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“Yeah, it was a wild night all right. Uh, sorry for getting in so late.”
“Hey, I told you I didn’t expect you to come in early this morning. I mean, what with your car being totaled—so sorry about that, by the way—but you had to get Nate to drive you here, and I’m sure he was dragging his feet.”
Kayla laughed.
“Do you need me to help you with the car?”
“Yes, taking me to see the insurance adjuster in an hour at Nate’s place would be great. Then I’ll have a tow truck haul the car off and I’ll ride home with you. And thanks, Roxie.”
“What are sisters for? What about shopping for a new car? Or did you want to wait a bit on it?”
“Nate’s going to take me to Green Valley to look for one.”
“Oh, great. Even better. A lot of the guests’ vehicles in the parking lot at the lodge were hit too. Luckily, Landon had already driven home, and his car was parked in his garage. The same with the rest of us. But here, we had a whole lot of unhappy guests. Not with us, just with the hailstorm causing so much damage to their cars. We’ve been helping them contact insurance investigators, and we set up a lemonade stand out there to cool off tempers.”
“What a great idea. Oh, by the way, before you hear it from Nicole once Nate tells her, we’re havingallthe birthday parties on your birth date.” Roxie opened her mouth to speak, but Kayla quickly added, “Nate finally told me he’s taking me to the cabin near the Silver Falls. You didn’t tell me it wasthatcabin.”
Roxie’s lips parted, and then she smiled broadly. “Oh, wow. Yes! That’s great. I didn’t know it was that cabin either. Maybe Nicole didn’t know it. Or she might have been at least keeping that secret.”Then she frowned. “You didn’t let on you knew already, did you? I don’t want to get Nicole in trouble or for her to be mad at me for accidentally not keeping the secret.”
“No. I let on that I didn’t.”
“Oh, great.” Roxie sighed and put her hands on her heart. “For a whole week. You’re going to have a great time, and it will be so well deserved.”
Blake came back from the indoor swimming pool area and must have overheard Roxie’s enthusiastic comment. “What’s the good news?”
“Well, our very own Kayla is going on a camping trip for a whole week with Nate. And they’re staying at the Silver Falls cabin.”
“Whoa.” Blake winked at her.
“It’s just for a fun trip.” Kayla hated that she became so easily flustered over things.
Landon joined them from the restaurant with a cup of coffee in hand. “Family meeting?”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake. It’s just a camping trip. Is everything else covered? I’m going to get a jump on our winter promo,” Kayla said. “And I’m celebrating my birthday on the same day as all of you are.” Then she headed for the office.
“Wait,” Roxie said, looking at something on her phone, “Nicole just texted me that you and Nate ended up in the creek during the storm. In the middle of the hailstorm?”
“Yeah. And he saved me.” Kayla smiled andheaded into the office, and Buttercup wound her way around her legs. She’d missed Kayla too. She lifted Buttercup into her arms and sat down on her office chair, stroking a purring cat.
“I hear wedding bells ringing in the not-too-distant future,” Roxie said, loud enough for Kayla to hear.
“What did I miss out on?” Landon asked.
Kayla smiled. She’d gotten her way. She was having her birthday celebration with her siblings. Of course that had a lot to do with going to the cabin with Nate. She hadn’t expected her family to be so excited about it. But she knew she’d have a great time.
She began drawing up plans for when winter arrived at the ski resort. Oh! She needed to make her camping list first. She started a new page and began listing everything she needed to take with her so she wouldn’t forget anything.
Chapter 10
Later that morning, Kayla and Roxie headed over to Nate’s apartment to get this business over with concerning her totaled car. Desmond Reynolds, their insurance adjuster, was a wolf, so there was no problem with him saying the car was totaled, though after she’d seen it, she didn’t think there was any doubt of that. Wolves helped each other out whenever they could.
“Ohmigod, I’m so glad you weren’t driving it when the hail demolished your windshield,” Roxie said, taking pictures to show their brothers, Kayla figured. “I can’t imagine the two of you being out in the storm during a wolf run.”
The adjuster shook his head. “Damaged property can always be replaced. Wolves? That’s a whole different story.” He had Kayla sign the documents that she needed to. “We’ll be sending you a check in a couple of weeks, hopefully, though it can be as long as forty-five days, but I’ll try to expedite it.”
“Thanks, Desmond.”
Then the adjuster left, and Kayla called Ollie’s Auto Body Shop and Towing Service. “Hey, Ollie,this is Kayla Wolff. Can you come pick up my totaled car at Silver Town Apartments?”
