She's Got a Way (Echo Lake #3) - Maggie McGinnis Page 0,35
T-shirt and jeans combo, this time with a Red Sox hat turned backward, and she swallowed hard. She’d always thought she liked clean-shaven men best, but apparently she’d never spent much time with someone who rocked a five o’clock shadow quite so well.
“You going to stand there all morning, or come sit down?” He didn’t move a muscle besides his mouth—just kept sipping his coffee and staring out at the lake.
She took a deep breath, heading to the empty chair and sitting down beside him. “Thanks for making coffee.”
“Can’t start my day without it. Noticed you can’t, either.”
“No, I can’t. And I think you’ve already converted me to your brand.”
“No-brainer.” He shrugged, smiling. “Girls a little tired?”
“More exhausted than I’ve ever seen them, yes.”
“Amazing what a couple of days of hard labor can do, hm?”
She sipped her coffee, not sure how to answer. Yes, working them till they were bone tired every day was an effective way to prevent them from having the energy to bother getting into trouble, but her worry was that she wasn’t sure it was one that would stick with them after they were done here at Camp Echo. Dorm life at Briarwood was hardly comparable. As soon as they were back there, she was afraid they’d fall back into the same routines, the same lulls, the same petty conflicts.
He looked over. “You don’t agree?”
“I agree that it’s working currently.”
“But you don’t think it will continue to?”
“Have you ever heard of the honeymoon period, Luke?”
He smiled. “Enlighten me.”
“This is all new—the setting, the work … you.” Gabi waved a vague hand. “Even though they hate the manual labor, they’re doing what you’re asking, but I’m not confident that this will continue long term. The bathroom is a serious carrot you’re holding in your hand, but once that’s up and done, I don’t know whether this cooperation thing will continue. Challenging authority is what these girls do best. They’re bound to crack.”
He nodded. “Huh. So I’m not a miracle worker who’s converted them all in a week flat? Damn.”
“Fine.” She had to smile. “So you’re not delusional.”
“Not usually. So what do you suggest we do?”
“I suggest we don’t take our eyes off them for a minute. They have an escapist history … but I guess you know that.”
He looked out at the lake, then back at the forest edging into the camp’s central area. “Gabi, they do know how dangerous it could be to take off from here, right?”
“They must.”
“Do they? Really?”
She sighed. “I don’t know. I would hope so. I’d hope they’d be petrified to try it, but these are the girls who made exceptionally stupid decisions together not too long ago. Not sure I trust their groupthink.”
“Okay.” He nodded, thoughtful. “I have an idea. Let’s get ahead of them, then. Maybe we’ll take a construction break today. How’s a hike sound?”
Gabi cringed, picturing every single muscle in her body still screaming in protest from the work of the past couple of days. It was mortifying how out of shape she’d let herself become, sitting in her little dorm apartment all winter long.
“Honestly? Sounds like ow right now.”
He laughed. “Hikes are good for loosening up sore muscles.”
“How’s a hike going to convince the girls not to take off in the dead of night?”
“Easy. I’m going to spend a lot of time pointing out all the signs of all the wildlife that roams through here in the dark.”
Gabi shivered, and he laughed again.
“Also, I think it’d be a good idea to teach them some basic survival skills, so if they get some cockeyed notion to go off by themselves, at least they won’t die … as quickly, anyway.”
“That’s comforting, Luke.”
He shrugged. “Not saying they will or won’t—take off, I mean, not die—but they’ve got a history, and we’ve got a responsibility. If they bolt on our watch, whose head’s it gonna be on?” He paused, looking intently at her. “I have a feeling, based on your presence here, you already know how that goes down.”
* * *
“See that?” Three hours later, Luke pulled up short and pointed at a tree, making all of the girls grumble. They’d been hiking for two hours already, and even Gabi was tiring of the endless encyclopedia of wilderness information Luke was doling out.
Her head was spinning with the parade of don’t-eat-this and do-eat-this and don’t-burn-this and do-drink-this items in Luke’s repertoire, and though she was pretty impressed with his knowledge, she was afraid if push came to shove, she’d stare at