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She blinked. Oh.
“See? You have been dealing with stuff, learning from the past.”
But there was still so much to learn, still so much not dealt with, still stuff that was just way too personal to ever explain…
“But, Princess, I don’t think I ever said ‘build a bridge’ or ‘get over it.’ At least, I hope I didn’t.”
She swallowed. “You didn’t. I’m sorry.” Always sorry. Such a sorry, sorry creature.
“Even coming here, knowing it wasn’t going to be easy, took courage.” His teeth glinted in the firelight as he grinned. “I gotta admit, when you said you weren’t into camping, I didn’t realize what lengths you’d go to to prove it.” Another quiet burst of laughter erupted from him, and she couldn’t help but join in this time, the infectious giggles coming in fits and starts over the next ten minutes. He wiped his eyes. “Sorry, Princess.”
“I don’t think you’re very sorry at all.” She slid off the log to sit on the ground next to him. “You’ve been laughing at me since I came here. I’m glad I’m such a source of amusement for you.”
He chuckled. “But you have had fun, haven’t you?”
Sarah looked up and held his intense gaze for a heart-stilling second before dragging her eyes away to focus on the fire. “It’s been okay.”
* * *
Okay.He could live with that. The silence that descended afterward was comfortably thick and filled with peace, both of them happy to study the fire, stirring it up occasionally or adding more wood. Sarah’s fears about mice and bears all seemed to have faded away as she sat next to him, legs stretched out toward the flames, shadows flickering across her face, firelight dancing in the depths of her hair.
Dan bit back a sigh. He wanted to hold her hand, touch her hair, do anything to maintain this connection. It was funny how this woman had the ability to make him feel like a hopeless fool one minute and her own personal hero the next.
He chewed his bottom lip as Boyd’s words floated in the back of his mind. No, he didn’t want to get heartbroken. He didn’t want Sarah hurt either. He didn’t want to be driven by emotion. He did want…what?Lord, lead me, guide this…friendship? Relationship? Show me what to do.
The last few stars disappeared in the gradual lightening of the sky as a faint glowing rim appeared across the spruce-fringed water. Sarah stirred, stretching from her awkward position near him. He was surprised she was awake—amazed he was still awake—but even though he liked to sleep in, part of him was always glad to see the magic of dawn.
They sat in silence as the sun made its quiet appearance, bathing the campsite in slow warmth. Sarah ran a hand through her hair, the sun catching the red-gold strands, making them almost glow. With her pale skin and radiant hair, she reminded him of a picture he’d once seen on a school field trip by an Italian artist who liked to paint angels.
Whoa. He blinked. He must be super tired.
“It’s so beautiful.”
Sarah’s smile as she turned to him made his heart skip. Yeah, definitely beautiful.
“I saw a few sunrises over Lake Muskoka when I first arrived.” She turned back to study the sky. “The different time zones made it hard to sleep properly at first. But there’s something so lovely about seeing this, here, just us and nature, the way God intended.”
Just us. What did she mean by that?Just usas in people in general? Orjust usas in only the two of them? Tiredness was muddling his brain. “Camping has some pluses.”
“Yeah, I suppose it does.” She shifted over, drew up her knees, and put her head on his shoulder. “Thanks for inviting me and for staying up with me. You’re a good friend.”
As wisps of her hair started playing with his chin, he toyed with possible responses:You’re welcome; You’re a good friend too. Maybe even putting his arm around her shoulders—just to keep her warm. Didn’t good friends do that? Not that he’d ever do that with Boyd…
But a stirring from one of the boys’ tents put paid to any reply as Sarah threw him a wry look, then scrambled up and away.
* * *
Trees flashed past,green blurs, the Jeep eating up the miles as they drove back to the real world. Sarah yawned. The camp had been…fun. She closed her eyes. And last night had been…interesting. That quiet time by the fire last night—or was it this morning?—had been amazing, the peace all-enveloping, like a quilt that warmed her soul. She smiled. Not long after early bird Justin had made his appearance, the rest of the camp had woken and all tranquility had gone. Breakfast followed by morning devotions, then more activities before lunch and the pack up. They’d all been busy little beavers.
Sarah opened her eyes to steal another glance at Dan as he drove home. Late afternoon sun glinted on his strong, muscular forearms, turning the hairs golden. She blinked and turned away. No, no, no. Why did she notice things like that? Dan was her friend. That was all. She wasn’t even really over Stephen anyway. Was she?Oh God…what am I thinking?
She peeked back at him, long enough for him to flash that great smile at her before she looked away. This was terrible. It felt like their friendship had shifted. That closeness last night had stirred up…something. But they were driving back into reality now, and this couldn’t work. She had to go back home in a few months, so yeah, they could be friends, but anything more was just asking for heartache. It was best to nip this in the bud before anything could develop.
She shifted closer to the window. No. She’d be much better off thinking about people like Georgia and Travis. She’d promised to keep in contact with Georgia, whose tears at their farewell were proof Sarah’s going had been worthwhile. Georgia was such a sweetheart. Sarah was so glad they’d had the time to bond, despite Boyd’s concerns about her hugginess.
Sarah gave a mental shrug. Boyd didn’t have a corner on relationships, even though he obviously thought himself some kind of guru. She frowned. He’d even had the nerve to give her some veiled warning about Dan. While Dan and Patrik had conducted a final game of volleyball, she’d been trying to help clean up some of the cooking utensils. She’d been getting more of the greasy soot on her than she’d anticipated when Boyd had approached. “When do you go back to Australia?”
She didn’t know yet. What business of his was it anyway? “Why?”
