as soon as I got back to the bunkhouse to wash all the cooties off.”
“That’s not very nice, Howie.” Summer didn’t want to make too big a deal of this, but she also didn’t want him to think this behavior was okay.
“I’ll take his piece if he ain’t gonna eat it,” Austin volunteered.
“Isn’t going to eat it,” Summer corrected.
Howie leaned toward Jimbo, making his voice high and girlish. “Isn’t going to eat it,” he mocked.
“Howie.” Summer used a warning tone.
The boy whispered something too low for her to hear it.
“What was that?” she asked.
Howie pointed at her and cackled. “Ms. Summer used the W-H-A-T word. That’s the nerd word.”
The boys fell into a fit of laughter.
“Oo-rah!” Howie yelled, and pumped his fist, which made the boys laugh louder.
“Howie, stop with the disrespect.” Summer’s face heated. She was about to demand an apology when Neil let loose with a whistle and the boys scattered in his direction.
She watched them leave, her mind whirring. The other day Tara had mentioned Howie’s escalating disrespect, and that it always seemed to happen when the men weren’t around.
Well, the boy’s father had probably given him permission to act this way, but it was time he learned some new lessons. He needed fairy princess training in the worst way.
She would bring it up at tonight’s staff meeting, and she’d be watching very closely to Rick’s reaction. That would be the perfect way of judging whether he really got her, or if he just wanted her.
* * *
“SHE SOUNDS BRAND-NEW, Charlie.” Summer gave a thumbs-up to the steady purr of the old bus’s motor.
Charlie nodded. “Told ya. Ginny’s nephew might not be the sharpest tack in the box, but he’s a top-notch mechanic. We’ll get her painted before next year. He says he can do that, too.”
When her parents told her they’d purchased an old school bus for the camp, Summer thought it was a frivolous expense. But now she had to admit, it was a great idea. The area around Kentucky Lake was teeming with educational experiences for the kids, and the field trips they’d planned would be nice breaks from the same old surroundings.
Rick had arranged this first one. Some friends of his who lived not too far away—the same people Sheriff Blaine had referred to yesterday morning—owned a piece of land that contained a cave inhabited by some rare kind of bat. The Brennans agreed to host the camp kids for the evening on a bat-sighting adventure.
Summer swung the door open as the boys approached the bus.
Neil got on first. “Huhh!” He grabbed his chest in feigned terror when he saw Summer at the wheel.
“Don’t.” She gave him a no-nonsense look. The male counselors needed to be careful of the messages they were sending, too.
Carlos and Jimbo got on after Neil, and then Howie came up the steps. “Ick! A girl bus driver?”
“Girls can do anything boys can, Howie, and I’m not a girl. I’m a woman.” Summer flipped her thumb over her shoulder. “You’re holding up the line. Keep moving. All the way to the back.”
The rest of the boys found seats quickly. Rick was the last one to get on.
His shocked look wasn’t faked. His eyes went big, and jumped from Summer to Charlie and back. “You’re driving us?” His tone echoed disbelief.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake.” Summer raised an indignant eyebrow and nodded. “Y’all could all use some serious fairy princess training.”
“Here, Rick.” Charlie vacated the seat behind the driver and moved across the aisle to sit with Ginny. “You sit there, so you can give Summer directions.”
Rick leaned forward, keeping his voice low. “You really know how to drive one of these?”
Summer rolled her eyes and slipped the gearshift to Reverse. “I drove an old school bus for a tour company on Cape Cod for two summers. This one’s a Cadillac compared to those.”
As the girls started a loud rendition of the Sunny Daze camp song, she made eye contact with Rick in the rearview mirror and watched his mouth rise at one end. He leaned closer. “Something you left out last night?”
“Oh, I left out a lot last night.” She backed up enough to get out of the parking space, shifted into First and eased the bus down the drive. “Now, which way do I turn?”
The girls continued to sing, but the boys didn’t join in. She couldn’t lay all the blame on the men. It was probably as much her fault as it was theirs since she and Rick