“Oh my god,” Claire said. “He actually said that to her?”
“Well, Astrid isn’t exactly a wilderness girl,” Delilah said.
Iris glare at her. “Not the point. The point is he thinks she’s totally incompetent, and she knows it.”
“Poor Astrid,” Claire said. “What do we do?”
“We just need to talk to her, Claire,” Iris said. “Enough is enough. You and me. Tonight.”
Claire nodded, grabbing onto Iris’s hand. Neither woman looked at Delilah or tried to include her in their BFF plan. And that was just fine with Delilah. Totally and absolutely fine.
She turned away and left them alone to plan out what they’d say to Astrid, and she sat back down next to Ruby to see what beauty the girl had created.
* * *
EVERYONE HAD CALMED down by the time they all sat around the fire to eat. Delilah sat with Ruby, who had taken a few more pictures with Delilah’s phone and wanted to show her what she did with them. Delilah was more than happy to disappear into the world of color and angles and tone for a little while. These last few days had been a lot with Claire, and honestly, she could use a break from all the thinking and feeling. Josh sat on Ruby’s other side, listening to his daughter tell Delilah all about her vision for an image of the evergreens against the sky. Delilah kept shooting glances at him, watching him for signs of boredom or disdain—or for signs that he couldn’t keep his eyes off his ex—but he didn’t rise to the occasion. Instead he oohed and aahed over his daughter’s photographs, asking her questions here and there. Mostly, though, he shut up and let Ruby talk, let her have her moment. Delilah would say she was impressed, but she didn’t feel like being so charitable toward him quite yet.
Claire was busy with Iris. They sat close together on a log, talking and laughing, but constantly looking over at Astrid, who was pressed against Spencer’s side at the picnic table while he rambled on and on about all the bug bites he’d incurred on the hike.
Astrid barely responded, her eyes glazed over while she ate.
They’d all been eating for about ten minutes when Delilah noticed a sudden quiet. Spencer had finally shut his mouth, and a frown puckered his golden brows. She watched him shift on the bench as though trying to get comfortable . . . then shift again.
She cleared her throat, trying to get Claire’s attention, but her face was turned away as she and Iris talked in low voices.
She cleared her throat again, then coughed.
“Do you need some water, Delilah?” Astrid asked, her tone already annoyed.
“Yes, thank you so much,” Delilah said, then sipped from her water bottle. Astrid rolled her eyes and went back to staring at her food, while Spencer was most decidedly starting to sweat next to her. He couldn’t sit still, and Delilah watched as he tried to adjust his crotch as surreptitiously as possible.
She coughed again. “Phew, this chili is spicy,” she said loudly.
This, finally, got Claire’s attention. She glanced at Delilah, who widened her eyes meaningfully and ticked her head toward Spencer.
“Really?” Josh said, frowning at his bowl. “I barely added any cayenne to it. Turns out, I didn’t bring as much as I thought I did.”
Delilah choked on a laugh, something giddy and girlish and just plain fun rising up in her chest. Claire covered her mouth with her hand, and Iris watched Spencer with a maniacal sort of glee sparkling in her eyes. Claire had clearly told Iris how she and Delilah had borrowed Josh’s cayenne pepper and sprinkled a generous amount in all four pairs of Spencer’s black Ralph Lauren boxer briefs, and now the three women watched as Spencer squirmed and sweated, wiping his brow with the back of his hand.
“Are you all right?” Astrid asked, finally noticing her fiancé’s discomfort.
He nodded, but his face was quickly turning red, perspiration dripping down his temples.
“You’re not,” Astrid said, alarmed. “What is going on?”
“Just . . . ah, fuck!” This time he didn’t even bother trying to hide the fact that he was pawing at his crotch. He scrambled off the bench, his body jolting this way and that to try and get some relief.
“What the hell?” Josh said.
“Is he okay?” Ruby asked.
“Oh, he’s totally fine,” Delilah said, waving her hand, but then Spencer yanked off his khaki shorts, revealing his boxer briefs and grabbing at himself in desperation.
“Whoa, dude, whoa!” Josh yelled, clapping his hands over Ruby’s eyes.
“Spencer!” Astrid leaped up from the picnic table and pushed at her fiancé’s chest, shoving him toward their tent before he could expose himself further.
“Water! I need water!” he screeched. Astrid grabbed her water bottle from the table and then continued to haul him toward their tent. Once they were safely tucked inside, his moans and groans and what the fucks echoing against the trees, the rest of the party sat in stunned silence for about ten seconds before Iris broke into a fit of laughter so vehement, she fell off the back of the log she was sitting on.
“Oh. My. God,” she said, still cackling while lying on the ground, her arms splayed and her chili bowl safely tucked between her feet.
“What just happened?” Josh said.
Delilah locked eyes with Claire, her own laugh bubbling onto her tongue.
“Well, Josh,” she said, “let’s just say we owe you some cayenne pepper.”
* * *
DELILAH COULDN’T SLEEP.
It was too damn quiet, too hot in this tent, and her mind was too damn busy. Claire was next to her, completely conked out and snoring softly, Iris on her other side. Earlier, after it became clear that Astrid and Spencer were not going to emerge from their tent for the rest of the night—and Iris stopped laughing like a villain in a Disney movie—they’d all settled down around the fire as the sun slipped behind the evergreens. They spent the next couple of hours drinking the beer Josh had brought in one of the huge coolers and listening as Josh spun campy ghost stories for Ruby, who didn’t seem the least bit freaked out about a girl who found a spider bite on her cheek after a camping trip and then watched in her mirror at home as the boil burst and a million baby spiders spilled out.
“Josh,” Claire had said at the story’s conclusion, rubbing her cheek absently.
“What?” He smiled, then nudged Ruby, who couldn’t stop laughing and babbling about what an amazing photograph that would’ve made.
“Wouldn’t it, Delilah?” she asked.
“It totally would,” she said, winking at the girl.