Page 60 of Valley Girls
Rilla buried her face in the couch cushions and moaned.
“Stop being so dramatic. I’m surprised this is the first bear you’ve seen here. They’re the same as they are at home. Less wild though, which makes them more dangerous.”
“Oh.” Rilla sat up, panic eased. Black bears were common at home. It wasn’t odd to see one loping across the road when driving in the morning.
“Yeah,” Thea said. “You’re fine.”
The thumping continued on the far side of the porch.
“Rangers will be out shortly. Call back if you need me.”
“Bye,” Rilla said.
She hung up and looked at the phone. Instagram was in the background—her conversation with Curtis unfinished.
A flood of shame washed over her. She’d started it ... again. After promising everyone she wouldn’t. After promising herself. Maybe it was for the best she was here. No matter where she went, she couldn’t seem to get beyond herself.
Twenty
A door slammed downstairs, bolting her awake.
Shit.Rilla pushed back the covers strangling her, in panic. Curtis would be mad if she was late. Tumbling out of the cot, Rilla hit the floor with a thud. The pain cleared the sleep from her mind.
Oh right. California. Yosemite. She closed her eyes against her racing heart. She’d forgotten.
She slumped against the cot as it all came flooding back. The trip out here, the night she’d been busted, Walker, Petra, climbing ... and now, no more climbing. But Mom said she could go home, all she had to do was make it to August.
If there was one thing she was good at, it was not being good at anything. Rilla groaned and crawled back into bed. The sheets rubbed against her skin, still raw from the climbing the day before. The light was weak—barely above dark—and drummed in her ears as if the waterfall had moved and now pounded on the roof.
Rain!
She’d forgotten about the impending rain. Comforting and drowning everything out. It was almost like she was home. She burrowed deeper under the covers, pretending she was home. She missed her dog, her bed, and her room. She missed not failing at things she wanted. Closing her eyes, she pictured Walker asleep, and herself tucked in his arm on his bare chest, her skin on his.
Another door slammed.
Someone yelled. Muffled and loud.
Heavy steps.
Rilla’s eyes flew open to the rafters. Ugh.
Pitching back the covers, she pulled on her sweatshirt and went downstairs.
Thea looked up from tying her boots. A flicker of surprise crossed her face—almost like she’d forgotten about Rilla, in her attic. “We’re evacuating the park,” she said briskly.
Rilla froze. “Oh my god. What? Why?”
“Flooding.”
The floodwaters in Rainelle rushed back to her. Depraved. The Monroes. Going to school and watching the river from the window of her biology classroom. “What?” she asked dumbly. “Do I need to get my stuff?”
“We’re not leaving. The water won’t get this high. But we need to evacuate the tourists. All the snow is finally melting.” Thea donned her Stetson and turned for the door. “Get dressed, and you can ride with me today. Get a rain jacket from the closet.” She opened the door to a drumming rain and slammed it shut.
Rilla looked around the now empty, silent house. She couldn’t imagine evacuating a park like this. It wasn’t like Thea could just roll into a tent campground and herd twenty people into their cars. This was thousands. People in houses, canvas tents, campgrounds, RVs, and everything in between. It was completely evacuating the town they came from, twice over.
Rilla pulled on a pair of leggings and went back to the hall closet downstairs to hunt for a rain jacket. She pulled the chain and a bare bulb flicked on. Her jaw dropped.The closet was stuffed with outdoor gear.It looked like a shitty, dirty version of the mountain store. Jackets, down, skis, ski poles, tents, tarps ...
Maybe there was climbing gear. She dug in, looking for any useful piece of gear she could add to her tiny pile upstairs. But within a few minutes, she was disappointed. There didn’t seem to be anything she could use. The memory of sitting at the top of Doggie Diversions, ropeless, crossed her mind and she paused. She’d forgotten. She couldn’t go back after embarrassing herself so thoroughly. Petra was right, shewasa gumby. Grabbing a blue jacket, she pulled the light and shut the closet door firmly behind her.
