Page 25 of A Bear's Journey

Craig extended his hand and for half a second, Olivia stared at it, her mind going totally blank.

Shake it, she reminded herself.

“Yes!” she said out loud, putting her own hand in his, pleased that she’d remembered what to do.

Craig looked puzzled.

You said that out loud, she thought.

“I’m Olivia,” she said, feeling her face get even hotter. She let her hand stay in his for a few more moments. Even though she was nervous and knew that she was embarrassing herself right and left, just his touch made her skin feel tingly, like a bolt of lightning shooting up her arm.

“These seats taken?” Craig asked, smiling down at her.

“Not really,” she said, looking around at the hay bales around her. “I mean, the guy I’m with went to go get a drink and he’s coming back, but there’s like five more hay bales so you should be okay,” she said.

They sat without commentary.

You’re talking too much, you weirdo,she thought. Olivia put her hands in her lap, squeezed them together, and told herself to calm down.

She sneaked a glance over at Craig. Even below the flannel shirt she could see the contours of his muscled arms. He had his sleeves rolled up, and his forearms rippled effortlessly every time he moved his hands.

Olivia’s mouth went dry, and she swallowed.

I’ve had a really, really long dry spell, she thought.

“So, do you guys dance?” she asked, crossing one leg over the other.

“Not yet,” said Craig. “But there’s a first time for everything, right?”

“I went to one square dance at a different ranch a couple of years ago,” Jasper said. “I nearly tripped over my own feet at first, but I had a great time. You?”

“I used to tap dance when I was a kid,” Olivia said. “I don’t think I was very good at it, but I had a great time.”

“You should have taken that act on the road,” Jasper said. “I bet a tap dancing bear would still be a big draw in the seedier circuses of America.”

Olivia hesitated.

Do they know about me?she wondered. That I was feral for so long?

“I’m not sure I’d have been the kind of act they’re looking for,” she said, trying to be both careful and clever at the same time. “Usually they want more entertainment and less ‘tear everything in sight to shreds’.”

“It’d be a specialty act,” Craig said. “Call yourself the Amazing Tap Dancing Demolition Bear, wear a tutu, and you’re in business.”

Olivia burst out laughing. It started as a giggle, but within seconds she was full-on howling with laughter, leaning back against the wall of the barn with tears coming into her eyes. She was too loud and she knew it — dancers and other people milling around were starting to look at her funny — but she couldn’t help it.

Craig and Jasper just grinned.

Finally she stopped, breathing hard, and wiped her eyes with her hand.

“Sorry,” she gasped out.

“What’d I miss?” asked Austin, showing up with two cups. He handed one to Olivia: hot apple cider, the cinnamon scent wafting up to her nose.

“Tap dancing bear talk,” she said, stifling another giggle. “They think I should be in the circus.”

Austin raised both of his eyebrows, his frame stiffening just a little.

Jasper spoke up quickly.

“She said that she used to tap dance, and I told her she should make money as a tap dancing bear act,” he explained.

“It was a joke,” Olivia went on.

The three men looked at each other for a moment. Olivia sipped on her apple cider, oblivious to the sudden awkwardness.

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