Chapter 10

"Mauston?"

I had my back to her, granting her privacy as she changed out of her dirty clothes. I was planning to take our laundry down to the stream for a good rinsing since the weather wasn't too bad. "Yeah?"

"Um. I think I need help." I could hear the embarrassment in her voice, mingled with just a touch of frustration.

Great. I could handle a lot of things about our situation, but the idea of helping Kelsey get undressed was oddly daunting. I turned, grateful to see that she'd managed to get herself into her clean sweater, and her jeans were still fastened around her hips. She was sitting on the ground, a pair of dress pants in her hand, her cheeks reddening. She motioned to her splinted leg.

"What do I do about this?"

There was absolutely no way she'd be able to get out of her jeans unless I removed the splint, which wasn't even an option. "God damn it." I breathed, realizing that we'd have to literally cut her out of the garment if she wanted to change. And I didn't know how the hell we'd get another pair over the splint. "You can't really afford to lose those."

"Well, what about my skirt? It's long enough." I had found a few more pieces of our clothing scattered around our location a few days earlier; my long john top, a wool stocking cap, a thin blouse of Kelsey's...and a long jersey knit skirt.

I frowned, considering her options. A shirt would be colder, but it would also make life a little more convenient for Kelsey. It had been two weeks since we'd gone down, and there had been no more plane sightings since that last morning when we'd burnt the seats in the plane. I guess I didn't blame her for wanting to feel a little cleaner. "Fine." I relented, heading to the suitcase to grab her skirt.

"We can probably use the scraps, so it won't be a total loss." She shrugged, watching as I slipped my knife out.

I didn't feel the slightest bit comfortable with what I was about to do. Trying to slice through thick fabric while it still had a body inside was a little unnerving, for one. For another...well, Kelsey was an attractive little thing. Even in these circumstances, even with the bruises and the dirt, it was hard not to notice. Her hair was long and hung in curls that framed her soft-featured face alluringly. Her gaze was wide and trusting, he most intense shade of hazel I had ever seen--something like whiskey aged to perfection. She had the perfect hour glass shape, with supple curves that nipped in to a slender waist, and legs that seemed to go on forever. Even though her body had become a little more angular due to the scarcity of food, I could still remember how she'd looked when I'd entered the terminal at the airport and had seen her for the first time.

The messed up part was, I was at least 10, maybe even 15 years her senior. While that wouldn't seem like a lot to most people, for me, it made me sick at myself for even noticing how good she looked. I hated myself even worse on the days I found myself thinking about her...fantasizing about her as I worked. My fantasies weren't purely sexual, either...hell, I even just thought of ways I could bring a smile to her face. Those were the times I felt on top the world; when I could make her smile despite the fucked up world we'd been thrown into.

Kelsey lifted her sweater away from the waistband of her jeans, the porcelain perfection of her skin blazing with embarrassment. From the feel of it, my own cheeks were getting a bit hot. "Careful not to cut me."

"I won't cut you." I assured her, then set to work. I made quick work of slicing the denim from around her legs and up the sides, but the fabric at the hip was a bit thicker. As I sawed at it, my knuckles brushed the flesh of her outer thigh a couple of times, making concentration one hell of a task. Once, I risked a glance up at Kelsey, and found her watching my intently as I worked. I'd yanked my gaze away just as quick as I could...it was just a little too easy for a guy to lose himself a moment or too longer than he should when looking into those eyes.

Finally, I got the damned jeans cut so that she'd be able to to wiggle out of them without too much effort. I handed her her skirt and rose. "Here...I'm gonna go rinse our stuff." I collected her dirty shirt, then started away from her, eager to get some distance between us.

"Mauston?" I stopped, cursing mentally, glancing over my shoulder.

"Yeah?"

"Um, Can you give me some clean underwear out of my suitcase? There should be a few pairs zipped in the front pocket."

F**k.


******************

I'd taken my time rinsing out our laundry, and had detoured to check a couple of the snares I'd set on the way back. We had gotten lucky twice after the initial rabbit, scoring a squirrel once and another rabbit as well. I wished like hell there was a way for me to bring down some larger game in case we still had to be here come winter, but I was thankful for the little but we'd had. We sustained ourselves in between with the berries and a couple of frogs I'd managed to catch by the stream. Hunger was perpetual thing, but the snares made it a little easier to live with. At least we had the constant hope of new food to cling to. In a month's time, the snow would obliterate that hope.

