Was this good cop, bad cop? What was going on here?
Nick gestured to Kira. “Don’t worry about her. You’re not gonna like her until you know her.”
Kira laughed. “He’s right. I’m very impatient. My mother raised me not to waste time.”
Courtney stuck a hand in the pocket of her shorts and arched an eyebrow. “Ouch.” She turned away.
Perfect. Another day where she’d put the wrong foot first.
Nick shook his head and hopped up onto the truck. He began unfastening the bungee cords that held the kayaks in place. “So, Courtney, you’ve been here for an hour already?”
Looked like good cop was back.
Courtney cleared her throat. “Yeah.” She pulled her phone out of her back pocket. “I’m barely getting one bar out here. Calls weren’t going through.”
Nick nodded.
“I was going to give you guys another fifteen minutes before I gave up.”
“So were we.” Kira sneered.
Courtney huffed and turned her attention back to Kira. “Look, I’m, uh, I’m really sorry.” Then she looked up at Nick. “I screwed up. Seems I’m actually pretty good at that kind of thing lately.”
Kira’s tone was ironic. “Great.”
Nick rolled his eyes at Kira.
“I’ve been looking forward to meeting you, Kira, but Beecham didn’t give me much to go on. He never even gave me your name.”
Kira pressed the lens cover back onto her camera and placed the camera into her duffel bag. She turned and met Courtney’s eyes. “Sounds like him. Anyway, no biggie. We’re all here now. I can still do the shoot, and you can still do the story. And Beecham ought to let it slide. First timer, after all. No hard feelings.”
She reached back into the pickup truck and began to gather up the rest of her gear.
Ohhh-kay. Courtney shrugged.
Then she stepped back as the rest of what Kira said sunk in. “Wait—Beecham knows about this?”
“Yeah. I had to get your number from him when you didn’t show up this morning. Couldn’t get through to you, of course, but—”
Courtney’s pitch went higher. “So, you told him I didn’t show up?”
“Yeah.” Kira swung the duffel onto her back. “And by the way, he was not happy about it. Said you already messed things up the other day. He’s got his eye on you. You’d better watch it.”
Courtney furrowed her brow, huffing again. “I know he does. That’s why I was early today.” She let out a frustrated sigh. “Or at least I thought I was. Listen—that was an accident the other day. I just got back from a six-month’s stay in Australia. My brain is still functioning on another time zone and I’m still in a fog. But no one told me I was supposed to meet you guys at the docks. I would’ve been there.”
Nick hopped off the truck and tossed three life jackets into one of the kayaks. “Hey, it’s no big deal, guys. I don’t have any other tours going out today. Let’s just forget about it and move on.”
Courtney’s tone was sarcastic. “Great idea.”
Kira seemed to brush off the whole exchange. “Right. So let’s do this. Nickle. Aussie. I’m ready when you are.”
Seriously? She was already handing out nicknames?
Nick snorted and laughed.
“Good,” Nick replied sarcastically. “Because I need a hand with the kayaks before we can go anywhere, Ms. Nash.”
Kira laughed. “All righty, then.”
Courtney snorted. “No problem.” She walked to the back of the truck, trying not to let a sour look fill her face.
Five
Late morning in early summer on Door County peninsula’s eastern shores revealed clear blue skies and pleasant temperatures in the high sixties. Layered, rocky cliffs jutted out over the water, with trees lining up behind them, some with artfully twisted and misshapen trunks from years of wind and icy winter weather.
An hour and a half after they’d set out, Nick’s orange kayak was still slicing through the cool, blue waters of a calm, summery Lake Michigan. Several yards ahead of him, the travel writer he’d just met paddled onward with a steady motion. He watched her, struck by the way it seemed that nothing else mattered to her right now but the wide expanse of lake and sky.
She told him she’d only been kayaking once before, yet he would’ve believed her if she said she’d been doing this for years. She looked like a natural.
He wondered how much she knew about the area. He hoped they hadn’t given her a bad taste for it. She seemed like a sweet girl.
Kira should’ve gone easier on her this morning. It wasn’t Courtney’s fault their boss hadn’t given her the necessary details.
Nick glanced farther out over the water to find Kira. She was shooting a video of the two of them as they hugged the coastline with their kayaks.
The video Kira would make to represent Inlet Outfitters’ kayaking tours would feature the popular limestone cave formations of the park, where dramatic waves crashed against rocky cliffs.
Kira needed footage of the kayaks in action as well as footage of the coastline from the water. He watched as she expertly piloted the motorized dinghy, from which it was easier to use her equipment. Later, she’d lace the footage together into a video for the board’s website.
Nick and a handful of locals had appeared in a video that Kira did back in February about the snowshoeing tours offered by the shop. She did great work.
But Nick knew Kira could be a nightmare for the fainthearted. He ran into her frequently at the local watering holes. Thing is, she was usually a no-drama kind of girl. You couldn’t call her laid-back or easygoing, but you always knew where you stood with her. She was also a lot of fun, once she got to know you.
But she’d been pretty tough on Courtney, considering the circumstances. He hoped she would bring it down a few notches. He knew Kira had just been through a very tough few weeks as well. But she didn’t get a pass forever.
Nick paddled closer to Courtney. She was studying the shoreline and looked up as he approached.
He tried a smile. “Hey, how’s it going?”
“Great. It’s beautiful out here.”
He didn’t detect any more sarcasm, but her tone was flat.
Nick ought to try to smooth things over a bit. The tour guide act seemed to have lightened the mood earlier. He’d try it again.
“Isn’t it? We’re coming up on the main attraction of the trip. Those are the underwater cave formations.” He pointed at the depths in front of them.
“Really?”
Courtney looked ahead of her kayak into the water and gasped. Their kayaks had just begun to pass through a section of perfect turquoise waters. The formations were becoming clearly visible beneath.
“Wow. Amazing.”
That was more like it. He went on. “The shallows here are famous in this region for their crystal-clear views of the caves.”
Courtney gazed at the stunning views below. “I can see why.”
Nick studied her reaction. He had seen the formations dozens of times. Now he liked to see what other people thought of them when he brought them here. She seemed to be caught up in it.