An Alaskan Proposal

“Oh. Okay. Well, the beans—”

“Sabrina,” Walter called, waving his arms. “Over here.”

“Don’t keep the boss waiting,” Clara said. “I’ll take care of the beans. Go.”

Sabrina went. Her coworkers crowded around the van, where Walter was handing out packages to everyone. The breeze kicked up again, and without the fire to warm her, Sabrina felt goose bumps rising along her arms while she waited her turn. Walter passed an orange backpack to a guy with a gray ponytail and picked up a long, thin nylon sack that appeared to contain something heavy. “Sabrina. This one’s for you.” She stepped closer and Walter leaned in so only she could hear. “Thanks for volunteering to help with the food. That shows leadership. But now it’s your turn for some fun. Here, this new tent design is supposed to make for a faster, more intuitive setup without compromising structural integrity. Give it a try and let me know what you think.”

“All right.” Sabrina accepted the nylon bundle and looked around. Where did this testing take place?

“There’s a flat spot over there,” Walter suggested, waving his hand toward a spot a little past the fire.

“Perfect. Thanks.” Sabrina smiled at him and carried the tent over. She waved at Clara as she walked by. Okay. A tent. Let’s see what she had to work with. Sabrina opened the drawstring at the top of the bag and dumped everything out. Hmm. A bunch of nylon, two short bundles of colored sticks, small metal sticks with hooks on the ends and...oh, instructions. Good. She grabbed the paper and looked at the picture. Step one: spread tent on the ground.

Clear enough. She unrolled the nylon and spread it in a neat rectangle. Presumably the heavier side was the bottom, and the net side went up. So far, so good.

Step two: assemble shock-corded tent poles. Was that stick in the picture the big one or one of the little ones? Another gust sent a shiver up her arms. She stamped her feet. It was hard to concentrate when she was so cold.

“Problems?”

Sabrina jumped and turned. Those blue eyes, watching her again. This was starting to get weird. “No, I’m just reading the instructions.”

He looked over the pieces she’d set on the ground. “Looks like it sets up just like the old design except they color-coded the poles, shortened the sleeves and used minicarabiners to make setup faster.”

Minicarabiners. Uh-huh. “Yeah, well, I’m approaching it like a customer who hasn’t ever set up one of these tents,” Sabrina said. “I want to make sure the instructions are clear, even to a novice.”

“I see.” His lips twitched into a small smile.

Sabrina couldn’t be sure whether it was a friendly smile or if he was laughing at her, but she suspected the latter. She made a point of turning her back to him while she read, shivering as she did. Maybe he would go away. “Shock cord? What the heck is a shock cord?” she muttered to herself. “Cielos, these pictures are confusing.”

“What did you say?” He was still there. “Cielos? What does that mean?”

“Nothing.” Just something her grandmother used to say when she got flustered. Heavens. But he didn’t need Sabrina’s life story.

“Where’s your jacket?”

She gave up and turned to look at him. “I’m wearing it.”

“That’s all you brought?” He shook his head. “Where are you from, anyway?”

“Arizona. And I’m fine.”

“Scottsdale?”

“As a matter of fact, I used to work in Scottsdale.”

“I figured.” He unzipped his fleece vest and removed it. “Here, wear this.”

“What? No. I’m okay.”

“I don’t think you are. Shivering, mumbling, confusion. All symptoms of hypothermia.”

I’m not mumbling because I’m hypothermic. I’m mumbling because I’m annoyed. She thought the words but managed not to say them. Instead she repeated, “I’m okay.”

“Are you wet?”

“No. I was wearing a rain poncho.”

“Then you’re probably not hypothermic, but you’re obviously cold. Take the vest.”

It was tempting, but she hated to be in anyone’s debt. Especially someone who seemed to disapprove of her. “Then you’ll be cold.”

“I have a fleece jacket in the truck.”

Of course he did. The survival expert would always be prepared. Another cold gust convinced her. “Fine.” She pulled the vest over her sweater and zipped it closed. Still warm from his body heat, it covered her from her shoulders to her thighs. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He continued to stand there. She pretended to be studying the instructions, hoping he’d walk away, but he remained where he was. “I’m Leith Jordan.”

“Sabrina Bell.”

He nodded. “So, Sabrina. Why are you here?”

