Chapter Three
Rob didn’t intend to take a photo of Hannah. He hadn’t even realized she was in the shot until her movement caught his attention, and then he watched her scramble back into her camper.
Dammit, he really hadn’t meant to do that.
Now that there were campers on some of the sites, he wanted to update the website to show glimpses of the campers and RVs through the trees because semiprivacy and shade were definitely perks for a lot of potential guests, but he hadn’t intended to capture any people.
And if she’d seen him and recognized him as the guy who’d hit on her that morning, she might get the wrong idea about him.
He’d been interested in her, sure, but she’d made it clear the feeling wasn’t mutual.
Disappointing, but he’d accepted it graciously.
What he definitely would not do is become a creeper, trying to get pictures of her without her knowing.
The last thing he wanted was for her to think he’d do something like that and end up feeling unsafe here. And the next-to-last thing he wanted was for her to complain about him to his brothers and add this, along with falling in the pool, to the list of ways Rob screwed up on opening day.
He was done with being the class clown of the family, and with looking like a screwup just because he’d been born last and had three older brothers riding his ass about every little thing all the time.
The responsible thing to do was explain to Hannah what he’d been doing and apologize, so that’s what he would do. And he almost managed to convince himself that was the only reason, and that he didn’t welcome an excuse to see her again.
It wasn’t until he saw the California plates on the truck and camper that he realized he hadn’t thought about where Hannah was from until now. He wasn’t sure it was possible for her to be from farther away from him without involving a boat.
I’m just passing through.
He snorted as he made his way to the camper door. She hadn’t been lying, exactly, but she’d certainly been wrong about the likelihood of them crossing paths again.
After taking a deep breath and hoping he wasn’t about to make the situation even worse, Rob knocked on the door. “Hannah? It’s Rob.”
He took a step back, not only because he wanted to give her plenty of space, but because she’d hit him with the door if he didn’t. Assuming she opened it, of course. If he’d made her mad, she might. But if he’d scared her, it had been foolish of him to come knock and expect her to answer.
Just when he’d made up his mind to leave her alone and send her an email, the door opened. Hannah didn’t come out, but he figured the least he could do was crane his neck to look up at her in the doorway.
“I just wanted to apologize for accidentally taking a picture of you. I was taking pictures of the pond with glimpses of the campers through the trees for the website—trying to make it look good and all that, and I didn’t mean to get you in the shot.”
“Okay.”
“I deleted it.”
“Okay.” That was all she seemed to want to say, and the silence had grown awkward enough so he was about to turn and walk away when she spoke again. “Thank you for deleting it. It was a little weird, having my picture taken for no reason.”
He gave her a sheepish grin. “And I’ve pushed the boundaries twice, and it’s only the first day. I promise I’ll do my best to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
“Thank you. Have you been crying?” As soon as the words left her mouth, she pressed her lips together and gave a sharp shake of her head. “I’m sorry. That’s none of my business.”
“No, it was pool chemicals.” He chuckled. “I took an unplanned dip in the pool and because we’re trying to get it straightened out after some neglect, the chemicals are a little intense.”
“Right. I was in the office at the time and it was hard to miss it happening since your brothers were very entertained by it.”
“I bet they were. And the entire family was sent the photos Joey took, so everybody’s entertained.
” He shrugged because that was just another day for the Kowalski family.
“Since you’re a guest, I feel it’s my duty to let you know that it’s still very cold at night here, so the pool is not warm right now. ”
She laughed at his joke, which he appreciated because he wanted to dispel any lingering awkwardness between them. “I’m not much for swimming. Especially when it’s still sweatshirt weather and, oh, the chemicals are potent enough to make your eyes look like you’ve been crying for two hours.”
He chuckled. “Oh, one more thing before I go. I don’t know if Danny remembered to tell you, but the weekend before Memorial Day—which is when we open to transient campers—we’re going to have kind of a get-acquainted cookout next to the playground for all the seasonal campers.”
She nodded once. “Thank you for letting me know.”
