His brain kept telling him to let go, but she felt so good that his arms wouldn’t obey. Obviously, it didn’t feel good to her. The way she’d jerked away...
“We put germs in them.” Lucy’s comment brought him back to the present.
Tara laughed. “Wheat germ,” she explained. “Summer’s fairy princess recipes are all made with organic ingredients. She teaches kids how to eat healthy at her parties.” She pointed to the tray, still piled high. “As cookies go, these are about as healthy as you can get.”
Rick took another bite, chewing carefully as he thought about what Tara just said.
“For the parties,” Tara continued, “she makes carrot cake and zucchini cake for the cupcakes. All organic, of course. And her brownie recipe even has broccoli in it, if you can imagine such a thing.”
The admiration in Tara’s voice flavored Rick’s next bite. He’d assumed Summer’s parties were just frivolous fun. He hadn’t considered there could be any meaningful agenda.
Could it be he’d underestimated her?
Maybe, but the revelation still didn’t take away his annoyance from their meeting that afternoon. Sure as hell, she’d gone to the office to talk to Charlie about him. One thing about her—she didn’t try to hide anything. She’d been quite blatant and unapologetic about her dislike for him.
“Can we play hide-and-seek?” Howie asked the same question every night.
Rick looked at his watch. They had about fifteen minutes to kill. “Yep. Tonight we have time for some hide-and-seek.”
“Yeah!” Howie pumped his fisted hand in a triumphant gesture. “The girls have to be ‘it’ this time.”
The girls huddled in a circle with their eyes closed as the boys scurried to hide.
Rick enjoyed a few more cookies while the kids played. When he saw Charlie veer off the path from Summer’s cabin toward his office, he hurried to catch up. “How’s Summer?”
“Oh, she’ll be fine...but I’m not sure I’ll be okay.” The grimace on Charlie’s face made the words seem painful.
“What do you mean?”
Charlie shook his head. “I’m not sure she’s cut out to do this kind of work, Rick. She doesn’t have any control over the girls. She lets ’em run wild, just like she’s always done.”
“She’s good with the kids, Charlie.” Rick could hardly believe those words came out of his mouth after the fast one she’d tried to pull this afternoon. But it was true. She was good with the kids—just not much of a disciplinarian. Maybe she could learn. “She has some great ideas and imaginative activities.”
Charlie peered at him through half-closed eyes as though he didn’t recognize who he was talking to.
“I believe I can help her in the discipline department.”
Charlie’s lips pulled into a wry half smile. “She doesn’t know the meaning of the word.”
“I’ll work with her.” Rick wasn’t sure why this was suddenly so important to him. Perhaps it was the challenge involved. Or maybe he wanted to believe that second chances made a difference. If he’d had a second chance with Dunk...
“I tell ya, Rick. I love Summer like a daughter, but I’m not sure Herschel and Agnes did her any favors supporting her every whim.” Charlie gave a sad shrug and continued on his way to his office.
Rick turned back to Summer’s cabin, trying to imagine the conversation that had just taken place inside those walls. What could he do to help her? Would she even accept any help he offered?
“We can’t find Howie.”
Rick’s attention snapped back at the sound of Neil’s voice. “All the rest of the boys have been found, but Howie’s still hiding, and it’s time to go in.”
Rick walked back to the circle. “Any of you guys see which direction Howie went?” All the heads shook in unison.
Rick felt a tug on his sleeve. He looked down into the large, brown eyes of M&M.
“Just call ‘Olly, Olly, in come free,’ Mr. Rick.”
The words drifted back to him from summer nights of his childhood. “Olly, Olly, in come free!” he called. “That means you win, Howie. Come on in.”
A delighted war whoop floated down from somewhere up above.
Rick felt his jaw drop as Howie came clambering down from the top of a nearby pine tree. He’d have to give the little twerp another lecture on safety.
And he’d have to convince Spitfire Summer to accept his help.
Of the two, the former sounded more doable.
CHAPTER SEVEN
SUMMER SAT AT THE TOP OF THE circle dressed as her fairy princess persona. The girls had been inordinately quiet since she came in, although a couple found the voice to apologize for