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Chapter 13
Cora
I hang backas the men start serving themselves from the passthrough window, psyching myself up to spend time with Rev tonight. He’s all long legs, long hair, and crazy eyes as he steps into line a full five feet behind Grim, who is piling his plate high with Shep’s offerings. The gray in Rev’s goatee is a stark reminder that his age is more than twice mine. He has walked the Earth for fifty-two years, and here I am a mere twenty-year-old. He’s older than my father was when the virus took my family from me, and he’s more intense than the rest of the men at Eagle Peak combined…well, except for Jud.
Maybe I should just cool my jets and not plan on making love with Grim tomorrow night. I’m not ready, and I won’t be ready after just one night. Especially if that one night is with the oldest and most intimidating man on this mountain.
Grim takes his seat at the far end of the second cafeteria table. His gaze locks with mine, and the distance between us disappears. I’m instantly warmed from the inside out. The connection between us sizzles and snaps. It’s a living lightning bolt arcing across the table. I can’t believe it’s not bathing the room in its brilliance.
Grim doesn’t usually eat with everyone else. The fact that he’s here makes me ridiculously happy. Smiling at him, my determination is renewed. Iwantto make love with him tomorrow night. I want it with a desperation I can taste.
I don’t know what tonight with Rev will hold, but as I step into the mess line behind him, I promise myself I’ll do my best. I’ll push myself and try to enjoy any attention he wants to give me. Maybe—gulp—maybe I’ll even ask him to go inside me…just a little.
The idea fills me with dread, but dread isn’t going to get me ready for tomorrow night with Grim. Instead of dwelling on it, I tune in to the conversation Rev is having with Doc as they serve themselves, side by side, from the window.
Plate in one hand, Doc slaps the older man on the back, grinning from ear to ear. “Heard you bagged the pelican this afternoon. Nicely done, man!”
My ears perk up. They caught the pelican? Scrap’s contraption must have worked!
Deep laugh lines frame Rev’s mouth. He looks pleased with himself. “Wasn’t all me. Grim helped, didn’t you, man?” He nods to where Grim is tucking in to his food.
Grim acknowledges him with a nod back, and I beam proudly at Grim.
“And Scrappy-boy’s snare gun did the trick.” Rev catches Scrap as he slouches past, gripping his shoulder and giving it a good, hard shake.
Scrap handles the praise by giving Rev the finger and stealing a buttered roll from the basket in the passthrough before taking his place in line behind me.
When I make it up to the window, I serve myself a heaping helping of Shep’s duck stew and salad made from sauteed kale, crisp radish ribbons, and butter-rum-pickled raisins. Kale is one of the few greens that grow really well up here on the mountain, Shep explained to me, but it’s never been a favorite of mine. I’m skeptical about the salad, but once I dig in, I’m pleased to find it tastes much better than it sounds. I don’t know how Shep does it, but with limited resources, he manages to create amazing dishes that hit the spot every time.
I’m cozied up next to Rev since he’s my date for the night. As usual, Scrap takes the seat across from him. The two of them spend a lot of time together, probably because Scrap’s good with mechanical things and Rev used to be an electrician. Doc steps over the bench on my other side and sits down, and Jud, who always serves himself last, makes the table creak when he sits beside Scrap, well, as “beside” as one can be when manspreading.
“Is the bird okay?” I ask between mouthfuls. “What will you do with it?”
“It’s fine, little one.” Rev settles a long-fingered hand on my knee, which is bare since I’m wearing my usual denim shorts. His skin is warm on mine, and his tone is gentle, belying his wild eyes. My nerves settle somewhat, but that could be the stew, since Shep’s cooking is magic. “We got tunnels under the camp,” Rev goes on. “We locked it up down there, where it can’t do no harm.”
I wonder what kind of harm a bird can cause as Brawn asks, “What does it want?” The big guy is taking up the other half of the cafeteria table by himself, that is, until Shep sits down across from him with a loaded plate.
Looking around, I realize we’re all here. Me and my seven guys. It’s unusual for us all to sit down to a meal at one time. Usually, Grim takes his meals in his camper, and often someone comes late or dashes out early or never shows at all.
Did I really just think of all seven of these men as mine? Withzeropanic?
I’m still marveling at that when Jud speaks up. “Rev’ll spend more time with the bird before answering any questions. Tomorrow night, we’ll have church, and he’ll tell us what we need to know.” He makes eye contact with Rev, and something passes between them. Leader stuff, I guess, since they’re the top two in charge.
I’m looking forward to church at Eagle Peak. My family wasn’t religious, but I’ve been to church with a friend before, well, more like Wednesday night youth group. I liked it. Something tells me, though, that my guys won’t be singing songs and playing games involving rolls of toilet paper and plates full of whipped cream.
Rev talks with Jud and the others about non-pelican matters until everyone’s done eating, at which point Jud tells us all to gather by the fireplace in twenty minutes. While Brawn and Doc bring in firewood for the first fire of the season, Scrap lights candles. The others start lugging in a bunch of cardboard boxes in various sizes.
I head to the kitchen to help Shep clean up. “What’s going on?” I ask him. He’s elbow-deep in dishwater, when I pick up the towel and start drying. “I thought church was tomorrow night.”
“This isn’t church.” His blue eyes twinkle below blond eyebrows. “This is something else.” He wears a crooked smile, and my spidey sense goes on high alert.
“Shep?” I draw out his name. “Are you hiding something from me?”
“Me?” He covers his heart with a soggy hand. “I would never!”
I give him the stink eye while I dry a cast-iron skillet.
He laughs and kisses me on the cheek before taking the skillet from me and hanging it over the center island.
