“Luke?” Gabi’s voice was low and panicky as he pushed her behind him and scanned the room. The cub was up on the service counter, but he couldn’t see a mama bear. With all of the screaming they’d just heard, he’d find it hard to believe she was still in the building, but unfortunately, he found it harder to believe she’d have left her cub behind.
“There’s a tranquilizer gun in the admin cottage.” He spoke in a low murmur to Gabi, whose eyes were wide as she looked from the cub to the girls and back again. “Go get it in case we need it.”
“I can’t leave them,” she whispered back.
“You have to.” He sidled by her, opening the door. “Go. I’ll take care of them.”
“Oh, God.” She whimpered as she backed out the door, then sprinted toward Oliver’s office. Luke watched her go, then turned to Piper and the girls.
“Okay, ladies.” He spoke in a quiet voice, not looking at the bear cub. “Step down backwards and back toward me slowly. Don’t look at the bear, and don’t make any sudden movements.”
The girls stayed frozen on top of the table, apparently under some delusion they were safer there. He sighed. Maybe later, they’d have a little talk about how high bears could climb.
“I don’t know where mama bear is, girls, and I don’t want to find out. We need to get out of here in case she’s still here.”
He wished he could see into the kitchen, but the half-wall service area was blocking his vision. He’d seen this particular mama and her cub a couple of times this summer, but never this close to camp. And never inside a building.
He scanned the windows, looking for dark fur moving in the trees. If she wasn’t in the dining hall, then he was damn sure she wasn’t far away. At this moment, he didn’t know if it was safer to have the girls stay inside or send them out.
Just as Gabi came flying up the steps carrying the gun, there was a tremendous crash in the kitchen, and the question was answered. He took the gun and cocked it, aiming toward the noise. He was trained to use it, but damn, he’d never wanted to.
Not moving his arms, he motioned with his chin for the girls to head for the door behind him.
“Now. Go. Head for Oliver’s office and stay there until I come get you.”
They stayed frozen.
“Go!”
Finally, logic seemed to overcome terror, and they eased down from the table and backed out the door, taking off at a dead run for the admin cottage once they were clear of the steps. Luke let his eyes bounce from the cub to the cottage until he was sure everyone was inside.
“Gabi. You, too. Go. Mama bear’s in the kitchen. This might not be pretty.”
“I can’t leave.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m scared of papa bear.”
Luke almost chuckled, but then realized she was serious. She had no idea how the whole bear thing worked—no idea that papa was probably nowhere close to here.
“There’s no male. Just these two.”
“So he’s not sitting by the kitchen door, sharpening his claws in preparation for a nice, juicy housemother?”
“No. But once mama bear gets done pilfering the kitchen and decides to make a break for the woods, I don’t know which way she’ll go. I’d prefer you’re not between her and an exit, okay?”
Gabi slid farther behind him. “Luke? Remember when you showed us those claw marks on that first hike?”
“Yep.”
“I really hoped you were joking.”
* * *
“Gabi? Now can we go back to Briarwood?” Eve whispered as they crowded to look out the admin cottage windows. “Pretty sure our parents didn’t okay this.”
Gabi didn’t answer, her eyes trained on the dining hall. Luke was still in there, and Oliver had left the cottage with two pistols. “One shoots blanks,” he’d said as he sidled out the door. “Just to scare them away.”
Piper squinted. “See anything come out yet?”
They both jumped as they heard a shot, and then two bundles of fur bounded out the kitchen door, headed for the woods at a dead run.
Waverly closed her eyes, huddled in the corner. “Can’t believe we saw a bear. Can’t believe we have bears. Can’t believe Pritch-bitch wants us to get eaten by bears.”
Her words somehow broke the tension inside the cottage, and one by one, the girls started giggling. Gabi resisted joining in, but when even Sam fell victim to the contagious laughter, she felt herself give in as well. A minute later, when Luke showed up at the door, he looked from one to another of them, shaking his head.
“What in the world is so funny?”
“Bears.” Sam snorted, then laughed harder.
Luke’s eyes widened as he looked at Gabi, who put her hand over her mouth, clamping her lips shut. “Sorry. Just a little nervous terror here.”
“That’s a big mama bear. Glad none of you went in the back door.” He leaned against the doorjamb, scanning all of them again. “Speaking of doors, there is an unholy mess in that kitchen, and the reason there’s an unholy mess is because someone left the door unlocked. I’m gonna let you guys figure out who that someone was, and then that person can get busy with a broom.”
The girls looked at each other. “Wasn’t me,” claimed Madison.
“Me, neither,” said Waverly.
“Not me.” Eve shook her head.
“Definitely not me.” Sam smiled. “I was in a tree.”
“Oh, no.” Piper’s eyes widened as she looked at Gabi. And in that moment, Gabi pictured dropping a potato peeler to go see what the laughter was about outside the dining hall. She cringed as she looked at Luke.
“It was us.”
“You?” His eyes went wide.
