Chapter Thirteen
Rob hadn’t brought his camera when he and Hannah visited the waterfall almost a week ago. He kept a small, cheap digital camera in the truck’s console storage compartment, but he hadn’t wanted to focus on anything but her in that moment.
But not having photographs didn’t stop a slideshow of memories from playing through his mind. When he was working. When he should have been sleeping. And definitely when he was showering. No matter what he was doing, the memory of kissing her played on repeat in his head.
Brian and Stella had been outside when they’d pulled back into the campground, so all he could do was tell Hannah he hoped she’d enjoyed visiting the waterfall, and she’d smiled and thanked him.
“We’re giving tours to the campers now?” Brian had asked with an edge in his voice.
“It’s a cool spot. I thought she’d like it. And she did.”
“Maybe some of the other campers new to the area would also like to see it.”
“Then I’ll take them, too,” Rob snapped, and that had been the end of the discussion—for the time being.
But now it was Friday and he hadn’t really had a moment alone with her since they got back.
And to make it worse, he wasn’t sure how to make that happen.
There was very little privacy in the campground, and every time he turned around, it seemed as if Brian was watching him.
And Joey had shown up yesterday to spend a few days helping out as they welcomed transient campers for the long weekend that kicked off the summer season.
Rob welcomed another set of hands, but now he had to share the bedroom and he had two brothers watching him like he was a teenager about to sneak out his window in the middle of the night.
“You look pissed,” Brian said, breaking into his thoughts.
They were in the living room, taking a breather before the campers who’d had to work a full day or got stuck in city traffic straggled in.
The day had been chaotic and they probably would have been too tired to eat if they hadn’t been smart and thrown chili makings in the Crock-Pot first thing that morning.
“It’s been a long day and it’s not over yet,” Rob said, not wanting to get into how annoyed he was with them.
“Definitely been a long day.”
The seasonal campers, once they were set up for the summer, were pretty low-maintenance. They occasionally needed propane or firewood or conversation, but for the most part, they kept to themselves.
Having weekenders coming in was an entirely different ball game.
They all had to be checked in and told the rules of not only the campground, but also the ATV trail system.
Because the dirt roads through the campground were barely more than a lane wide and turning around could be a problem, Brian guided many of them to their sites.
And then came requests for ice and firewood, and they’d already sold a set of tent pegs to a guy who’d told his wife four times that yes, he’d remembered to pack the tent pegs.
“But you don’t look tired,” Brian insisted. “You look pissed.”
“Fine. I’m pissed. I took Hannah to the waterfall and we had a nice time, but I haven’t had a chance to spend any time with her since because you’ve decided you’re some kind of campground chaperone.”
“One, we had an agreement about not messing around with campers. And two, I think we’ve been running our asses off getting ready for today, so I don’t think it’s all me.”
“The whole don’t-fraternize-with-campers thing is getting out of hand,” he said. “It’s not like I’m making my way around the campground, hitting on every woman who checks in.”
“That would almost be better, I think.”
“How do you figure that?”
Brian shrugged. “Because you’re a single guy and hitting on single women doesn’t really mean anything. But this thing with Hannah? I’m telling you, Bobby, I don’t think you should get in over your head with her.”
He laughed, but it was a mirthless sound. “Tell me you’re not back to the serial killer crap.”
“No, of course not. But she lives all the way across the country, and I worry about you getting hurt, dumbass.”
Instead of snapping back at his brother, Rob forced himself to take a beat. He didn’t want to hear it, but he also knew Brian was coming from a good place.
Before he could decide how to respond, a loud boom made Stella sit up, her head swiveling toward the back wall, which faced the campground. She didn’t bark, though, and they all sat in silence for a moment, waiting to see if it happened again.
It didn’t, but Rob didn’t think he’d relax if he didn’t identify the source of the sound.
“Tell me that wasn’t a gunshot,” Brian said.
“That wasn’t a gunshot. I think. I sure as hell hope not.
” Rob pushed himself to his feet. Usually Stella would have been interested in where he was going, but she was shaking a little, and she shifted closer to Brian.
The dog did not like thunderstorms and she was probably confused by what could have been a single clap of thunder. “I’m going to take a look around.”