“For the team-builder, obviously.”

“No, I mean why are you in Alaska? Why didn’t you stay in Arizona?”

“I came for the job.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You came all the way to Alaska to work at the Orson Outfitters store?”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m training. Headquarters hired me as a management trainee, and the first part of that is to work in different positions in one of the local stores.”

“Oh, so Alaska is just a temporary stop for you.”

“Yes.”

“That makes more sense. Why are you pretending you know anything about camping?”

She looked around sharply to see if any of the other employees were within earshot, but it was just the two of them. She picked up one of the metal sticks and examined it as though she intended to do something with it. “I told you. We’re supposed to be testing the products, and part of that testing is to see if the instructions are clear.”

“If you say so.”

“I do.” She rattled the paper and tried to concentrate on the instructions. She felt warmer already. Now, if she could just figure out step two.

He handed her the blue bundle of sticks. “The shock cord is the bungee cord running through the tent poles. It holds the short poles in line while you fit them together to create a long pole, which fits through the sleeve at the crown of the tent.”

“Well, yeah. That’s what the instructions should have said. I’m going to have to let them know these wouldn’t be clear to a beginner.” Sabrina studied the sticks, and sure enough, they were all threaded onto a stretchy rope. As she unfolded them, they snapped together. Ingenious. Now, if she could just get rid of Mr. Know-It-All, she might have a shot at figuring out this tent. But he showed no signs of leaving.

Without another word, he lifted the top of the tent and held a blue fabric sleeve that matched the pole so that all she had to do was slip the pole through the sleeve. Okay, that made sense. Once it was in place, Leith arched his end of the pole and secured it through a grommet at the base. Sabrina followed suit with her end of the pole. Suddenly, the tent was standing. She assembled the red sticks and threaded the pole through the red sleeve, again with Leith’s assistance. He began securing the hooks on one side of the tent to the poles. She did the same on her side.

Leith unrolled the final piece of nylon. She took two corners and helped him center it over the poles. Leith handed her the thin metal pieces. “Now you just need to stake out the corners.”

“Right. Let me just see if the instructions say that.”

Leith grinned. “For testing purposes.” Now she was sure he was making fun of her, but she didn’t care.

“Exactly.” She picked up the instructions and turned the page. “Stake corners.” She pointed at the diagram. “Right here.” She set down the paper and pushed one of the stakes through a grommet into the soft ground, anchoring the corner. Leith did one of the other corners. He wasn’t so bad after all.

Bang! Sabrina whirled toward the sound of an explosion. Something came whizzing out of the fire and flew several feet before crashing into a rock. Something about the size of a can.

“Oh, cielos! The beans.” Sabrina rushed toward the fire.

“I don’t know what happened.” Clara stared wide-eyed at the fire. A silicone-sided pan of beans simmered nearby on the camp stove Sabrina hadn’t been able to figure out.

“It’s my fault.” Sabrina looked around for the tongs. Before she could grab them, another can exploded and sailed off to the right, knocking over the stove and spilling the beans onto the ground.

“Get back.” Leith pulled Clara away from the fire. “Sabrina, you, too.”

“I just have to get the rest out before they go off.” Sabrina grabbed the tongs and reached into the fire, extracting a blackened can.

“What is it?”

“A can of beans.” She dropped the can in the dirt and tried to locate the next one.

Leith grabbed a shovel and pushed the logs apart. “How many are in here?”

“Six.” She spotted another can and pulled it out. “Two more.”

Leith pushed in his shovel, scooped out another can and dropped it on the ground, away from the fire. Sabrina spotted the last one, but before she could get to it, it went off, zooming out of the fire like a missile and spraying a trail of beans all over the tent she had just erected before it landed in a bush. Sticky sauce dripped down the sides of the tent.

“You’re sure that’s all?” Leith asked.

“That’s it.” Sabrina turned to see Clara and all the other employees gathered behind her staring at the tent and at her. Super. Walter pushed through the crowd.

“What happened here?”

Sabrina swallowed. “It was my fault. I thought it would save some mess and equipment if I heated the beans in the fire.”

Walter narrowed his eyes. “You put the cans in the fire without opening them?”

Sabrina nodded.

“Any casualties?”

“Only the tent.”