Piper raised her hand. “Us. Crap. Sorry, Luke. I never thought—I mean, we were right there behind the admin cottage. That’s pretty bold, isn’t it? For them to come in when we were so close?”
“Yeah, it is. They’re getting bolder all the time. I don’t like it.” He sighed. “Really? You two?”
“Sorry.” Both Piper and Gabi spoke at the same time. Then Gabi stood up from the desk where she’d been leaning. “I’ll get it all cleaned up. And I’ll pay for whatever damage they caused. I’m so sorry, Luke. I just didn’t think.”
She could feel the girls’ eyes bouncing between her and Luke, wondering how he was going to react. Sam’s arms crept across her stomach, while Eve stepped back, and Gabi swore internally. If he got angry right now … if he made these two girls feel scared of him in addition to the damn bears, whatever fledgling feelings she had for him were going right out the window.
But instead of getting mad, he smiled. And then he laughed, and she saw the girls eyeing each other like they weren’t sure what to think.
“Well, girls. Looks like Piper and Gabi have some work to do, unless anyone here feels like chipping in to help.” He raised his eyebrows. “I might be able to make it worth your while.”
Madison looked around. “No offense, Luke, but I’m pretty sure there isn’t enough money in the world to make me want to clean up bear slobber.”
“I’m not talking about money,” he said, holding up six tickets like they were million-dollar lottery winners.
The girls perked up immediately. “What are those for?” Sam asked.
“Snowflake Village. It’s a theme park just a couple of miles away. My friends run the place, and they dropped off some tickets in case I thought you all deserved an evening away from our little paradise here.”
Eve’s eyes narrowed like she didn’t quite trust him. “What kind of theme park?”
“The kind with rides and bad-for-you food and Christmas music piped in 365 days a year.”
“Good rides?” Sam piped up. “Or little-kid ones?”
“Both.” He smiled. “So if you’re hankering for a teacup or merry-go-round, Sam, you’re all set.”
“Very funny.”
“You asked.” He put the tickets back in his pocket. “So what do you think? Evening at Snowflake Village worth a little extra elbow grease?”
The girls looked at each other like it still might turn out to be a trick, then seemed to decide it was worth the risk to find out. Sam grabbed for the door handle.
“Come on, minions,” she ordered. “Let’s do this, so we can actually leave this joint.”
As the girls headed out the door, Luke moved to stand closer to Gabi, making her feel torn between backing up from his heat … or melting into it.
“Just a quick question?” Gabi put up a finger as she reached for a roll of paper towels in the supply closet. “How likely is it that mama bear and baby bear will make another appearance?”
He raised an eyebrow. “You want the comforting answer? Or the truth?”
* * *
Two hours later, Luke and Gabi were strolling through the courtyard of Snowflake Village, which was ablaze with thousands of tiny white lights strung from tree to tree. Sunset was still a long way off, but under the tinkling music of the rides and the speakers high in the pines, Luke could hear peepers and tree frogs warming up for their nightly chorus.
It had taken the girls a remarkably short time to put the kitchen back in order, most especially because Gabi and Piper had hardly let them do any of the work. When he’d argued, they’d both pointed to the door.
“We caused this,” Piper’d said.
“We’ll clean it up.” Gabi’d finished.
But now they were here, and he’d finally convinced Gabi to let the girls go off exploring on their own, pretty sure there’d be little risk of them heading for the hills. Ethan, Molly, and Josie ran a fun, but tight, ship here at Snowflake Village, and if any of the girls tried to make an escape, the security guys would alert Ethan before they got even ten feet from the park’s borders.
“Thanks for returning the van battery.” Gabi leaned into him slightly, and he fought the urge to slide his arm across her shoulders in a possessive move he had no idea how she’d react to. “And for driving us into town. You’re right—I don’t think my driver’s license covers the skill it takes to get the van around that curve by the river.”
“The battery return is just temporary. I figured you could all use something to think about besides bears, but I’m still under orders to keep you under lock and key, don’t forget.”
“Oh, I couldn’t if I wanted to.” She rolled her eyes. “This place smells ridiculously good, by the way. I haven’t been to an amusement park in—well, actually, you know what? I don’t think I’ve ever been to one.”
“How is that possible?” He knew he’d never been to one as a kid, but as a foster kid bouncing around from one poverty-stricken family to another—until the last one, that is—that was no surprise.
She shrugged. “It just wasn’t … done, I guess?”
“Because?” He braced for some sort of classist statement she wouldn’t necessarily mean to make, then hated himself for doing so.
“I don’t know. I think Mom was always afraid to go to one.”
“Why?”
“Not sure.” She shrugged. “Maybe she was afraid she’d actually enjoy it.”
“Well, that would have been terrible.” Before he could think better of it, he took her hand. “But since she robbed you of the experience, apparently it falls to me to help you discover all the joys of the American theme park, Christmas edition.”
Gabi laughed, and he was relieved that she didn’t take back her hand. “Where should we start?”
