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Chapter One
“Come on, Max!” Chris called as he hauled a canoe towards the edge of the lake. “You asked me to come and give you a hand, not do all the work myself!”
“One moment.”
Max counted out the life preserves again. Ten, one of every member of the group coming down at any moment. He didn’t want to get it wrong and find out of them without a life preserve; getting them out of the storage cupboard had been tough enough, as it was. With the weather having only just started getting nice enough to use the lake without it churning out mini tidal waves, it had been a while since the life preserves had actually been used.
He wasn’t about to have a group of women, who were more than likely a little tipsy, complaining about the lack of preparation.
He jogged over to his friend, who was now tugging on a second canoe. Between them, they managed to get it to the water’s edge, Max’s feet feeling the tiny waves lapping at his toes. Now that felt good.
“Thanks.” Chris grimaced as he straightened up, stretching his arms above his head. “I’m sure I’m going to have a bad back later. Those things weigh a tonne.”
“Stop whining. This is nothing compared to your last job.”
“This is different from working construction.” Chris rolled his shoulders. “So, when is this bachelorette party getting down here?”
“Any minute now.” Max checked his watch. “Actually, they should be on their way now.”
“You want me to go onto the water, or are you doing it?”
“I’ll let you do it. You’re better at charming the ladies than I am.”
Chris chuckled.
“Oh, really? I’ve seen you with the ladies. You have them practically eating out of your hand.”
“But you’ve got a knack for it. Besides,” Max made a face, “I’m not too keen on being around this group. Especially if it’s the group I think it is.”
“You’ve seen them already.”
“I was in the lodge yesterday when they came in. They were pretty loud and there was a lot of giggling.”
“And that intimidated you?”
Max hadn’t been intimidated, but he hadn’t been left with a good first impression. For a start, the women had been rather obnoxious towards the receptionist. The poor girl didn’t get paid enough to be spoken to like that, having people snap their fingers at her to get her attention or make her move faster. And the word ‘wedding’ had come up so many times Max was already fed up with the word. There was also an older woman in her late fifties who seemed to be fawning over the supposed bride, and the girl was lapping it up.
“Let’s just say while I’m looking forward to doing my actual job again, I’m not keen on being around these ladies. You’re better at handling…difficult people than I am.”
“Charming,” Chris snorted. “Just throw me to the wolves while you run away.”
“I’ll still be here.”
“But I’ll be out on the water with them. They’re not going to be drunk, are they?”
“I hope not. But given the reason they’re here for the weekend, I doubt it’s going to happen.” Max sighed. “We’re just going to have to make sure they’re not drinking while out on the lake. At least they’ll have life preserves on.”
“You think that’s going to make it any better?”
“Probably not.” Max looked around. “Did you bring out the paddles?”
“Not yet. I wanted to get the big stuff sorted first.”
“I’ll get them. They should be here any moment, so you get your best smile on ready.”
Chris rolled his eyes.
