“A scavenger hunt? Ooh, I can’t wait.” The next morning, Madison sighed as Gabi handed out the lists she’d made an hour ago.
“Keep it up, and I’ll put a bear cub on yours.”
“Now, now, Gabi,” Sam muttered. “Pretty sure you’re not allowed to feed us to the bears.”
“You show me the line that says that, and I’ll take the option off the table. Otherwise, I can totally frame it as an accident.” Gabi handed Sam her list, then sat down at the picnic table with them. “You’re in teams today. Madison and Sam on one side, Eve and Waverly on the other. You’ve got two hours. Keep the camp in sight at all times. First team back with all of the items wins.”
“What do we win?” Sam asked.
Gabi thought for a moment. She had no flipping idea. Finally, an idea popped into her head. “Dessert. If you can do this activity without killing each other, falling in the lake, or getting lost, I will make you something delicious for dessert.”
“More delicious than Luke’s granola?” Eve made a face, quickly joined by the others. Even Gabi shivered involuntarily. Luke had foisted it on them at breakfast, claiming he’d made it from everything including the kitchen sink. Unfortunately, that’s exactly how it had tasted. Gabi was all in favor of a little fiber in one’s diet, but taste was a nice feature, as well.
“Better than Luke’s granola, yes. I’ll even use sugar.” She motioned them away from the table. “Go. Find stuff. Bring it back. Win dessert.”
Ten seconds after the girls had headed up the pathway, Luke’s voice behind her made Gabi jump. “Find stuff, bring it back, win dessert? Today’s epic activity?”
She could hear the humor in his voice—or maybe it was a sneer—but she was almost too tired to respond as he strolled around to the other side of the picnic table.
“If you have better ideas, you may happily adopt the girls as your own, and I will leave for the rest of the summer.”
“After only two days? Wow.” He sat down on the opposite bench. “Nope. Couldn’t pay me enough. Plus, you don’t let them out of your sight for more than five minutes. You’d never leave them here with me.”
“Don’t call my bluff again, mister. You might be surprised this time.”
He looked into her eyes. “You hanging in?”
She felt her eyebrows furrow. What was this tone that bordered on … nice? He’d been avoiding her and the girls as much as possible since they’d arrived, but right now he actually sounded sympathetic. She wasn’t quite sure what to do with it.
“I’m hanging in fine, thanks.”
“Have you actually slept through the night since you got here?”
She rubbed her eyes. “Is it that obvious?”
“Depends what shade of purple your eyes usually are, I guess.”
“I’m actually a really good sleeper … usually.”
He smiled. “Haven’t gotten used to the night noises yet?”
“It’s more that I haven’t gotten used to sleeping on plywood yet.”
“What do you mean? You’re not using a cot?”
Gabi felt her eyes widen. “There are cots?”
“Of course there are cots. They’re in the shed, right beside the tents.”
“And the reason you neglected to mention them was…”
“I didn’t?” He actually looked mortified. “I must have.”
“You didn’t.”
Luke shook his head. “I know I haven’t exactly been a welcoming committee here. But seriously, I wouldn’t have purposely made you sleep on the tent platform. I’ll show you where they are later.”
“Thank you. Could you also show me where you keep the sugar? Looks like I just signed up to bake.”
“After the attitudes I just heard, you’re going to reward them with a special dessert?” His eyebrows were up, challenging her.
“I’m not rewarding the behavior you just witnessed. I’m rewarding the successful scavenger hunt they’ve just set out to do.”
“Right. Gotcha.”
She tipped her head. “What are you saying?”
“Nothing.” He shrugged. “They’re your kids, not mine.”
“And yet you’re clearly choking on your opinions.”
“I’m not. I’m sure you know exactly what you’re doing.”
She sighed. “I think it’s pretty clear to both of us that I have no idea what I’m doing. I’m a little out of my element here.”
“Actually, I’ve been pretty impressed with your activities so far. If they’re not regretting whatever escapades got them sent here yet, they certainly will soon.”
“Wait.” Gabi felt her eyebrows furrow. “Are you telling me my activities reek of … punishment?”
“Seriously? The leaf collecting and rock painting? The bogus fishing? The scavenger hunt? They aren’t … punishment?”
Gabi crossed her arms, stung. “It’s camp. I’m trying to do … camp.”
“Have you ever been to camp, Gabi?”
“Of course I have.”
“How old were you?”
She sighed. “Ten. But three days ago, I thought I’d be sitting in a chair on the beach while certified, trained counselors put my students through their camp paces. I had no idea it was going to fall to me. This—camp thing—really isn’t my forte.”
Luke was silent, like he was weighing whether to say something that was clearly on his mind. Finally, he uncrossed his arms and set his elbows on the table. He looked relaxed, yet tense, and Gabi’s eyes were drawn to his hands, much to her consternation. They were strong, tanned, nimble. She closed her eyes, lest she start picturing those hands doing things she really shouldn’t be thinking about.
He tapped one fist on the table. “You know, I have been doing … have been around camp for a while now. I might have picked up a few ideas along the way if you need help—”
She shook her head. Dammit, her self-confidence was already struggling to stay afloat here. Accepting a rescue on day three wasn’t likely to do a whole lot to help that, even if she was already desperate. She couldn’t.
“Thank you. I appreciate the offer. But you have a lot to do, and I don’t want to take you away from it. We’ll be fine.”
He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Okay. Your call.” He pushed himself up from the table and strode back up the pathway toward the dining hall. She waited till she knew he was well out of range before she sank her head into her hands and did her best not to give way to the tears threatening just behind her eyes.
She was supposed to be well into her third piña colada of the day right now, a Caribbean breeze tickling her toes as she solved a whodunit before the detective did. She was supposed to be sidling up to a tiki bar later tonight with her new sundress on, irresistible with her sun-kissed shoulders and coconut-shampooed hair.