Walter marched over to the tent. He examined the beans oozing down the fabric, then unzipped the tent and crawled inside. A moment later, he popped out, smiling. “Not a drop inside, and the rain fly wasn’t even completely staked. I think we have a winning design here. Sabrina, please clean that tent before you return it to the store. Everyone else, looks like we’ll have to do without beans today, but Will says the burgers are ready. Let’s eat.”

With a few headshakes and some laughter, the rest of the employees drifted away. Sabrina picked up a spatula and went to scrape baked beans off the fabric.

Only Leith followed her. “You have to be careful. When the contents of a can are overheated and the steam can’t escape, pressure can build up past the tolerance of the can.”

“Thanks, Admiral Hindsight.” She “accidentally” flicked the spatula so that beans flew in his direction, but she missed. “Any other words of wisdom?”

He flashed a snarky grin. “Well, I could tell you the best way to wash a tent, but I’m sure an experienced camper such as yourself already has a preferred method.” And with that helpful comment, he turned and went to join the others crowding around the grill, leaving her to clean up her mess.

CHAPTER TWO

LEITH PULLED THE truck into its assigned parking spot near the back door at Learn & Live. Erik jumped out and opened the tailgate.

Leith grabbed the checklist and followed. “Do we need more maps for tomorrow’s demo?” he asked, his pen hovering over the clipboard.

Erik pawed through the supplies in the crate. “No, looks like we have plenty.”

Leith checked off the item and locked the truck. They headed inside the office. As soon as they stepped into the lobby, a black-and-tan dog dashed out of Carson’s office. Leith knelt to give her an ear rub. “Hey, Tal. There’s my girl.”

Their boss, Carson, followed her out. “Good. You’re back. Did the Orson Outfitters demo go okay? Anything you need to change before doing it again tomorrow?”

“No problems.” Leith stood but continued to stroke Tal’s head. “I think they all got something out of it.”

Erik laughed. “Except for Explosion Girl.”

“Explosion?” Carson narrowed his eyes. “You were teaching orienteering. How can that explode? Was anyone hurt?”

“No,” Leith assured him. “It wasn’t at our demo. For some reason, this management trainee Orson Outfitters hired decided she should put cans of beans directly into the fire.”

“Oh, yeah?” Carson grinned. “I thought that was an urban myth. Did they really explode?”

“Launched a couple of cans like rockets. One of them splattered a tent that was a good twenty feet away. We managed to get the rest out of the fire before they turned into grenades.” Leith shook his head. “She was clueless. Brand-new hiking boots, no jacket. She’d obviously never been camping a day in her life.”

“She was cute, though,” Erik pointed out.

“The cute ones are the most dangerous.” And Leith should know. His ex-wife used her looks like a precision tool. “They’re so used to everyone falling over backward to make them happy, they don’t realize nature can kill you no matter how pretty you are.”

“Uh-huh.” Erik nudged Carson. “That must be why our white knight over here gave her his vest.”

“Nuts. I forgot to get it back from her.” Now Leith was going to have to decide whether chasing her down or paying for a new company vest was the lesser of two evils. That was what he got for being a nice guy. He probably should have stayed far away from Sabrina, but it was painful to witness her struggle to set up a simple tent. Then when he’d noticed she was shivering, he couldn’t just stand there and watch.

When Carson raised his eyebrows, Leith shrugged. “It would look bad for the company if someone went hypothermic on our watch.”

Carson snorted. “I’m happy to hear the company’s reputation is so important to you.”

The break-room door opened and Zack walked out, his phone to his ear. “It’s too bad you couldn’t get the ones you wanted, but I think daisies sound fine. No, really, they’ll look great. Okay, babe, I’ve got to get back to work. Love you, too. Bye.”

Zack pocketed his phone and rolled his eyes. “If any of you guys decide to get married, my advice is run off to Vegas. Weddings are killers.”

“No worries here,” Leith said. He’d been through a wedding and a marriage, and after that experience he planned to stay as far away from both as humanly possible. If he could get away with it, he’d skip Zack’s wedding, but he was one of the groomsmen.

“So, who’s the plus-one you’re bringing?” Zack asked Leith.

“Plus-one? What are you talking about?”

“The wedding. Caitlyn says you RSVPed that you’re bringing a guest. Who is she?”

