Emilie Richards - Sunset Bridge

O n Thursday afternoon, the first day of her Everglades canoe trip with her lover, Marsh Egan, Tracy Deloche fell overboard into rotten-egg-scented water. Unfortunately, her paddle lodged in a mangrove root. She stayed with the paddle, and Marsh stayed with the canoe.

On Thursday evening of their Everglades canoe trip, she discovered that their campground was a chickee, an elevated wooden platform above a channel that had turned to mudflats, and that the chickee came with no water, although it did come with two whining children and one portable toilet. The cheerful mom explained that this was a homeschooling field trip, and the children would be up and down all night recording observations in their journals.

Next to sleeping on a deflating air mattress, the children were no problem at all.

By Friday evening of their Everglades canoe trip, Tracy Deloche was pretty sure she and Marsh were not meant to spend their lives together.

Dont tell me about chiggers and no-see-ums! You think I need a biology lecture? Tracy, perched on a fallen tree, was rolling up the legs of her jeans and spraying her calves with repellent as she spat out the words. Her ankles already felt like smoldering logs. Her arms ached from canoeing for hours through mazes of mangrove-lined creeks. Her head throbbed from wood smoke billowing up her nostrils.

Heres the deal, hotshot, unless you also want chiggers in places only I ever see, youd better move over there. Marsh pointed to one of two plastic coolers on the other side of the campfire, where an armload of salt-crusted driftwood was ramping up the smolder factor. Chiggers thrive in dead wood.

Tracy leaped to her feet, which werenot surprisinglybare, since that morning shed found a scorpion in the toe of her water shoes, and found it the hard way. Earlier shed taken her chances with flip-flops, since her big toe had swollen to twice its normal size, but now even the flip-flops had run for cover.

You know, were supposed to be having fun here, Marsh said. Thats why Im with you instead of the rest of the Wild Florida gang. Thats why youre with me instead of back at Happiness Key fixing up a cottage for Wandas daughter. Something going on I should know about? This whole weekend youve been wound tighter than a banjo string. The least little thing sends you screeching.

Little? Tracy pointed to her legs, peppered with scarlet dots. Is little redneckspeak for miserable?

He squatted to take a closer look, running a finger along her shin before he looked up and smiled. Well smear your legs with petroleum jelly. Youll feel better, and Ill get a little thrill.

And its the only thrill youre likely to get on this trip, too.

Marsh looked as if he was debating what to say to that. As always, he was dressed a lot more like the Florida Cracker he claimed to be than the pit-bull attorney who was director of one of Floridas most effective environmental organizations. His sandy hair was pulled back at the nape in a short ponytail, and he needed a shave. His faded green T-shirt was ripped under one arm. His cutoffs needed a good trim, and his feet were happily bare. In fact, he looked like the embodiment of Wild Florida, whose success at stopping a wetlands shopping mall had been the motivation for this celebratory camping trip. Marsh was in his element.

Tracy was not.

You said you wanted to come. He sprang back to his feet without using his hands. I told you it would be rugged.

Tracy struggled to be fair. Knowing full well that this was not going to be a weekend at the Four Seasons, she had agreed to come along while Bay, Marshs ten-year-old son, spent a long weekend in California with his mother, Marshs ex. Some of Marshs staff were doing a more grueling version of the trip, but Marsh had given that up to plan this shorter one with Tracy.

Tracy had come a long way in the year-plus that shed lived in Florida, from spoiled Southern California socialite to a woman who held her own in almost any setting. Only not this one. Apparently the Wilderness Waterway of the Everglades was just a tad beyond her capabilities, or maybe the problem was everything else in her life, rolled into one giant, torturous sandspur of complications.

Tears sprang to her eyes, so unusual that she immediately credited the campfire. She might be a lot of things, but never a crybaby. She hadnt shed tears on the day that her husband, CJ Craimer, told her that life as she knew it had ended and she was about to become the wife of a felon. Ex-wife, as it turned out, in a divorce she hadnt cried over, either.

Marsh looked perplexed, as if this Tracy Deloche was someone he didnt know or care to.

Look She sniffed. Im trying. Okay? So, you warned me. I thought Id be fine. Just give me a moment to be miserable.

He raised a brow. Im going fishing. We could use more firewood.

She heard him. Go in search of mangrove and buttonwood debris for the campfire, and while she was gone, please get her act together.

Even more annoyed, she debated. All she really wanted was to crawl into the tent and pull the sleeping bag over her head, only it was too hot. They hadnt waited until winter, when everyone else paddled the Wilderness Waterway. No, theyd come while the air was still warm and the bugs were frenzied, instead of simply omnipresent.

Ive got a great dinner planned, Marsh added, as if taking pity on her. Youll feel better afterward.

She supposed he was trying. Last night they had eaten sandwiches and shared an apple, so how petty would it be to point out that not even rack of lamb or crme brle was going to lighten her spirits, much less the chicken breasts marinating in a plastic bag in one of the coolers? She knew the menu because shed peeked yesterday before they even slid the canoe into the water.

Yesterday, when she was still young, eager and looking forward to camping together.

Has it ever occurred to you, she asked instead, that the only time were together, we could be mistaken for two good ol boys swilling beer after an afternoon of cleaning spark plugs? When was the last time we did something that required a dress?

I dont look that good in ruffles. He leaned over and kissed her. Dont stray far. Those dark clouds dont mean nights coming earlier, but hopefully theyll pass. Get a whole armload of wood, okay? If we can keep a good fire going, it will help with the bugs.

Bugs. She shook her head so hard her ponytail flicked her cheek. And I was so looking forward to more.

She started down the beach and around the end of the tiny key where theyd made their new campsite. She supposed she ought to be glad that tonight Marsh had chosen a beach and not a Calusa Indian mound in the middle of the mangroves, or yet another platform. This site allowed campfires, and it had a portable toilet down the beach from their tent, while many sites only had instructions for waste management. Just for her, she supposed. Considerate to a fault.

She determined not to go back until her mood improved. Sure, she could make a case for ruining the evening, but the thought gave her no pleasure. She had come on this trip because she wanted to spend time with Marsh. As much as she enjoyed Bay, hours alone with his father were rare, and when the three of them were together, she and Marsh still promoted the illusion that Tracy was just a friend, despite their being lovers for two months.