First Degree Burns Read online

  “I hope I didn’t short circuit your brain, baby,” Nicole commented, taking Danny’s hand to intertwine their fingers.

  “No, but I’m definitely not looking at you wrong anymore on this trip,” Danny replied, and Nicole laughed a bit.

  She put on an exaggerated pout, poking out her bottom lip. “I’ll miss those looks, though.”

  “You’ll have to wait for us to get home to see them again. I’m finally on your dad’s good side. Kinda like it there, so I don’t wanna blow it.”

  Nicole smiled and bumped Danny with her hip to assure her that everything would be fine. Danny chuckled and wrapped her arm around Nicole’s waist. For a moment, Nicole forgot where they were and leaned in close to her lover. She remembered suddenly, made a quick check to see that her family was packing for the hike, and laid a hasty peck to Danny’s waiting lips. They smiled, and Nicole backed away as if she hadn’t done anything.

  “You two going to keep playing kissy-face or can we go?” Lillian grinned at them.

  Nicole waved at her cousin. “Oh, hush you.”

  Lillian grinned more, and they all gathered together. Everyone had their packs ready and strapped to their backs. Nicole took Danny’s hand again, giving it a squeeze. Danny smiled at her.

  “You worry too much, Chem. I’ll be fine.”

  Nicole nodded because she trusted Danny. Junior and Spider looked at their joined hands and rolled their eyes. Nicole checked to see what her father and uncle were doing. When she saw they were otherwise occupied, Nicole flipped her cousins off. They made exaggeratedly shocked faces and returned the gesture after making sure their father and uncle were still not paying attention.

  “Children, children,” Beth playfully scolded them, going as far as wagging her finger at them. “Keep that up and I’ll be telling everyone’s moms.” She smirked like a demon.

  “Snitch,” Spider hissed.

  “You always were a party pooper, Beth. Why is Nikki the only cool girl in the family?” Junior gave her a wicked smile, clearly trying to get a spark out of Beth and his little sister.

  “Hey,” Lillian huffed. “Why are you and Spider such jerks?”

  “Talent.” Spider shrugged.

  “DNA of awesome,” Junior said, as if it was obvious. “It’s probably on the Y chromosome, which is why you and your ilk remain lame.” Spider snickered and gave his brother a high five.

  “Cut it out, you guys. God, it’s like being around a group of ten-year-olds, nonstop.” Richard shook his head at them.

  The bickering stopped, and they started for the hiking trail with Nicole staying close to Danny, continuing to hold her hand. They ended up with all the women in the back, because Lillian and Beth walked slowly anyway.

  “I miss this trail.” Beth sighed contently, making use of a walking stick as some of the effects of her car accident still remained with her.

  “You’ve probably seen a million better ones,” Spider called from a few feet ahead of them.

  “Yeah, but there’s something about this trail,” Beth replied, eyes scanning the place.

  Nicole smiled. “This one reminds you of a much more innocent time.”

  “I wouldn’t call it innocent. Junior threw a snake on me once, while we were on this trail,” Beth replied.

  Junior balked, turning around with wide eyes. “I was showing you! Showing you!”

  “He got into a lot of trouble for that,” Beth informed Danny with a satisfied smirk.

  “That’s basically all we did as kids, get into trouble for doing something to each other or following Junior into doing something,” Nicole said.

  “We eventually learned not to blindly follow him when he and Nikki wandered through some poison ivy. He was taunting us all for being scared, and Nikki was the only one brave enough to follow him,” Lillian said.

  “I think the word you’re looking for is stupid. I was the only one stupid enough to follow him. But, it wasn’t all bad. Someone really nice kept me company while I was miserable for the rest of the trip,” Nicole said and Lillian grinned.

  Beth rolled her eyes, which Nicole ignored. Sometimes, Nicole was sure her relationship with Lillian annoyed Beth, because it seemed kind of cutesy or just plain saccharine. It couldn’t be helped, as far as Nicole was concerned, because she loved Lillian and wanted to make sure Lillian knew that.

  “I think the poison ivy was the dumbest thing you followed Junior into,” Beth said.

