Page 25 of Summer Ride

To her surprise, he lifted her up and carried her into the house. When he laid her gently on his bed, she rolled into his arms and held on. She drifted off to sleep, dreading the dreams that would haunt her every night until she was free from the nightmare that was Axel.

The next morning, after they shot a text to Aubrey about her running late, they unloaded all of her things into his house, sticking most of it in the guest room just down the hallway. At least her things were close, until she had time to really unpack.

They decided to ride together since Carter was scheduled to work at the camp all day.

When they parked in the camp’s parking lot, Zoey, Elle, and Scarlett stood waiting for them.

“Brett filled us in. Are you okay?” Elle asked her. The three of them moved closer and, to her surprise, they all hugged her.

“I am. Thanks. I wasn’t home at the time he broke in.”

“You’ve moved all your things over to Carter’s place?” Scarlett asked.

“Not all. We’ll get the rest of her things tonight after work.” Carter took her hand. “It’s not how I planned on getting her to move in with me, but I’m thankful I was there last night.”

“We all are,” Elle said with a nod. “Okay, so, we’ve beefed up security around here. All of Brett’s team members have the photo and know who to look out for. We’ve also circulated it to all the employees. He won’t step foot on the campground.”

“If he does,” Scarlett jumped in, “he won’t get anywhere near you.”

“Thanks,” Kara said, feeling her chest tighten as she hugged each one individually.

In her entire life, she had never experienced the kindness she’d been shown since the moment she’d started working at River Camps.

Carter walked her to the pool house, where Andrea was waiting for her just inside the glass doors.

“I’ll be here for lunch,” Carter told her. “I’ve cleared my schedule at the sanctuary and clinic for the next few weeks. For now, I’ll only be working at the camp so I can stay close to you.” He wrapped his arms around her.

“You didn’t have to do that,” she said, feeling guilty.

“I wanted to.” He held onto her. “Besides, I’ve earned the break. I’ve been pushing myself too hard these past few months, trying to fill the time I was no longer getting with you with work.” He smiled down at her, then brushed his lips across hers. “Now I don’t have to do that any longer. Agreed?”

She nodded. “Agreed.”

“I’ll pick us up some lunch, and we can eat out by the pool.” He met her eyes. “You won’t leave here without me or someone else tagging along?”

She nodded in agreement. “I’m also not going to head into any basements alone or go on walks in the dark woods by myself,” she said, causing him to chuckle. “Just as long as I follow all the rules of classic horror movies, I should be okay.”

He smiled and then leaned in and kissed her again. “See you at lunch.”

“Are you okay?” Andrea asked her the moment she stepped inside.

“I’m fine. Really,” she added when Andrea just looked at her.

“I know we’ve never talked about our pasts. I’m not one to open up to people myself. I have my reasons, as I suspect you have yours.” She moved closer and took her hands. “Just know that I’m here, if you want to talk.”

“Thanks.” She nodded. “Right back at you.”

Andrea smiled. “Okay.” She groaned when the door opened and their first appointment stepped inside.

The lack of sleep from the night before hit her an hour before she was scheduled to take lunch, and she wished for the first time in years that she could have taken a day off. She pulled a soda from the mini fridge and drank half of it before her last client of the morning.

Normally, she dreaded having to take vacation or sick days. She lived for her work. Loved every minute of it.

Now, however, everything hurt. Her fingers were weak, her arms and shoulders ached, and she’d had a headache most of the morning. That was probably from the older woman who hadn’t stopped chatting about her new grandbaby the entire session.

Not that Kara didn’t like kids. She did. She adored Zoey’s, Elle’s, and Hannah’s babies.

But she didn’t need to hear someone gush about a kid she didn’t know. Especially when she was desperately trying to do her job and the woman wouldn’t stop moving about.