Chapter Twenty #2
But on the other hand, it was painful. For almost two months, he’d had Hannah all to himself, as if she existed in a vacuum. In theory, he knew she had family and friends and her career in California, but in reality, she’d just been a captivating, amazing woman who was alone on site twenty-nine.
Seeing her with Erika really drove home that Hannah had a full life somewhere else that he knew nothing about.
Then Hannah turned, clearly looking for him. He waved so the movement would catch her eye, and he knew the moment she spotted him because of the smile. Even from a distance, it took his breath away.
They sat at the picnic table and ate trail mix and chocolate. He gave them bottles of water, which they both started guzzling.
“Um, so one thing I didn’t mention,” he said. “There’s a roll of toilet paper in a plastic bag in the side-by-side’s storage box if you need it.”
They both lowered their drinks, staring at him.
“Why do we need a roll of toilet paper?” Erika asked in a higher-than-usual voice.
Hannah screwed the top back on her bottle. “We haven’t really passed any bathrooms in the woods, have we?”
If Erika shook her head any harder, she probably would have fallen off the picnic table bench. “I’m pretty sure you and I very recently had a conversation about how we don’t pee with our butts hanging over logs to get bitten by bugs. It was a hard no, Hannah.”
She held up her hands, laughing. “I didn’t choose this adventure. You did.”
“How much longer is the ride?” Erika asked Rob.
He shrugged. “If we head back now, it’ll be the same amount of time it took us to get here. Just in reverse.”
“Okay.” She appeared to do some mental calculations and then took a long swig of the water before putting the cap back on. “I can hold it that long.”
“Unless we hit a bump really hard,” Hannah said, and Rob laughed when Erika threw a nut from the trail mix at her.
“I’m going to go take a quick walk through the woods,” he said. “Then I’ll be ready to go when you are.”
“Show off,” Hannah shouted as he disappeared into the trees.
“Hopefully not,” he called back, and he could hear her laughing as he looked for a discreet spot to water a tree.
When he got back, the women had stowed the bottles and snacks, and they both had their helmets on, though Hannah’s wasn’t buckled. She was a pretty quick study, so he was starting to think she wasn’t even trying to figure it out because she wanted a reason for him to touch her.
He definitely approved.
While he didn’t want to switch the seating around, Rob knew how to be a good host. And being one of four kids, he was a veteran of the who-gets-the-front-seat wars—which he never won, of course, being the youngest. “Hey, Erika, I think it’s your turn to ride in the front now.”
She tipped her head toward Hannah. “Carsick, remember?”
“Right.” Once Erika was in, he walked over to help Hannah buckle her helmet. “Sorry, I forgot you have to sit in the front.”
She tipped her head back so he could get to the buckle, and he took his time grazing his knuckles along her jawline.
“Yeah, about that. It’s not true, but nobody’s ever caught on to the fact it comes and goes depending on the situation.
I want to sit in front with you, so yeah—I’ll get carsick in the back seat. ”
“I like the way you think.” He finished with the buckle and sighed. “Maybe I should have tried that when I was a kid.”
“I’ve met your brothers and I’m pretty sure they would have just put a bucket in your lap and turned the radio up.”
They were still chuckling over that visual when Erika yelled at them to hurry up because not being able to pee was making her have to pee.
When Rob pulled the side-by-side alongside the store and cut off the engine, Hannah had mixed feelings. On the one hand, she’d been having a great time and would have been happy to stay out longer. But on the other hand, she was going to have to pee soon and she was glad to be out of the woods.
He helped them climb out of the machine, and they both took their helmets off. She looked at Erika and burst into laughter. “Is my face as dirty as yours?”
“Totally. And this is the dirtiest I’ve ever been in my life. I think I even have dirt in my mouth.” She grimaced and then pulled out the neck of her shirt, looking down. “Yeah, there’s dirt in my bra. In my bra, Hannah. I have dirty boobs right now.”
Hannah laughed, not only at her friend’s distress, but because Rob was trying so hard not to react to what Erika was saying. His lips were pressed together, but she could see the tilt at the corners, and his eyes were sparkling when their gazes locked.
“Are your boobs dirty, Hannah?” Erika demanded, and Rob covered his mouth as his shoulders jerked with the effort to stifle a laugh. He turned away, suddenly very busy doing something with the side-by-side.
“We were on the same ride, so probably. I’m not going to show you right now, though.”
“Why not? He’s seen your boobs already.”
Rob’s head whipped around and Hannah cringed. So much for Erika not embarrassing her.
“Sorry,” Erika said, noticing Rob’s reaction. “She told me you guys are having a summer fling, but I’m her bestie, so it’s okay. I won’t tell anybody else.”
Hannah wanted this conversation to take a hard turn away from her relationship with Rob. “I’m not going to show you right now because you never know when a campground might have doorbells that spy on you.”
Erika frowned. “Doesn’t everybody have those doorbells now?”
