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Nope. Definitely not using his head.
Ten minutes later, they’d parked in the same shoreline spot and climbed down to the rocks where they’d spent many an afternoon during high school. Fishing. Talking. Laughing.
Just like old times.
“Beth’s been having the time of her life at camp.” Dylan cast his line.
Not like old times. Grayson measured his words. Tried to sound casual. Beth’s-brother’s-friend-like. “Yeah. She’s a natural.”
The warm air closed in, a little sticky, and a swarm of gnats hovered over the water.
Dylan played his line in the water. “Always has been.”
“Teaching comes easy for her, and the kids love her.”
He instantly regretted using the wordlovein a sentence about Beth.
Dylan released a little more line. “Is there anything going on between you two?” He kept his eyes on the water.
“Define ‘going on.’” Grayson’s line snagged and he worked it, trying to free it.
This time Dylan turned his head, his eyes on Grayson and a look of knowing on his face.
“I saw Beth earlier.”
Grayson’s line snapped and his pole jerked back, nearly toppling him.
He stayed silent. Busied himself with the broken line.
“She told me about the fundraiser—your idea to save her job and the camp.”
Oh.
“On and on. About the horses, the kids. You.”
Grayson restrung his line.
“For the first time in her adult life, she’s finally stepping into her own. When she talks about the camp, she glows.”
Grayson smiled. He knew the look Dylan was talking about. The way Beth’s eyes sparkled and she wore a smile. How she’d sit and chat with Tally. Watch for signs any of the youth needed a little extra encouragement. How her gentle spirit changed the atmosphere.
Dylan reeled his line back in. Recast. “And when she talks about you, I can’t help but wonder how much of this change is because of you.”
“I…uh…I’m just the hired help.” A lightness filled his chest, and he rubbed his hand across his chin, as if he could stop himself from smiling. “It’s all her.”
A swallow dipped and dove above the water’s surface.
Dylan shook his head. “I know I warned you away from her—and I mean it. I don’t want her getting hurt. But if you care about her the way she seems to care about you, then…I don’t know. Don’t mess this up.”
Great. No pressure there.
* * *
Beth couldn’t even believehow fast the first three weeks with Trinity campers had passed. She soaked in the sunlight on the back deck of her camp cabin, the hum of summer buzzing in her veins. She may have botched the grant renewal, but this trail ride had all the makings of a spectacular adventure.
Courtney sat across the table, her hair piled in a messy bun.
Beth clasped her hands together. “We’re one week from departure, and we’ve filled all the slots with family campers.” She punched the numbers from her accounting sheet into her phone’s calculator. “Everyone has paid. I have the registration forms. Almost all the waivers.”
