Chapter Two
The camper they’d be staying in for the week was small, but it was clean and had plenty of room for her and Oliver. And sometimes on weekends or when they were feeling under the weather, he’d sleep in Siobhan’s bed, so sharing this one wouldn’t be a big deal.
“The guys opened it up this week, so the AC’s on and the fridge is cold,” Steph said. “I think it has everything you need, but if not, just ask. Between the store and all the family, somebody will have whatever it is.”
Siobhan sighed. “According to Robin, I have more than what I need.”
Steph and Robin had met a few times at Siobhan’s, and Steph laughed. “How’s she doing? I haven’t seen her in a while.”
“Good. She sends her congrats, of course. And she managed to hide being jealous that Oliver and I get to be away from the city for a week.”
“You have no idea how much it means to me that you’re here.” Steph’s eyes welled up with tears. “Really. I’m sorry I—I’m just glad you’re here.”
Siobhan knew some women would resent being a bride’s second choice maid of honor, but she wasn’t one of them. She and Steph had been college roommates, and they were close friends, but it wasn’t the same relationship as a lifelong best friend from childhood.
“I’m thrilled I could be here for you. I’m also thrilled there wasn’t an official maid of honor gown because a dress made for Vanessa would have covered half of me.”
Steph laughed, and the last of any awkwardness dissipated with the sound. “The dress you sent me a picture of is perfection.”
Oliver ran across the camper, a board book in his hand. He was heading for Siobhan, but at the last minute, he veered in Steph’s direction. Leaning against her knee, he offered the book and grinned up at her.
Something flitted across Steph’s face—the amusement fading to something else. Siobhan couldn’t tell exactly what it was, but there was some confusion in there.
Then Steph smiled at Oliver. “You’ve gotten so big since the last time I saw you.”
“They grow so fast, and it’s been a few months,” Siobhan said. “Plus, he kind of changed from baby to little boy while I wasn’t looking.”
“Beep beep,” Oliver said.
“The book has a truck and there’s a lot of beep beep going on,” Siobhan explained. “Oliver, Steph doesn’t have time to read to you right now.”
“I think if you’re my maid of honor, I get to be Auntie Steph. At least for the weekend.”
“Well, Auntie Steph, if you take that book from him thinking you’ll read it one time really quickly because that adorable little grin is so hard to resist, you’ll be wrong. Once you start, he’s more of a constant loop until your voice gives out kind of guy.”
“Good to know.” She ruffled Oliver’s dark hair and that same expression clouded her face again. “I should run, though. I heard somebody pull in and we’re waiting for Kyle’s family to show up. I want to make sure to greet them when they get here.”
“Don’t worry about us. I’m just going to put some stuff away and then, since this guy was in the car for a long time, we might go for a walk.”
It didn’t take Siobhan long to find places to stow their stuff and put away the groceries they brought, and Oliver tried to wait patiently. He was a high-energy little boy, and he quickly got bored with exploring his new environment.
Once she tied his sneakers on, slathered him in sunscreen and plopped his sun hat on his head, she helped him down the camper steps.
After a moment’s hesitation, she decided to take him for a walk around the back part of the campground.
Not only was there more shade, but most of the Kowalski family was milling around the front part.
She’d met most of them at least once—at Brian and Kelly’s wedding.
She’d been her sister’s maid of honor because Kelly didn’t have anybody else, but she hadn’t been happy about it.
Her sister simply wasn’t ready for marriage and it had taken all of her strength to fake it through that day.
And Steph had assured her the family would be thrilled to see her again, but she had her doubts, so into the woods they went.
Oliver was fascinated. They spent a lot of time at parks, but the woods lining the dirt road weren’t isolated trees planted in cultivated lawns.
There were sticks and rocks and piles of leaves to explore.
Siobhan hovered, ready to intervene if she spotted poison ivy or insects of the biting variety, or in the unlikely event a car went by, but mostly she let him wander freely.
By the time they’d walked the back loop of the campground, Oliver’s energy was flagging, so she held his hand to keep him from tripping over his own feet. Slowing the pace, they made their way back toward the open part of the campground and their camper.
About halfway down the hill that led to the break in the tree line, movement caught her eye and she saw Brian leaving a small cabin. He was looking down at his phone as he walked, and they were on an intercept course.
She almost turned around, but retracing their steps up the hill and around the loop would be a lot for Oliver.
Scooping him up and running would just be ridiculous.
Instead, she slowed their pace even more, hoping he’d stay engrossed in whatever he was looking at and walk down the hill without ever knowing she’d been behind him.
It wasn’t meant to be. As he reached the end of the cabin’s driveway, he slid his phone into his pocket and looked up—directly at Siobhan.
It had been over half a year since she’d seen Brian Kowalski at a holiday open house Steph and Kyle had hosted. She hadn’t expected to see her former brother-in-law there, and when he’d given her a tersely polite hello, she’d been so taken off guard that she turned her back and walked away.
Not one of her finer moments.
Determined not to bring any negativity into Steph’s special week, she forced her lips to curve into a stiff smile. “Hello, Brian.”
“Welcome to Birch Brook Campground.” The words were flat, and the smile he gave her didn’t reach his blue eyes. His gaze shifted to Oliver and his face softened. “Who’s this?”
“My son,” she said in a wooden voice. “Oliver.”
“I heard you had a kid. Congrats.” There was no warmth in his words, but then Brian gave her son a grin that knocked the breath out of Siobhan’s lungs. “Hey, Oliver.”
“Beep beep.” Oliver returned the grin, and that same strange look slid into Brian’s expression.
Oh, no. No. Absolutely not. “We’re on our way to…over there, but it was good to see you again.”
