Into the Woods

Chapter 5

Suellen

After the guys leave for golf, we ladies go back to the fire ring. Lunch is not for another two hours, so I put more wood on the fire. I love the peacefulness of the fire. The different shades of orange, red, yellow, and hot blue flames licking the wood till they turn to ash. I could sit here all day and never tire from the magic it creates as it slowly consumes the dry, split wood.

"Hey." Deanna approaches me with a beer. I look at it and raise my brows. "Too early?" she quips.

I smile. "Never!" I take the beer she offered me, and she joins me by the fire.

"Are Julie and Charlene getting dressed?" I ask.

Deanna looks back towards the cabin. "I assume so."

We both sit quietly by the fire, sipping our beer. I love that we can sit in comfortable silence and not feel like we have to make small talk. Although, Deanna and I could go for days talking non-stop and still have more to say to each other.

I hear the door open, and Julie and Charlene come out of the cabin fully dressed. Charlene looks at the beer in Deanna's and my hand. "Beer o'clock?" She inquires, and Deanna and I lift our cans into the air to confirm that it is indeed beer o'clock.

Charlene pops a top and hands a near-beer to Julie. They join us by the fire.

"Should we pack a cooler to take on the hike?" Julie asks before taking a long draw of her drink.

"We can, but I don't want to carry it with us. We're not going to take long, maybe an hour at the most. We can have it ready for when we return to the truck," Deanna explains.

"I'll take my water bottle. It attaches to my belt loop. I don't mind sharing with you all," Charlene offers, and we all nod our thanks.

"Sounds good. I can bring my water bottle too. It also clips onto my belt loop," Deanna says as she stands up. "I'm going to get ready."

"Me, too," I respond and get up to follow Deanna into the cabin.

I get ready and head back to the fire before Deanna. "You two need another?" I call over to Julie and Charlene as I pop my top.

"Sure."

"I'll never turn down an ice-cold beer."

I toss the girls another beverage and sit back down by the fire. It's slowly dying down, but I know that we're leaving soon, so I don't put on another log.

It's not long till Deanna emerges with a small cooler in her hands. She fills it with beer and water then puts it into the truck.

"Are you ladies ready to go?" Deanna asks when she returns from the truck.

"I need to fill up my water bottle first," Charlene informs us.

"Already done." Deanna hands Charlene her bottle.

"Thank you." Charlene takes her bottle and attaches it to her belt loop.

We all pile into the truck and head to Cora's for lunch.

***

Lunch at Cora's was delectable as always; their French onion soup is the best that I ever had. Cora's is a refurbished house with a bar and ten dining tables located in a housing development. Only the locals know about this hidden treasure. Lucky for us, Deanna and Chris stumbled upon it years ago.

It's around 2:00 in the afternoon when Deanna pulls into a clearing of the woods and parks. She turns to address the group.

"Okay, here's the plan. Skytop is about a quarter of a mile southwest." She points in the direction that I'm assuming is southwest.