, that go-getter gorilla kept telling him that he just needed to practice. The man was so pugnacious, Ralph finally gave in, but he refused help with his harness in irritation. He was a genius. He could figure out a stupid harness.

Now all his blood supply was in his head making it difficult to think while everyone on the ground was alternately laughing and shouting instructions. Walter, he ascertained, was trying to buckle into his own harness to try to assist. But Tim was already equipped and made it to him first, got him unentangled and got him to the ground.

Humiliated, Ralph shoved away from Tim, unable to even thank him for his help, and ran straight to Walter, burying his hot face in his own hero's shirt. He knew Walter would somehow make this okay.

And he did.

The two of them spent the rest of the afternoon making a zipline using a couple of old telephone poles with guide wires, the cliff face, rope, the hated repelling harness and trigonometry. They had one fantastic ride together before the leader saw what they were doing and scolded them about safety and setting a bad example. But Ralph didn't care. For a while he'd forgotten to scheme and plot and about being embarrassed in front of everyone. And he failed to notice his mom watching everything.