  “Let’s be thankful there are no tar pits around here,” Richard replied, shaking his head.

  “I would’ve had to go in after her. No way in hell I could’ve gone home and told Kate I lost Nikki,” Raymond said.

  “She probably bit your head off after every trip. She lost her mind whenever it looked like Nikki might get bruised,” Richard sneered. Little things like that let Nicole know how her father’s family felt about her mother. His tone and expression were subtle, and the rest of the family was like that when they spoke of her mother, too, but Nicole noticed. She couldn’t make sense of the attitude. She had never seen her mother do anything to them.

  “To this day, Kate still goes pale whenever I start off a story ‘so, Nikki was with Junior and Spider,’” Raymond said.

  She had followed Junior and Spider into some dangerous and stupid situations throughout their lives. Most of the time, the adage 'God protects fools and babies' held true for them, but every now and then, one of them got injured. When Nicole was injured, Lillian was always by her side, helping her through it. She did the same whenever Lillian needed her, be it physical or emotional pain. It was one of the things that made them so close.

  As they walked on and minutes passed, Nicole drifted farther ahead of the three women. She didn’t mean to, but it just happened that way. She slowed her steps, waiting for Danny to catch up with her. She took her hand again.

  “Hey, Nick, you don’t need to wait for me, you know? You can walk with the big boys up there. I’m fine.”

  “I don’t want to leave you behind,” Nicole said. Yes, she wanted to enjoy her cousins’ company, but she also wanted to be by Danny’s side for the camping experience. She had hoped she’d be able to do both at the same time, but since Junior and Spider were being asses, she’d definitely rather be with her beloved.

  “You’re not leaving me behind. You’re just going ahead on a hike. It’s fine. I’ve got company back here.”

  “You sure?” She considered Danny might be trying to get to know the cousins who weren’t acting like morons, which was fine by her.

  “Yeah, it’s cool.”

  Nicole gave her lover a long look, and Danny responded to that with a bright grin. That was good enough for Nicole, mostly because it satisfied the crazy little kid inside of her. She leaned in and gave Danny a quick peck on the cheek before powering forward toward her other cousins. As soon as she got to Junior and Spider, the pair glanced back.

  “Don’t say anything,” Nicole ordered with a hard glare. She wanted to enjoy being around them and that would be impossible if they said anything about Danny right now.

  “What? We wanted to make sure a bear hadn’t grabbed the lazy-bones off the trail,” Spider said.

  “Your city girl’s looking like she’s working up a sweat already. She’s never going to make it to the top, not that you’ve ever brought someone that made it to the top, except that scary chick with the guns. What happened to her?” Junior wondered aloud.

  “What always happens? Eventually, I got tired of being her doormat,” Nicole answered.

  “Well, you need to get tired of being her doormat down there. I mean, she can’t even hike. How’s this a good match for you? You two don’t have anything in common,” Spider said.

  “I told you two Danny is it for me. We have plenty in common, and we balance each other out. So, leave her alone,” Nicole stated for what felt like the umpteenth time. She loved these two idiots, but she wouldn’t let them disrespect her beloved right in front of her.

  Spider sno
rted and shrugged. “Fine.”

  “Okay, but, on a serious note, is she okay? I mean, she’s sweating a lot for such a short walk,” Junior said, glancing behind them again. “She’s not about to have a heart attack on the trail, is she?”

  Nicole looked back, knowing Danny had worked up a bit of a glow. Her copper tone skin was shining a bit, but it didn’t look too bad, yet. She trusted that Danny knew her limit and would stop when she needed. If not, Nicole would step in and guide Danny back to camp while everyone else continued on with the hike. Some alone time wouldn’t be too bad.

  “She’s fine. So, how many animals have you guys spotted yet?” Nicole asked. They always kept count of how many animals they saw while hiking. It was the competitors in them. When they got to the top, they’d see who caught the most sights and that person got extra s’mores when they had dinner. The extra s’mores came from the losers.

  Spider let loose another snort. “Don’t even bother. There’s no way you can catch up.”

