“Well, it sure sounded like an emergency.”
“I don’t buy it. They never intended to run this place as a boys’ camp, and this is their first step toward reneging on that promise. I’d bet my new handyman salary on it.”
Oliver rolled his eyes. “You’re the only one calling yourself that, Luke.”
Luke laughed, short and bitter. “Well, I went from running programs for a hundred needy kids every summer to working my way through an endless project list in an empty camp. It’s not much of a stretch.”
He sighed. He’d designed challenge-based programs for at-risk kids for ten years now under Oliver’s tutelage, and he was damn good at it, because he’d worked his ass off to get there. His own history gave him an auto-in with a lot of the boys, and helping them learn to give a shit about themselves and their futures was a job he took very, very seriously.
It was the best lesson Oliver had ever imparted, and it had started the moment Luke had walked onto Camp Echo property as an angry foster kid determined to make everyone hate him, because it was easier. You knew where you stood.
He knew exactly where these kids could end up without his help, and he didn’t want that for anyone. Been there, done that, had the scars to prove it.
He looked out at the lake, where a couple of little sailboats struggled to find a wisp of a breeze. “So what do we do?”
“We welcome them when they get here, we show them where everything is, and then we go on about our merry ways, doing the jobs we’re supposed to be doing for the summer. The fact that four Briarwood girls snuck off campus and got themselves into this situation isn’t our problem.”
“You’re going to stick to that?” Luke raised his eyebrows. “You’re not going to go all sympathetic when it’s clear that this housemother person is completely out of her Briarwood element here?”
“We don’t know that she will be.”
“Seriously.”
“Fine. She’ll be completely out of her element.” Oliver put up his hands. “But she can figure it out. I’m sure she’ll have a plan by the time she gets here.”
“And if she doesn’t?”
“Then we give her a week to flounder, and we send them home.”
Luke sighed. “You sure we’re not being pranked? Not about to be the victims of some new reality show where they send mini-princesses into the wilderness to see who lives through the summer?”
“At this point, I’d believe just about anything.”
“Well, I’ll tell you this—if that Briarwood limo pulls in here with a camera van in tow, I’m outta here.”
“Fair enough.” Oliver shook his head. “But you’re gonna have to move pretty fast to beat me out the gate.”
Chapter 2
A week later, Luke strode into the dining hall, two fur balls at his heels, annoyance speeding his steps.
Piper Bellini, temporary camp cook, popped her head up from among a pile of boxes in the kitchen, took one look at his face, and slid back down behind them.
He rolled his eyes. “Shut up, Piper.”
She popped back up. “I didn’t say anything!”
“You didn’t have to.”
“So you already know you look like you’re about to kill somebody?” She pointed at the dogs. “Health department will freak if they know you let them in here, you know.”
Luke looked down at the pups circling his feet, still not quite sure how he’d ended up with them. Six months ago, he’d had an old black Lab who’d followed him everywhere, but a month after Duke had died in his sleep, these little puffballs posing as dogs had shown up on his porch.
Piper reached down to pick up one of them, motioning Luke and the other one out of the kitchen area. “Is this Thing 1? Or Thing 2? And also, when do they get their real names?”
“I’ve been thinking, okay? How about Ding and Dong?”
She laughed as she covered the dog’s little ears. “Not nice.”
“Ping and Pong? Riff and Raff?”
“Wow. You really are in a mood.” Piper set the dog down and motioned for Luke to sit down at one of the long indoor picnic tables she’d painted last weekend. She was an art therapist by day, waitress in her family’s restaurant by night, and wielded a mean paintbrush when she wasn’t doing the other things. When Luke had called her last Friday about doing some emergency spiff-ups, she’d arrived within an hour, her fiancé Noah’s truck loaded with a rainbow of paint cans.
She picked up the other dog and cuddled it under her chin. “So when are the preppy chicks arriving?”
He rolled his eyes. “Four hours.”
“You have tents ready?”
