Page 20 of Deadly Storms (Sunrise Lake #3)

“If you’re speaking of Rush, he bosses, but that doesn’t mean I listen.

” Raine rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Unless he’s talking about my leg.

I do listen to him when he’s giving me medical advice.

Anything else is pure nonsense, and I have no intention of allowing him or anyone else to tell me what to do. ”

“How did you know where I was camping? I didn’t tell Stella which campsite I was using.”

This time she got the Zahra mysterious smile. “I’m psychic and I told everyone.”

“Or Raine was spying with some kind of satellite,” Shabina guessed, glaring at Raine. “She pinpointed my phone, didn’t she?”

Zahra laughed. “I still found my way here, which is a miracle.”

That was true. Zahra could get lost in a parking lot. The others joined in with Zahra’s contagious laughter.

“What did everyone bring in the way of food?” Harlow asked, opening her pack. “I’m starving. By the time we’ve got everything ready, Stella should be here.”

“If I’d known everyone was coming, I would have brought food,” Shabina said.

One of the first things she’d learned to do was cook over a campfire.

Mama Ahmad had begun teaching her almost immediately, and she’d soaked up every bit of knowledge she could.

Almost all of the cooking and baking had been over campfires or in outdoor ovens Mama Ahmad and the other women had constructed.

They moved camp so often that it was necessary to learn to build fires and ovens quickly wherever they went.

“Don’t worry, Shabina,” Vienna said. “I think I remembered everything you like to have on hand when you’re cooking, and I brought it with me so you could whip up one of your famous camp dinners in like twenty magical minutes.”

“And her bread,” Zahra added. “She always does that flatbread.”

“I can’t just conjure up things out of thin air.”

“Seriously, I brought everything I’ve seen you bring,” Vienna insisted.

“Raine keeps a running list for us. We figured anything we didn’t use we’d lock away in the bear canister and take back to Sunrise Lake for Stella to use or donate to your café.

Since you’re the master chef, we could purchase the ingredients and make the side dishes. ”

Shabina couldn’t believe it when Vienna unloaded the grocery items. Vienna had somehow procured her flat stones, the ones she kept for camp cooking.

Within minutes she organized what she had to work with and began making one of the dishes she knew the women were very fond of.

She put the flat stones on the embers and laid out the chicken after rubbing the pieces with oil and spices.

The rice was seasoned while it cooked on the grill.

Harlow had brought a pasta salad and Raine a green one.

They would have enough food to easily feed all six of them.

Stella drove up just as the chicken was pronounced done.

“It smells so good,” Stella greeted them. “The moment I parked I knew Shabina was cooking. I’m starving.”

“Grab a plate,” Harlow said. “Raine, I’ve got your dish. Don’t try to get up.” Raine was a vegetarian, but she would eat everything but the chicken.

“Thanks, Harlow,” Raine said.

“Are you comfortable enough?” Vienna asked. “I brought more pillows. We can prop your leg up higher.”

“I’m good for now, thank you,” Raine said, taking her plate.

Zahra leaned back in her lounge chair, the firelight playing over her face. “I’ve been giving our bear situation quite a bit of thought.”

“Our bear situation?” Stella asked. She looked around at the other women who appeared just as puzzled. “Is there a bear situation here? I didn’t see any warning signs up.”

Zahra waved her hand airily and then took a bite of her chicken, closed her eyes and made orgasmic noises.

They all had to wait until her food appreciation was over.

“See, that’s the problem with all of you.

Of course there’s a bear problem. They run rampant here in Yosemite.

We’ve seen them. The aroma of this food is bound to bring them in herds. ”

“Zahra, bears don’t run around together in herds the way deer or horses do,” Harlow said.

That got Harlow a dismissive hand and the rest of them another round of her moaning appreciation of the chicken and rice.

“In this case, the bears will come in herds. I believe in being prepared. None of you are thinking ahead, which we need to do because Raine can’t run.

She’s going to be just sitting there in that chair. Bear bait.”

Raine raised an eyebrow. “Ugh. That doesn’t sound fun at all.”

“Believe me,” Zahra said. “I looked up bear attacks. They’re no joke. They’ve ripped faces off. It isn’t pretty stuff. But I formulated a plan of action while the rest of you were worried about your stomachs.”

