Page 11 of Daddy's Little Camping Trip
“I didn’t like to see you so uncomfortable.”
He dug through the bag, lifting out one thing after another and reading the packages. “I don’t know which to start with.”
“Well, what shall we do this afternoon?”
“We?” His smile grew so broad, it was impossible not to respond in kind. “You’re going to spend the afternoon with me?”
“If I’m invited. I shouldn’t assume you don’t already have plans with other people. Or someone else.”
“No. I don’t. Hudson told me if I didn’t have anyone else, I could play with him and his daddy, but I was hoping…”
“I’m sorry I left without explaining earlier.” I didn’t even know why I had done it that way, a vague idea about surprising him with the bug protection or maybe not wanting to disappoint if I failed in my mission. “I hope you’ll forgive me.”
“There’s nothing to forgive. While I was having fun making a craft, you drove all the way to town just to help with my bug bites.” Again, he scratched at the side of his neck, and without thinking, I closed my hand over his and stopped the motion.
“You don’t want to make it bleed and maybe get infected.”
“No, D—Gil. Thank you.”
“Also, I read somewhere that scratching releases histamines or something and just makes it itch worse.” I let go of his hand,regretfully. It had felt awfully good, even if I’d only held it in the interest of good health.
“Really? Ouch.” He dug a tube out of the bag and held it up. “I wanted to do the lake activities this afternoon, so this one with the sunscreen would be good, I think? It says it repels and heals, too.”
“Good choice.”
“Would you help me put it on?”
“Why don’t you change for the lake and then we’ll see what needs sunscreen.”
Chapter Nine
Quill
I was having so much more fun camping than I thought possible. There was something nice about being away from the distractions of work and computers and cell phones constantly pinging. Not having to worry about deadlines or someone with a delivery or whether the housework was done—just being completely and utterly away from everything.
I still didn’t love the bugs, the wild animals, and sleeping on the ground, but the rest of the day made up for that.
The way we ate breakfast together and I got to see him smile and look at me like I was something to be treasured. The way we had a scavenger hunt and worked together as a team—no daddy taking over like was the case with a lot of daddies when they were having big time. They thought they were in charge, and that was fine if that was what you liked, but it wasn’t what I enjoyed.
Then there was G going into town to buy things to help take care of me and my problems with the bugs and the general wildlife part of things—he even bought enough that I could share with my little friends. It was nice to feel taken care of.
And now it was time for the lake.
I wasn’t the world’s best swimmer. I was mediocre at best. As a teen, I could pass the swim test at the local pool so that I could go on the diving board, but every time I had to take that test, I was like,Am I gonna make it there and back without my feet touching?It was definitely not a confident swim.
The lake wasn’t huge. And from everything that Ms. Lily said in her presentation about lake and boating safety, it wasn’t an extremely deep one, either. But it was water, and where there was water, I needed to be careful.
I left my tent wearing my board shorts and carrying my UV top. I still wasn’t sure if I was going to wear it or not. It was fitted and looked good—real good. You could see the planes of my body quite nicely in it. There was the added bonus of protecting me from the sun, but also, once I got wet, it kind of stuck to me and got me cold, so I wasn’t sure which way I was going to go.
I figured I’d see what everybody else was doing and go from there. It was ridiculous—the amount of time it took me to decide which swimsuit to bring. I had a sexy smaller suit that I used in a pool, but a pool and a lake were different. I wasn’t going to be sitting on a lounge chair here drinking piña coladas. I was going to be sitting on grass or sand or rocks. For sure, it felt like the right choice.
There were already a lot of people at the lake when I got there, and I looked around and found G quickly. He waved, and I bounded up, flopping down beside him crisscross-applesauce.
“Do you think I should wear this?” I held my rash guard in front of him.
“Do you want to wear it?”
“I don’t know. It protects me from the sun, but then I get cold.”
