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She’d been certain when they came in from the lake that he’d kiss her again. She’d been so excited for him—the way he’d pushed through his fears and shared the moment with her. She’d practically thrown herself into his arms. He’d been wearing the face of a man who’d just ridden out of the storm.
And she hadn’t missed the way his glance had skipped to her lips.
Then Dylan had shown up, prompting yet another brush-off.
Yep. She was falling for Grayson. Leaning into his laughter, the resonance of his voice, and the warmth of his body. And the fact that he’d confided in her and entrusted her with the pain he carried… She didn’t have words.
She looked at her watch and yawned. Everyone—including herself—would be calling it a night soon. She tried not to sink into the swirl of disappointment.
She knew he’d have a good reason. He just hadn’t shared it when he’d given her a brief call and told her to go without him.
“How are the plans for family camp going, Beth?” Anne, Noah’s wife, sat on the wood bench across the firepit, in the crook of her husband’s arm.
“Good, um, yeah. Good. We’ve got four or five families signed up for the first week—which falls over the Fourth of July.”
“Excellent.” Noah nodded. “That’s really good news.”
Several of the camp volunteers and counselors from Wilderness Challenge filled the spaces around the fire. Beth recognized most of them, even if she didn’t know all their names.
Anne looked down the trail. “I thought Grayson would be done with the real estate agent by now.”
The words slammed Beth like she’d been dumped from Rex. He was with Nathan?
Noah leaned forward and took the stick from Anne. “Kind of late for that, isn’t it?”
“Not for here—for Oregon. Pacific time zone. He said it was a call about that ranch he’s buying.”
Right. Because he was leaving.
Beth swallowed and took a marshmallow offered by the blonde next to her.
“Thanks.”
“Is it nosy to ask what’s going on with your dad and Janet?” Anne asked.
Dad and Janet? Had she missed something? “I don’t know—what do you know?”
Noah waved them off. “Anne’s just playing matchmaker. Don’t worry about it.”
“That seems to be a common theme around town,” Beth answered. She’d only moved out to camp a week and a half ago.
“I’ve just seen them together a few times. At church and around town.”
Oh. Interesting. “They are old friends.” Maybe Dad wasn’t as lonely as she’d imagined.
Anne smiled, nodded, a little glimmer of knowing in her eyes.
Huh. Beth wanted to feel excited for Dad. She should be happy—it’d been her idea that he go on the Rhine cruise. So what was this little sting she was feeling?
Why hadn’t he told her?
The girl who’d offered her the marshmallow stood and wiped her hands on her jeans. “Okay, that’s enough sugar for me.”
Several others added their agreement and proceeded to collect the extra marshmallow sticks into a stack, setting them into the empty coffee can Noah kept near the far bench.
She turned away from the conversation and laughter that rose with the smoke into the darkness of the inky black sky swathed with the sparkly bands of the Milky Way.
“We were wondering if you’d make it,” Noah said to someone. “We were all starting to wrap things up.”
