put up both hands. “I don’t know the person who made these arrangements, and I don’t know what you all did to end up here, but what we’ve got is what we’ve got. Nobody at Briarwood would have been told there were cabins or restrooms. We’ve got tents and outhouses. The only reason the dining hall is an actual building is because the health department requires floors and windows where you serve food.”
“Charming.”
“Piper said she made some—what did she call them?—female adjustments inside. I don’t know what that means, and I don’t want to, but they should be fine for your girls. There are two stalls, two doors, and five of you. This is what camping’s all about, Gabi. You’re lucky you don’t have to teach them how to go out to the woods to deal with things.”
“Even more charming, thank you.” Gabi put her hands on her hips, looking around in consternation. She did know the person who’d made these arrangements—knew her very well—and she could imagine the abject glee Priscilla was feeling right now as she sat in her first-class seat sipping white wine, picturing Gabi arriving at this camp where there were no cabins, no real bathrooms, and no—
“Wait a minute. Where will we shower?”
Luke hooked a thumb toward the lake. “In there.”
“Not funny.”
“Not lying.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You know what? If the construction crew hadn’t rolled up to our dorm the moment we pulled out, I’d be tempted to load the girls right back in the van and head back tonight.”
He shrugged, like he couldn’t care less what she did, and somehow that made her even angrier. “Your call.”
She sighed, picturing the hard-hat signs tacked up on the doorways. Dammit. She was so stuck.
Gabi eyed him for a long moment, knowing he was hoping she’d do exactly that—give up on this stupid camp before she’d been here a whole hour. He was obviously pissed that she and the girls were crashing his summer, and probably there’d be nothing he’d like better than to see them turn around and head right back to Briarwood. He’d obviously pegged them as prissy rich chicks who couldn’t handle his camp, anyway, so their departure would just prove it.
For some reason, that ticked her off more than the rest of the situation, which was really saying something at this point.
“We’ll be staying, thank you.” She felt her chin rise. The girls would build the damn tent. And she would help them. They’d figure out the bathroom situation later. “If you could show me to the storage shed and point me to the tent pieces, we’ll get started.”
“Gladly.” He paused, then turned to head back up the pathway. As she followed him, Gabi looked around, seeing nothing but trees.
“So where’s your tent?”
He smiled, turning toward her with a wink. “I have a cabin.”
* * *
“Okay, let’s lay out all of the pieces and see if we can make sense of this.” Gabi pointed to a pile of poles twenty minutes later. “Waverly and Sam, how about you group the poles by size, and Madison and Eve, you spread out the canvas?”
“I’m not touching that.” Madison shook her head and crossed her arms. “Who knows where it’s been?”
“It’s been in a storage shed. That’s where it’s been.” Gabi pointed. “Now spread it out.”
Madison let out a disgusted sigh. “Do we have gloves or anything? Eww. My father will be furious if he hears about this.”
“You really think so?” Gabi raised her eyebrows. “Madison, want to know something I know about this current situation?”
“No. Not really.” Madison pointed at the pile of canvas. “Because clearly, you knew shit about this entire situation.”
Gabi nodded, seeing Eve’s eyes go wide at Madison’s words. “I’ll give you that, actually. And I’ll excuse the language and attitude this one time because we’re all exhausted and out of our element. But here’s the thing. Guess who did know exactly what we were in for here?”
Sam snorted. “Pritch-bitch, that’s who.”
“Exactly. And stop calling her that. But guess who else knew?” Gabi let her eyes land on each of the girls. “Every single one of your parents or guardians. Priscilla would have had to be honest with them, and would have needed their approval.”
She let the words sink in for a moment. Then she smiled tightly. “They all gave it, or we wouldn’t be here right now.”
“Impossible.” Waverly’s voice was small. “My mother was completely freaked about the whole thing. She said she didn’t approve it at all.”
“Sorry, Waverly. She did.”