“What the hell was that?” Joey asked, coming out of the small bedroom in nothing but sleep pants. He’d gone to bed early because—thanks to the fact he’d gotten out of most of the work thus far—he was the one getting up at five in the morning to clean the bathhouses before the campers stirred.
“I’m going to check on things, but probably nothing,” Rob said, and he grabbed a lightweight hoodie off the pegs and a flashlight on his way out.
The campground wasn’t exactly quiet. Some campers were still setting up their sites.
A lot of them were sitting around campfires, telling stories and laughing a little too loud.
For many of them, this was the first outing after a long winter, and Rob and his brothers had decided as long as the vibe stayed positive and quiet hours were respected, they’d only interfere if somebody else complained.
But he could see quite a few of the transient camper sites from the back of the house and nobody seemed particularly alarmed by the sound. Or if they had been, they’d shaken it off already. He’d walk around, though, and make sure nobody looked like they’d been up to no good.
It was dark, and once he entered a section in the trees, it got really dark and he managed to trip over a rock.
Luckily, he didn’t fall, but he did curse under his breath and pull the flashlight out of his pocket.
He didn’t really want to use it since he’d attract a lot more attention, but he also didn’t want to break an ankle.
Movement in his peripheral vision made him pause, and he saw Hannah. She was standing at the end of her camper—out of sight of her neighbors—and when he looked in her direction, she gestured for him to join her. Then she put a finger over her lips to signify he should be quiet.
“Did you hear the boom?” she whispered when he reached her.
He wasn’t sure why Hannah was whispering, but he went along because it gave him an excuse to stand close to her. “That’s why I’m creeping around the campground in the dark.”
“Creeping?” She snorted. “Not so much. But anyway, the boom was courtesy of Red and Blue, and I don’t think they’ll do it again anytime soon.”
He gave her an exaggerated look of alarm. “What did you do to them?”
“I’ll never tell,” she whispered, laying her finger over her lips again. But then she had to cover her mouth with her entire hand to smother a giggle. “Sorry, I shouldn’t joke about that since your brothers think I’m a serial killer.”
“It’s not that they think you are. It’s more like they realized that, statistically speaking, somebody in this campground could be.” She rolled her eyes, but in a cute way. “So anyway, did they blow something up? They didn’t damage your truck or camper, did they?”
She shook her head before nodding toward the chairs and heading that way. That’s when he realized there were two of them.
“Hey, you have two chairs now.”
Even in the dim, yellow glow from her camper’s outside light, he saw a pink flush across her cheeks. “When I was shopping, I grabbed another one in case, you know, I had a guest who wanted to sit down.”
He nodded and sat, but it seemed a little odd that she’d been doing the campground thing for almost a month and only now thought it might be nice to have guest seating. Maybe it was foolish, but he wondered if she’d been hoping he would sit and visit.
Hannah pulled her chair closer to his before sitting down, which he liked. “Basically they poured bug spray into some kind of bottle, put the cap on it and put it in the fire. I’m not sure why.”
Rob chuckled. “Probably for the same reason we did it back in the day—to see what would happen. We never did find the cap.”
“I don’t think they will, either. Not that they’ll have a chance to look for it, because, by the sound of it, they’re grounded until they’re twenty-five.”
“If they continue to follow in our campground footsteps, she’ll get so tired of listening to them be bored, they’ll be ungrounded by lunch tomorrow.”
“I guess since you’ve done the same thing, you won’t be too hard on them?”
“Somehow harmless pranks don’t land the same when you’re the one responsible for the safety and property of everybody in the campground.” He smiled. “I’ll try to keep a straight face while I lecture them, at least. And it can wait until tomorrow.”
“I didn’t want to rat them out, but I know what it sounded like, and I didn’t want you walking around worried about it.”
“I appreciate that.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and sent a thumbs-up emoji to Brian. “Just letting my brother know all is well.”
“It must have startled Stella.”
“Yeah, it did. And she’s not a fan of thunderstorms, so she got anxious, but she’s probably snoring again already.”
“I hate thunderstorms, too,” Hannah said, leaning her head back against her chair. “Mostly because I’m terrified of them. I have been since I was a kid and a tree crashed through our neighbor’s roof. Nobody was hurt, but I could hear her screaming in my room.”