“Fried dough,” he said, without hesitation. “Because if you don’t have fried dough with maple syrup before you leave this property, I’ll have failed you miserably.”
“Sounds delicious. What else?”
He squeezed her hand. “Onion rings, hot dogs, and a creemee, but not necessarily in that order. And rides. All the rides.” He paused, putting up a finger. “On second thought, maybe rides before food, if you’re a newbie at this.”
She nodded. “I appreciate that.” Then she pulled out a park map, pointing at the far northwest corner. “How about we start here and work our way back to the food? If you keep me busy enough, I won’t have time to freak out about the bears coming back for a midnight snack.”
Luke’s mind immediately cycled through a lot of ways he could keep her busy for the next two hours, but he swallowed hard, pasting a smile on his face as they set off toward the log ride.
Half an hour later, a little breathless from the roller coaster, Luke handed Gabi into a sleigh, and they settled in for a ride around the park on raised rails. After covering at least a mile of pathways and five different rides already, Luke was ready for a break, and he’d always loved this ride. It was peaceful as it creaked along thirty feet above the park, winding in and out of the trees.
“Wow.” Gabi peered over the side. “Coolest ride ever.”
He smiled. “Better than the roller coaster?”
“Slower than the roller coaster.” She held her stomach, grinning as she turned to him. “Which we definitely need to do again before we leave, even though I’m not sure it’s a good idea at all.”
Luke laughed. “I thought you were going to break my fingers on that last loop.”
“Well, next time, I’ll know it’s coming.”
“Hey, Gabi?”
“Yup?”
“I might be mistaken, but I think I’ve made a theme-park convert out of you in a half hour flat.”
“Possibly true.” She paused, and her face got serious. “But now we have a problem. We’re just humming slowly along here, and I’m not fearing for my life … which makes me—you know—start thinking that when we head back to camp, I will be fearing for my life, and those of my students.”
Luke nodded, not at all anxious to let her know how nervous he was about the bears making a return visit.
“We’ll move you guys into the dining hall tonight.”
“Where the bears already broke in?” Her eyes went wide.
“It’s better than a tent. Oliver’s reinforcing the doors while we’re gone. There are plenty of other places they can find food more easily. They’ll move on.” She didn’t look remotely reassured, so he added, “They probably already have.”
“Can they get in the windows?”
“Nope. Too high off the ground. I’m sure it’ll be fine. As long as we stay secured, she’ll forget about the place eventually. Oliver’s pistol should have scared her plenty, too.”
“Are you going to leave me with that tonight?”
“No, but I’ll let the dogs stay with you.”
Her eyebrows went up as her jaw dropped. “You’re going to leave Puff-n-Fluff to protect us? At ten pounds of raging fury each?”
He laughed at the expression on her face. “You’d be surprised at the damage they can do.”
“Luke, that bear’s ears are bigger than your little cuties.”
“Are you insulting my dogs?”
“No!” She laughed, and he realized he could quite happily listen to the sound of it all night long. “I love your dogs. I just don’t know that they bring the right … skills to the job.”
“They don’t need to eat the bear. They just need to scare her away.”
“And you think they can do that?”
“Yep.” He looked over at her, and he could tell from her expression that she wasn’t quite sure whether he was kidding. In her eyes, he could see humor, but it was clouded by real fear. “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to make light of the situation. Really not. But it’s just the reality of where we are. Bears live here, too, and we can’t leave snacks lying out for them and expect them not to take advantage of it. But the fact that one bear got in and made herself at home doesn’t mean we’re doomed. We’ll be fine. We just need to be careful.”
“Is it always like this, though? Don’t you worry about the boys, usually? I can’t believe none of them has ever snuck a chocolate bar into his backpack.”
Luke shook his head. “No, it hasn’t always been like this. These woods have a lot more people moving through them in the past three years since a couple of touring outfits opened up. They’re doing a lot of marketing in NYC and Boston, and it’s drawing a boatload of tourists who don’t—I don’t know—understand, I guess is the right word. Then there are the city folks who buy up wilderness parcels so they can cut down trees and build ugly monstrosities they call summer homes. The bears have less space, the humans give bears more access to food, and it all trains the bears to associate humans with free lunch. It’s not good for anybody, most especially the bears.”
“Do they ever get aggressive?”
“The tourists? Oh, definitely.”
“Luke.”
He winked. “The bears we have around here only get aggressive if you get between a mama and her cub. So don’t do that.”
“Not a problem. If you’re looking for me for the rest of the summer, I will be in the admin cottage. With the doors firmly locked.”
He smiled as they rounded a bend in the tracks, and sparkling water filled the space downhill through the trees. “And there’s the view that might convince you never to leave Echo Lake.”
“Ha. Us never leaving Echo Lake is probably your worst nightmare right now.”
He shrugged slowly, realizing that her never leaving was the exact opposite of a nightmare right now. It was sobering at the same time as it left an unfamiliar zing traveling up his spine.
He smiled. “You never know. Maybe I’m coming around.”