  “What makes you think I wasn’t keeping count when I was back there? I’m still in this, so tell me your numbers,” Nicole stated with a grin. The brothers scoffed, but they smiled while doing it.

  ***

  “So, Nikki left you, huh?” Lillian asked, striding up to Dane.

  Dane gritted her teeth. The small jolts of pain firing through her leg didn’t need help from Lillian. She wasn’t sure how much longer she’d make it on the hike, but she was probably going to cut that time even shorter, because she didn’t want to speak to Lillian. She really wished she could make it to the end of the trail. So far, it was as wonderful as Nicole had promised. So many colors, sounds, and smells to experience, and she wanted all of it. She could only imagine the view at the end. That’s probably all I’ll be able to do.

  “Lil, leave Danny alone,” Beth barked.

  “What? I’m just teasing her a bit. Besides, she should know that’s what Nikki does when she gets around my brothers. I’ve seen her get into arguments with a lot of lovers after she’s hung out with my brothers. It’s like the world vanishes and they turn into the three musketeers. Her lovers hate that,” Lillian replied.

  Dane waved it off. “She can hang out with them. She hasn’t seen them in a long time.”

  Beth smiled. “See, Lil? So, let it go.”

  Lillian shrugged. “I’m not doing anything, Beth. It’s great that Danny doesn’t mind Nikki hanging with my brothers. She’s more mature than most of Nikki’s other lovers, huh?”

  “Who cares about Nikki’s other lovers? They’re gone and Danny’s here. Danny’s trying to get along with everyone.” Beth scowled at Lillian.

  “I didn’t say she wasn’t. You’re jumping down my throat for no reason. Danny’s fine with it, right?” Lillian said.

  Dane only shrugged. She’d be fine if Lillian walked somewhere else, maybe off a short ledge. No, that’s not fair. This is Nick’s little cousin. You only have to stomach her for a couple more days. Or so she hoped. There was always the chance that the cousins would have such a good time together that they’d want to hang out a little longer, or Nicole would invite Lillian to the house one day.

  “Danny’s being polite. So, Danny, how are you enjoying camping so far?” Beth asked, almost as if she were trying to keep Lillian from starting her own conversation.

  “It’s all right. Think I need to get the hang of it, but it seems like something I could enjoy,” Danny answered.

  “That’s good if you’re going to be with Nikki. She loves camping,” Lillian chimed in, and Dane wondered where she’d take things now. “I think she broke up with a lot of people because they couldn’t cut it on these trips, or trips like this.”

  “A lot of people?” She rolled her eyes. While she didn’t know how many people Nicole dated, she disliked Lillian’s implications there were dozens and that Nicole dropped people for ridiculous reasons like not being able to camp.

  “What? You don’t believe me?” Lillian inquired, sounding almost threatening. Dane dismissed the tone and the simultaneous glare by reminding herself that she only had to suffer the woman for a couple of days.

  “I don’t think it’s important. You know, I think I’m going to take a break. My knee hurts.” Dane wanted the excuse out there, so Lillian wouldn’t press her. Now, she had to hope Lillian wouldn’t stop with her.

  “I can wait with you,” Beth offered, panting a bit herself. “I used to be better at this, before I had a car accident.”

  Dane nodded. Lillian looked between them, as if she were trying to figure out if she’d stay. Please, don’t stay! Go spend time with this cousin you claim to love so much that you won’t even let me sit next to her!

  “I’ll tell them you both paused for a break,” Lillian said, as she trotted off.

  “Tell them we probably won’t make it up,” Beth called. Lillian waved back to show that she heard.

  “How do you know I won’t make it?” Dane asked.

  “I’ve seen the limp all day, Danny. Let’s take a seat and then make our way back to camp. We can trade war stories,” Beth replied with a kind smile. Dane chuckled and nodded. I definitely like this one a lot more. Why couldn’t this be Nick’s ‘sister’?

