Need You for Always (Heroes of St. Helena)(55)

“I thought you said it wasn’t going to be cold enough to snow,” Violet said to the glee of Glasses.

“I did. It’s not.” Dax cupped the bill of his hat and curled it for a moment. “Look, making a shelter out of ice is stupid.”

The girls all sucked in a scandalized breath and almost—almost—drowned out the single chuckle. From Emerson. Who, if she weren’t looking so damn good in those snug Carhartts and a snugger thermal top with the top two buttons undone, would be on his list.

The undone buttons, though, put her on an entirely different list.

“The first rule in survival?” he said.

“Stay calm!” they said in unison.

“Great. And the second rule?”

“Work smart!”

Now they were getting somewhere. “Right. And working smart is finding the easiest path to the best solution. And making a castle out of ice when you are in a survival situation isn’t as smart as making a shelter out of branches or a downed tree, things you can find easily.”

The girls all shared a look. He wasn’t sure what it meant, but then Violet reached over and patted his hand. “It’s okay that you haven’t built an ice castle, Lovely Co-leader Mister, you could have just said so. We’ll make a regular old shelter from your tarp.” She turned to the rest of her troop. “Right, Bugs?”

“Right,” the girls mumbled disappointedly.

Maybe this was one of those pie dish moments and Emerson was right. Maybe he knew zip about females. Obviously even less about princesses and ice castles. But he knew how to survive so they’d do it his way—plus he was bigger. “This shelter I’m going to teach you about. This is what Rangers would build if they found themselves in trouble. So if there are no more questions—”

Kenzie’s hand shot up and he ignored it. “Let’s work smart. We’ll use that downed tree behind you as the main support and then find more wood to fill it in. So let’s break up into two teams.” He put an arm through the middle of the girls. “Shirley Temple. Glasses. You two go collect as many branches as you can,” he said to the blonde one and Kenzie. “They don’t have to be thick, but they need to be tall. At least as tall as you are. And you two,” Dax said, then smiled because he was addressing Freckles. “I need you and Violet to gather as much fern and moss and as many pine needles as you can carry. The greener the pine needles the better because the smell will ward off bugs.”

“But we are bugs,” Violet said, concern lacing her face.

“Bugs that bite.” He eyed Kenzie, who he was pretty certain had sharp teeth, and clarified, “Mosquitoes.” The girls nodded so he pushed himself to a stand—which took more energy and maneuvering than he’d have liked. “Dismissed.” No one moved. “First team done gets to pick the popsicle flavor.”

They took off running, their little pigtails bouncing.

“Ice shelters are stupid?” Emerson said, coming up behind him, her official red-and-black polka-dotted binder pressed to her chest. “That’s the best you can come up with?”

“I was ambushed,” he said. “For a minute there I thought there was a fifth, missing member named Elsa.”

“I would have helped,” she said, her eyes sparkling with humor. “But you assured me you had it. In fact, I believe your exact words were ‘My legs weigh more than all of them put together, Emi. I’ve got this.’ Then you gave that constipated look you’ve got going on now.”

“Admit it,” he said, stepping closer. “You just wanted to watch a group of six-year-olds hand me my ass.”

“I was going to intervene, but then I started reading this list of dangerous and edible plants found in nature. Which I was supposed to go over before you sent them off into the wild alone.” She held up photocopied pages from a book he’d lent her about surviving off the land. “Funny thing, Ranger, did you know that nearly everything survivalists eat in the wilderness, outside of catching small prey, is green?”

She smacked a stapled packet to his chest, so he trapped her hand there and stepped even closer. He couldn’t help it. When she was all bossy and sassy, he was like a moth to her flame. “I’ve eaten a lot of things I don’t like. Even had crickets on occasion when I was desperate, but that doesn’t mean I want to stir-fry some up tonight.”

Rangers were experts at making something out of nothing—the way to survive was to adapt and overcome—but even when he’d been forced to eat nature’s salad, he’d gagged. Not that he’d let his men see, but it had happened.

“If we are going to get the girls to try clover and dandelion salad, then you have to eat clover and dandelion salad. The X-tremely Edible category is our best shot at winning a trophy.”

According to the handbook he’d breezed through last night, the X-tremely Edible division of the campout challenged each team to find nutrients in nature and creative ways to trap or locate food sources.

“And you have to pretend to like it.” She didn’t move her hand but extended her pointer finger to poke his pec. “One gag and the whole class is over. Got it?”

Another poke.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“So put on your Ranger face and man up. Clover is your new best friend.”