Chapter 12

12

"Thanks for agreeing to this."

Erin turned to him from the passenger seat. "Is there any reason I shouldn't?" she asked with a smile.

"No, not that I can think of. Except for the fact that visiting my brother at his campground probably isn't at the top of your list." Jace slowed down at the intersection and turned the car.

"This area is beautiful, and it's nice to get to see it. Especially with you." She put her hand on his thigh.

"I've turned on the charm so much that you're even willing to go look at a bunch of old RVs just to spend time with me." Jace stretched his arm and scratched his chest, doing his best impression of the nonchalant but arrogant male. "Sounds about right. I knew I just had to get you alone with me, and you'd be done for."

She batted her lashes and tucked her face into her shoulder. "How could I resist?"

"You can't. Simple as that. Neither can I." He put his hand on top of hers as he continued to drive. He was truly enjoying his time with her. She was fun to be with, and he'd never felt more comfortable with anyone in his life.

But his conversation with Ian the day before really had him thinking. If he wanted to make Erin a part of his life—and he did—he needed her to get to know the rest of his clan. Jace had been keeping her to himself up until now, and he could happily do nothing but lay in bed with her all day. Their little utopia could only last so long, though. He wanted her to be a part of his life, and his family was a big part of that.

He turned again when he saw the big sign for Camp Brigham. It'd been designed in a traditional style, with a silhouette of tents and a tree. Jace slowed down, obeying the signs about speed limits. Flying through a place like this was a bad idea when there could be kids running around or someone trying to back a camper into a site .

"This is really nice," Erin said as she took in the neat rows of campers, carefully placed with pine trees and picnic tables between each one. "Oh, and look at those over there! You don't see campers like that anymore."

Jace turned to look. Sleek aluminum trailers were snuggled in next to boxier models that reminded him of food trucks. The paint job on a round model with a flat side was split between white and red on the top and bottom, and it looked like something out of a cartoon. "Dex has told me about them. A vintage camper club gets together at different places around the country throughout the year. Looks like it's their turn to be here."

He pulled into a parking lot next to a small building at the center of the campground. Jace brought Erin inside, stepping into a little shop that held a bit of everything. Food and drinks took up about half of the floor space. Other necessities occupied the remaining half, everything from toilet paper and shampoo to hoses and filters. A wall displayed Camp Brigham t-shirts in the same design as the sign. The man behind the counter was wearing one of them.

"Jace! There you are. I almost forgot you were coming by today." Dex stepped out from behind the counter, carrying a clipboard in his hand. All of the Brigham brothers resembled each other, each a good mix of their parents. Dex leaned perhaps a bit more toward Barbara's look, with a narrower face, but Jace still saw much of himself in his next oldest brother.

"Is this a bad time?" Jace asked.

"No, no. There was just a bit of a mix-up with my online booking platform. A glitch on their end meant two people booked the same site, and they both showed up at the same time. Fortunately, one of our other travelers had to go home early, so I still had a spot for everyone. But you don't want to hear about all of that."

"Nope," Jace answered with a grin. "This is Erin O'Leary. Erin, this is my brother, Dex."

Dex flicked a quick eyebrow at Jace before extending his hand. "It's very nice to meet you."

"You, too."

"Erin's in town for a few days, and I wanted to show her around Truro," Jace explained. "I thought we'd hit the trails."

"So he decided to bore you with my place. How kind of him," Dex said, smiling at Erin.

"It's not boring at all," Erin insisted. "It's beautiful. I can see why people want to stay here."

"Then why not let me bore you a little more and give you a tour of the place? It's not exactly an amusement park, but I'm pretty proud of it."

When Erin agreed, Dex opened the door and held it for her. He gave Jace a meaningful look, and Jace nodded. It didn't take any more communication than that for Jace to let his brother know just what Erin was to him.

"You've already seen all the excitement and wonder that is the office and the store," Dex began, indicating the building they'd just left. "I try to keep a bit of everything in there so that none of my guests have to worry about the essentials if anything comes up. On the back is a shower house and public bathroom for anyone who's camping rough."

"They look much nicer than what I would normally think of as a shower house," Erin commented. She slipped her hand into Jace's.

"That's because they are," Dex replied simply. "This place had been abandoned for several years when I bought it. The previous owner had run it until he passed away. His kids didn't have any interest in taking over, and there weren't any buyers. It was in pretty bad shape, and those shower houses were kind of a nightmare."

"I remember that," Jace added. "The first thing we did after cutting down all the weeds was to tear those down."

