Wedding Survivor (39 page)

It took some doing to get out of her wet jeans. She was so cold she could barely make her fingers work, but she did eventually manage to squeegee herself out of them. She pulled on a pair of sweats, a camisole, and a dirty sweatshirt, then searched forever for dry socks. She donned two pairs, as her boots were waterlogged. When she had finally dressed, she made her way out in her socks, carrying her waterlogged boots to dry in one hand and her toiletry bag in the other.

At the very least, she was finally going to be afforded the luxury of washing herself and her hair. The very thought made her smile brightly.

She found Eli at the fire ring where he'd built another roaring blaze from nothing but some twigs and a lighter. He smiled as she walked up, took her shoes from her without a word, and put them near the fire to dry.

"Thanks," Marnie said. "When do I get to bathe?"

"I brought the rainwater up to the cabin. You should be good to go," he said with a smile.

"Great. I'll see you later when I'm squeaky clean," she said, and walked on to the cabin.

When she stepped inside, Vince was lounging on the couch, eating another peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Olivia was sitting on the bed, wrapped in one of the thick terry robes with a towel piled high on her head. Even so, it took a moment for Marnie to understand that Olivia had cheated—she'd reneged on her word and had gone first.

"Olivia!" Marnie exclaimed. "You promised I could go first!"

That seemed to startle Olivia; she blinked up at her and looked around the room. "Well… you were taking so long."

"That's because it is very hard to get soaking wet clothes off when you are so cold you can't feel your fingers," Marnie cried. "But still, you promised!"

"
Sor-ree
," Olivia said as she rubbed lotion on her feet "It's not that big of a deal, is it?"

Yes. Yes, it was a very big deal, and Marnie was really pissed. With a snort of disdain for Olivia, she walked through the cabin, on the way to the bathroom.

"Ah… hello?" Vince said, but Marnie was in no mood to ask permission for water that was supposed to have been hers to begin with, and quickly reached the bathroom door and flung it open before the shrimp thought to call her back.

She didn't know who shrieked louder, her or Rhys. "Excuse me, the bathroom is currently occupied!" he screeched, trying to cover himself with a towel.

Marnie threw a hand up over her eyes. "What are you
doing
?" she screeched back. "That is
my
water!"

"Oh dear. Marnie, love, I've left you a big hunk of bread and some imported Camembert cheese on the dining table. It's from France! Why don't you have a bit and we'll talk when I am through here?"

"
Cheese
? You think to appease me with cheese?" Marnie exclaimed, her eyes still covered. "You cheated, Rhys! I got you this gig and you
cheated
me!"

"Would you
kindly
close the door?" Rhys snapped. "It's rather cold!"

Marnie slammed the door shut, whirled around, and marched into the main room of the cabin to Olivia, glaring furiously at her, arms akimbo. "What the hell, Olivia? You
promised
me!"

"Marnie, Marnie," Olivia said, casually drying her ears. "I know I did, but you were in the water, and it just seemed mat you had already had your bath."

"I did
not
have my bath! There was no soap! And it stunk! And there was a giant arch bumping against me! Jesus, Olivia, how could you be so mean?"

"She wrote the book for mean, kid. Have some bread and cheese and get over it," Vince suggested.

"Just shut
up
, Vince!" Olivia cried.

"I wanted to wash my hair!" Marnie exclaimed. "I went into that freezing lake on the promise that I could wash my hair, Olivia! You made me think we had an alliance, but you really had one with Rhys and you used me to get the water!"

Olivia sighed and shrugged. "Survival of the fittest, Marnie. Survival of the fittest."

"
Aaaüeee
!" Marnie shrieked, and bolted for the door. "That's
it
!"

"Oh honestly, Marnie. Stop making such a big deal about everything. You
did
get cleaner in the lake!" Olivia said as she stuck the tip of the towel in her ear and dried it.

'Take the cheese," Vince coaxed her.

"I'll tell you what I'll take," Marnie said, and tried to think of something profane to take, but couldn't because she was so insanely mad, and with another shriek, she stormed out of the cabin and off the porch, stomping toward the fire with every intent of picking up a burning log and setting fire to the towel on Olivia's head.

"What's the matter?" Eli asked as she bounced to a halt at the edge of the fire ring, her chest heaving with her pant of fury. "Marnie?" he asked, leaning forward a little to look at her.

