The Supermodel's Best Friend (A Romantic Comedy) (14 page)

She felt his gaze on her but pretended she
didn’t notice. “I should have warned Fawn. About Huntley’s
parents.”

“She knew.”

Lucy sighed. “Yeah, I guess she did.”

Another silence. “It’s not going to be a very
fun week if you won’t even look at me.” He lowered his voice. “And
you know you want to.”

She turned her body toward him and glanced up
at his face, noticing with alarm how the overcast sky matched the
gray of his eyes. She dropped her attention to the zipper pull on
his sweatshirt halfway down his chest.

“Chicken,” he said softly.

“I am not going to talk to you anymore.” She
took a step back.

He put a hand on her arm and her body
responded with a rush of blood to the spot where he touched her, an
acceleration of her breathing, a tingly feeling down her spine.
“Party’s starting,” he said, gesturing past her.

Grateful for the distraction, she turned to
watch a woman in white, arms upraised, jog to the base of the
platform. “Greetings, fellow human beings of Earth. I am Celeste.
Before we climb up the platform, we’re going to link hands in a
Welcoming Circle around Bahbbe—the tree—and let the life force that
is so powerful here rise up through the roots, down from the
canopy, sharing with us a Life Blessing for the future.”

Lucy’s snort came out before she could stop
herself. She covered her mouth and coughed.

“And then we’re going to go for the ride of
our lives!” Celeste whooped and pounded her fist in the air.

“It’s almost worth being here just to watch
Rosalind Sterling’s face,” Miles said in her ear while they watched
Celeste greet them. “She looks like she’s chewing something
nasty.”

Fighting the impulse to cover her neck where
he’d breathed on it, Lucy stepped away. “I’ll link hands, but no
way am I getting up there.”

“It is pretty high.” Miles looked up. “Are
you afraid of heights?”

Her stomach lurched. “That would be
silly.”

“Not it’s not. It’s pretty common—”

“I’m not afraid. I just… don’t like to be
strapped in like that.” Hurling through the air. A hundred feet
above the ground.

He leaned down, touched her shoulder, dropped
his voice. “No harnesses on your list? How about
straps
?”

“There’s still time to beat you up.”

He grinned.

Celeste herded everyone toward the tree,
smiling and addressing each one of them by their first name: Fawn
and Huntley, their parents, Lucy and Miles, Krista and Betty, then
stopping and gasping in alarm. “Where is Alex?”

Lucy frowned and looked around.

Miles grinned. “You didn’t notice he wasn’t
here, did you?”

She ignored him. But she hadn’t. “I don’t see
Huntley’s sister either.”

“Is she your backup if this arranged marriage
with Alex doesn’t work out?”

“Will you please shut up?”

At that moment Alex’s head appeared, climbing
up from below on the trail. He was short of breath and had a bloody
streak across one cheek. “I hope I’m not late. I took a detour and
had a little tumble. It was steeper than it looked!”

“You dumbass,” Huntley said, walking over and
slapping him on the shoulder. “Trying to ruin my wedding by getting
yourself killed?”

Alex put a hand on his cheek. “It was
nothing. Just afraid of missing the ceremony.” He scanned the group
and beamed when he noticed Lucy. He strode right to her. “Have I
missed anything?”

“My sister won’t be here, so let’s get it
going,” Huntley said.

Celeste faltered at that news. “It won’t be
the same without her—”

“She’s in London until tomorrow. Please
continue.”

Celeste looked around and seemed to finally
absorb the lack of enthusiasm. “Well, she’ll be here in spirit!
Everyone link hands.”

It took a few minutes, but eventually
everyone was circling the tree. Miles had Lucy’s right, and Alex
had her left. Fawn’s family was next to Miles, and Krista and Betty
closed the circle with Fawn and the Sterlings on the other
side.

“New Age bullshit,” said Larry, Fawn’s
father, just as Celeste began to sing.

Alex shushed him and tried to share a
disapproving look with Lucy. Lucy was too busy trying to ignore how
warm and strong Miles’s big hand felt around hers.

“My God, I can’t wait to ride that line,”
Alex whispered in her ear. “Ten minutes soaring over the redwood
canopy. Awesome.”

Her throat went dry. “Ten minutes?”

