Chapter Eight

“W hat should I bring to go camping for a day?” Amanda asked Quinn as they walked into Amanda’s bedroom.

“I can’t believe you’ve never been camping.” Blonde hair happily bouncing around her head, Quinn resembled a beautiful angel as she sat on the blue comforter. The only other pieces of furniture were a white double dresser and a small nightstand.

“Never,” Amanda replied. “Never thought I would, either.”

“Well, you’ll only be there one day, you don’t need much.”

“I like to be prepared. I haven’t lived here during this time of year, and so far, the spring has been unpredictable. Some days it’s cold, other days it’s warm.”

“I agree. In Minneapolis, it’s still cold.”

“I’m thinking I need five outfits.”

“No.” Quinn laughed. “Wear layers you can put on and take off. Why are you so worried?”

“The unknown.”

“Don’t let that ruin your day. Camping’s fun.”

Amanda went to her dresser and pulled out two pairs of shorts, two bras, four pairs of underwear, and three pairs of socks. She dropped them on the bed before going to the closet and getting three shirts, two pairs of jeans, a sweater, a raincoat, a hoodie, tennis shoes, and boots. Once they were on the bed, she glanced at Quinn.

Her friend grinned. “I’m dying to see how much you pack for a week away.”

“I’m very precise with packing when I know what to expect.” Amanda rolled up each piece of clothing and jammed them into her Gucci overnight bag—an extravagance her ex-husband bought her when she graduated college.

She liked designer things, but on her salary, she couldn’t afford to buy them new. Thank goodness for the second-hand stores around town and online resale shops. Many people did a double take when they noticed she wore designer clothes, shoes, or a purse. They probably thought she had money.

She did not.

A school counselor’s salary didn’t have the padding for designer anything. However, she’d learned if she bought a purse at a department store for say fifty dollars, it never lasted more than six months. Whereas, she still had the first second-hand designer bag she’d bought, and it looked brand new. She was a pro at washing everything she bought and getting it clean. Everyone thought she got her nails done, but she did them herself. They were press-ons and no one could tell she hadn’t spent a fortune at a salon. They cost her less than ten dollars and only took five minutes to put on.

She continually changed her hair color and loved how the solutions made her hair shiny. She bought makeup on sale and used cold cream as a cleanser like she’d been doing since the age of twelve. Of course, underwear she always bought new.

Kasey had called her high maintenance.

She wasn’t.

Amanda hurried to her bathroom and came back with a roll of toilet paper. “I don’t know if there’ll be a bathroom. When nature calls, I’m not going to use a leaf.”

“I wouldn’t either,” Quinn agreed with a chuckle. “What time are you leaving in the morning?”

“Four. The earlier I arrive, the earlier I can leave. Instead of chasing sunsets, like the reality show, I’ll be chasing sunrise.”

“Why don’t you back out? I’m sure Kasey won’t mind.”

“I wouldn’t do that. I’m going to keep my end of our deal. I sympathize with what he’s going through, and if my going camping helps him in any way, that’s all that matters.”

~

R eclining on a huge portable chaise chair with Edward snoring beside him, Kasey checked his phone for the time. Five-thirty. He wondered when Amanda would arrive. Or even if she’d come.

The faintest brightening of the sky on the eastern horizon signaled dawn. Thankful he’d gotten at least a couple hours of sleep, he sat up. Edward startled awake, jumped from the chair, and sniffed his way to the thicket of trees. Kasey stirred the embers in the fire and threw on more sticks. In no time, the flames roared again.

He needed to take time off more often. This was his first real vacation in three years. Even when he wasn’t on shoot, he kept busy with promotion for the show and charity work.

Since the whole proposal debacle, he felt odd while filming, especially around Harper. And he rarely saw Ethan. His brother must be giving him a wide berth. He wasn’t certain what was going on between the two and didn’t ask questions. It wasn’t any of his business.

His lawyer had called him about the Star Breeze piece, waiting for the okay from Kasey to sue Harper Productions. Kasey wasn’t sure he wanted to do that, but he did need to call him and discuss his contract renewal, and the possibility of leaving the show. Except, he couldn’t decide if that was what he wanted. He and Harper had a lot of history. She was the reason for his success.

He shook his head to dismiss the thought because he didn’t have to make any decisions today. He ducked into the tent and removed a soda from the ice chest. When he emerged, he heard a car engine. He turned around. Two headlights drove up the dirt road. Unscrewing the drink top, he took a large sip.

He recognized Amanda’s Honda as she parked it beside his dad’s truck. She popped out of the driver’s door. Edward ran up to her. She patted his head. “Morning, Edward.”

“Welcome,” Kasey said cheerfully. “How was your drive?”

“Good. Not much traffic.” She stopped in front of him. Damn, she smelled sweet. She held out a white paper sack. “Brought you breakfast.”

“Thank you.” He took the bag and set it and his soda on the ground.