What was the matter?
What was the matter
? Everything was the matter! Every little stupid thing was hugely the mat-ter! A tear of frustration slipped from Marnie's eye. And then another.

"Oh shit, what's wrong?" he asked, his voice full of alarm now.

"
They double-crossed me
!" she wailed. "They tricked me into going into the lake, and then
they
used the rainwater! And they tried to give me cheese to make up for it!" she said as the tears suddenly poured from her eyes. "Oh God," she said, and pressed her hands to her face. "Oh God, I can't believe I'm crying. But I just wanted to wash my
haaaair
."

"Ah hell," Eli said softly. "Marnie, don't cry."

"I don't want to cry! But I can't help it!" And the tears of frustration began to flow.

Eli was suddenly at her side. He enfolded her in his arms, pressing her face to his shoulder. "Don't cry, Marnie, don't let them get to you. We'll be out of here in a day or two, and you can have all the baths you want."

"No!" she wailed. "I wanted it
now
!"

Eli patted her on the back, held her tightly to him, and let her sob her frustration a few moments longer. But then Marnie got mad and pushed away from him, dragged the back of her hand across her nose. "You were right," she said hotly. "The woman
cannot
be trusted!"

Eli nodded knowingly.

"That's my problem, you know it? I always
trust
people! Why do I trust anyone?" she demanded.

"I don't know about writing off the whole human race, but Olivia Dagwood should definitely be on your list," he agreed, and pushed a twisted strand of hair out of her eyes and behind her ear.

"Oh, she's at the very
top
of my list. Slot A-l." More tears slipped from her eyes.

"No, no," Eli murmured, and slipped two fingers under her chin and lifted her face up to his, made her look at him. "You know what? You deserve something special tonight."

"Like what?" she asked with tearful self-reproach. 'Two peanut butter sandwiches?"

"Better than that. Look up there."

Marnie looked to where he was pointing and gasped, hi a spruce, about halfway up, was an ivory object. Marnie squinted. "Is that… is that what I think it is?" she asked, fearful of the answer.

Eli nodded.

"How in God's name did Olivia's wedding dress get up there?"

Eli sighed. "Vince."

Marnie's heart leapt to her throat. "We have to get it down! That's an original! A
twenty-thousand-dollar
original!" she cried, pushing Eli toward the tree.

"Not so fast," he said, and with a wink, he started for the cabin.

"Hey!" Marnie cried, twisting around. "Where are you going?"

Eli paused, glanced over his shoulder and smiled. "Just hold tight, coppertop," he said, and walked on.

ELI remained calm, but he was quietly seething for Marnie. It was one thing for Olivia to pull those little tricks on her own retinue, but to do it to Marnie, well… for a man who worked with superegos and unreasonable people for a living, he had finally reached his breaking point. Marnie didn't deserve this—the woman had a good heart, was as earnest as she could possibly be in doing a good job by these losers. If anything, she deserved a night at the Ritz to make up for the shabby way they had treated her.

If there was one thing Eli could not abide, it was meanness. Not in anyone.

He walked into the cabin, into the middle of the room, and sat on one of the leather chairs. Olivia smiled at him. Vince didn't look up. And Rhys, the fat, double-crossing bastard, was spreading cheese on a slice of bread.

"What's going on, Mr. Stuntman?" Olivia asked sunnily.

"We're gonna have another contest," Eli said.

Olivia instantly shook her damp head. "I don't want to do any more contests."

"I just bet you don't. But now that you've managed to have everything your way, we're gonna have one more."

Olivia's eyes widened at his tone. "
Excuse
me? I really don't know what that is supposed to mean, but let's not forget who employs who here, all right?"

"Let's not forget there's only one of us who can get us off this mountain," he coldly reminded her. That pushed her back—Olivia's eyes rounded, and her lashes fluttered a little, but she slowly leaned back, regarding him closely.

"So… what do you have in mind, mountain man?" a clearly amused Vince asked, stretching his arms high above his head.

"Let's agree on the stakes first—the winner gets this cabin for a night."

"No way," Olivia snorted. "I'm not sleeping in a tent."

"We don't know how long we're going to be here. It seems only fair to rotate the only true sleeping quarters we have. Think of Marnie—she doesn't even have a bed."