“I’ve got a tent ready. But they’re going to have to put it up.”
Piper smiled widely. “That ought to be fun to watch. How about a bathroom and shower?”
“We have a perfectly good outhouse. And a lake. If they want a bathroom, then they can build a damn bathroom. It’s on the project list, anyway.”
Piper stopped petting the dog. “It’s good that you’re not at all bitter here.”
“Oh, I passed bitter just about the time Oliver had to sign the sale papers, Piper. This place should be busting at the seams with obnoxious boys right now.”
“Is there any hope that you’re—you know—wrong? That maybe Briarwood really is planning to keep this place running as a boys’ camp after it’s brought back up to code?”
Luke pulled a folded-up piece of paper out of his back pocket and spread it out. “I’ll let the project list answer that for me.”
Piper took the piece of paper and scanned it quickly. He knew she was seeing shower stalls, a TV lounge, and cabins with central air. Camp Echo would no longer be a rustic camp on the shores of a quiet, beautiful lake. No—it was going to join the ranks of a million other lakefront properties that called themselves camps … but were really just glorified boarding schools. Hundreds of girls who needed … well, nothing … would cycle through here starting next summer, he’d bet his left foot.
Meanwhile, hundreds of boys who needed everything would be out of luck.
“Fine.” She pushed the list back toward him. “I see what you mean. So what are you going to do with the little princesses? Got your programs all worked out?”
Luke shook his head. “No programs. Oliver wants to let them figure things out themselves, and I wholeheartedly agree.”
“Really.”
“Don’t roll your eyes at me, Piper. Yes, really.”
“And you’re not at all concerned about how that might work out?”
“Oh, I’m completely concerned.” Luke sighed. “Oliver’s plan, as of this morning, is to give them a week and send them home. My plan is to make like a lynx and disappear as soon as they arrive.”
“Now that’s the big, brave Luke I know.” Piper patted his sleeve.
“Piper?” he growled.
“I know.” She laughed. “Shut up. But before I do, I can’t help but warn you.”
“About what?”
“About the fact that you generally pretty much suck at letting other people loose in your space. Especially strangers.”
“Well, lucky for us all, I’m too busy to care.”
“Okay.” She sighed. “You go with that. But I’ll bet you a Bellinis special that you cave by day three. There’s no way you’re going to let some hoity-toity housemother from some hoity-toity school take over your camp.” She shook her head. “Not. Gonna. Happen.”
“We’ll see, Pipes. We’ll see.” He looked out at the lake, feeling his shoulders drop. “Not really my camp anymore, though, is it?”
* * *
Four hours later, Luke heard the van before he saw it, but still hadn’t managed to quite extricate himself from the climbing ropes he was untangling by the time it pulled to a stop in front of the administration cottage. It was exactly what he’d expected—a shiny BMW with the Briarwood logo emblazoned on the side, and he tried to compose his features into a welcoming, tolerant smile as he waited on
the lawn.
The sooner they started, the sooner it’d be done, after all.
And at least there wasn’t a network van behind it.
“Be nice.” Piper growled in his ear as she joined him. “Even if it kills you.”
“Oh, it’s definitely going to kill me.”
“Do it anyway.” She pasted a huge smile on her face as the double doors opened in the back. “I’ll take the girls into the dining hall. You deal with the housemother. I guarantee you she doesn’t want to be here, either.”
Whatever, he muttered inside his head. But for the sake of pretending to be an adult about the whole thing, he conjured up his best smile and walked around to the driver’s side of the van. When he caught sight of the woman stepping out, though, he stopped short. This was no steely-haired old bird in a flowered dress. No. She had sleek, dark hair, a wrist full of gold bangles, and curves in all the right places. He blinked, then peered into the backseat, searching for the housemother. Had Briarwood sent them with a hottie driver?
“Mr. Magellan?” The woman raised her eyebrows, her hand outstretched, and he realized she’d probably said that once already. Crap.
