Summer Camp with the Mountain Man (Mountain Man Summer 2026 #10)

ONE

Cade

After twenty long years, breathing in the mountain air blowing across the water solidifies what I’ve always known; Cedar Spring Lake is home.

The sound of cicadas buzzing incessantly is almost loud enough to overpower the jet skis and speedboats zipping across the lake. Its surface glimmers in the sunlight, diamond encrusted waves lapping at the rocky shore. When I think of summer, this is what I picture.

Is it wrong of me to hope the heavily advertised lake monster’s diet consists of nothing but noisy insects?

I’ve seen that thing’s likeness all over town.

When we used to come here as a family, Springy was something locals whispered about, now he’s got a hot dog named after him.

A hot dog so delicious I’m standing in line again before the copious amount of bbq sauce that dribbled on my shirt has had a chance to dry.

The pier is exactly how I remember, like my dreams somehow accurately preserved a hazy childhood memory. I haven’t been here since I was ten but I swear nothing’s changed, and I couldn’t be happier.

Whenever I’m lucky enough to work on a lake, I always pretend it’s this one. Not that any of them are all that different. Same shoreside towns powered by tourists, full of gift shops and ice cream parlors. Is it me or are the souvenirs all the same with a different lake name printed on?

Something about this specific lake has always felt like home to me, despite only being here two weeks out of the year. I can’t quite see the little island my father’s family owns but I’m hoping to paddle out to it sometime soon.

The other half of me is wondering if coming to Cedar Spring Lake was a mistake. What if he’s out there with some new family, one he won’t abandon like they never existed? Would a birthday card be too much to ask for?

I take a seat at the furthest bench, Springy Dog in hand, as far out as the pier reaches, but still no luck. The island is just out of view.

“Trying to see if the mermaids are out sunbathing?”

The soft voice startles me, I didn’t realize I wasn’t alone out here. Except, I am alone. This has always been the quiet part of the dock, away from the pop-up shops and food stands that draw the crowds. There’s no one here but me.

“Springy?” I ask cautiously, checking the gaps between boards for a lake monster below.

For a mythological aquatic creature, it sure does have a pretty laugh.

An auburn head of hair with the most beautiful face beneath it pops up from the edge of the dock, giving me a little wave. Her eyes could be straight out of the sketchbook of a Disney artist, glistening in the sun like chestnuts coated in a thin layer of ice.

A small spattering of the faintest freckles decorate the bridge of her nose like they were intentionally placed there.

I bet sunglasses fight to the death over who gets to call that exact location home.

I’m considering stepping into the coliseum myself for a chance to be that close to her face.

How hard could it be to kick a bunch of sunglasses asses?

“Sorry to disappoint, just a gal and her French fries,” she says with a sigh aimed at the cardboard tray in her hand.

“Wishing they were another Springy Dog. I always get carried away and finish it first. Don’t get me wrong, the fries are good but not last bite of the meal good.

You want my spot? I should really get back to work. ”

“No thanks. You’re either standing on a paddle board or walking on water, neither of which I’m talented enough to do. At least not while eating. Am I crazy or did you say you were watching mermaids sunbathe? What kind of magic did they put in this lake?”

“Not real mermaids, not with Springy here. This lake ain’t big enough for the both of them,” she drawls like a cowboy, adjusting her imaginary hat before spitting a mouthful of chew at a passing tumbleweed.

“The mythical girls on the island. Sorry, I thought you were a local which would have made my joke funnier. Tourists don’t usually venture this far out on the pier, too far from the nearest giftshop. ”

“Tell me about it, I wanted to stand over there but that’d put me too far from the closest souvenir so I had to settle for this bench. I can feel the gravitational pull tugging me back though. Must. buy. Cedar Spring Lake. wave board. with palm tree on it.”

“Sir, are you implying there are no palm trees in the mountains of New Hampshire, and that a wave board could somehow be mass produced with different tourist destinations printed on it?”

“You’re right, that seems unlikely. I’m sure there’s a palm tree on one of these peninsulas. I’m honored you thought I was a local.”

“You should be. It’s not often I’m fooled. All this time away must have me losing my touch. Or worse, if I’m only here during the summer, does that make me… a tourist?” she asks, gagging on the word like it might shred her tongue.

“Don’t worry, it’s not as bad as it sounds. We’ve always got room on our team for one more. Though, looking at that crowd back there, we might have a full roster.”

“Luckily, you might not need to make room on the bench for me. I’ve got a feeling I won’t have a job come September and I’ll be back here for good, home sweet home.”

