Twenty-eight
Jillian couldn’t remember the last time she’d had too much to drink and paid the price the next day. But sitting at the table this morning, after sneaking back to the lodge before the sun even considered rising, she was pretty sure functioning on very little sleep as a thirty-year-old was something akin to a hangover.
As she sipped her coffee, the memory of Levi’s kisses kept flashing like the greatest slideshow ever through her brain.
The scent of waffles and pancakes made her stomach growl. The kids were noisily chattering about their sleep and who had heard bears. Jilly laughed when Ollie looked at her and shook her head like a mini adult entertaining her peers’ tall tales. Fortunately, she’d snuck back early enough to change, get ready, and set up the activities for the day.
Parents started rolling in, looking bleary-eyed and in need of coffee. Jilly smirked against the rim of her mug, knowing that even though she was tired, it had been so worth it. The kids talked back and forth over the table about what they were doing today.
“Morning, Jilly,” Zane said. “How’d you sleep?”
Grayson followed behind him, took a seat at the table, and arched one brow. “I think a better question would be, did you sleep?”
Looking at Zane instead of her brother, she smiled. “I slept well, thank you. How about you?”
Zane laughed. “I think there’s actually an age where sleeping on the ground just isn’t fun anymore.”
“What age is that, Dad?” Christopher asked.
Zane ruffled his son’s hair. “Mine, apparently.”
The six kids helping Levi that morning pushed out a rolling tray with an incredible assortment of breakfast options. Waffles, pancakes, berries, muffins, granola, and yogurt. They set it on the table and kids began helping themselves. The adults dug in as well.
“Mom,” Ollie said with a reverent tone.
Jilly looked up from her plate.
“Levi’s waffles are almost as good as Pete’s.”
One of the moms sucked in an audible breath. “I wouldn’t tell him that, sweetie.”
Jilly laughed. “She’s right, but you can tell Levi. I think he’ll like that.”
Gray, who sat on her right, nudged her elbow. “Guessing by the look of your hair, you know what he likes.” He said it completely under his breath and she could see from looking at the others that they hadn’t heard, but she still fought the urge to smooth down her hair or poke her brother. With her fork.
She glared at him, but he only smirked and reached across to grab a strawberry off her plate. “Your boyfriend is a hell of a cook.”
Before she could respond, Levi swung through the door of the kitchen with a fresh plate of waffles.
His gaze found her immediately. “Who wants more?”
The question brought up memories of last night, and her entire body heated. His eyes darkened, which meant, of course, he noticed. He refilled the platters on the table as some of the kids cleared their plates and one of the moms hustled them outside.
They were so cute, some of them still in their pajamas from the night before, lining up to scrape their plates. Ollie came over after she scraped her plate, and tapped Levi’s arm.
“Hey. How was breakfast?”
Ollie crooked her finger, so he bent at the waist and she whispered in his ear. Gray and Jilly shared an amused glance. A happy kind of pressure tightened her chest.
“Are you serious?” Levi said, leaning back and looking at Ollie.
Ollie, hands on her hips, nodded so fiercely, her ponytail bobbed up and down.
“Might be the best compliment I’ve ever had.”
Ollie grinned. “See you.” And she was gone.
Everyone cleared out except Levi, Jilly, Gray, and two kids who were working together to push the dish cart toward the kitchen.
Grayson stood up. “Let me help.”
He helped the kids navigate their way through the swinging door.
“She said my waffles were better than Pete’s.” Levi placed his hand on the back of Jillian’s chair, brushed his lips against her cheek. “How was your breakfast?”
“Delicious.” After kissing him, she whispered in his ear, “I agree with Ollie.”
He cupped her cheek, his forehead touching hers. “You don’t have to say that, baby. You already own my heart.” Her heart seemed to hug itself with happiness.
Just as Levi’s mouth found hers again, Gray yelled through the kitchen door, “That’s right, guys! It’s time to head outside. Through the dining room.” He walked through the swinging door grinning at her and she knew he’d given her a heads-up.
