She's Got a Way (Echo Lake #3) - Maggie McGinnis Page 0,39
up as well, followed by Waverly.
Gabi sighed. “An-nd we’re back.”
“Nah.” Luke sipped his coffee. “Leave it to me.”
“That phrase should really, really scare me.”
He turned off the griddle and tossed the spatula into the soapy sink. “Piper said you need to do some laundry? And that you don’t care to use the lake? Which I can hardly believe?”
Gabi smiled. “Yes. We have piles of laundry. And no, I have no desire to wash clothing in the lake. Piper said I could use her washer and dryer this morning, but that would mean leaving the girls with you.”
“And you’re not sure that’s a good idea?”
“Well … I’m more afraid that it’s an incredible imposition.”
“You afraid for them? Or for me?”
She laughed. “Little bit of both, maybe?”
“Understandable.” He shrugged, pointing out the window to where the bathroom stood framed on its cement pad. “I’ve got eyes enough to watch them, and Oliver’s here to call 911 if somebody slices off a finger. We’re good to go.”
Gabi took a deep breath. “Do you try to be like this?”
“Nope.” Luke winked. “We’re fine. Go do laundry. Have lunch in town. Take a break, Gabi. I imagine you don’t get too many of those.”
The tone of his voice was sweet, caring … almost affectionate, and Gabi wasn’t sure how to react. One week ago he’d stood beside the van with his arms crossed, obviously wishing he could turn them right around and send them back to Briarwood, and today? He was practically ordering her to go do something nice for herself while he did her job.
“Are you sure? I still have a thing about power tools. Just saying.”
He patted her shoulder gently. “I know you’re paid to be a worrywart, but I officially give you permission to stop. They won’t get hurt. And if they do, we have hospitals.”
“Luke.”
“Go, Gabi. We’ll be fine, and just think—tonight? You’ll have a bathroom.”
She turned toward her little crew, but before she could open her mouth to give them the list of dos and don’ts for while she was gone, Sam put up a hand to stop her.
“We know. Just go.”
Luke laughed, then covered his mouth. “Sorry.”
“Fine.” She smiled. “I’m gone. I’ll expect running water when I get back, girls.”
They mock saluted as she headed out the door, but she stopped on the third step. With a sigh, she headed back up the stairs and poked her head through the door.
“Luke? Any chance you could tell me where Piper lives?”
* * *
“I never thought a hot shower could feel so good.” Gabi walked into Piper’s living room, toweling her hair off. “Thank you so much.”
“You’re so welcome.” Piper handed her a cup of coffee. “Come sit on my deck. I have a whole two hours off, and I intend to spend it sitting on my butt beside the river.”
Gabi laughed. Piper’s condo was in a riverfront building that had housed a tiny mill, long ago. Its walls were aged brick, and sturdy wooden beams outlined the tall ceilings. The river-facing wall was almost entirely glass, and with the French doors open, the cascading water made a soothing, hypnotic sound.
They settled on lounge chairs, and Gabi let her head fall back, eyes closed. Yes, the camp cots were more comfortable than the plywood floor of the tent, but still. Cots left a lot to be desired. She was pretty sure, given ten straight minutes, she could fall asleep right here on Piper’s chair.
She opened her eyes, lest she do exactly that. “I don’t know how you ever leave your house, Piper.”
“I know.” Piper nodded. “Someday Noah and I will build a log cabin on a hill, but for now, this is pretty perfect.”
“It’d be hard to give up, even for a house on the hill.”
“Well, we almost had a house on the lake, right next to Camp Echo, but that went up in a poof of regulatory smoke.”
“Oh, no. What happened?”
Piper set down her mug. “When Noah moved here, he and Luke had this grand plan to buy the property next to the camp. They were going to turn it into a corporate team-building type of place, where leadership teams would come and find their Zen by doing all of these high-risk activities and stuff.”
“Sounds intriguing.” Gabi sipped her coffee, picturing Luke working with corporate clients the way he’d been leading her girls the past few days.
“It was. Or it would have been. They were this close to signing the paperwork last spring when a title search turned up something