Page 33 of Unfinished Desire
Isla grabbed two sandbags and held one under each arm. Tamsyn did the same, except she hauled them over her shoulders instead. Then they pivoted toward the beam where Isla went first. Tamsyn was close behind her. But just as her foot came into contact with the wood, Barra’s last sandbag hit the platform.
“And the winners are Barra and Dominique,” Vivian called.
BY THAT AFTERNOON,the entire camp had shifted.
Barra and Dominique were only expected to make their final pairing decision the following day at The Sending, which meant everyone was stuck in this weird, limbo state of panic. No one wanted to look desperate. Though everyone looked desperate.
“Who do you think is going to crack first?” Tamsyn asked, glancing back over her shoulder to where Barra and Dominique were sitting on a flat stone as if they were royalty holding court. Frankie and Kendall were tending to the fire and cooking the usual meal of beans and rice, even though it was most certainly Dominique and Barra’s turn.
And Josie and Aggie were sitting on the dirt at Barra and Dominique’s feet like they were about to whip out some jojoba oil and offer a complimentary foot massage.
Isla and Tamsyn were the only ones who hadn’t groveled for sympathy just yet. But Tamsyn knew there was only so much pretending they were above the whole begging thing they could do. The fact was that they were not above it.
“I think it will be Aggie,” Isla said, eyeing the blue-haired mom. Aggie had just laughed a little too hard at something Barra said, but Tamsyn, who couldn’t even hear the conversation, knew with absolute certainty that it wasn’t that funny. Barra’s jokes were like Swiss cheese; there were always too many holes in the story.
“I wish we had more cookies,” Isla added, looking down at the patch of dirt in front of her. Earlier she’d taken a twig and drawn a heart with their initials in it. Then she’d swept the evidence away before Tamsyn could ask her about it. “I would’ve given her the whole jar.”
“The whole jar?” Tamsyn teased, though frankly, she was considering giving Dominique her leather fringe jacket and her cowboy boots. Just the other morning, Dominique had admired both, saying they looked chic. If she wanted them, she could have them. In fact, she could have her firstborn if it meant she and Isla wouldn’t be separated.
Isla buried her face in the shallow gap between her knees. “Do you think Aggie is going to tell them about us?” she muttered. “I feel like she would auction off her own reflection if it bought her another day in this game.”
Tamsyn glanced back toward the throne.
Aggie had shifted a little closer, and Barra was nodding earnestly at something she was saying. Tamsyn couldn’t make out the chatter, but she couldn’t help but feel a swoop of panic low in her belly. What would Barra and Dominique think if they knew? Then she thought ofSurvivor, of Rob Mariano and Amber Brkich. The golden couple whose relationship had beenviewed by many as an unfair advantage. Would Dominique and Barra be as bothered as Lex and Kathy were?
“She won’t if we don’t give her a chance,” Tamsyn said, already dusting her palms on the sides of her legs. “So let’s just go and get it over with.”
Isla nodded. Yet neither moved. And for good reason. Tamsyn could think of several more ghastly things she’d rather be doing: a root canal without anesthesia, licking the floor behind the counter at Starbucks, or public karaoke.
Then Barra threw her head back in a booming laugh, and Isla let out a sigh so strong Tamsyn was surprised it didn’t pick up red dust. Isla stood first, and Tamsyn followed.
“Look who the cat dragged in,” Barra said when they approached. Her voice was syrupy with smugness, and her sapphire-blue eyes glinted with the undeniable thrill of someone who held all the cards.
Tamsyn had to do everything in her power not to roll her eyes.
“We were starting to think you weren’t going to make your proposal,” Dominique said, smiling with her head cocked to the side.
“Oh,” Tamsyn said. She glanced at Aggie, who was smiling so sweetly that Tamsyn felt suddenly certain that the woman would one day be the head of the school’s PTA. In her four years of teaching, Tamsyn had learned one thing—no one feared the principal quite like they feared a well-organized PTA mother. “You’re listening to proposals now?”
Barra laughed and snapped her fingers.
For a split second Tamsyn wondered what the hell Barra was doing, but then Aggie and Josie popped to their feet and scurried off without protest. Tamsyn watched in awe as they headed toward the path leading to the watering hole. What kindofOutlast Hersorcery had this advantage unlocked? The ability to dismiss grown adults with a single snap?
“We want to stay together,” Isla said plainly. She didn’t sit. She didn’t smile. And she sure as hell didn’t try to soften it. She just stood there with the sun basking on her lean shoulders. Her dark hair was piled on top of her head. She looked so infuriatingly gorgeous that Tamsyn nearly forgot the purpose of this whole thing. All she could think about was kissing her.
But then Barra chuckled, and the Isla spell Tamsyn was under was suddenly broken. “Everyone does,” Barra said. “Which is funny, right? I literally had nightmares before the show. I was so scared I’d end up paired with someone I didn’t like. Someone who annoyed me so much that it would ruin the entire experience.” Then she nudged Dominique with her knee. “And then that fear came true.”
“Ha,” Dominique sputtered. But she was smiling. “You’re the pain in the ass.”
“Me?” Barra gasped.
“I distinctly remember saying I couldn’t work with you,” Dominique said, looking infectiously amused. Even Tamsyn couldn’t help smiling at these two women teasing each other. “Your snores sound like a freight train, and every time you laugh my eardrums threaten to burst.”
Barra’s laugh was so explosive that the leaves of the gum tree above them actually trembled. “But we’ve grown,” she declared, still grinning.
“We have,” Dominique agreed. Her voice softened, just slightly. “We’ve learned to love each other even when one of us is insufferably annoying.” She shot Barra a wink. Not a romantic one. Dominique was happily engaged. Tamsyn was fairly certain that after the show, Barra would be getting a very special invitation to their wedding.
“Well, it’s not me,” Barra rumbled out a laugh that somehow always seemed impossibly big for someone so wiry. “I’m delicious. Like an apple pie. There’s nothing annoying about apple pie.”