There were two teams of nine kids, three parents on each. They were tucked into a grove of trees just behind the lodge with a bunch of everyday supplies that they’d use to create shelters. There were plenty of branches and rocks to utilize for their makeshift structures. They had ten minutes to form a plan as a team and twenty minutes to build.
As they worked together, some of them sniping at each other, some working wonderfully together, Gray came to her side.
“This has been incredible, Jilly. Better than I imagined. You really think this is a cost-effective way to bring more revenue?”
“I do. And I have more ideas on how we can trim the budget a little more. Levi’s food is amazing, but I think we can get that cost down with Shane.”
“I wanted to talk to you about that,” Grayson said.
The timer buzzed with a warning. “You have two minutes, campers,” Jillian said, holding up her stopwatch.
A frenzied finish ensued with both teams rushing around to finalize a shelter that, according to the rules Jilly laid out, would withstand the elements. They hadn’t clued the kids into what that meant yet.
Her phone chime rang. “Time. Everyone stop!”
Levi leaned against a tree. “That was stressful. I don’t think I could ever watch any of you be on Survivor. ”
Grayson laughed. “You and I should do this challenge, Bright.”
“I’d pay to watch that. City Boy versus Lifetime Smiley,” Zane said, stepping back from his group’s shelter.
“I’ll do that challenge if you agree to a cook-off as well,” Levi said.
The other parents laughed. Leanne looked at Gray. “He’d have you there. I’ve eaten your scrambled eggs. You don’t stand a chance.”
Jillian’s brain halted, twisted with the idea of her brother making Leanne Shuke, divorced mom, scrambled eggs. Some times she forgot her brothers were men who might have lives outside of being her brother. Just like they did with her.
Weird.
“Okay. No grown-up challenges, but Captain Gray did bring something that will quickly tell us which team has the strongest shelter. Everyone line up in front of your spots.”
The kids lined up, all of them looking tired but proud and excited.
Jilly looked at Gray with a smile. “Ready?”
“Absolutely,” he said, backing up. “Hmm. How should I test the durability and strength of these forts?”
“Let me see first,” Jilly said while her brother made his way backward. She walked around the “tents,” pretending to give marks based on height, size, whether she could actually step inside, and the organization of their supplies.
She started stepping away, pretending she was unsure about which was stronger, when really, it didn’t matter and she and Gray had already decided this would be a fun and funny surprise.
Just as she stepped back, saying, “It’s hard to choose a winner. They all look sturdy,” Grayson stepped closer with a hose in his hands.
“Let’s check how they’d face the elements,” he said, turning the hose on and aiming it toward the kids and their shelters.
Laughter and screaming quickly ensued. The parents had paid enough attention to Jilly and Grayson’s movements to back themselves up and out of the spray but every one of the kids got soaked.
Jillian was laughing along with all of them until Grayson turned to her.
“Don’t,” she warned. “I have a clipboard.” She held it up as a useless shield even as ice-cold water sprayed her from head to toe.
The kids started laughing and chanting, “Get her!”
“What?” Jilly yelled shrilly. “Mutiny! Get them, Grayson Keller! We’re on the same team.”
“I’ll save you, Jilly,” Levi yelled in a hilariously loud and dramatic voice, grabbing the hose from Grayson and turning it on him. The kids on one team rushed Levi, but the surprise to Jilly was Ollie grabbing Grayson to stop him from responding to Levi’s attack. It was clearly only play, but Jillian nearly choked on emotion when she realized that Ollie was protecting Levi.
“I surrender!” Grayson fell to the ground and Ollie landed on his chest.
Ollie jumped back and did a victory dance. “We got you, Uncle Gray!”
He laughed, soaked just like the kids and her and Levi. “Yeah, you did. You win.”
Levi high-fived each of the kids, including Ollie, but when they clapped hands, her boyfriend leaned down and said, “Thanks for the backup, kiddo.”
She threw her arms around his neck, giving him a hard, quick hug. “No problem.”
Then she ran off with her friends and Jillian stood there staring at what she hadn’t spent any time thinking about: her future.