in mock surrender as Gabi sent a scorching glare her way.
After they’d disappeared inside the equipment shed, Gabi put her fingers to her eyes, trying to stop the frustrated tears that were wanting so badly to break free. She wished she could believe the rest of the summer was going to get better, but her confidence was fading fast.
Oliver’s words echoed in her head, and she blew out a long breath, picturing Luke sitting beside her at the lake last night.
Maybe it was time to ask for help.
She watched the girls jostle each other out of the shed, carrying poles and canvas, then dropping the whole pile in a noisy clatter and squawking about who’d let go first.
She put her hands to her ears, closing her eyes as she turned toward the lake and counted ten deep breaths. Once they put up the tent—if they put up the tent—she was going to march them up to the garden area and give them each a hoe, a shovel, and a quadrant of dirt to turn into plantable soil.
And tomorrow, after she’d had time to gather her thoughts and figure out how to request assistance without feeling like a dismal failure, she’d talk to Luke.
Chapter 9
The next morning, Gabi jumped when Luke pushed open the door of the dining hall, despite the fact that she’d been waiting for him. She’d tried to get up earlier than he did so she could at least make him coffee before she begged for help, but even though she’d slid out of her sleeping bag at the crack of dawn, she’d still barely beat him to the coffeemaker.
“You’re up early. No more skunks?”
She looked at him in his clean T-shirt, hair damp from the shower, a dab of shaving cream near his ear, and tried not to find him adorable. She barely knew him, for God’s sake. She shouldn’t be using the term “adorable,” even casually.
She’d been the queen of fall-fast-fall-hard-fall-stupid for a long time now, even after she’d identified her own ridiculous pattern. It was mortally embarrassing just how stupid she’d been a few times, and “adorable” had no place on her vocab list right now.
This looking at him in the morning sunlight and wondering what the planes of his chest might look like without his T-shirt? It was just … a bad habit, not attraction. Not real attraction, anyway. He was here, he was hot, and he pressed the fall-fast button perfectly. If she let herself get drawn in by his deep green eyes and that damn dimple, she’d head right into fall-hard territory.
And inevitably, the stupid part would follow.
He’d reveal an irresistible sense of humor, he’d be a great kisser … he’d have a kitten back at his cabin that revealed his softer side. And she’d be a goner.
“Gabi?”
She shook her head, clearing the vision. What had he asked her? “I’m sorry, what?”
He raised his eyebrows like he’d seen every thought that had just flown through her head. “Skunks. Just asking if you’d seen any more critters last night.”
“Um, no. None. Pretty sure the girls swept out every piece of dust that could be mistaken as a crumb.”
“Good. Hard lesson to learn, but a good one. Could have been a bear.”
Gabi shivered. “Thank you. I need to have that on my mind right now.”
He filled a coffee mug, then motioned toward the door. “Want to come sit by the lake for a few minutes before the princess posse awakens?”
She paused. Would it be easier to have the conversation she’d practiced down by the water? Or here in the dining hall?
She shook her head internally. It didn’t matter. No matter where they were, it wasn’t going to be easy. She followed him out the door and down the wooden steps, inhaling the woodsy scent of pines and moss. Even through her anxiety, she already loved this time of the day at Echo Lake.
In the morning light, with wisps of fog lifting off the lake, it looked like they’d stepped into a magical summer wonderland, rather than a run-down, has-been summer camp. As they walked over the dewy grass to the water’s edge, she looked around, trying to appreciate the beauty of the setting, even though the distinct scent of skunk still lingered in the air.
Or maybe she was still carrying it with her, despite three lake shampoos yesterday.
Echo Lake stretched for what looked like a mile or so across, and the camp property was nestled in a sandy cove surrounded by the tallest pines