Hannah laughed, her hand on her stomach because she couldn’t remember the last time she’d laughed until tears streamed down her cheeks and her stomach muscles ached, but she had all afternoon.
The way Erika screamed when Rob drifted the machine around a mud corner or plowed through a puddle, sending up sprays of mud and water, had cracked her up. Of course, that only encouraged Rob.
“No laughing,” Erika said sternly. “I have to pee.”
“Me, too.” Hannah turned to Rob. “Do you need help cleaning this stuff and putting it away? Where do the helmets go?”
“I’ve got it.”
“Thank you for today. I didn’t think I was going to like it very much, but it was really fun. And that view was special. That’s where you used to have picnics with your whole family when you were a kid, right?”
His smile was full of happy nostalgia. “Yeah, with one of those little grills and everything. I thought you might like it up there.”
“I have to pee,” Erika reminded her in a voice that told Hannah it was no longer a theoretical problem.
She wanted to tell her to just use the bathroom in the store, but they were filthy. And she knew other people used it anyway, but she didn’t want them making a mess the guys would have to clean up, especially after Rob had taken them for a ride.
“Go,” Rob said. “Get cleaned up and relax. I’ll see you around.”
When they reached her site, Hannah realized they were way too dirty to go in the camper.
If it belonged to her, she might have done it, but it belonged to her parents.
And she knew neither of them were going to strip down to their underwear outside.
So they went to the bathhouse on the hill because she knew there was a broom in the corner and she’d be able to sweep up the dirt they tracked in.
After they’d both used the bathroom, Hannah took the broom outside and they brushed as much of the loose dirt and mud off of each other as they could.
“These are going to make a mess of my carry-on,” Erika said, looking down at herself. “My little laundry bag wasn’t designed for this.”
“After we shower and change, we can do a load of laundry.”
Several hours later, with the laundry done and dinner eaten, Hannah held Erika to her promise of sitting by the campfire, making s’mores.
Hannah had already eaten two by the time Erika managed to toast a marshmallow. Her first attempt turned into a flaming ball of blackened sugar that she barely refrained from flinging into the side of the camper. Her second was almost perfect when it slid off the stick and into the fire.
“This shouldn’t be so hard,” she muttered.
“Worth it, though,” Hannah said, licking melted marshmallow from her fingers. “Once in a while. They’re a lot of work and usually I just eat the chocolate bar and leave the rest.”
She heard rustling in the area of the rental and some familiar whispers. “Boys, do you want to make s’mores? If you do, ask your mom if it’s okay.”
In her mind, the boys would go to their mother and ask permission. In reality, they bellowed the question at the same time and Melissa yelled back that they could if they were invited, but only one each or she’d have to duct-tape them to their beds.
When the Scott boys arrived at the fire, Hannah introduced them by name and by nickname, and then gave them each a marshmallow stick.
This was the third time they’d been over for s’mores and they had a lot of experience making them, so other than ensuring they didn’t get too close to the fire, Hannah could just sit back and watch.
And once they were done eating them, she was very grateful they’d be going in their own camper and not hers. How two boys could get so much marshmallow and chocolate on themselves from one s’more each was a mystery.
“Do you guys ever swap colors, just to mess with people?” Erika asked. When both boys shook their heads, she gave them a skeptical look. “Really? Isn’t that a thing twins do?”
“Mom said we better not,” Blue replied. “Because the only way to tell us apart is the birthmark on my private parts, and she said if she ever even thinks we switched, she’ll drop our drawers right then and there.”
“Oh.” Erika nodded. “You definitely don’t want to try that prank, then.”
They heard Melissa call for the boys, who took off at a run yelling thank-yous over their shoulders. Hannah watched them go, wishing she had a fraction of their energy right now.
“So they put a family with kids next to a woman camping alone?” Erika asked, fortunately in a low voice that wouldn’t carry. “There should be, like, a family section and an adults-only section.”
Hannah laughed. “Trust me, I’ve got it good here. I remember some campgrounds we went to as a family that were overrun with kids and they had no boundaries. My mom got in a huge argument with another mom one day because some kids unhooked our water hose and stole our marshmallow sticks.”
“I think I’m a hotel kind of person.”
“You definitely are,” Hannah agreed, and they both laughed. “But they’re good kids. High energy, for sure, but I like them. The whole family, actually. Trust me, I could have ended up with worse neighbors in this place.”
“But twins. Can you imagine? I mean, I can’t even imagine having kids at all yet, but when it’s time, I hope they come one at a time. You know how I am at multitasking.”
Hannah chuckled because it was rare for Erika to admit that while she rarely focused on one thing—or even five—at a time, multitasking wasn’t one of her stronger skills.
“Can you imagine us with kids, Hannah?”
An image of a little boy with dark hair and Kowalski blue eyes filled Hannah’s mind, and she shook her head while managing a weak smile.
“Anyway, I can’t wait for you to get back to California so we can get back to work and work toward whatever goals we decide on before it’s time to settle down.”