He noticed she didn’t tell him she was looking forward to it, or even commit to being there, but he didn’t push. Between the restaurant, the pool and the camera, he’d made a bad first, second and third impression and the best thing he could do now was walk away before he made it any worse.
“Have a good night,” he said. “You know where to find us if you need anything.”
As he walked away, he heard her go inside her camper and a moment later, his phone chimed. For a second, he thought maybe Hannah had gone inside and then sent him a text message, but it was from Joey.
Brian said you’re at Hannah Shelby’s site. Don’t forget the rules, bro.
No, he hadn’t forgotten the rules they’d agreed upon—one of them being that fraternizing with campground guests was strictly prohibited.
But talking to one of the campers wasn’t fraternizing.
Or he didn’t think so, anyway. When they’d made the rule, they’d all presumably meant there would be no hooking up with any of the campers.
It had been strongly implied that was what it meant.
Regardless, he didn’t bother responding to Joey. So far, owning a campground with his brothers wasn’t nearly as fun as he’d hoped it would be.
Hannah smiled as she moved around the camper, making it feel like home.
Most things had to be secured or put away during the towing process, but now she could have her Keurig out.
The salt and pepper shakers from a family trip to the Grand Canyon over twenty years ago were unwrapped and set on the counter.
She arranged her toiletries in the bathroom.
The nineteen-and-a-half-foot Airstream had a compact layout that offered all the space she needed and was an easy tow behind her dad’s truck. The construction was solid, and when the door was closed, it was like being in an expensive, well-appointed cocoon.
Once she was finished, she wanted to relax for a few minutes before moving on to the next thing.
Rather than sitting at the dinette—and dammit, she still hadn’t asked about grocery stores—she went to the back of the camper and flopped into her “nest.” With a ton of pillows and a luxurious throw in addition to a regular blanket, the bed was a lot more appealing to her than the rigid dinette bench.
The pillows often ended up tossed aside when she was sleeping, but they supported her back nicely when she was reading one of the few paperbacks she had stowed in a box under one of the dinette’s bench seats.
She usually read ebooks on her phone almost exclusively, but she hadn’t wanted to get stranded without something to read if the cell signal wasn’t great at the campground—and it wasn’t.
At least not back in the trees. But she’d noticed when she was checking in that her signal was strong enough so she could hot-spot if she wanted to tote her laptop to the pool area.
Now, though, she settled against her pillows and closed her eyes. Then she opened them again when an image of Rob Kowalski filled her mind.
The man’s smile was as potent as his blue eyes.
His poor eyes. They’d looked awful after his unplanned dip in the pool. It was good they had almost a month before the pool was scheduled to open because, based on the current chemical situation, they were going to need it.
When her phone chimed, she realized she’d left it on the counter. Sighing, she crawled out of her nest and retrieved it. It was for the best, she told herself. There was still stuff on her to-do list for the day, and she wouldn’t check anything off while snuggled in a mountain of pillows.
The text message was from Jenn, and it had come right after a missed FaceTime notification. Her sister must have tried it first, though Hannah hadn’t heard the ring.
Your dot stopped moving and it says Birch Brook Campground, so you’re parked? Call wouldn’t go through.
The guilt for not telling Jenn she’d arrived as soon as she pulled in had her tempted to walk down into the stronger signal to call her back, but she settled for typing in a response.
I’m parked and all hooked up. Gorgeous spot. Will send pics soon. But in this part of the campground, signal’s not great. Will have to schedule video calls in advance. Texts go through, though.
I’ll tell Mom & Dad but you should call them later. Also, call Erika. She’s messaged me three times today.
Hannah winced. She’d silenced all notifications from Erika—her best friend and business partner—on the morning of her second day on the road because the woman didn’t seem to understand Hannah was driving and couldn’t read or respond, so she just kept piling them on.
And then she’d realized how nice it was to have a short break from Erika’s energy and the stress of making a decision about the future of Improbable Causes—their podcast about historical true crimes.
I’ll text Erika now, and I’ll call the parents later. Kiss my nieces for me.