Oh, great. Leith’s sister had volunteered to send in his RSVP card when she did her own. He should have guessed Volta was up to something. She probably had someone all picked out she was planning to fix him up with. “That was a mistake. You can tell Caitlyn I’m not bringing anyone.”

“No way, dude. If you said plus-one, you’re bringing someone to fill that chair. I don’t care if it’s your grandma. Caitlyn has been going nuts trying to figure out how to arrange the tables. She has all these relatives who she can’t put too close together or she says there will be blood. She’s finally managed to find the perfect seating plan. If one little thing changes, it’ll mess it all up. I’m not going to be the one to make her head explode.”

“Speaking of explosions,” Erik said with a sly smile. “You ought to ask Explosion Girl. She’s probably great at weddings.”

“Who’s Explosion Girl?” Zack asked.

Leith just shook his head, so Erik explained about the beans. Zack laughed. “Sure, bring her. She should liven things up.”

“I’ll take it under advisement.” Leith stepped away to drop the keys to the company truck into a drawer. “Who are you bringing?” he asked Erik.

“I invited this woman I met from the parks department. She’s just here for a month, on some government project. No strings. The most important quality in a relationship.”

“That’s what I used to think, until I met Caitlyn,” Zack said. “Someday you’re going to want some strings.”

“No way. Leith will back me up, right?”

“I’m not getting in the middle of this.” After his own marital disaster, Leith was inclined to agree with Erik, but he didn’t want to upset Zack. He had to admit, Zack had been a lot happier since Caitlyn had come into his life, even if she was a little obsessive about the wedding plans. He just hoped their marriage was more successful than his had been. Not a high bar.

Carson cleared his throat. “Well, if we’re about done with advice for the lovelorn, maybe we can get a little work done around here?”

They all scattered. Leith went to his desk to fill out his time sheet and a summary of the day’s events. While his computer booted up, he thought about his options.

Weddings made his skin itch, but since he’d been drafted as a groomsman, he couldn’t miss this one. Now, thanks to Volta, he was going to have to find a date. And it better be soon, before his sister coerced him into taking out whatever new friend she had in mind for him. The last woman she’d set him up with, six months ago, had been a walking disaster. That two-hour date had to have consumed at least ten years of his life. No, if he had to have a date, he was choosing her himself. Volta didn’t get a vote.

That decided, he opened a spreadsheet and went to work. Work, he understood. He could worry about this other stuff later.

SABRINA RANG UP a sleeping bag the color of a roadwork sign and a snap-together salt-and-pepper shaker for a woman with a long braid hanging down her back. The customer checked the tag. “This says it’s comfortable down to forty-five degrees. Do you think that’s accurate?”

Sabrina had spent most of her off time during the last two days since the great bean incident reading product descriptions on the company’s website, but that didn’t help with questions like this. “Honestly, I haven’t tried out this particular sleeping bag, so I’m not sure.” Sabrina called to Clara, “Do you think this bag would keep you warm at forty-five?”

“Sure, if you’re wearing sweats or thermals to sleep in. It’s a great bag.”

“Oh, good. Thanks.” The customer waved at Clara and left the store. Clara finished ringing up her customer and handed him the sack of merchandise. For once, no one was waiting in line to check out.

Clara wandered over to Sabrina’s register. “That’s our most popular summer bag. You’re probably used to a lighter one where you come from, huh?”

“Mmm. Does it come in any colors besides orange?” Sabrina had found the best way to deflect Clara was to ask a question. Clara loved to talk, and Sabrina had already picked up a few nuggets of wisdom she could pass on to customers and sound as if she might know what she was talking about. Besides, she was curious. Surely not everyone wanted a sleeping bag in a color that could be seen from space.

But before Clara could answer, Walter hustled over to the registers. Today his bolo tie slide was a silver horseshoe. He hadn’t said anything since the team-builder, but Sabrina kept expecting him to call her in and expose her as the fraud she was. Her stomach tightened in anticipation, but he just smiled. “Say, Clara, do you mind if we borrow Sabrina for a little while? Tim needs some help with a display in camping.”

“That’s fine. Randy will be back from lunch in fifteen minutes. If I get backed up in the meantime, I’ll call for help.”

“Great.” Walter motioned for Sabrina to walk with him. “I saw on your résumé that you’ve worked in fashion, so I thought you might have some experience with display.”