When I returned, I draped our clothes over the bent up wreckage of my plane, setting a mental reminder to be sure to grab them if rain should set it. We'd gotten lucky so far, having had no significant storms since the one that had landed us in our current predicament. It was only a matter of time til that luck ran out.

I heard branches breaking and soon Kelsey emerged from the treeline, the edge of the can she used for collecting berries clenched between her teeth as she maneuvered her makeshift crutches. I met her half way, taking the can from her mouth. "Good way to break a tooth, you know."

She shrugged. "Sorry. Those of us without a third hand have to make do."

I chuckled, walking with her back to the fire. We both sat, passing the can of berries back and forth, chewing slowly. Eating had become a chore, like everything else here. A constant act of survival. We took no pleasure in it, aside from easing the pangs from our stomachs.

"Do you have kids at home that are worrying about you?" Kesley asked randomly.

Kids? Me? "No." I shook my head, swallowing the berries I'd popped into my mouth. "My ex wife wasn't much for kids. I might have liked to have a couple, maybe...but it wasn't in the cards." The truth was, my ex had just been too vain for motherhood. She hadn't wanted to take the risk of changing her body...it was, after all, how she made the money she'd adored so much.

"I'm sorry." Kelsey picked up a little stick, digging it into the dirt in front of her absently. "Has it been long? Since your divorce?"

I frowned, not really wanting to talk about it. "Kels..."

"Sorry! I shouldn't have asked. I was just curious...you don't have to answer." She looked kind of embarrassed, which made me feel bad.

I sighed. "No, it's fine. It's been about three years now. Five since we split...we spent a lot of time in court. It was ugly."

She winced. "Divorce is never pretty,I guess."

"No, it sure isn't, even under good terms. Audrey made it about as bad as it can get. She got just about everything. I was lucky to keep my plane." Those were some dark times...times I wouldn't have made it out of if not for Ben, in all honesty.

Kelsey plucked a berry from the can, chewing thoughtfully. "I can't believe I never asked you this. What could Ben have ever done for you that you felt like you owed him so much you would go out in a storm like that for him?"

I smirked rather ruefully. I had been wondering when that question would come up. "If it wasn't for your brother-in-law, I'd probably be a homeless drunk on the streets. No exaggeration." I grabbed a few berries, tossing them in my mouth. "Audrey...wasn't the faithful kind. I took it hard when we split up. Not so much that we were splitting, but that I'd been duped like that, you know? I started drinking pretty heavy...showed up for work drunk a lot, you know...throwing my life away. Ben's dad finally had at and fired me. I deserved it and I knew it, but I took the opportunity to drink even more. Finally Ben showed up one day...tried pounding some sense into my skull. We had it out, a good ol' scuffle right there the little dinette of the cabin I was living in...but by the end of it, he'd said if I agreed to rehab, Robert would hire me back. Honestly, I probably owe Ben lots more plane crashes. He saved my life."

Kelsey blinked at me, as if she couldn't believe what I was telling her. Maybe I didn't strike her as the 'drunk' type. It was still hard for me to believe sometimes."Wow." She said softly. "I wouldn't have guessed. You sure seem to have it together now."

I shrugged, wiping the juice from the berries on my pants. "I do. I went through rehab, and got my job back. I was lucky."

Kelsey smiled. "Ben sure has a way of saving people. He sure saved Maggie."

"Your sister?" I knew Maggie well enough from shuttling her to the resort and back, especially during her engagement to Ben. I had never looked forward to dealing with her...spoiled and condescending as she was.

"Yeah. She was getting to be a mess when she met Ben. Trying drugs, drinking a lot. She just got into the wrong crows when she made it on tv, you know?" Kelsey frowned, as if the memory hurt. "Then she met Ben. Our dad would have been a whole lot less accepting of him, given their age difference, but he really did pull her out of the fire. I hate to think of what she'd have become without his help. She never would listen to anyone else. Ben just...has a way with her." She grinned, though I thought it looked a little sad. "I miss her so much."

I reached over and awkwardly patted her back, still not wanting to make much physical contact after the way I'd been affected before. I felt like a creep. "You'll see her soon enough. We'll get out of this. I promised you that, and I meant it."

She gave me a grateful glance. "Thanks, Mauston." Then, as an afterthought, "Wait. Audrey? As in, Audrey Marx? The singer? She was your wife?" I could see the comprehension dawning in her eyes.

I rose, shooting her a smirk. "Yep. One and the same. Guess I always manage to find myself hanging out with the Hollywood types." I winked to mark my humor, and this time Kelsey didn't flame me too bad for it. She did throw the empty berry can at me, though. I just laughed.