Straightening her shoulders, Sierra decided she’d take every minute she had with him and ask no more. In the meantime, she had a field trip to go on and she wasn’t ready. She ran up the stairs to the bathroom, brushed her teeth and grabbed her jacket and purse. When she came back down, Brenda was pulling up in front of the bed-and-breakfast.
Before Sierra stepped out of the building, she checked for any sign of Clay. His truck wasn’t anywhere in sight. Breathing a sigh of relief, she left the building and climbed into Brenda’s SUV.
“Well, look at you all chipper this morning.” Brenda shifted into gear and drove toward the community center. “How was your date with the marine yesterday?”
Sierra’s cheeks burned, and she couldn’t meet her friend’s gaze.
“Oh, my God. You hooked up with him!” Brenda squealed in delight.
“What?” Sierra shot a glance her way. “I did not—”
“Oh, baby, don’t even bother to deny it. Your lips are puffy, and you have a little beard burn on your cheek. At the very least you were thoroughly kissed. But the way you’re blushing, it was a lot more than that.”
Sierra gave up and sagged against the seat, a smile pulling her lips upward. “Yesterday was the best day of my life.”
“Tell me all,” Brenda insisted, her face animated. “Hurry, before we load up with kids. I want all of the lovely details.”
“Well, other than the helicopter crash and being shot at, I’d say it went pretty well.”
Brenda slammed her foot onto the brake pedal. “What?”
Sierra caught herself before hitting the dash. “You didn’t hear? I would have thought the grapevine would have had it all over the county by now.”
“You forget, I live alone.”
“That never stopped anyone from spreading the most interesting gossip far and wide among the Beartooth Mountains.” Sierra laughed and started from the beginning, giving a brief summation of what had happened up to the moment she and T-Rex arrived back at the bed-and-breakfast. “And that’s what you missed.”
“Oh, darlin’, you’re not stopping there.” Brenda pulled up to the community center. “I want the rest. Give it to me. Quickly, because we’re here and the kiddos are waiting.”
“Sorry. We’re being waved over.” Sierra grinned and climbed out of the vehicle.
“Oh, that is so not fair.” Brenda shook her head. “He must have been spectacular.”
“Beyond,” Sierra said, letting her smile broaden as she approached the mothers and small children who would be coming along for the field trip.
Sierra and Brenda would take three kids and two mothers in Brenda’s SUV with seating for seven. Two other mothers would follow in a Suburban with another five children whose ages ranged from four to six.
The trip took only an hour and fifteen minutes when one drove the speed limit. But the roads were curvy. To avoid the usual carsickness, they took the curves very slowly and entertained the children with songs and games to keep them occupied.
When they rolled into the parking lot of the Old Faithful Visitor Education Center, the children were ready to get out and stretch their little legs.
“Why is the parking lot so full?” Brenda shifted into Park and got out. “I mean it’s not even time for Old Faithful to blow.”
Sierra climbed out of the vehicle and glanced around at the vehicles crammed into the lot and the vans with satellite antennas and the lettering of local television stations written on the sides. Then it came to her. “I forgot. Grady Morris is supposed to be here today for a campaign speech.”
“Oh, yeah. Last night on the news, they said he’d have a special guest with him.” Brenda tilted her head. “I wonder who it is.”
“Based on the number of black SUVs and men in black suits, it has to be a very important person,” Sierra said.
The other two mothers and their children joined them. “Should we call off this excursion?” one of them said.
“It’s awfully crowded,” noted another.
“We’re here,” Sierra said. “We might as well check it out. Maybe our tour guide will get us out on the trails before this shindig kicks off.”
The women herded the children through the parked cars, past several men in black clothing and black sunglasses, their jackets bulging. Probably with a weapon or two each.
The lobby was full of people, jostling each other. More men in suits and reporters with cameras and microphones.
“I’ve been here on a number of occasions when this place was teeming with tourists, but this is crazy,” Brenda said.
