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He didn't respond. Erin pulled away. A complete failure. So much for that romantic notion.
His hand cupped the back of her head, knocking her hat off, his other arm pulled her tightly against his chest, and he kissed her back.
Erin sank into his embrace. All that mattered was Ryan's lips on hers, and his hard arms wrapped around her, crushing her to his solid chest.
Frigid water pounded on her legs. Erin screeched, rolled off Ryan, and crouched above his head under the log, pulling off her pack. "Ryan, it's a thunderstorm. Come on, we've got to get ready!" She yanked her rain jacket and pants out, trying to stay under the shelter of the log as much as she could. Thunder rolled and lightning cracked, the two coming closer together, the deluge increasing.
Ryan lay on the ground, blinking up at her.
Erin shook his shoulder. "Come on, Ryan. Get your rain gear on!" Lightning flashed and thunder boomed almost simultaneously. Comprehension came back into Ryan's eyes. He looked around, then sat up, pulling off his pack.
Finally. Erin put on her rain gear and pulled the rain cover on her pack, cinching it down as tightly as she could to protect the pack. Ryan was struggling into his rain pants. Erin pulled his pack cover and put it on. They threw their packs on the ground, rain cover down to protect the packs from the rapidly growing puddles.
"There's not enough room under this log to spread out!" Ryan looked at her, then down at his feet.
"I know!" Erin peered through the sheets of rain, turning to look behind them. All they had was this little gap under the big jumble of logs. "I think we're stuck here until it passes."
"You're right." He shoved his pack away from hers and climbed on top.
Erin turned, pushing hers as far as the gap would allow. Grimacing, she duck-walked on top of her pack, avoiding the pack lid where her headlamp was. There wasn't a lot in the pack's main bag, but she really hoped nothing broke. She turned so she could see the sky and Ryan, crouched on his pack. "Watch your head." Erin patted hers, happy there was an inch of clearance between her and the log. Which might not be enough, but it was better than nothing.
Ryan looked up and almost hit his head. He crouched a little more, grinning with a little shrug. Erin smiled back. She could cry, anticipating the worst, or laugh, hoping for the best. Looked like they both thought laughter was the better choice. But as they waited, they glanced at each other. Erin wasn't sure about Ryan, but her tension rose with every look.
Finally, the lightning, thunder, wind, and rain tapered off until only sprinkles remained. The storm had rolled on. Erin took a big breath and blew out, deliberately relaxing as much as she could, while crouched in a little ball. "I know the storm isn't far enough away to be really safe, but do you think we're safe enough?"
Ryan shrugged, craning his neck to look up. "It's moving away fast." He scooted from under the log and stood, turning and looking. He bent down with a smile. "I think we'll be okay." He reached a hand to her.
Erin grimaced. "Give me a second." She sat down on her pack and stretched her cramped legs. Ow, ow, ow. She rolled out from under the log and snagged her pack, brushing the dirt off. As she put the pack on, she searched for the storm. It was moving away fast, but lightning still flashed in the distance, and rain showered down. "We should find Tyler and get to live trees as fast as we can. Ryan, you go first and get ahead of me. That way, if one of us gets hit, we won't both go down."
He shook his head, glaring. "Negative. You go first."
"No, you're faster, go!" She pointed toward the camp. Both he and Tyler could make it to the trees faster than she could.
He frowned for a moment, then nodded once and climbed over the logs in front of them. She let him get over the first group of logs, then started climbing herself. He'd get farther and farther away. And give her a chance to catch her breath after that kiss and all the tension of the storm. She snorted. The personal storm was more dangerous than the real one.
Setting off, Erin's personal troubles slipped away. All she could think about was finding the next piece of surveyor’s tape and bashing through the nightmare of wet branches slapping her in the face and slippery logs trying to throw her off. Occasionally, she caught her breath on a rare spot of level ground. But the standing trees groaned as they swayed in the winds, so she didn't stay in one place for long. She prayed they didn't come down on her head. Despite her need for speed, she tested each step before committing her weight to a log and tried to make sure she had solid handholds too. She kept Ryan in sight, but she was sure it was because he was stopping and looking back for her, not because she was fast enough.
Ryan whooped. "Tyler! Hey, Tyler!"
Erin climbed onto a log. Tyler waved at them, and she waved back. "You're okay?" Tyler yelled.
Ryan waved, urging him on. "Yeah! Keep going!" Tyler turned away and clambered over the logs ahead of them.
After an eternity of slipping, sliding, falling, and whipping of branches, Erin reached the main trail. As if it was waiting for her, the rain stopped and the sun shone on their wet, beat up, and bedraggled bodies. They all looked at each other and up at the sky, chuckling. Before long, they were laughing hysterically, collapsing to sit shoulder to shoulder on the last log they'd climbed over.
"Can you believe that? What are the odds?" Tyler shook his hand like he was rolling dice.
Erin slumped on the log. "No, I can't believe it. I think I got run over by a truck." She'd love to simply sit there, but she was hungry, tired, and wanted her sleeping bag. She peeled off her rain jacket, leaving her rain pants on so the soaking wet brush along the trail wouldn't get her hiking pants wet. Tyler and Ryan did the same. Ryan took Erin's jacket, shaking the water off and putting both of them in the shove-it pocket on the back of his pack, along with his pack cover. She left her pack cover in place. They shouldered their packs and hiked back to camp.
They got to the cook site—with a tarp over it, sloped to act as a windbreak—just in time to see Jules fastening her pack. As they walked in, everyone cheered.
Jules wiped her brow. "Whew. I was going out to find you. I'm so glad you're all okay. Dinner is almost ready, too." She chuckled, shucking her pack.
"Yeah, we're good. It was a rough trek, and we're bumped and bruised a bit but nothing more." Tyler shrugged one shoulder.
Erin collapsed on a rock, and Ryan dropped next to her. They peeled off their rain pants. Since the storm had passed, the temperature was rising.
"Good. I really didn't want to go looking for you guys." Jules plopped down by the stove, taking the spoon back from Dan. Tyler grinned at the group, relief still shining on his face. He turned a circle, looking into the distance and then down at all of them. "This might be a quick break between storms. It would be better to eat early and then hunker down for the night in our tents. Good thing you kept cooking, Jules. Thanks for stepping in, Dan."
