She's Got a Way Page 5

  “Well, that’s not an option.” Gabi tried to keep the growl out of her voice.

  Eve piped up. “Luke must have a real bathroom in his cabin. Why don’t you go distract him and we’ll sneak in and take showers?”

  “No. Not going to happen.”

  Madison crossed her arms. “Come on, Gabi. He can’t possibly think we’re going to bathe in this disgusting lake. This is inhumane.”

  “The lake is as clear as can be, and nobody’s making you do anything, Madison. It’s your choice.”

  Gabi tried to make her voice sound firm, but oh, what she wouldn’t give for a hot shower herself right now. Once again she pictured her imaginary Priscilla Pritchard voodoo doll—imagined sprinkling itching powder all over its hands, just to share the pain.

  She smiled tightly. “Just think of it as an adventure, girls. When’s the last time you shampooed your hair in a lake, right?”

  Nobody uncrossed arms.

  “Okay. Suit yourselves. I’m going in.”

  She walked to the end of the dock, and knowing it was the only way she’d actually convince herself to get into the freezing water, she held her breath and did a shallow dive. When her body hit the water, it felt like a thousand ice picks were stabbing her, and she almost inhaled a lungful of water by gasping.

  Holy. Shit. The water was flipping arctic.

  She popped her head out of the water, but knowing the girls were gauging her reaction, she bit down on the shriek that was aching to come out of her throat.

  “Who’s next?” she called as she treaded water like it was a balmy seventy-five degrees here in Echo Lake. Meanwhile, she’d lost feeling in her feet already.

  Madison dropped her arms and sighed. “I’m only doing this because I’m desperate. Come on, Waverly.”

  She grabbed Waverly, who shrieked, but let herself get pulled to the end of the dock. Eve finally joined them, and on three, they jumped into the lake.

  When they emerged, Gabi was pretty sure the entire town of Echo Lake heard them.

  * * *

  “What in God’s name is going on down there?” Luke’s friend Noah peered out the window of the dining hall. “If they keep yelling like that, somebody’s going to call 911.”

  Luke rolled his eyes from where he sat at a table, trying to fix a fan. It was going to hit eighty-five today, and Piper had made no bones about saying she wasn’t cooking them anything for dinner unless he got the fan running.

  “They’re taking their first lake bath. Got themselves into poison ivy.”

  “Already? How’d they manage that?”

  Luke jerked his chin sideways. “Got into that patch I’ve been battling for two years now.”

  “I can’t believe you’re making them bathe in the lake. It’s fifty-five freaking degrees.”

  “We don’t have any other options. We don’t have showers.”

  “You do.”

  “Well, I’m not sharing.”

  Noah raised his eyebrows. “You could at least maybe offer it to Gabi.”

  “No way.” The thought of Gabi’s silky, curvy body all sudsy in his bathroom was a vision he didn’t need in his head right now. “It builds character. I’m not making them do anything. They’re jumping in of their own free will.”

  Noah turned back to him. “You have a defibrillator on-site in case one of them has a heart attack?”

  “Eh, they’re young and healthy. A little lake water never killed anybody.”

  “A little hypothermia could.”

  “I told Gabi if they start to feel warm, they need to get out. And by the way, before you get all sympathetic, these girls wrote their own ticket here. Hot showers were never part of the deal.”

  Luke looked down at the fan and swore, realizing he’d just put an entire piece of it back in upside down. If Gabi didn’t cover up that swimsuit—and soon, dammit—he’d never get anything done today.

  “You don’t have any sympathy for Gabi, at least?”

  “Not right now, no. Oliver and I were begging for a work crew for the summer, once we saw the never-ending project list from hell. What did Briarwood send?” He waved a hand at the window. “A bunch of prep school kids and their preppy little housemother, or whatever she’s called. How am I supposed to work with them around, getting in the way?”

  Noah looked out the window again, and Luke realized the shrieking had finally died down.

  “Are they out? Or are they dead?”

  “They’re not dead.” Noah tipped his head. “Hey—any chance you’ve seen Gabriela in her bathing suit?”

