She was close enough to him that he picked up her perfume, and she didn’t smell of an overbearing floral fragrance like he might’ve expected if he’d ever given what she smelt like a thought before that moment. Orange was the dominant note. It was nice.
“Perfect,” Raven said, retrieving her phone from him and swiping through the images and clips he’d taken with a soft smile on her lips. “They’re so beautiful that you forget they’re dangerous animals. Can’t imagine just playing dead if one of them attacked.”
Something died inside Silas hearing the inaccurate statement expressed so confidently. As much as Raven might play the part of CEO of Mountaintop Adventures well, her expertise was shallow.
“You don’t play dead if a black bear attacks you,” he told her pointedly. “If you’re insisting on owning this business, you should probably know that.”
The last part left his mouth without thought, but Raven looked more amused than embarrassed by his callout. Like his irritation was adorable to her.
“You’re a fire sign, aren’t you?” she asked, her eyes scanning his face with unnerving intensity.
“W-what?” he asked, thrown by the question and change of subject.
“Yeah, you’re a fire sign,” she said with a confident nod before walking off and leaving in her wake a lingering orange scent and the impression he’d somehow been insulted.
ChapterSeven
According to Andrea Teller,author ofSo You Want to Be a Boss… Babe?,there were rules—102, to be exact—that all women in the workplace should follow to be successful. Some of them Raven found outdated, like rule #5 (avoid too feminine attire), or bizarre, like rule #9 (when at a business lunch, don’t chew your food excessively), but she was hoping many would be apt.
For instance, her decision to start doing hotel pickups was initiated by rule #25, a call to display competency. However, the stress involved with maneuvering a big van up and down the mountain and through tight parking lots had aged her at least a decade in the last few days. But she kept at it, partly because she knew Silas was waiting for a reason to declare her unsuitable and resume the duty.
“Knowledge is power. Wield it,” Teller wrote in chapter eight, and Raven realized she’d gained a lot of insight into the business last week while answering customer service emails.
She used that information to revamp the website with a FAQ section and tighten up class and tour descriptions that previously left potential customers confused. She also thought it important to understand what the staff did during the workday, so she announced she’d be joining each of them for at least one of their classes over the coming weeks.
No one was particularly thrilled by this arrangement, and Halo even rolled her eyes. But Raven didn’t let any of it dissuade her. And that very afternoon, she joined Bodie for his Fire-making 101 workshop.
While Bodie outside of class was smiley and friendly, Bodie, the survival instructor, was keen and mysterious.
“Fire-making is all about the materials, the technique, and most importantly, the patience,” he said to her and five other students before starting his lecture and demonstration.
It was magical to witness how a flame emerged with little effort and a bunch of sticks. Raven was convinced he was Hephaestus in the flesh.
When it was their turn to put the lesson into practice, Raven got on her knees and created a tinder pile in her pit with dry leaves and twigs. She struck her flint with a pocketknife but produced nothing more than the sound of steel against rock. Again and again, she tried, sometimes creating a spark that would vanish along with excitement. The smell of heat on the verge of a flame was in the air, but after twenty minutes of trying, all she had was sweat on her brow and stiff fingers.
Her frustration built with each triumphant yip a fellow novice made when they succeeded in starting a fire. Bodie, however, didn’t allow Raven to despair for too long. He crouched in front of her and cupped her hands in his, stopping her frantic attempts.
“You’re too tense,” he said softly. “You’re moving like you’re in control. Fire will come. It’s inevitable. Believe that and move with ease.”
There was something beautiful about his words, and Raven, now rejuvenated, went through the steps again, slower this time, making it almost a dance she performed. And when she least expected it, a strong spark erupted, igniting the tinder. With shaky hands, she quickly added some kindling and watched the flame grow and grow.
“You’ve all just made your first fire,” Bodie said, bowing over clasped hands.
Raven’s confidence boost from the class carried her through the next day when she followed another Andrea Teller recommendation to take work-specific initiative.
She decided to rearrange the front area of the cabin. It was the first space people saw when they came in, and as it currently stood, it did not have a nice flow. Customers spent too long trying to locate the front desk, and if more than one instructor had tourists waiting for them, the cabin got loud and disorderly as everyone tried to parse out who went with who.
She solicited Bodie’s help during a mid-morning break he had, and while they moved a display case filled with pelts that had belonged to Chuck, he asked, “Where did you learn feng shui?”
“Oh, I’m not an expert at all,” Raven said. “But I worked for a realtor who was, and I used to help her set up her show homes.”
Next, Bodie and Raven tackled the waiting room setup, moving the chairs further back in the room and creating designated areas for each guide.
By the time noon arrived, the cabin was more appealing. However, Raven soon found out not everyone shared her opinion.
“What have you done?” Silas asked when he, Halo, and Doc returned to the cabin for lunch.
“I moved some things around.”