"Doesn't she?" Olivia sniffed.

"So what is the contest?" Rhys asked.

"Come on out and I'll show you," he said, and walked outside. Vince and Rhys were right behind him. Olivia reluctantly followed a moment later. He pointed to her gown hanging from the spruce. "The person who can get that down wins the right to sleep in the cabin tonight."

Olivia shrieked and whirled around, striking Vince in the chest.

"What?" he demanded, palms up. "You ruined my boots and you said it was off. I didn't think you'd need it." .

"You sorry
bastard.
¹
"
she cried.

"Ridiculous contest," Rhys said, ignoring Olivia's tantrum. "One must merely climb a tree." .

"It's not as easy as it looks," Eli said.

"
Vince
can climb it," Olivia snorted. "He put it up there."

"No, I threw it."

"Ohmigod, Vince! That dress is worth thousands!" Marnie cried. "It was made especially for Olivia! It's hand-beaded! It's an original!"

"Who cares!" Olivia cried. "I'm sure as hell not wearing it, and I'm not climbing the fucking tree for it, either!"

"Then I will," Vince said cheerfully. "I want the cabin tonight."

"That's great, Vince, but you're not getting it," Olivia said angrily.

"I do if I climb that tree. And then
you
can find another place to sleep."

"Don't be so stupid, Vittorio," she retorted with a roll of her eyes.

"Personally, I do not mind the tent," Rhys said, and stuffed a piece of bread into his mouth. "It's rather refreshing," he added through a mouthful.

"Great. We'll count you out," Eli said, rising.

"Well,
I'm
certainly not going to do it," Olivia reminded them.

"Then I'll make sure my tent is tidied up for you," Eli added.

"Fuck that," she said, glaring at him. "I'm not sleeping in a goddamn tent."

"So what, it's you and me, Eli?" Vince asked with a grin. "You're on, pal. Let's go."

"And me!" Marnie cried.

"Me first," Vince said, and started for the tree, but Olivia suddenly darted in front of him.

"Vince, baby, I didn't mean it was over," she said, smiling prettily. "I was just upset about everything. This has been a disaster! But I didn't mean it, okay, baby? I can't sleep in a tent"

"I know, baby," he said. "That's why I'm going to go do this for you. Eli's right—it's only fair that we compete for it, and I'm going to compete for you. I wouldn't dream of letting you sleep in a tent. I wouldn't dream of letting you sleep anywhere but a nice, comfy bed while the rest of us sleep on the hard cold ground." And Vince smiled the smile that made his movies gross thirty million on opening night.

Olivia looked confused by his smile. "Oh," she said uncertainly. "Okay."

Vince grinned at the rest of them. "Well, come on, kids. Let's climb a tree."

The climbing, as it turned out, was very anticlimactic. Vince didn't even try. One leg up, and then he was down. "That's just too high for me," he said.

"
Augh
!" Olivia cried. "You are such a bastard!"

Eli had thought Vince would at least give it a shot. He looked at Marnie. "You're up, coppertop," he said.

And Marnie tried. She made it about halfway to the dress, carefully pulling herself up through the sticky, pointy limbs, until she began to whimper. "My arms are giving out!" she cried, and let Eli help her down. He had counted on her failing. The girl was full of spunk, but she was exhausted and not quite strong enough.

Once Marnie was down, Eli went up, grabbed the dress, and swung down in fifteen minutes. He landed to applause from Rhys and Vince and Marnie. Olivia was pouting. The dress had been rained on, and it was wrinkled, and there were a couple of snags in it, but it looked almost salvageable. "Thank God," Marnie said with a sigh of relief.

Olivia snatched the gown from Marnie's hands, pivoted on her heel, and marched inside.

The rest of them returned to Eli's fire and stood around it for a while.

"Damn, it looks like more rain," Vince said at one point, looking up as the sun slipped behind a rain cloud. The distant rumble of thunder confirmed it. "Great. Not only does the bitch get to sleep in a tent, but she gets to do it with a storm passing over us. I can't wait to tell her," he said, and with a laugh, he started for the cabin.

Rhys looked up at the sky and at Vince's departing back. "Frankly, I don't believe he ever meant to try for the cabin. I think he's quite through with her," he mused, and followed Vince.