River laughed and said, “Come over to the stove, and I’ll talk while I add things. Maybe you can stir or something. You keep mentioning needing to work out.”
Kennedy laughed loudly and replied, “I’m happy to be your assistant.”
“We found some boogie boards downstairs,” Cameron said, walking in.
River turned to see her standing there in a bikini top and board shorts, full flat abs on display. Lacey was next to her in the T-shirt and shorts she’d been wearing. She was holding towels. Cameron was holding two small boogie boards under her arms.
“We’re going to see how long we can manage to not fall off them.”
“You know that water is freezing, right?” Kennedy said.
“Yup. Might be a short swim, but we’ll be back.”
“Have fun here,” Lacey added, and they turned to go.
“How long do you think they’ll stay out there?” Kennedy asked River when they were left alone again.
“Lacey was a lifeguard during her college summers. I’m pretty sure she can handle the cold water, so it could be hours. Cameron?”
“Oh, she’s a wuss when it comes to the cold.”
River laughed and said, “Okay. I need measuring cups for wet ingredients and dry.”
“So, you need a measuring cup, then?”
“No, they’re different. I don’t know if we’d have them here. We only have basic dishes, huh?” She thought for a moment and added, “I’ve been doing this long enough, so we’re going to have fun and hope for the best. You can’t tell anyone online if this is bad, though. I don’t have my equipment or my ingredients.”
“River, I won’t tell a soul if it’s bad, but I’m sure it won’t be. So, we’ve got cups and spoons. What do you want?”
“Both,” she replied and went about making fudge with Kennedy Gannon’s help.
CHAPTER 17
Cameron
“Can you two maybe not?” Cameron asked once their towels were on the sand. “Just give us some space, please.”
“We’re supposed to film, Miss Levine,” one of the camera guys said.
“I know. But can you do it from, like, way, way back there and no zoom? I’ll know if you zoom. I’ll watch all of this footage just to check on the zoom.”
“We can’t get audio that way. You’re not wearing mics. It’s already going to be hard to–”
“I know. That’s why I’m suggesting you go under the deck and station yourselves there. You can barely hear anything over the ocean anyway. Like you’re going to get studio quality audio out here. Come on, man. Please.”
“I… I don’t feel comfortable being on camera in my bathing suit,” Lacey said.
Cameron turned to her and watched Lacey move both hands to the end of her braid that was, just like in the picture Cameron had seen of her with River, draped over her shoulder.
“Sorry?” the camera guy said.
“In the paperwork I signed, it said something about telling you that if I was uncomfortable with something being on camera, I could… refuse?” Lacey asked more than said.
“Oh, right,” Cameron said with a nod. “She’s right. I reviewed the contract for this. If she or River is uncomfortable at any time, we need to respect that. This is their prize weekend.”
“We’ll just… wait inside, then.”
“Play games in the basement. Have a little fun while you are here,” she suggested.