“That sucks, I’m sorry,” I say, shuffling to the edge of the dock where it turns out she’s sitting on a small platform just above the water, not floating on it like I assumed. “Hey, at least there’s worse places to come home to. Your job getting replaced by robots?”

“Not yet. But if they consolidate these schools much more, they’re gonna need to start teaching kids in old shopping malls.

I’m figuring the robots will have replaced us by then though.

Honestly, I wouldn’t mind coming back to Cedar Spring and running the family business, had my parents not run it into the ground.

Speak of the devil,” she says, checking her phone.

It’s not like me to wish a conversation wasn’t ending. Normally, I can’t get away from people fast enough. I deal with my crew all day, when I’m not instructing them what to do on site, I’d rather not be speaking to anyone.

I almost faked a reason not to show up at the family reunion.

Why’d I mention Cedar Spring when our original campground in the Adirondacks fell through?

I can’t fake a work emergency out of town when this is the town I’m currently working in.

I should have let the whole thing fall through and enjoyed my sanity.

This is the first time I’ll be seeing any of them since I fired George again.

It’s kind of a bad look when the company is named after him but with the amount his mistakes were costing us, there’d be no company left.

In his heart, I know his dad sees it, hence why I took the reins to the decking company he named after his son, but everyone else is blinded by his fluorescent toothy grin.

I’m never going to hear the end of it. How could I be so heartless?

Bless that boy’s heart, he tries. How was he supposed to know the work truck couldn’t drive underwater?

Or that you shouldn’t use a blowtorch around a brush pile?

He didn’t mean to bang a client’s wife in the pool house and accidentally record it on the security cameras.

I was hoping he wouldn’t show up, too busy with some new business venture he hasn’t screwed up yet, but apparently he’s engaged and wants us all to meet her, so we can see how much he’s matured since I Jambalaya’d him.

He meant Judas’d and blamed it on autocorrect but there was no autocorrect involved, he has the IQ of an under-watered houseplant.

“Everything alright?” I ask when she hangs up abruptly, climbing the dock like a jungle gym.

“No,” she pouts. “I’m not gonna have time to get another Springy Dog.

My parents got swamped in the half hour I was gone.

I need to run but it was nice meeting you, umm, crap, I think I spaced out when you told me your name, I do that around cute guys.

It was Spencer or Dragon, or something, right? ”

“It’s Cade,” I laugh, entranced by the way her brown eyes smile right along with her rosy lips. “But Dragon is much more badass.”

“Cade’s good too. I’m Rayne, like the wet stuff that falls from the sky but spelled all wrong, my parents are hippies. Hey, um, are you in town long, Cade, my fellow tourist?”

“I hope so. I’m building a new course at Wildwood Adventures.”

“Oh, Fuller’s park? Wait, you’re building a new course?”

“I build decks in places you didn’t know decks could be built. I think of it as extreme decking. He needed platforms for a new ropes course.”

The twinkle in Rayne’s eyes feels like a spotlight aimed directly at my heart, and I never want it to go dark. “I’m not too proud to admit when I’m wrong. You’re not a Cade, you’re definitely a Dragon. Wildwood, huh? I’m just down the road. Maybe I’ll see you around.”

How do I say god I hope so without it sounding desperate?

“God, I hope so.”

Well, that’s certainly not what I meant to say but that smile, those eyes, and good lord, the curves on this woman in a pair of jean shorts and a tight shirt that says Springy doesn’t believe in you either, I’m lucky any words made it past my tongue.

“We’ll just have to make it happen, Dragon.” Her auburn hair blows gently in the breeze, and never have I wanted anything on my pillows more.

“Wait, Rayne, here,” I gulp, offering her my loaded Springy Dog. It’d feel weird not to offer her something and my heart seems a bit too forward.

“For me? No, I couldn’t. You haven’t even taken a bite. Trust me, once you do, your life will never be the same again.” Is that in reference to the hot dog, or her? Because neither could be more true.

“I know, it’s a good thing I’m looking for a change. This is my second one today.”

“Well, in that case…”

She leans over, taking a bite, doing things to me I can’t explain when her eyes roll back in her head as she moans in ecstasy.

Watching her lick the bbq sauce and coleslaw from her lips must have my eyes popping out of my head like Scooby and the gang just spotted a ghost. I’m gonna need to seek medical treatment the moment she’s gone, I can’t imagine they’ll go back in on their own.

She shoots a thank you of some sort over her shoulder while turning to leave, I can’t really hear her over my heart performing an intricate solo in a drum circle the rest of me wasn’t invited to.

Rayne, you have no idea how right you are, my life will never be the same again.