Dex nodded as he raised his hand to wave to someone sitting outside his camper. "I had a lot of people who said I was crazy for wanting to fix up a place like this. They said no one camped anymore and I'd never make my money back on the purchase price, much less the improvements I wanted to make. But the thing is, people started coming in as soon as it was open, before I even had it all set up. They had a good relationship with the former owner, and they would come year after year. Now they can again."

"Like the ones with the vintage campers?" Erin asked.

"Them, and others, too. Do you see that big RV right over there?" Dex pointed to a massive motor home with several slide-outs taking up the corner space. "It's an older couple. The husband used to come here as a little kid with his grandparents. Now he brings his own grandkids here."

Despite Dex's insistence that Camp Brigham was boring, Erin was smiling. "That's so sweet."

"I think so. I've tried to keep up as many of the old guy's traditions as possible while still keeping things modern. So we still have bonfires right over here for all the campers to attend on Friday nights, but we also have Wi-Fi." Dex walked past a large patch of grass with a bonfire pit in the middle. "One of the trails starts right over there."

Jace looked down the pathway that opened up between two sections of campers, where the carpet of pine needles and sand careened through pitch pines and oaks. There were many such places in this area, where civilization butted right up next to untamed natural lands. It reminded him of the little walk he and Erin had taken along the creek near the drive-in theater, something he'd mostly put out of his mind in favor of more important issues. "Hey, Dex. Have you had any wildlife sightings around here lately?"

His brother paused and thought. "No, nothing of note. Birds, of course. Some beavers out in the marshy areas, and plenty of deer. I can't think of anything that stands out."

"We had an odd incident the other day." Jace recounted the terrified customers at the mini golf course. "I can't think of anything that would have glowing red eyes."

Dex thought about it for a moment. "I know the park service has done some active restorations of the animals that used to be here. You might want to ask Dylan about it."

"Not a bad idea. It was getting dark, so maybe their eyes were playing tricks on them. Anyway, we should get out of your hair and let you?—"

"Dex! Oh, Dex! There you are!" A woman in her early thirties came rushing up to them.

"Hey, Cassandra. What's wrong?" Dex turned to her with genuine concern.

"It's my daughter. She has a horrible stomachache. She's in terrible pain. Do you have anything in the store that might help?" Cassandra clutched her hands together in front of her.

"I've got all the basic over-the-counter medicines," Dex said. "I'll run and get some things for you and bring them to your site so you can get back to her."

Cassandra pressed her hand to her chest. "That's so kind of you. I hate to agree to that, but she's really upset."

"Of course. No problem," Dex insisted.

"Excuse me." Erin stepped forward, looking shy. "I'm so sorry to butt in, but I might be able to help if you'd like me to take a look at her. I'm an herbalist."

"An herbalist?" Cassandra repeated. "I'm not familiar with what that is. "

"I know how to use natural medicines to cure simple ailments like stomachaches," Erin explained simply. "I'd be happy to see if there's anything I can do."

Jace knew Erin did much more than grind up natural medicines. He hadn't forgotten what she'd done with the plant in his kitchen. He wondered how this would work with a human patient.

"Um, okay. Why not? It's right this way." Cassandra headed toward her camper.

"I'll grab a few things just in case and be right there," Dex called as he trotted back to the office.

Erin was keeping pace with Cassandra, and Jace followed along behind them. He listened as Erin asked numerous questions, wanting to know how old the girl was, how long she'd been in pain, and if she had any other symptoms.

Cassandra led the way up the steps and into their little camper. "Eliana is right back here."

The space inside was narrow, and Jace didn't want to get in the way. "I'll be here if you need me."

Erin nodded and followed Cassandra. Her attitude had changed completely as soon as she'd heard of the ill child, from relaxed and happy to entirely focused on her new patient. She slipped into the master bedroom at the end of the camper, where Eliana was lying on the bed.

"Honey, this nice lady is here to check out your tummy and see if she can help you," her mother said.

Eliana, who looked to be about eight, used the corner of her blanket to wipe the tears from her cheeks. "It hurts!"

"My name is Erin. Can you show me where it hurts?" She kneeled down next to the bed so she wouldn't loom over the little girl. She spoke softly, gently probing Eliana's belly once she'd asked permission. There was some more discussion with Cassandra.

Jace couldn't hear all of what was happening, but he didn't need to. He had to admire someone who was so soft and delicate. Every day, or perhaps several times a day, he was coming to know a new part of her. So far, he liked all of them.

