Love, Lust 'n Geology (1ST DRAFT)

Chapter 55: Parting advice

This chapter is dedicated to ZainabMcBrat for staying with the story, & for her encouragement & support via her votes & msgs :-)!

Thank u so much, Zainab! I really appreciate it :-)!

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Chapter 55: Parting advice

Tom was such a good trooper, pitching in, and helping Phil and Chris pack up and load the OGS's gear, and later on, Grant's. When she tried to lend a hand, he told her to go back to her air photos, or whatever else she needed to do, that he'd make sure he did enough work for the two of them. Phil, of course, threw in that it wouldn't be very difficult to cover Samina's share.

"Gee, thanks, Phil!" she muttered with a wry smile, while silently bemoaning the fact that she was gonna miss Phil's teasing, and him. After all, they'd all be gone tomorrow!

All four of them made the trip to the storage depot to drop off the OGS's gear. As her new assistant, Tom drove her truck, with her accompanying him. She so wanted to shift onto the middle seat and snuggle up next to him, but the possibility of being seen by Chris and Phil deterred her. Her hand did steal onto Tom's thigh, however, which he acknowledged with an affectionate grin. Chris rode with Phil, who drove Grant's van.

Tom had seen the depot from the outside, but had never been inside. Before they left it, he walked around, checking the windows, rattling the doors, and taking a look at the alarm system. His assessment was that if crooks got wind of how easy it was to break in, they might get their wish of a replacement motor sooner than later.

They stuck to a no fuss lunch, namely, sandwiches, but dinner was a different story! Tom had not come empty-handed! Frozen burgers, buns, and a collection of condiments emerged from one of his coolers. From the other, carrot and celery sticks, and two tubs of Häagen-Dazs ice cream, one Chocolate Chocolate Chunk, the other Dulce De Leche! Chris, under the influence of the unsavoury thoughts that popped into his head every time he was forced to look at Tom, mistakenly read 'lecher' for 'leche,' so that it became Dulce De Lecher ice cream. While he couldn't deny the excellent fit, he was fairly certain that had he been in Tom's shoes, he would have stayed away from that particular flavour!

Tom, who was familiar with the facilities at the River Lodge, both through professional calls and, umm, personal visits there, grilled the burgers to juicy perfection on a communal barbecue which sat central to the cabins. In Samina's view, the sliced tomatoes, onions, and pickles he'd brought along elevated the burgers to lip-smacking delicious! She ate two. So did everyone, except Phil, who had three!

Chris had been reluctant to eat a second one, even a first, muttering that he would cook something for himself, but Samina managed to talk him out of it. And the ice cream? Not quite as delicious as Tom's pecs – she'd become less of a dessert person, and more of a Tom person as the summer had worn on – but a pretty yummy substitute! Chris noted with chagrin that despite her love of chocolate in all its various forms, she bypassed the chocolate ice cream and feasted solely on the 'lecher' flavour, appearing to relish it. Yuck!

Around 9 pm, Grant, who'd appeared aloof for much of the day, though in reality he'd been preoccupied with the details of his and Phil's lengthy road trip back to TO, proclaimed that he was turning in. Following Grant's lead, Tom added that he'd better go too, and let them all get some sleep.

Samina hung back as Tom said his goodbyes to the three men, though after her experience with them over the field season, they would forever remain 'three boys' to her!

With Grant, it was with the reassurance that, "I'll make sure nothing goes wrong, Grant, and Samina gets all her measurements."

Never one to miss a thing where his own interests were concerned, Grant prompted, "And that she gets on the bus in two weeks!"