Page 47 of You Know You Wanna

I couldn’t think of a single thing that might’ve upset her between breakfast and now, but a stone formed in the pit of my stomach. First, she’d fled as soon as Declan had arrived, and then, she’d hardly been able to look at me.

Something had changed, and although I didn’t know what it was or how to fix it, it bothered me a lot more than I would have expected. Who knew summer hookups could be so damn confusing?

24

BIRDIE

The campground we used for this trip was a shady glade near the public restrooms in the national park. Rocks had already been placed in the sandy spot we could make a fire, and the gnarled, beautiful old trees surrounding the site provided good shelter from wind. Their thick branches and leaves above would do the same for rain.

There wasn’t any predicted for this trip, but it always made me feel better to know that we had some measure of protection against the elements just in case.

As I led the girls off the charter bus and into the campground, a smile I couldn’t stop spread on my lips. “Welcome to your new home, ladies. Take a look around. The bathrooms are right over there if you need to pop in. When you’ve had a few minutes, we’ll start setting up tents.”

Lulu stepped off the bus with a look of awe on her face, her head tipped back as her eyes darted from one side to the other. “This is amazing. We’re, like, the only people here. It’s so green and pretty. Where’s everyone else?”

“It’s a big park,” I said, chuckling as I slid my hands into my pockets. “We might see some others while we’re out here, but usually, it’s just us camping at this site at any given time. You like it?”

“Honestly?” She turned her head to look up at me. “I love it. A few weeks ago, camping definitely wouldn’t have sounded fun to me, but I don’t know. I’ve been enjoying the outdoors.”

“This place has a way of doing that to a person,” I said quietly, watching as Cassidy and Heather took off to the bathrooms. I glanced at Lulu. “It’s the effect of reconnecting with nature. I think that life in general is so fast paced these days and so connected with everything but nature that most people don’t even realize how much they need this until they’re here.”

She nodded, absorbing my words. Her eyes were wide and bright as she took a few more steps out into the clearing. Leaving her to do some exploring on her own, I went back to the bus to collect my tent, then got to work setting it up so I’d be able to help them with theirs.

We had a list of things to do while we were on the trip, but our first night was always spent just getting comfortable being out here together. The hiking, high-ropes course, and even canoeing on the lake would all come later.

I breathed in the familiar earthy scent of my tent as I unfolded it, all sorts of good feels running through me. I slid my palms across the poles and linked them together.

As I got into the zone, I let go of all the worries I’d left behind at the resort, simply focusing on what I was doing and strangely disappointed that my tent was already standing once I was done. Thankfully, I had three more to go.

Lulu chose the spot right beside my tent, her grin faltering as she eyed all the different pieces she’d just removed from the bag. “Uh, Birdie?”

“Yep.”

“How am I supposed to do this?” She eyed the contraption almost suspiciously. “Are you sure this is everything I need?”

I chuckled, glad she was coming out of her shell even more with me now. “That’s everything. Don’t worry about it. I’m here to help.”

Crossing over to her, I showed her how to lay the tent out on the ground first. Then I demonstrated assembling the poles and sliding them into place. She watched me closely for a beat, nodding as she took in what I was doing.

A moment later, she bent over and started helping, quickly getting the hang of it and even helping me with Heather’s tent. Cassidy had been camping enough to have her tent up before I could even offer to help, and with that done, we all headed into our respective shelters to get our beds ready and take our bags inside.

Since this trip was all about relaxing, I didn’t rush them, simply heading to the campfire area when I was done. Packing our kindling, I lit the fire and started preparing for dinner. One by one, the girls started leaving their tents, each carrying a bottle of water as they joined me.

Cassidy was first, and she plonked down on a log near the fire with a huge grin on her face. “Gosh, I’m so glad I could make it. I owe Dad a week of deliveries for this.”

I laughed, grabbing my own water bottle before I sat down on the log across from her. “We’re happy to have you, and you do the deliveries anyway.”

“I know.” She winked at me. “It didn’t hurt to have something to promise him, though.”

“You know he would’ve let you come anyway, right?”

She let out a giggle as she shrugged. “He loves it when I do stuff like this. Apparently, it’s good life experience.”

“That, it is.”

Lulu joined us then, her expression curious as she looked at Cassidy. “Are you from around here?”

“Bluebell Hollow,” she replied proudly. “I’ve never been further from it than Gatlinburg and I hope that never changes.”