She was not supposed to be playing camp counselor to a bunch of teenaged twits who’d ruined her entire summer.
And she was definitely not supposed to be melting into a stranger’s smoky green eyes while she imagined his hands making her forget all of it.
* * *
“What did you say to her?” Piper’s voice was sharp as Luke came around the corner into the kitchen.
“What? Who?” He shook his head as he plucked a bottled water out of the fridge. “What are you talking about?”
“Gabi. Who do you think?” Piper hooked a thumb toward the window. “She looks like you just stole her puppy.”
Luke glanced out the window, and felt his stomach clench as he watched Gabi rub her temples, then close her eyes as she raised her face to the sun and took a long, deep breath. Even from here, he could see the tension in her shoulders, could see the tightness in her jaw … could see the frustration in her posture.
She was so out of her element that she might as well be on Mars, but apparently, she was too proud to accept help. Yet, anyway.
“I offered to give her a hand, if you must know.”
“Wow.” Piper raised her eyebrows. “Only took you till day three to freak out about strangers taking over?”
“Shut up, Piper.”
She laughed. “Just saying. I knew you couldn’t stand back and watch.”
“Don’t really have a choice, do I? She’s in charge of them, whether she’s got the least clue or not.”
“Does she have a clue?”
Pictures of the past forty-eight hours flashed through his head—the raccoons, the poison ivy, the fish hook that had, as predicted, ended up embedded in Eve’s cheek.
“I’m sure she knows what works in her normal setting. But this is decidedly not her normal setting.”
“Obviously. But why do you want to help?”
Luke sighed. “Because it occurred to me sometime in the past twenty-four hours that maybe the best way to convince Briarwood not to decimate our existence is to show someone from Briarwood how we do things here.”
“Ah.” Piper nodded. “But she’s not biting. So what are you going to do?”
“What can I do?” He put up his hands. “She’s determined to do it on her own, and I’ve got a project list fit for ten men. I guess for now, if she and the girls leave me alone, I’ll give them the same wide berth.”
“Mm-hm.” Piper poured ingredients into a mixing bowl, but kept her eyes carefully averted.
“Piper?”
She rolled her eyes. “I know. Shut up.”
* * *
“Gabi?” A little while later, Oliver swung out of the doorway of the admin cottage. “I have a thought.”
“Okay?”
“C’mere. I want to show you something.” He motioned for her to follow him up a pathway she hadn’t yet taken. It headed uphill from the beach area, toward a thick stand of pines, and it was cool as Oliver led her through the trees and up some stone steps that looked like they’d been placed in the hill a long time ago.
He paused halfway up, pointing out at the lake. “Best view on the property right here, don’t you think?”
She followed his finger, nodding at the view of tiny, colorful sailboats hopping along the whitecaps, but suspected his reason for stopping had more to do with catching his breath than showing her the scenery.
After a moment, he turned to climb the remainder of the hill, and it pained Gabi to admit she was huffing like an asthmatic by the time they crested the top. Before her was a large, flat expanse that looked like a former garden. To her left, over a split-rail fence, the view of the lake was incredible.
“Wow.” She tried to wipe her forehead subtly. “It’s gorgeous up here.”
“Yup. Maybe this is the best view on the property.” He nodded, then turned toward the grassy area. “Ever had a garden?”
“I tried doing herbs in a pot last year.” She shook her head. “It didn’t go well.”
He laughed. “Well, we plant this every spring, and whatever we don’t eat goes to the food bank in town. We haven’t had time to get to it this year, but I was thinking maybe you and the girls could use a little project. I hate to think of good growing land going fallow.”
“Really?” Gabi stared at the expanse of weeds and dirt. This looked like more than a little project.
“Really.” He shrugged. “It’s a little late to plant, but we could still get some good stuff out of it. Girls could pick out the seeds, and I’d be happy to show you how to make it all work.”
Gabi nodded slowly, picturing her four girls industriously hoeing and shoveling and exclaiming in delight as their little green sprouts appeared.
She rolled her eyes internally. Because yes, that’s exactly how it would go.
But still. It was a good idea.
“You know what? I think this is an excellent idea. Thank you, Oliver.”
Oliver laughed quietly. “Now, don’t go getting all starry-eyed about it. Gardens are a serious project. There’s a lot to it, but I’ll teach you, if you think your girls could benefit from the work.”
“Oh, they could definitely benefit from the work. Thanks, Oliver. This is great.”
He nodded, looking out over the lake. “Y’know, it might not be my place to say this, but if you’re willing, Luke’s been dealing with teenagers for a long time, and he’s been doing camp even longer. Boys, mostly, but the skills are pretty transferable. He might be able to help you, if you find yourself wishing you had some extra hands around here.”
Gabi frowned. “Am I giving off some sort of desperation vibe today?”
“Nope.” He shrugged. “We’re just used to working as a team here at Echo. We help each other out. Seems you’re now part of the team, whether you intended it or not, so we’re here if you need us. We can’t all be experts at everything. There’s no shame in asking for help, is all I’m saying.”
Gabi took a deep breath, her eyes catching on the sailboats. Oliver had no way of knowing her independent streak had already been six miles wide before she’d ditched her family, her home, and her trust fund ten years ago. Since then, she’d had exactly one person in her life that she could fully trust … one person she could rely on, no matter what the circumstance, and that was the only person she ever wanted help from.
Herself.
Yes, she watched rom-coms every weekend. Yes, she loved the whole knight-in-shining-armor shtick, just like the rest of Hollywood’s target audience. But she didn’t need one. She’d figure this out.
Because if she didn’t, she had a feeling Luke was going to step in and figure it out for her.