“Maybe more. They’ve got gondolas and
platforms strung all over the forest.”

“It wasn’t on the website,” she said.

“Huntley made them keep it a secret for the
wedding. It’s brand new.”

So new it probably hadn’t been tested
properly. “Wonderful,” she muttered. She craned her neck back,
estimating the top of the platform was twenty feet up from where
they stood. That was bad enough.

The path the line took through the trees and
over the creek below, however, was an impossible journey into
groundless green and blue space.

Celeste began to sing in a language she
didn’t recognize. Somebody was playing drums.

There was no way the Sterlings would climb up
there. Geri had a bad hip, so she wouldn’t even try. Fawn’s dad,
Larry, weighed over three hundred pounds; they probably wouldn’t
let him ride even if he wanted to. And his wife,Val, never left his
side. Krista and Betty would be good sports, and the groomsmen. And
Huntley, of course, though he sure was shaping up to be a
disappointment in the stand-by-me department.

Fawn needed visible support. And Lucy was the
maid of honor.

Celeste stopped singing and clapped. The
group dropped their hands, most backing away from the tree, and
some lined up below the platform. Betty was first. She climbed up
right before Krista, who asked if they could go more than once.
Huntley assured her they could as long as nobody died.

While the first volunteers climbed up, Fawn
went to talk to her family.

Alex put his palm on Lucy’s back. “You can go
in front of me.” He had a camera around his neck. “This is going to
be incredible.”

“No, please,” she said. “I’d rather you went
first.”

“I don’t mind, really,” Alex said.

“No, I’d like to wait for Fawn.”

“If you’re sure… ”

Lucy assured him she was and he left her to
climb up the ladder after Huntley.

After a couple of minutes, Fawn waved at her
mother, father, and stepmother as they got into one of the electric
cars.

The Sterlings just stood there, watching.
Their flat and unreadable eyes followed Fawn wherever she went.

Lucy
had
to participate in the
activities and look like she enjoyed them.

Miles touched her arm. “Are you sure you want
to do this?”

Just the thought of climbing the ladder made
her knees buckle. But she had to, especially now that Miles thought
she couldn’t. “Of course.” She walked over to the base of the
platform. It cast a dark shadow. The wooden rungs were damp, a
little slippery.

Her body released a panicked dose of
adrenaline into her bloodstream. Focusing on the rungs one by one,
only the ones she could see, she made her way up slowly.

Very slowly. Her nerves vibrated.

Eventually, with her heart hammering against
her ribs, she saw flat planks. A railing around the top. Other
people.

She wouldn’t look at the harnesses. How
Huntley was getting strapped into one, Alex right behind him.

Sucking in shallow breaths, she stepped
forward. Just another person waiting to go on the fun little ride,
no big deal.

Sweat dripped down her forehead. She tried to
focus on the horizon and not the ground below, not the delicate
cable stretching out over nothingness. All that open air. Birds
gliding beneath them.

She put her hands on her knees.

“Lucy?”

She heard Miles’s voice through a fog, felt
the ground tilt.

“I’ve got her,” Miles said. “Stand back.”

She realized somebody was lifting her. Her
head bumped against a big, steady chest—a wall of fleece.

Miles.

She blinked away the stars. “Put me down. I’m
fine.”

“Of course you are. You just need a minute.”
He took his time setting her down on the platform.

She was relieved to sit. More points of
contact between her body and solidity. If she closed her eyes she
could pretend she was on a deck only a few inches above ground.
“Thanks.”

His hand settled on the back of her head and
guided it down between her knees. “Breathe deeply. Slowly.”

“I’ll be fine. I’m fine.”

He didn’t say anything, just waited. She drew
in more air and waited for the black edges of her vision to recede.
When her head felt like it had reattached itself to her neck, she
lifted it up slowly and gently pushed his hand away. “Really, I’m
fine now.”

This time he did move back. Just a little.
She met his gaze and they stared at each other for a moment, not
smiling, not speaking.

She could look at him forever.

“Lucy!” Fawn’s head appeared as she climbed
up onto the platform. “What is it?”

“I’m fine. Fine. Just needed to sit down for
a minute.”

Alex strode over wearing a half-attached
harness. “I didn’t realize what was happening.”

