Page 4 of Chosen

“You don’t?”

“Can’t afford to,” he replied, with a wide grin. “I don’t have that kind of time.”

“Another sign that we’re from different planets, then.”

“Maybe so.” He grinned again. He then opened his mouth, like he was about to say something else, too—

But this time, it was his phone ringing that interrupted our conversation.

2

DAMON

I’d never met anyone like Sam before.

He was a walking contradiction in so many ways. The way he carried himself seemed to be pure confidence, but it was obvious from our limited conversation that he was a walking ball of anxiety. And yet, there was an easiness about him, despite his obvious nerves. There was also the fact that I could never guess what he was going to say next, his words unpredictable, his demeanor unreadable.

Interesting.

At first, I wondered if it was just how rarely I spent time with folks from big cities. Wild Woods had its share of guests, sure, but I’d never really spoken to them for longer than a minute or two. For one, most of our guests flew into the airport closer to the camping area, which meant no long road trips ripe for conversation. And secondly, most guests just didn’t seem that interested in talking to me, or anyone, really.

They were in their own little bubbles, and it was my job to make sure that bubble didn’t come crashing down around them, not as long as they were on Wild Woods property.

Which was probably why Parker, one of the co-owners of the company was calling me right now.

“Hello?” I asked as I pulled my phone out of my pocket. We were still in traffic, so there wasn’t any danger of anything unexpected happening on the road.

“Where the hell are you? Canada?” Parker chuckled on the other end of the line. “I thought you were just going to pick Sam up from that airport.”

“I was, but we hit traffic.”

“Oh, yeah. That makes sense. You know how people get when there’s a thunderstorm on the way.”

“A thunderstorm?”

“Yeah, it’s when the sky gets mad. Lots of rain. Lots of loud noises.”

“Asshole.” I couldn’t help but grin. Parker had always been a smartass with a heart of gold, but he was heavy on the smartass. “I meant that I didn’t know we were due for a thunderstorm.”

“Eh. It’s been a pretty warm summer,” he replied. “I wouldn’t be surprised. But who knows? The weather can be so fickle sometimes. I definitely wouldn’t try to set my watch by it.”

“So, you think people are freaking out over nothing?”

“I think the only thing worth freaking out over is the flash flood warning. But that’s only worth freaking out over if you’re stuck in a lowland area. But since it sounds like you two are going to be stuck in traffic for the next twelve hours—”

“We have nothing to worry about. Got it.”

“Let me know when you two get to the cabin, okay?” Parker insisted. “Just a quick check in. I want to make sure you two don’t somehow get swept away by this storm.”

“Why? Are you going to feel bad if we do?”

“Oh, I’m going to feel awful.” He chuckled as he spoke. “Especially since I still need to kick your ass at rock climbing.”

“Always nice to hear you care, Parker.”

“Yeah, yeah. Just check in with me, all right? I’ll talk to you later.”

“Talk to you later.” It was the last thing I said as I hung up the phone, bringing my attention back to the road.

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