Page 89 of Lake Shore Splendor

No thrill at his touch. No heart fluttering at his good-looking grin.

And it seemed, as they spent more time together, his evaluation of her had gone in the same direction.

Janie was a nice girl. Not an adventurer who could keep up with him. Not a woman who could spark passion in his eyes—either by way of irritation or of desire. Just . . . a nice girl.

They’d had a nice time. It was all . . . nice. And that was all.

His thumb pressed several circles into the tender muscles in her back, and then Grady stood. “You’ll be okay?”

“Yep.” Janie lifted her mug. “I’ll finish this and crawl into my tent.”

He nodded. “I’ll be at the fire, if you need anything.” He pointed toward the stone ring in which a carefully controlled flame danced orange in the darkening valley.

Janie lifted her mug by way of dismissal, and he wandered the twenty feet toward the rest of the group.

With the disappearance of the sun, the air turned chilly fast. Janie sat swimming in her misery until the mug in her hand grew cold. Dumping what remained of the nearly full cup, she gathered her shoes, crept to her solo tent, and crawled into the rated-thirty-below sleeping bag. She snuggled in and pulled out her phone.

Three bars.

More than she’d had since they’d started. With her thumb, she scrolled to Hazel’s name in her contacts and hit Send.

Hazel picked up on the third ring. “I was getting worried.”

“I haven’t had service.” A lump swelled in Janie’s throat. So silly. It’d only been a couple of days. But she was so tired. So sore.

“You doing okay?”

Yes, everything is great. Grady is great.Her mind scripted that tall tale. “It’s really pretty here” was what came out of her mouth. Which was true. And not something that shouldn’t have made her voice crack or pricked tears out of the corners of her eyes.

“You don’t sound okay.”

Janie bit her lip. She hauled in a deep gulp of air and then let the truth come forth. “I’m not built for this.”

For a long pause, Hazel didn’t answer. There was only the sound of her shuffling something in the background.

Then, “I told you before you left. The bet is off. Just come home.”

Janie froze. “I wasn’t talking to you, Hunter.” Anger exploded in her mind. How could Hazel do that to her? “Put your sister back on the phone.”

“Janie, you sound miserable, and you don’t have to do this.”

“Yes I do.”

“Why?” Patience became a vapor in his tone, replaced by a strong, familiar tone of frustration.

Why? She huffed. Because he would never respect her if she quit now. And she would always be mad at him for revealing her weakness.

Was she always going to be mad at him either way? And where had this starving need for his respect come from anyway?

You were the one to call it off.

That . . . that was true.She’dcalled it off.

If Hunter wasn’t on the other end of the phone, she might have crumpled into a sobbing heap as that series of thoughts pierced through all her messy feelings about him.

She’dbroken the promises.

She’dbeen the coward who wouldn’t go with him.

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