Miles held up his hands, palms out. “She
needs a minute and some space. So she can climb back down.”

“But—what’s the matter? Are you hurt?” Alex
asked.

“Lucy, I’m sorry, I didn’t think,” Fawn
said.

Alex squatted down next to Lucy and pointed
at the zip line. “You really should just try it once. He’s pretty
far now, but can you see Huntley just—there!—can you see him? Look
at him soar! He’s got to be two hundred feet in the air. Higher
than the
redwoods
! Just
flying
—”

Lucy’s vision went sparkly at the edges.

“Down you go,” Miles said, gently pushing her
head back down.

“Alex, Miles is right,” Fawn said. “She’s got
a… thing. I’ll explain later. You go. They’re ready for you.”

“Well, okay,” Alex said. “I’ll see you at the
bottom.”

When she was pretty sure he was gone, Lucy
asked Miles, “How did you know?”

“I’ve seen that look before,” he said. “Been
that way your whole life?”

She grunted. “Little bit. Got worse when I
was a teenager.”

“I had this one kid, real tough. Dodging drug
dealers in West Oakland didn’t faze him, but he wouldn’t go near a
Ferris wheel.”

She nodded. “They make me tingle in all the
wrong places.”

“I’d like to hear more about that later.”

“I bet,” she said weakly.

He patted her on the back. “Sorry. Keep
taking deep breaths.”

She obliged, glad she hadn’t eaten much. No
way was she going to watch her best friend dangle around on some
dental floss in the sky. “I’d like to get out of here,” she
whispered.

“All right. Can you walk?”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

“I’ll go first and clear the way.”

She toddled after him, gripping the railing
and staring at her hands. Giving up on the zip line did wonders for
her composure. She was able to turn around and find the rungs with
her feet without another wave of dizziness or nausea. The descent
was slow, full of pauses, but she made it.

She let him help her to the ground at the
bottom but was grateful when he released her without comment. He
had every right to make fun of her.

The Sterlings were gone, as were Fawn’s
father and stepmother. Geri was looking up with her hands over her
eyes, peeking through her fingers. “I can’t watch,” she said.

“Me neither,” Lucy muttered on her way to the
path.

An unexpected wave of dizziness hit her when
she eyed the trail down the hill. Climbing up, the ridge hadn’t
seemed so high and steep, but now—

“This is so annoying,” she said, putting her
hands on her knees.

Miles put an arm around her. “We’ll take the
last car.”

He waved down the staffer with the
mustache.

In a few minutes they were side by side in
the little electric car and heading down a paved, narrow path, not
nearly as steep as the foot trail. She didn’t risk a look up at the
platform, not even when she heard Fawn scream.

It was a long, dwindling scream. The kind a
person might make while they hurtled to certain death.

“She’s fine. She’s just having fun,” Miles
said.

Lucy always felt ridiculous when she had an
episode like this. Her father said her mother had been the same
way, and sometimes she let that thought comfort her, that she had
this connection to her. A genetic phobia.

A slow, winding drive later, the car reached
the lodge. Groucho—no, Miles called him Shawn—parked in front.
“There’s a free wine tasting until six. Would you like to get off
here?”

“No, thanks,” Lucy said. “I just want to go
to my cabin.” She was recovered enough to be distracted by the
long, muscular thigh pressed against hers. Miles wasn’t
intentionally touching her; he was just too big not to. He looked
uncomfortable, all hunched over.

“Ceanothus coming up,” Shawn said, and the
cart puttered back onto the path.

When they reached her cabin, Lucy stepped out
onto the ground. Nice ground.

Miles joined her and sent Shawn on his way.
“You should eat,” he said. To her relief, he didn’t try to help her
inside, though she was still feeling a little lightheaded as she
climbed the stairs and unlocked the door.

“I just need to lie down.”

“Want me to get you something from the
restaurant? It’s dinnertime.”

“No, thanks.” She bent over to unlace her
boots but Miles got there first, surprisingly quick for such a big
man.

“You don’t want to be leaning over like that
just yet.” He slipped off each boot and set them neatly by the
door. Her socks were thick but she felt naked having him touch her
feet. She took off her jacket and padded over to the bed while he
hung it up.