After a few minutes, Erin emerged from the bedroom. "Jace, will you help me outside?"

"What are we doing?" he asked, following her out.

"I need dandelions, and I saw some behind the camper. Do you know if Dex uses pesticides or herbicides? "

"I sure don't," Dex spoke for himself as he arrived with a bag of supplies. "What's up?"

"She just needs a good laxative," Erin explained as she reached down, grasped a dandelion at ground level, and pulled it up. The root dangled from it. "The ones from the pharmacy do work, but they can work a bit too well in children. She's only going to be miserable if it sends her in the opposite direction. This should ease the pain and help things move along."

"A weed?" Dex asked.

"That's just what everyone has taught you to believe," Erin replied with a smile. She collected several more before heading back inside.

"She's an interesting one," Dex said quietly, coming up next to Jace.

He could see her through the screen door, making herself at home in Cassandra's little kitchen as she put water on to boil. "It sounds odd, but I'd trust her. You should see what she did in my kitchen."

"Hey, now," Dex joked, elbowing him in the ribs. "This is the one, huh?"

"Yeah. She's only in town for a few more days, though." Jace watched as Erin washed and chopped the dandelion roots, steeping them for the tea. She began doing something else over on the counter, though he couldn't tell what.

"What are you going to do?"

Jace sighed. "That's the question of the hour. For right now, I think I'll go inside."

The men came in and sat down at the dinette, waiting to see if they were needed.

In the meantime, Erin was carrying a few things on a tray to the bedroom. "Here you go. Do you like hot tea?"

Eliana was still upset, but she looked somewhat interested. "Yeah, but usually just in the wintertime."

"This one will make you feel better," Erin told her. "I put some honey in it, which will make it taste pretty good, too."

Eliana took an experimental sip. "It's okay."

"I made something else for you, too." Erin lifted a circle of dandelion flowers from the tray. They were braided into each other, and she laid them gently on Eliana's head. "It's a crown."

"Oh, how pretty!" The girl smiled for the first time as she lifted her head to look at herself in the mirror. "Can I keep it?"

"You can, but you have to make me a promise."

"What?"

"I need you to drink all of your tea. It doesn't have to be all in one big gulp. You can take your time, but you need to finish it, or it won't work."

"Okay!" Eliana quickly took a drink, but she had something more important on her mind. "Can you show me how you made the crown?"

"Sure, I've got some more flowers right here."

All the tension that had arisen when Cassandra had come to them in distress had completely disappeared. Jace could see just how good Erin was with kids. The poor little girl had been crying in pain when they'd arrived, but now she was happily braiding flower stems. Eliana had completely forgotten how uncomfortable she was. He wished a woman like that had been around for Ian. Yes, Jace's mother had certainly had her hand in raising the boy, but a grandmother wasn't the same as having a mother of your own. Jace's heart hurt all over again at knowing he'd missed out on so many years with Erin. Was there any possibility they could make things work, or was it too late?

Erin stood up. "You seem to be feeling much better. There's still some more tea on the stove. You can save that and have it tomorrow. In the meantime, drink lots of water. You might also want to start eating some vegetables."

"Ew!" Eliana protested .

"I know," Erin said with a laugh. "It sounds like all you've had over the last couple of days is pizza and chips, though. Your body needs some fiber. You take care, Eliana, and have fun with your flowers."

"I will! Thank you!"

Cassandra came with Erin into the main living area of the camper. "What do I owe you?"

"Not a thing," Erin replied promptly.

"Oh, but surely you charge a fee for this sort of thing," Cassandra protested.

"I do when I'm working in my shop. I'm technically on vacation, though, so this wasn't work." Erin smiled at her. "I'm just glad I could help."

Once they'd disentangled themselves from Cassandra and Dex, Jace and Erin started down the trail they'd originally come there to explore. "What you did back there was pretty impressive," Jace said.

Her steps matched his, their fingers entwined. "It was just a simple tea."

"It was more than that," he insisted. "I know how kids are. You can't just tell them to take their medicine and expect everything to turn out right. You really helped Eliana."

"Well, thank you." She turned her head shyly away.

"Hey." Jace stopped and used her hand to turn her to him. "I really want you to know how incredible you are. If you can do stuff like that, it's no wonder people come to your shop, witchcraft or not."

She tipped her head back. Her lips found his, warm and soft.

Jace wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, deepening their kiss, wanting to hold onto her for as long as he could.