“I see you weren’t worried at all,” Vienna said. “We’re so grateful you’ve thought this plan of action through for us.”

“No need for sarcasm, Vienna,” Zahra replied, waving around a forkful of flavorful rice.

“There are no grizzly bears here, which is a good thing. Only the American black bear. The name is silly since the majority are brown, not black.” She took several bites and did more moaning, clearly appreciating her food.

“ Zahra ,” Harlow hissed impatiently. “Now you’ve got me worried about a bear attack. Stop enjoying your food so much. You’re so loud, you won’t draw bears. We’ll have every male camper for miles trying to find us.”

Shabina couldn’t stifle her laughter no matter how hard she tried. Zahra looked indignant.

“If there are male campers close enough to hear me moan over Shabina’s cooking, then they can smell it. They’ll be here right along with the bears anyway.”

The others were laughing just as hard as Shabina. “She has a point,” Shabina said. “Thank you for the compliment. It’s nice to know I can still throw a meal together.”

“Speaking of men,” Stella began.

“We were speaking of bears,” Shabina corrected.

“The American black bear, to be exact. We have to listen to Zahra’s plan since she went to all the trouble of making one to save Raine.

” She wasn’t quite ready to have the women give her their opinions on whether she could possibly really be in love with Rainier Ashcroft, and she knew that was the direction the conversation was veering to.

“I do get saved in the end, don’t I?” Raine asked. “Because I don’t want my face ripped off by a bear.” She gave a delicate little shudder.

“I wouldn’t let you get your head bit off by a bear,” Zahra assured.

“According to everything I read, the bears aren’t aggressive unless you happen to come between a mother and her cubs or them and food.

” She looked a little smug. “Food. Which is why I’m eating so much.

You should all thank me for saving you.”

“Is that your excuse? I thought you were showing off,” Stella objected. “Everyone knows you can eat twice as much as anyone else and not gain an ounce.”

“Um, that’s my one and only claim to fame, and I’m not giving it up,” Raine protested. “I can eat more than Zahra. I love you, Zahra, especially since you have a plan to save me from a bear, but I can’t let you take my eating crown from me. It’s all I’ve got.”

Zahra waved a magnanimous hand. “The crown is yours. The bear should be afraid if we make ourselves big and yell quite loudly. Ordinarily, we could back slowly away, flapping arms and retreating as we told the thing to go away. But someone has to stay and defend Raine. Stella can’t be the one because she married Sam.

I objected strenuously to babies, but I’ve had to rethink my position on that subject.

I’ve decided Stella and Sam need to have a baby or two running around driving Sam crazy. ”

“Sam crazy?” Stella nearly squeaked it. “Sam never goes crazy. He’s always calm and steady. I’m the crazy one. Don’t be wishing babies on me now after all your objections.”

“I was just jealous,” Zahra admitted without the least bit of embarrassment. “I didn’t want to lose you. I should have known I wouldn’t. I just gained Sam.”

“Silly. You’ve always had Sam.” Stella blew her a kiss.

It was dawning on Shabina what true friendship was.

She’d never had that before. She’d been in boarding schools, but she’d never gotten close to other students for a variety of reasons.

When her father began taking her with him on some of his trips, they went from country to country, and she had tutors.

After she’d been kidnapped, she stayed to herself until Stella, a force to be reckoned with, had come into her life. Stella had brought the others.

These women had been around her for several years, but she’d always held herself apart from them, believing herself so flawed she couldn’t possibly fit in.

They couldn’t understand her. She couldn’t really understand them.

What was real friendship? She was sitting right there in the middle of it.

They didn’t seem to mind flaws—in themselves or each other.

They were just there for one another when they were needed.

They gave honest opinions—sometimes not wanted but valued nevertheless.

“Vienna needs to marry Zale. The man is crazy about her, and someone has to save him,” Zahra declared.

“Shabina’s been through enough for ten people.

Harlow saved me once already. And we’re not sacrificing Raine because she’s too amazing.

So, sadly, it’s me.” She heaved a sigh. “If the bear comes and collectively we can’t scare it off, Vienna or Harlow has to pick up Raine and get her to one of the cars.

I’ll keep the bear’s attention centered on me while you all make a run for it. ”

She slumped back in her lounge chair a bit dramatically like the heroine in a movie and forked rice into her mouth with another moan of appreciation.