Page 78 of Lady and the Camp
I inched forward. “The dude ran toyourcamp. Three of us saw him. If you’re not lying right now and you didn’t send him, then he was trespassing on your side too.”
Brycen’s smirk vanished. “What did he look like?”
“White guy, maybe early thirties. About six foot, built, wearing gear that blended with the woods. Plain ball cap. I’d bank on him being military.”
Brycen glanced to Porter. “That’s not any of us.”
“Doesn’t sound familiar,” Porter agreed.
“We’ve got limited staff here this weekend,” Brycen said. “It’s our long break weekend. I was off-site all day until tonight. My staff would have contacted me if they’d seen someone. They would have reported the incident to the police.”
A hint of worry threaded his tone. For all my issues with Brycen—his forced cool attitude, his turbo-charged vision of summer camp, he seemed to be telling the truth. An intruder on his grounds, particularly a military type, was not welcome news.
Brycen took out his phone. “Will you call me if you find out anything? I’m at my same number. And I’ll ask the sheriff to run patrols by both camps.”
“Already did that,” I said. Brycen offered an olive branch. For the sake of the kids, I’d take it. Well, maybe just a leaf. “We’ve got a few authorities alerted and are taking additional precautions.” I wouldn’t out Hudson’s FBI contact, but at least we covered some ground.
Brycen nodded. “Hey, thanks for letting us know.” He gave a simple nod to the group and headed to the lodge with Porter.
Hudson appeared at my side. “You okay?”
I took a breath. I wasn’t ready to forgive and forget everything Brycen had done during the camp split, but right now we had a common threat. “Yeah. Let’s get out of here.”
The next morning, we sent off our friends and family. Promises were made to keep in touch more often, and threats made that I better call if things heated up.
“Seriously,” Patrick told me outside Matteo’s car as the other guys packed in. “Tell me if you need anything. I can call in some favors for more support.”
I laughed before I could help it. “You’ve got connections here? What, are you some kind of fixer?”
He narrowed his eyes. “You know I’m looking to run for local office. I know people.”
“Sure, but not local here.” What was I doing? He was focused on solutions and here I was ragging on him. Old habits died hard. “Sorry. Yeah, if you want to pull your strings, I won’t complain.”
A snort sounded behind me. “You not complaining. That’s rich.”
“Love you too, Marcy.” I held up my phone. “I promise I’ll call.”
Her shoulders softened. “I’ll hold you to it.”
Hudson hugged each of her friends. They’d gone directly to her cabin after our mission to the other camp last night, so I hadn’t had a chance to talk to her. Alone. To tell her I wasn’t mad. That I’d protect her. So many things I wanted to say, but every second seemed to fill with distractions.
After final goodbyes, the cars departed, leaving Hudson and me standing in the camp parking lot.
Here it was, my opportunity to share the thoughts stewing in my brain since yesterday. Everything that filled my mind in between chucking stuff at snoring dudes during the night.
Only no words came.Say something, anything.
Hudson looked across the empty drive leading from camp, her mind a million miles from here. She was doing that thing where she wrapped her arms around herself. Like she had to hold herself together.
If only I could wrap myself around her and provide that protection. For today, for this week. Whatever it took so she’d feel safe again.
But how could I protect Hudson when I didn’t know if she’d want me to? Brycen had called my accusations delusional; it was probably my own delusion to assume I could fix her problems when I could barely run this camp.
She turned to me. “Finally, everyone’s gone.” Her smile came slow and downright sexy. She hooked a finger into my shirt collar and pulled. “Come here.”
I obeyed. I was useless to resist. She tilted her delicate face upward and pressed her lips to mine. She slid her arms around my neck, slowly, inch by inch as she deepened the kiss.
She knew I wasn’t mad. How did she know? Did I care?