He shook her hand quickly. “It’s Luke.”
“Gabriela.” She pointed a finger toward her chest, and he blinked hard.
“Wait. You’re Gabriela?”
“Yes. I promise.”
“Sorry.” He smiled. “You’re just … not exactly what I was expecting, from your title.”
No, she was nothing like he’d expected, and damn, she was holy-shit gorgeous. If she was a day over thirty, he’d be shocked. She had on a lavender-colored sleeveless shirt that probably cost more than his groceries, and jeans that came to just below her knees. Strappy leather sandals with pink-painted toenails completed her look, and if ever there was a woman who’d set foot on Echo property and looked less like she belonged, it was her.
“I left my housemother curlers and bathrobe back at the dorm, since I wasn’t sure what your facilities would be like. Brought my fuzzy slippers, though.”
“Touché. I apologize.”
“It’s okay.” She winked. “I’m not a big fan of my job title, but the headmaster is very attached to it. I’m kind of stuck.”
“What do the girls call you?”
“Gabi.”
“Well, welcome to Camp Echo, Gabi.” He pointed to Piper. “This is Piper. She’ll be handling the kitchen this summer for us.”
Gabi reached her hand out to Piper, smile still in place, then motioned for the girls to join her. “This is Sam, Eve, Madison, and Waverly.” Her bracelets clinked softly as she pointed to each of them.
Piper clapped her hands. “I just made cookies. How about I take the girls in for a snack while you two get acquainted?”
Luke heard a snicker from the little herd of teens, then saw Gabi’s smile break for a brief second as she shot the offender a death ray.
“I think a snack would be lovely. Thank you, Piper.” She tipped her head graciously. “Girls, why don’t you head in with Piper, and I’ll catch up to you?”
A chorus of mumbles served as their reply, and Luke fought not to sigh. After they’d disappeared up the pathway behind the admin building, Gabi closed the van door, sliding her hands into her pockets.
“Thank you for making space for us for the summer. I imagine you’ve got a full camp already.”
He blinked. She imagined what?
“Um, no. We don’t actually have any campers this summer.”
“What?” Her eyebrows pulled together. “What do you mean, you don’t have any campers?”
“Camp’s closed, Ms. O’Brien. Briarwood shut us down. We’re scheduled to open back up next June. Maybe.”
“But … why would they shut down the camp?”
“They want some changes made before we open under their umbrella. This summer’s all about making those changes happen. So…”—he waved an arm around the empty beach—“we’re closed.”
“I don’t underst—” She looked around nervously, probably taking in the lack of activity for the first time. He followed the path of her eyes, seeing the empty dock, the canoes tied up in rows, the gaping holes in the trees where sleeping tents had stood in years past. “There’s really no one here?”
“Just me and the camp director, and now you guys.”
“So…” Her eyes returned to his. “I’m confused. Priscilla Pritchard sentenced the girls to … camp. There is no camp. Does she—she can’t possibly know this … right?”
The last word was quiet, and for a moment, Luke actually felt a pang of sympathy for her. Here she’d been sent to the boonies with her rule-breaking cretins for the month, and she’d probably pictured a pristine camp on the shores of a pristine lake, with pristine cabins and a full-service dining room.
His pang faded quickly. Of course that’s what she would have expected. It’s what Briarwood types always expected. He sighed. It’s probably what she could realistically expect next year, if all went as Briarwood planned for it to.
But for now, she was going to have to deal with what they had. Which was not much.
He cleared his throat. “Not sure about your use of the word ‘sentenced.’ And I don’t know what your headmaster knew. I didn’t have those conversations with her.”
“She knows.” Oliver’s deep voice came from behind him as he reached out a beefy hand toward Gabi. “Hi. Oliver Black. Camp director, past tense. She didn’t tell you the camp’s officially closed?”
