The Love Sucks Club(61)
As we exit the car, Sam says, “Olivia, what the hell are you wearing?”
After hugging my sister, I turn to look at Olivia. It looks as if she raided L.L.Bean. She has cuffed khaki shorts with a perfect crease, a bright pink polo shirt, white socks with a bright pink band that folds down perfectly to show right above the top of what look to be brand new hiking boots. Sam is bending over to look at the top of Olivia’s socks. “Are those little hearts?” she asks incredulously.
Ignoring her, Olivia turns to me. “The only thing new about my outfit is my boots. I didn’t have any appropriate footwear for this occasion.”
“What about tennis shoes?” I say.
“The guy at the sporting goods store said they wouldn’t have enough traction for the steep climb,” she answers, staring at all of our sneaker-clad feet.
“Well, I hope you don’t get blisters from wearing new boots,” Sam says.
“Way to have a positive attitude, negative Nelly,” Olivia laughs.
“Me?” Grabbing our walking sticks from the back, Sam grins across the truck bed at Olivia. “That’s a change of pace.”
“Maybe I’m turning over a new leaf. I’ll become a Pollyanna.”
Sam rolls her eyes. “I only have one extra walking stick.” She hands the extra to Susannah and gives hers to Olivia.
“Want to use mine?” I offer.
“No, I’ll find one on the path.”
Starting up the first part of the path, we all spend a few minutes finding our rhythm. Despite her threats, Sam sets a decent pace. We’re going fast enough to gradually raise our heart rates, but not fast enough to have someone passing out in five minutes.
Sam takes the lead, with Susannah and Olivia right behind her. If someone needs a break or stumbles, I won’t have to worry about losing sight of them. Susannah is already breathing heavily by the time we get up the slight incline onto the wooded path. Sam pauses for a second to look back at all of us.
“You okay, Susannah?”
“Fine,” she says, shortly. “I just have loud breath.”
Laughing, I wink at Sam over her head before she turns around to continue on.
The incline changes and I can feel my breath starting to pick up. Olivia picks up her pace and comes abreast of Sam. Scanning the woods, Sam finally sees a suitable branch for her walking stick. She grabs one from the ground and peels off the side branches. “This is perfect,” she says.
“I don’t know,” Olivia answers. “It doesn’t look as sturdy as these.”
She’s right. Our regular walking sticks are strong and sturdy. Sam and I picked the sticks carefully, sanded them, and coated them with several layers of polyurethane. Then Sam drilled small holes in the top to string through with leather straps.
“Whatever,” Sam says. “What do you know about walking sticks?”
“Nothing, I guess.”
Susannah is flagging, so I motion for her to stop and pull out my water bottle. She takes a gulp. “Sorry, Dana. This is just not my thing.”
“You should consider making it your thing,” I say. “You may be young and skinny now, but soon enough, you’ll be an old woman like me and you’ll need all of the help you can get.”
“Ha. You’re only four years older than me. And I’m in perfectly great shape.”
“You were about to pass out there.”
“Hardly. And this is a tough climb.”
“It hasn’t even started to get tough yet.”
“Great.” She takes another chug of water. Handing it back to me, she stomps off. Looking after her, I see that Sam and Olivia are waiting for us at the top of this hill. Sam is leaning on her stick and Olivia is laughing. Maybe being told that she’s a drama queen was good for her. Perhaps she’ll start trying to change her attitude. At any rate, she’s being a lot less annoying than she usually is and I’m surprised to realize that I’m not even upset that she’s here.
When Susannah and I finally make the top of the hill, Sam high fives me and puts her arm around Susannah. “Are you going to make it, buttercup?”
“I doubt it. Can you carry me?”
“Probably,” says Sam, laughing. “But we’ll both regret it at the top.”
“You’ll be fine,” I add. “The next hill is longer, but it’s nowhere near as steep. Then there’s a sharp turn and one incredibly steep hill.”
“Steeper than this?” Susannah looks dubious.
“Yes,” Sam says. “But not as long.”
Dancing around a bit, Olivia looks anxious to go. “Well, let’s move on then.”
“Jesus, Olivia, settle down.” Sam sounds as cranky as ever, but she’s smiling and Olivia laughs instead of getting pissed.