“Yes, I have.” Sabrina used to enjoy creating displays when she was working retail in high school and college. Even after she’d gotten the buyer job, she’d often sent out tips and ideas to the local stores. But she wasn’t sure her flair for fashion accessories was going to be a big help with a camping display. Still, the basics of form and balance she’d learned in her design classes should apply across the board.

Walter introduced her to Tim, a tall, skinny guy with thick glasses. Tim looked more like a chemistry professor than a camping enthusiast, but he was setting up the tent Sabrina had almost destroyed in less time than it had taken her to shake it out of the bag. Fortunately, she’d found tent-washing tips on the internet and managed to get the bean stain off the rain fly, no thanks to survival expert Leith Jordan.

Now, that guy made her nervous. Everyone at the store seemed to take her at face value, but Leith wasn’t buying her act. His disdain for her inexperience had been pretty clear at the team-builder. In fact, she’d just about reached the conclusion he was going to expose her to all her coworkers, when he’d suddenly started being nice and loaned her his vest. Which she’d washed and now had to figure out how to return without asking anyone in the store where to find him. She didn’t want to call attention to the fact that she’d been unprepared for the weather. Among other things.

“Hi, Sabrina,” Tim said. “Would you mind grabbing me a couple of ’biners? I want to hang this canoe from the ceiling.”

Beaners? She wondered if this was some sort of joke aimed at her, but he didn’t look as though he was joking. “Sure.” Beaners. Whatever those were. Sabrina scanned the area for anything that looked likely.

“Aisle ten,” Walter prompted, before walking away.

“Thanks.” Sabrina hurried over to the aisle. It seemed to contain miscellaneous camping gadgets. She found cooking utensils, lanterns, some sort of special toilet paper and a bunch of C-shaped hooks with levered latches.

Will, the guy who’d built the fire at the team-builder, walked past, presumably on his way to the shoe department. “Hi, Sabrina. What are you looking for?”

“Beaners.”

He gave her a puzzled frown and gestured at the hooks. “Right there.”

“Oh, duh.” Sabrina gave a little laugh. “Right in front of me. Good thing it wasn’t a snake.” Quick, change the subject. “So, has Amy had her baby yet?”

“Soon. She called in while her husband drove her to the hospital this morning. Asked me to finish the inventory without her.” He grinned. “She says she’s going to name the baby after me. Course, her husband, Bill, is really named William, too.”

“That’s convenient. Well, I’d better get these to Tim. See you later, Will.” Sabrina grabbed a few medium-sized hooks, which she now realized were labeled as carabiners. Ah, like the clips on the tent. Carabiners equals ’biners. As if she didn’t have enough trouble with camping terms, they were using nicknames for tools. Hopefully, Will would just assume she was blind, rather than ignorant.

She brought the carabiners to where Tim was now on a ladder, threading ropes over beams. “There you are. I thought you’d deserted me.”

“Sorry. I ran into Will and he said Amy is having her baby.”

“I heard. Maybe she’ll take some time off now. She was over there stocking shoes last week even though she could hardly bend over. Did Will say she’s doing okay?”

“I don’t think he had any updates yet.”

“I’m sure we’ll hear something soon. Can you give me one of those?”

Sabrina handed him the carabiner. The employees here all talked to and about each other like they were all part of one big family. At least that was how Sabrina assumed families functioned. She really didn’t have a lot of experience. It had been just her and her mom since she was twelve, when her dad left.

That was when Sabrina discovered security was an illusion. That counting on someone else for love and support was a gamble. Sabrina didn’t believe in gambling. The only person she could absolutely depend on was herself. And that was why she had to keep this job.

She thought she’d done all the right things. In college, she’d been tempted to go into fashion design, but chose the safe route of fashion merchandising. Only it turned out not to be so safe. The department store where she’d been working as a buyer went bankrupt. With her experience and references, Sabrina had assumed she’d be able to find a similar position, but in-store sales were down all over, and everyone was cutting back.

There was a rumor circulating that one of the senior buyers at McCormick and Sons was about to retire. McCormick’s had always been Sabrina’s dream job. A family-owned chain of upscale department stores based in Scottsdale, they had the reputation of hiring the best and keeping them forever. Once you were a part of McCormick’s, you were set.