Sierra nodded. “Let’s just hope it’s not as packed inside as it is out front.”
They were disappointed to learn it was even more crowded in the center.
“Stay here,” Sierra said. “I’ll make my way to the desk and see if I can find our park ranger tour guide.”
Brenda and the mothers backed the children into an empty corner and waited.
Sierra waded through the crowd to the desk and stood in a line seven people deep. By the time she reached the desk, she was ready to call the whole event off. The noise level had grown into a dull roar inside the building. It was giving her a headache and touch of agoraphobia. She didn’t much care for large crowds.
“How may I help you?” The perky young woman behind the counter pushed a strand of hair back behind her ear.
“We made prior arrangements for the ranger-led activities.”
The woman keyed into the computer. “Group name?”
“Grizzly Pass Mother’s Day Out.”
The noise in the room increased to a fevered pitch, and one of the counter clerks pointed. “There he is. The vice president of the United States.”
Sierra spun in time to catch a glimpse of the vice president, flanked by Secret Service men, being hustled through the crowd from a back room and out the door of the building, leading to the geyser viewing area. The crowd outside cheered. Through the glass doors, Sierra could see Grady Morris standing on a raised stage, shaking hands with the vice president.
“You’ll have Ranger Jared today,” the clerk said, drawing Sierra’s attention back to the counter.
“Is that really the vice president of the United States?” Sierra asked.
The young lady puffed out her chest, her eyes bright with excitement. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Did you know he’d be here?” Sierra asked.
She beamed. “We didn’t know until right before we left work last night. We all had to come in early and clean like crazy to be ready for him this morning. And they built the stage out by Old Faithful in less than two hours. It was amazing.” The woman looked behind her. “Oh, here’s Ranger Jared. He’ll take you to the exhibits room, unless you want to stand outside and watch the show first.”
“No. The children are much too young to understand a campaign speech.”
Ranger Jared glanced over the heads of the crowd. “I’ve never seen it like this. It’s insane.”
“You’re telling me. Should we postpone and come back when it’s not this crowded?” Sierra asked.
“No. No. This crowd won’t be interested in the discovery room. We’ll probably have it all to ourselves with everyone else outside. Come on back.”
Sierra gathered the women and children and led them through the door where Ranger Jared stood.
He was right. The crowd had moved out to the geyser viewing area where the stage had been erected. Soon he had the kids engaged in learning about geysers, hot springs and more.
The children were happy to touch and explore the indoor exhibits and momentarily would be led outdoors to see some of the real deals on the trails.
Ranger Jared clapped his hands to get their attention. “If you will all step across the lobby into the theater, we have a little show we’d like you to see before we go outside. Follow me.” He led the way back through the lobby and into the theater.
Sierra helped guide the small children into seats near the front of the room. Once they were all in place, she stood to the side, leaning against the wall.
The lights dimmed and the film began. It was all about the ecosystem of the park and how the volcano had come to be, how it had erupted and created a warm place for the animals to gather around during the cold months of the year. The narrator talked of the different species of animals that roamed the park, including bison, deer, elk, black bears, grizzly bears and the wolves that had been reintroduced.
Even Sierra was caught up in the video. The theater walls were soundproofed. The people outside the theater couldn’t hear what was going on inside and vice versa. So she was surprised when someone burst through the door and yelled, “Get down on the floor and don’t move or we’ll shoot!”
With the doors open, she could hear the sounds of screaming and shouting and the crack of gunfire.
Sierra, her heart pounding, ran toward the children. “Get on the floor,” she yelled. “Get down!”
Gunfire ripped through the theater.
“I said get down!” A man in a ski mask brandished a military-grade rifle in the air. “That means you, Blondie!”
The children screamed and cried. Most of them slid out of their seats and lay on the floor. One little boy sat petrified in his theater seat, too young to understand what was going on and too frightened to move.