Summer's End (Wildflowers #5) - Jill Sanders Page 0,28
a hat. That was one of the things he liked so much about her.
Even though she looked and acted high society, she could easily have an impromptu swim at the beach or a hike through the woods before stepping into a ballroom dressed in expensive silk and hobnobbing with the rich and famous.
“Does it bother you?” he asked her. “That your friends know?”
She shifted slightly as if thinking and then shook her head. “I guess I’ve gotten over it. I mean, for the past three years or so I’ve been living in fear. I guess you can say it’s like a weight that’s been lifted.”
He nodded. “Okay, so we’re out in the open. What next?”
“Does there have to be anything?” she asked. “I mean, we’ve agreed that—”
“We never agreed. You broke things off. I had no choice in the matter.” Now he was pacing. He was still hot and sticky from crawling under one of the older cabins where the plumbing had busted. He needed a shower and his bed. Instead, he was looking at least another hour thanks to the sink in the guest bathroom of the main building.
The buildings around the campground were old. Very old. He’d done what he could to get them up and running three years ago, but now a lot of the old pipes needed work. He hated to bring the troubles to Elle and her gang since they were busy planning weddings.
“No, I supposed you never agreed.” She sighed and glanced off towards the dining hall when music started playing in the distance. “I have…” She motioned towards the building.
“Yeah, me too.” He nodded and felt defeated once more. What would it take to get through to her? “How about we meet up later to finish this?”
She instantly started to shake her head, but then stopped. “The beach? Eleven o’clock.” She moved back towards the building.
He thought about how tired he was but then realized he didn’t care about sleep and nodded quickly. “See you there.”
While he worked on the sink, he heard the roaring party going on next door. When he was done replacing the faulty faucet, he poked his head in the door and watched for a few minutes as Aubrey and her friends moved around the guests as if they were born for their jobs.
Did she know that even though she was trying to avoid the L word, it filled every part of her day?
She loved her friends, the camp, and her job, and he knew it was only a matter of time before she owned up to the fact that she loved him.
Why else would she have kept him around all this time? He’d known for a while now that he’d fallen hard for her. It was obvious months after they’d started their strange relationship.
Of course, he’d tried to deny it since he’d been burned before. But shortly after the camp had opened its doors, he’d owned up to his feelings. At least to himself, since he knew how Aubrey would react. Which is why he’d made a point to keep the L word out of his life as much as possible.
He headed back to his place, showered, and changed into some fresh clothes. He cooked himself dinner for once and watched a few minutes of the game before falling fast asleep on the sofa.
His phone ringing woke him hours later. He was so groggy he didn’t know where he was for a moment.
“Yeah?” he answered, then cursed himself as realization dawned on him. It was a quarter past eleven. Jumping up, he tripped over his shoes and cursed.
“I fell asleep.” He sighed. “I guess it was a longer day than I thought.”
“No problem. Why don’t you open the door and let me in. We can have that talk inside.”
He rushed to the door and yanked it open. Aubrey stood outside, holding an umbrella. “It wouldn’t have worked anyway. The rain started about half an hour ago.” She shook the umbrella off and laughed as she stepped inside.
She’d changed clothes as well. Now she wore jeans and a blue T-shirt. Her long red hair was twisted in an intricate braid and was still wet from either the rain or a shower.
She looked just as lovely as she had in silk and lace.
“You got a new sofa,” she said, moving into the living area.
“Yeah, finally.” He switched off the television, tossing the remote down and turning back towards her. “Hungry?”