Page 13 of Lady and the Camp
“Hello, future friend,” the teen girl leading the pack called over. She had frizzy black hair and a killer brown complexion. I imagined she used a good toner and vitamin C serum. She smiled in the effortless way only those who hadn’t been part of a viral scandal could.
I waved a tentative hand. “Um, hello.”
“All stop,” the girl announced, holding her hand in front of her like a stop sign. The younger girls stopped, though a few stumbled into the girls they followed. Little giggles and chatter followed. “Have you lost your way?” the girl asked.
Had I ever. “I’m waiting on Luke to show me to my cottage.”
She raised a dark brow. “Are you the new counselor with Maggie?”
The name didn’t ring a bell. “I’m working in the office.”
She pouted a little at that. “Bummer. You have an amazing aesthetic.” She moved her hands up and down in the air. “Like, all of it. But those shoes will die here. You need some of these.” She tilted her foot to show off her boots.
Hiking boots paired with thick socks. And cargo shorts. It was a real…look.
“We’ll see,” I said lightly. “After all, I’ll be working in the front office most of the time.”
“Who is that?” one of the younger girls asked.
“Are you our new counselor?” another chimed in.
“Bianca is mean!” a voice called from the back.
Chastising shrieks and gasps cascaded through the line.
The teen girl swung around to her minions. “I heard that. And I’m not mean. I’mprecise.”
I could respect precise.
Bianca returned her attention toward me, then past me. “Oh, here comes yourLukenow.” She gave me a sly grin before alerting the girls to “Forward march!”
The guy now wore a clean heather gray T-shirt. The unpretentious kind that probably came shrink-wrapped in a package of four. He had on a faded cap with the Detroit pro baseball team logo—a casual look I was definitely into. Not gonna lie, he was hot. In that natural, not-trying-hard way that no guy in L.A. seemed to pull off. Nashville had those guys, but every one of them wanted you to listen to their demo.
He jingled a set of keys as he breezed past. “Follow me.”
Well, well. Hiding out at Camp Whatever might not be so bad after all. For eye candy purposes only. Because I obviously wasn’t in the market for anything more during this exile than a little ocular dazzle.
Men right now—I couldn’t trust them. Any of them. Honestly,The Golden Girlshad the right idea living in that breezy pastel house together. Maybe when all this drama blew over, me and the girls could arrange our own late twenty-somethings ladies living scenario. We’d need a cute name—
“You coming?” Luke, many feet ahead of me, made his annoyance clear in his tone.
“Sorry.” I gathered my stuff and rolled the suitcase along the path. It rumbled a few feet until the wheel angled into a muddy patch. “Gross.”
I shifted the suitcase out of the muck, only for it to get stuck again. Ugh, mud in the wheel parts. The giant bag with the comforter pressed against my skin like a sauna. Why was everything so sticky?
The guy returned to where I stood. Scowling, he lifted the suitcase by the handle and walked again.
“Thank you.” I truly was grateful. That thing was heavy.
He veered into a wooded area where the path split off in a new direction. I’d dressed for an office, not off-roading, so these heels really might lose their life. I could take them off, but who knew what kind of nastiness I’d step on? With a bare foot? Thank you, no.
Finally, we emerged at a clearing revealing a single shack. Weathered wood that may have been painted blue in a past century stared back in jagged horror. Gaps between the slats provided barrier-free entry for whatever creepy-crawlies wanted in.
And it leaned. The whole thing leaned.
Luke unlocked the door. “Home sweet home.”
I stood, struck dumb. “This is uninhabitable. I can’t stay here.”