“No.” Gabi shook her head, looking a little bit like a deer in the headlights. “No, she didn’t. I don’t understand. This is never going to work. You guys aren’t even an operational camp. I—I need to make a call.” Gabi reached back into the van for her phone, but when she pulled it out, she frowned. “There’s no cell service here, is there?”
“Nope.”
“Is there a phone I could use?”
Oliver grimaced. “If you’re calling the headmaster, I’m afraid she isn’t going to answer.”
“Why not?”
“Well…” He looked from her to Luke, like he was debating whether to continue. “Seems she had a four o’clock flight.”
“A four o’clock what?” Luke heard the growl in Gabi’s voice, and he almost laughed. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, then looked at both of them. “There must be a mistake.”
“Sorry, honey. No mistake.” Oliver pointed at the pathway where Piper’d led the girls. “We’ve hired a part-time cook to help you out, but it looks like you’re stuck with us for the month. Let’s get the girls settled in, and in the morning, we can figure things out.”
She took another deep breath, glancing at her watch. “I can’t even … there’s no way … we can’t stay here.” She looked around at the surrounding woods, which were practically silent, save for the birds and squirrels chattering away in the trees. “So you really have no counselors?”
“Nope.”
“No programs? No schedule?” She put up her fingers as she listed. “No nature hikes and origami and swim lessons?”
“None of the above.”
“So what are you doing this summer, if the camp’s closed?”
Luke smiled tightly. “I’m the … camp handyman. Oliver’s the previous director. And right now, our job is to get the place shipshape for next year. So we’ll stay out of your way, but you’ll be on your own with your girls.”
Her face fell, and again, he felt guilty, but for Christ’s sake, it wasn’t his fault she’d been sent up here. Not his fault she was stuck here for the summer with four little rich girls to entertain. He had a job to do, and as much as he hated it, it did not involve helping this gorgeous stranger out of her own mess.
“Well.” She stiffened her shoulders and raised her chin a notch. “I will do my best to stay out of your way, as well.”
Luke nodded. “I’m sorry to be blunt. Just trying to be clear about where things are at. Briarwood bought us, but Briarwood hasn’t staffed us
at this point. We’ve got a property to bring back up to code, and we’ve got only two employees. Piper Bellini’s offered to help us out on the food end as much as she can, but that’s it. You’re looking at Camp Echo as it stands right now. We just don’t have the manpower to create a surprise four-week program.”
“Understood.” She nodded, but the mad-spots on her cheeks hadn’t faded a bit. “I’m not entirely sure what I understand, but it’s too late to turn around, at least tonight. Maybe you could show us to our cabins, then? So we can be out of your way?” Gabi got her keys ready, like she was about to drive down some sort of flower-strewn pathway to her two-story cottage with its maid service and full bath.
“We don’t have camper cabins, Gabi.”
“What do you mean—you don’t have cabins?” She peered around him, and he knew she could see the admin cottage and the dining hall, but no other structures, since his own cabin was up over the hill. He could practically feel the fear, not to mention the barely bridled anger, radiating from her skin.
He crossed his arms again. “We have tents.”
“Tents?” She narrowed her eyes. “You’re not serious.”
“Dead serious.” He pushed away from the van, motioning for her to follow. “But I’ll be happy to show you to yours.”
She reached for his elbow, touching it lightly, then pulling back quickly like she hadn’t meant to actually do so.
“Please tell me you’re joking.”
He turned around. “Look, this isn’t Camp Ritz. We have tents.”
“Oka-ay?” Her eyes darted left and right. “But what about … wildlife? I mean—because the girls will ask. What kinds of creatures do you tend to have … here?”
“You mean, which kind can get into tents? Or which kind doesn’t generally bother?”
“Not funny, Mr. Magellan.”
“It’s Luke.”
“It’s not funny, Luke.”
He put up his hands in a placating motion. “We have a lot of wildlife. But as long as the girls follow the rules, they shouldn’t have a problem.”
“Okay.” She took a shaky breath. “And you’ll tell us those rules before dusk?”
She's Got a Way Page 2
