Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 104869 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104869 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
Smith had rhapsodized about his second-favorite camping spot on the drive up the mountain pass, and Kenny had been excited to see this natural paradise that he couldn’t stop raving about.
But by the time they’d reached the campsite, the temperature had plummeted and it had begun to drizzle. The campsite was a short distance away from where he left the Land Rover, which meant that, because of her injured foot, he’d had to piggyback Kenny to the spot and leave her there while he loped back and forth for supplies.
Waiting for him to return every time after he’d left her in that creepy clearing had been a little terrifying. And she’d been relieved when he’d finally returned a third and final time.
It hadn’t been too bad once he’d set up their campsite and got a fire going.
She’d enjoyed cuddling up next to him, enjoyed the warmth of the blaze. She’d even decided that maybe it wasn’t so bad after all. Until she needed the bathroom and Smith handed over a roll of toilet paper and a headlamp and directed her to a nearby bush.
Everything in her had balked. But her need had been urgent and she’d had to make do.
Once they’d bedded down for the night, zipping their sleeping bags together to create a cozy nest, Smith had fallen asleep almost immediately, while Kenny had struggled to relax.
Every sound had terrified her. She worried about mountain lions and snakes and worms and spiders and serial killers and—because it was a full moon—werewolves.
By the following morning, despite the spectacular view that had awaited her when she left the tent, Kenny had already known that camping was not for her.
Smith, however, was truly in his element out here. So efficient at everything. And Kenny found his competence in the wild very sexy. She also hadn’t minded the exciting novelty of making love under the stars on their second night. Until the cold had driven them back to their sleeping bags.
But all in all, she’d rate the actual camping experience a solid two and a half out of ten.
“Where is he now?” Fern asked. “He didn’t leave you alone, did he?”
“He needed the toilet bush.”
All four women grimaced at that.
“I can’t believe you have to pee outside. That’s barbaric,” Tina said with an irritated head shake.
“How much longer does he want to stay there?” Libby asked. She had taken the call in the alleyway behind the restaurant and was in her chef’s whites.
Tina and Beth were both in their offices and Fern had been studying.
“He said a week.” Kenny couldn’t keep the panic from her voice.
All four women voiced loud protests at that.
“You said you guys were working on communicating more, right?” Fern asked, her quiet voice silencing the others. Over the last couple of days, while Smith had been out communing with nature and attempting—unsuccessfully—to fish, Kenny had confided a great deal to the other women.
Kenny clamped her lips between her teeth and nodded. She knew where Fern was going with this.
“Keeping it from him that you’re not enjoying yourself is doing you both a disservice, Kenny,” Fern said.
Kenny nodded. “I know. You’re right. I’ll talk to him. He’s just so…happy here.”
“And you’re not,” Beth said, her voice sympathetic. “That’s important too. You each can have things you enjoy that the other doesn’t. That’s normal. Your crazy brother, for example, loves paintballing. I tried it once and will never again. I’m happy for him to go off and get himself bruised up with our friends, while I stay home with a good book.”
Her friends all nodded in agreement. Kenny smiled. She felt a thread of warmth unfurl in her stomach whenever she thought of the other women as her friends. Because that’s what they were. Her friends and her sisters.
“Thank you,” she murmured, unobtrusively swiping a tear from the corner of one eye. “Hopefully the next time we talk, I’ll be back in town.”
Once the call ended, Kenny put the device on silent again—she was still actively avoiding her brothers’ and father’s calls and messages—and listened to the silence outside.
No, silence was the wrong word. It wasn’t ever silent here. They were camped next to a stream, and the soothing sound of the burbling water was accompanied by bird calls, chirruping insects, the gentle susurration of the wind through the grass and the trees. It was honestly quite beautiful…but also a little eerie.
Even so, Kenny found herself unable to fully relax. Every sound was too alien, every new animal call potentially signaling danger. Realistically, Kenny knew they were probably a lot safer up here than they would be in any town in the world, but it still unsettled her.
She exited the tent and looked around for Smith. He never went far, always within sight of camp. But a few yards downriver meant that he was definitely out of hearing range. The sound of the water drowned everything else out, allowing her to make her phone calls in relative privacy.