She swung her son onto her hip and started walking before Brian could say anything else.
Oliver was happily babbling about something, but Siobhan couldn’t hear him over the buzzing in her ears. Her skin was hot, and her breath felt quick and shallow—she couldn’t fill her lungs—and she forced herself to slow down.
The blue eyes. The dark hair. That damn adorable grin.
Kelly had lied to her.
* * *
Brian watched Siobhan walk away as though somebody was chasing her and shook his head.
He certainly wasn’t going to be the one chasing her, that was for damn sure.
The hope he could get through the entire week without interacting with her had been futile, of course, but that didn’t mean he’d go out of his way to talk to her.
Cute kid, though. When he’d smiled, there’d been a second when Brian thought he looked a lot like his cousin Josh’s boy when he was that age. It was weird how much little kids could look like each other sometimes.
When he reached the large canopy they’d erected for shade near the playground, he found most of the family gathered.
His grandparents and the original Birch Brook Campground campers, Leo and Mary, were holding court from two camp chairs by the fire ring.
There wasn’t a fire burning in it because it was hot and too early for campfire stories, but fire rings were usually the central point of any campground gathering. The actual flames were optional.
He spoke to his parents, Mike, and Lisa, and then talked to everybody for a few minutes.
His brother Joey’s wife, Ellie, was uncovering snack trays with the help of her six-year-old daughter, Nora.
Rob and Hannah were adding ice to the coolers of drinks.
His aunt Terry—mother of the bride—and her husband Ethan, then his uncle Joe and aunt Keri.
Uncle Kevin and Aunt Beth. And there were cousins everywhere.
His dad’s cousin, Sean, who was one of the Maine branch of Kowalskis but had chosen to live in New Hampshire, was there with his wife, Emma, and their kids.
The rest of the Maine family would be making a day trip over for the wedding on Monday. They owned the Northern Star Lodge & Campground and it was their busy season, so weekends were tough. It would be a long day with a lot of driving, but they wouldn’t miss it.
“This is amazing,” Kyle said, appearing at his side.
Brian looked at the plate of finger foods the groom was holding. “You think that’s good? Wait until the desserts come out.”
He looked confused for a second and then gave him a sheepish smile. “Sorry, I meant this whole thing is amazing—that you guys are doing this for us.”
“It’s going to be fun,” Brian said, and he was impressed when it came out sounding like he actually believed it. “We’re going to do everything we can to make your wedding the best day ever.”
That part was true, at least. And he was sure there would be some fun times. There always were when the family was gathered in one spot. But being one of the hosts and owners was a lot of pressure.
“And the cabin we’re staying in is perfect. It’s so comfortable. And roomy.”
“I’m glad you like it.”
The logistics of lodging for everybody had been a nightmare.
He, Rob, Hannah and Joey had lost an entire day to making the drive to Maine and back with campers borrowed from the family.
On Monday evening, after the wedding, most of the Maine family would head home, but a few of them would crash in the house.
That wouldn’t be fun. The campground had two buildings on it—the store that also served as the office, and a small house that needed a lot of TLC.
Brian and his brothers stayed in the house during the camping season, though only Rob didn’t keep a primary residence in the southern part of the state.
They hadn’t had TLC to spare for the house yet, though, and throwing a couple more guys in there would be tough.
They might have to break out tents. Then the Maine family would drive the campers back on Tuesday when everybody left and the newlyweds took off for their official honeymoon in Bar Harbor.
They’d decided to give the big cabin on the hill to the bride and groom because, even though they’d have to use the bathhouse, it was the most private.
And Kyle’s brother and best man, Wes, along with his sister-in-law, Amber, and Ron, Wes and Kyle’s grandfather, would be staying in one of the campers.
Kyle and Wes had lost their parents to a car accident when they were in college, so it was just the four of them.
Everybody had a place to sleep, but Brian and his brothers had burned through a lot of sticky notes figuring it out. It was like a seating chart, but for beds, and he hoped they’d never have to do it again.
“We definitely appreciate it,” Kyle said again. “I haven’t spoken with your grandparents yet, so I’ll catch you later.”
“Make sure you bring a chair because once they get going, you’ll be there awhile.”
Sometime later, while Brian and Stella were sharing some food in a shady spot under a tree, Steph wandered over and sat on the ground next to him.
“Have you seen Siobhan yet?” she asked, not being one to beat around the bush.
His shoulders tensed. “Briefly. We said hi.”
“Is it going to be okay?”
He wasn’t sure what she meant by okay, but he turned and looked at her. There was an anxiety in his cousin’s eyes that he didn’t like seeing there, so he dug deep and gave her a genuine smile. “It’s going to be okay, Steph.”
She blew out a relieved breath. “I’m glad. I know it was a big ask, so thank you for being okay with it.”
“Her kid’s cute.”
She gave him a thoughtful look that didn’t make sense to him. It was a pretty standard comment to make about a person’s child. “He is. Quite the blue eyes.”
He snorted and nodded his head toward the gathering of people. “No shortage of those around here. I guess he’ll fit right in.”
Steph stared at him for a few seconds and then pushed herself to her feet. “I guess if it’s going to be okay between you, I should go find her and tell her to come join us. I need her to meet Kyle’s family, and plus, our family’s been asking about her.”
He nodded, but she still hesitated a moment before turning and walking away. She was acting a little weird, but she was probably just really afraid any awkwardness between him and Siobhan would put a damper on the festivities.
“Not going to happen,” he told Stella, who looked ecstatic about it. Or maybe it was the cube of cheddar cheese Brian slipped to her. “We’re just going to sit over here and mind our business, girl.”