  Chapter Ten

  NICOLE WAS SURPRISED WHEN Lillian rushed up and fell into line with her. She glanced behind them to see Danny and Beth taking a break. She assumed Danny’s knee bothered her, and she was glad Danny had stopped on her own. It saved her the trouble of coming across as a nag. She was also happy Beth stayed with Danny. At least Danny won’t think all my cousins are horrible.

  “What happened? Beth trying to give the city gal a pep talk?” Junior inquired with a teasing smirk, dragging out the word gal to mock Danny even more. Spider snickered, encouraging his brother. Nicole glared at them, but she didn’t get the reaction that she desired.

  “No, Danny said something about her knee bothering her and Beth stopped with her. Beth said they probably won’t make it to the top,” Lillian replied. Everyone frowned when they heard those words.

  “That accident really messed her up,” Spider grumbled, talking about Beth. He glanced back and shook his head. “It’s not fair.”

  It really wasn’t. Beth was the most outdoorsy of all of them. Though the car accident almost ruined her livelihood and her passion in general, Beth was showing the strength they’d all come to expect of her, battling back like the boss she was.

  “She probably needs a couple more years to get back into tip-top shape. Remember how bad she was when the accident first happened? She’s a million times better now. She’ll be all right,” Junior gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

  “Yeah, she’ll be okay. She warned me, when I called her about this, that she probably wouldn’t be able to handle the hike. She probably could’ve handled more. She told me she’d probably be able to make it a little more than halfway, but she’s keeping Danny company,” Nicole replied. She wished Danny could’ve done more, because she felt like her lover would have enjoyed the view from the top. It made her think about the surgery Danny didn’t seem to want to talk about. She wondered if something like this might make Danny at least consider it, since it was obvious the brace wasn’t much help.

  “And what’s Danny’s excuse? I mean, we haven’t even been hiking an hour yet. It’s not like she was really powering through this,” Junior pointed out with a snort.

  “She’s probably trying to figure out how to hail a cab around here,” Spider chuckled and got a laugh out of his older brother.

  “Danny’s got a bad knee from when she was younger.” Nicole frowned. If that wasn’t enough explanation, too bad. She wouldn’t give them anything beyond that.

  “What happened?” Richard asked with a curiously arched eyebrow. Nicole was a bit surprised he was interested. Her uncle hardly glanced at her girlfriends when she brought them on trips. Thankfully, he was rarely rude to her girlfriends, even though she was very aware of his stance on her sexuality.

  “Tha
t’s her story to tell, but she’s just not equipped to hike now. One day, hopefully she’ll improve. I doubt she’ll ever be able to go on long hikes,” Nicole replied. It’s a bit sad that she’ll never be able to enjoy a long hike. I think Danny would love doing stuff like this.

  “Again, I don’t understand what you see in her. You love hiking and you’re with someone that doesn’t like hiking,” Junior said.

  “Oh, yeah, says the guy who has never dated a girl that likes hiking,” Nicole countered in a deadpan tone. “The mother of your children doesn’t like hiking and has allergies, so she’d be miserable out here.”

  For a long moment, Junior was shut down. His brother jumped in, trying to save him. “It’s different.”

  “How exactly is it different?” She frowned, suspecting what was different. Danny should be a butch lesbian who acted like a man, or a man in general, and should be able to do everything they could and more.

  “You know how it’s different.” Junior stood a little taller now that he had his brother backing him up.

  “No, I really don’t.”

  Clearly, they didn’t agree. Their faces scrunched up in the same manner, displaying the same confusion. They’re lucky I love them, because whenever they act this thick, it’s upsetting.

  “You do, Nikki, so don’t act like this. It’s just different,” Junior said, and Spider gave a small nod.

  She made a curious noise, grunting a little. What makes them think that was a good argument? Surely, they knew she couldn’t accept such a thing. She took a moment and thought to the past to see if there ever was a time when she allowed such a weak argument to pass and came up with nothing. She wasn’t sure why they thought it’d work this time.

  An auburn eyebrow arched as Nicole countered. “Let me see if I understand this. You’re allowed a mate that doesn’t like camping in general and probably would never come out here, and I have one who is doing what she can and enjoying it, yet, somehow, I’m the one that’s doing it wrong?”