  “Yes, and stop looking.”

  Noah grinned. “Why?”

  “One—Piper would kill you. And two—just … don’t.”

  Shit. He closed his eyes, knowing damn well that Noah heard the territorial directive he hadn’t meant to give. Heard it loud and clear.

  “Gotcha.” Noah nodded slowly, his smile still in place. “Is somebody crushing on the hot housemom?”

  Luke raised his eyebrows. “Is somebody twelve? No. Nobody’s crushing on anybody.”

  Noah shrugged. “Hey, four weeks is a long time. You’re stuck here, she’s stuck here … you never know, right?”

  “I do know. And no. Not my type. Not my lifestyle. Not happening.”

  “Whatever you say.” He looked out the window again. “Little piece of advice, though—definitely don’t look at her when she gets out of the water. You might decide her type might be exactly your type.”

  “Noah?”

  “Fine. Not talking about a hot girl in a hot bathing suit.”

  “Thank you.” Luke looked out the window, then forced his eyes back to the fan. They only stuck there for a brief second before returning to the window, though. It looked like Gabi was thinking about trying to teach the girls how to—fish? Seriously? Where had she found those old poles?

  Noah tipped his chin toward the admin cottage. “How’s Oliver feeling about having them here?”

  Luke dropped a screw and swore when it rolled so far under the table that he couldn’t reach it. The man who’d spent his life pouring his every minute and every penny into young men everybody else had given up on was now looking at his entire mission going down the drain. He’d finally admitted that his age was getting the better of him, and it was killing Luke every time Oliver sat down, because for as long as he’d known him, Oliver had never sat still.

  “I don’t know,” he finally answered Noah. “But the only thing that’ll kill him faster than retirement will be to see this place turn into some rich girls’ summer boarding school.”

  “So what are you doing about it?”

  “Going through my list of incredibly wealthy contacts, trying to convince one of them to buy the place.”

  “Well, obviously, yes. But say that doesn’t pan out? Given that you have no incredibly wealthy contacts?”

  “I’m toying with going straight to the Briarwood board, actually.”

  Noah’s eyes widened. “And saying what?”

  “I haven’t figured that out yet.” Luke shook his head. “But there has to be at least one sympathetic person on that board—one soul who would be willing to try to understand what we’d be losing if this plan goes through. And then maybe that person could somehow convince the others.”

  “You don’t sound very optimistic.”

  “I’m not, but I have to try. I can’t just sit around here all summer and turn this camp into something it was never supposed to be, then pack up my stuff in September and try not to let the proverbial door hit me in the ass.”

  Noah returned his gaze to the beach. “You have a med kit handy for the first hook that lands in somebody’s cheek?”

  Luke looked up, watching Gabi spread the girls out on shore, then try to demonstrate how to cast. He shook his head, but found himself smiling. She had absolutely no idea what she was doing, but damn, she was earnest about it. If she kept this up all day long, he suspected the girls would all go to bed willingly tonight, if only to ge
t free of her chirpy little camp-activities list.

  “What’d you do to your thumb?” Noah pointed to Luke’s hand, which he’d whacked with the hammer an hour ago. “Get busy looking at Gabi and forget where you were aiming?”

  Luke gave him the finger, which only made Noah laugh.

  “Eh, if it was me, and I was single, and this gorgeous woman showed up at my camp for the summer, I’d probably have bruises, too.”

  “Well, you’re not single, she’s at my camp, and Piper would give you bruises if she knew you were looking. She’s here for four weeks, and then she’ll be headed back to Briarwood paradise, where everyone’s from the same social stratum, and posers are turned away at the gate.”

  “Not that you have some hidden issues here.”

  Luke shrugged. “Nothing hidden about my issues. She and I are from completely different worlds. Never the twain shall meet, and all that.”

  “Gotcha.” Noah nodded as he looked back out the window. “So take care with the bathing suit, then. Your twain might have other ideas.”

  Chapter 6

  “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 sum
mer.

  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.”