Chaos Theory (Nerds of Paradise #2)(8)

Howie laughed at his own joke, but there were plenty of others laughing along with him.

“As for the nitty-gritty, this exciting event will take place three weeks from now, beginning on April 13th. We’re not going to rush things, so I’ve allocated an entire week for the event, which means, PSF family, if you participate, you’ll have that week off. And Haskellians, I’ll do my best to work things out with your bosses on that account as well. The other thing you need to know is that, because wilderness survival and hiking can be physically demanding, starting Monday we’ll be having three weeks of training right here, in the PSF gym.”

“You guys have a gym?” Rita asked.

“Yeah, it’s something else too,” Laura told her. “Wait until you see it. That is, if you’re going to sign up to compete.

“Oh, hell no,” Rita laughed. “There’s no way you’d get me out in the dirt, and probably rain, in the forest for a week.”

“Well, I’m signing up,” Sandy said, surprising everyone at the table. When they all looked at her in shock, she said, “What? I like to get my hike on now and then. I might look good, but I’m not some fragile flower.”

“Some flowers are quite tough,” Melody added.

“Believe her, she would know.” Calliope backed her up.

“So when you’re finished with your lunch,” Howie went on, although everyone’s focus was already diffusing, “come up to the front tables here. We’ve got a sign-up sheet for PSF employees and one for Haskellians too. Other than that, see you on April 13th.”

He stepped away from the microphone, and instantly the room burst into a flurry of conversations and noise.

“This sounds like so much fun,” Laura said, returning to her chocolate cake. “I’m definitely signing up.”

“Me too,” Dennis said. “I mean, I’m not the most buff guy out there, but I can’t wait to take on the challenge.”

“You’ll do fine,” Melody encouraged him. Although he had a point about not being buff. Dennis was well over six feet, but he also looked like he’d never quite grown out of his baby fat, even though he was in his thirties.

“What about you?” Dennis asked Will. “I know you’ve been revving to go with this whole thing since word leaked a few months ago.”

“I live for this sort of thing,” Will said, the closest thing to a smile that Melody had ever seen on his face.

“You do?” she asked. At last, a window into his soul.

Will turned to her. “I was a Boy Scout. Eagle Scout, actually.”

“Of course you were,” Melody said.

“My favorite part of scouting was always the camping trips,” he went on, giving no indication of whether he’d heard her, or rather heard the teasing in her comment. “They were the one part of scouts that my dad couldn’t come along on, due to work.” As soon as the statement had passed his lips, his jaw went tight. He snapped his gaze down to his cheesecake. “I’m looking forward to this.”

Melody opened her mouth to say something more, to encourage him to talk, but he’d slammed a wall down on the subject so effectively that she didn’t see the point in pushing him. But there was definitely a whole mess of other stories behind that one sentence about his father.

“Well, I’m definitely signing up,” she said, shifting forward in her seat to finish her own dessert.

“You are?” Will’s head snapped up, and he turned to her, blinking.

“Yeah,” she shrugged, then smiled. “I love camping too. Just ask Calliope.” She nodded across the table.

“She does,” Calliope confirmed. “We went a couple of times as kids, and every year after that, she begged our parents for another camping trip.”

“I started going out by myself after a while,” Melody said.

“You went camping in the wilderness by yourself?” Laura asked in awe.

Melody lowered her head modestly and chuckled. “Well, no, not exactly. Let’s just say I was very good at finding guys to go camping with.”

Will’s brow tweaked up again. Melody was quickly learning that the miniscule gesture was his way of showing complete shock. But he kept his mouth shut. She decided it was best if they just moved on from those camping trips. They were years ago anyhow.

They finished up their desserts as the conversations around the room returned to a pre-speech level. Three different discussions were happening around their own table by the time Melody stood up and announced, “Okay, I’m going to sign up. Who’s coming with me?”

“Me,” Laura answered right away.

“I’m coming too.” Sandy stood as well.

“Good luck, you guys,” Casey said, remaining seated.

“You’re not coming?” Melody asked.

Casey gestured to Scott. “We’ve got a house to build.”

“Well, I’m coming.” Dennis stood.

Will stood as well, but remained silent.

“This is a cozy little group,” Melody said, stepping away from the table and heading toward the front of the room, Sandy and Laura following her.

Dennis and Will veered off to one table, Laura shifting to follow them, as Melody and Sandy made their way to the other. People had been drifting over to the tables to sign up from the moment Howie finished his speech, so Melody hardly had to wait until she had a pen in her hand. She signed her name on the first blank line and included her phone number and email address. When she was done, she set the pen down and straightened.