The fire illuminated the area. She studied their surroundings. “No restroom, huh?”

“No. But...” He made an elaborate gesture toward the fire. “The fire will provide warmth. The tent or the truck,” he motioned to each, “serve as our protection against the weather if it rains.” He stepped over and opened the flap on the tent. “Blow up mattress, sleeping bags, and a cooler. Would you like a drink?”

“Not right now.”

Then he pointed at a table with a portable stove on top. “Here we’ll cook the fish we catch.”

“What if we don’t catch any fish?”

The husky’s head turned back and forth as they talked as if he didn’t want to miss any detail of what they were saying.

“Don’t jinx us.” He walked to the chaise chair he’d been sleeping on and turned it to face east, overlooking the lake. “Here’s the best part.” He held the chair for her to sit. Edward hopped up and lounged at the foot of the long seat. Once Amanda settled, Kasey grabbed a regular lawn chair from beside the tent, picked up his breakfast, and sat beside her. “Sunrise.”

Since it was so close to dawn, the sky lightened moment by moment while a soft lapping of water came from the lake, and the coo of a dove echoed in the breeze.

Kasey opened the bag and pulled out a kolache, then he held the bag out to her. “You want the other one?”

“Those are both for you. I ate one on the drive.” She took a deep breath. “Have you been here before?”

“We used to camp here when I was a kid.”

What a nice profile she had. Her features were soft and pretty. Not wanting her to catch him watching her, he turned his attention to the sun’s rays streaking across the sky.

He ate both of the sausage kolaches and finished his soda. He got up and threw the trash into a garbage bag, Edward at his heels. Then he snatched two of the fishing poles and the tacklebox he’d brought and sat next to Amanda again. He worked on the lures while Amanda’s attention never wavered from the horizon. She held silent and still. He paused when the sun crested and the lake mirrored the image of the sun like molten orange lava.

“This is beautiful,” she finally broke her silence. “I’ve been wanting to go to Galveston for sunrise or sunset and haven’t made it yet.”

“My parents have a beach house in Galveston.”

She spun her head his way. “Why didn’t you invite me there?”

“I wanted to go camping.”

“I might’ve preferred the beach cabin.”

“You would’ve preferred a hotel.”

“I can’t deny that. But I am more a beach girl. I’m hoping to flip my house and buy a place in Galveston.” She lifted the can of insect repellent from the tacklebox and sprayed it over her body. “Forgive me. It isn’t bad out here. I’ll just drive back to town when I need a restroom.”

“There’s plenty of privacy around—”

“Private or not,” she interrupted him. “I’m not going to bare my essentials to a bug or an insect or an animal when I can drive twenty minutes and use a restroom.”

He grinned. “You’re essentials?”

“Yes. My essentials are important. As are yours.”

Holding in a laugh, he agreed. “For certain.”

“And unlike you, I’m not willing to haphazardly expose them to the elements and hope for the best. When your family camped here you never had a bathroom?”

“No.”

“Did you use toilet paper when—” She raised a hand midsentence. “Forget it.”

He raised his brows, taking a bit too much joy in her discomfort.

“I don’t need to know. I just hope you don’t get bit by something someday.”

“Already happened.”

She flinched.

“It didn’t happen here. We were shooting in Utah.”

“How bad was it?”

“Landed me in the hospital for a few days. Spider bite.”

“Where?” She lifted both her hands in a stop motion. “Don’t answer that.”

“Not on my indispensable essentials,” he clarified.

She covered her ears with her hands.

He continued to tease her. “My ass cheek. Took me a week before I finally told anyone. By then, the bite had morphed into a horrible dent and oozed with puss. I went to the doctor, and he immediately sent me to the ER. Not sure I’ve ever been so sick.”

“Yet, here you are putting yourself in danger again and wanting me to do the same. Why?”

“It only happened once out of hundreds of times.” He sighed. “And I needed to get away or I’d lose my sanity.”

~

T hey enjoyed a busy morning. Kasey insisted they go for a hike. Clouds obstructed parts of the sky and cool air circulated. Since it was early spring, the terrain on the trail was still recovering from the winter cold and plants were just starting to sprout new growth. Amanda could only guess at how pretty the spot would be during the summer.

Kasey drove her into town while Edward ran back in forth in the bed of the truck.

“I thought camping would be more relaxing,” she said.

“You didn’t find the hike relaxing?”

“My idea of relaxing is reading a book or taking a nap.”

He turned into the parking lot of a store. “We’ll get you a fishing license. Fishing is very relaxing.”

Once they were back in the truck and on the road, Kasey said, “I can’t believe you’ve never been camping. I lived for it as a kid. We went all the time.”

“What about the beach cabin?”

“We didn’t get it until my dad’s uncle died. I was in high school by then. When we were growing up my parents couldn’t afford much. Camping is pretty cheap. We went a lot with our cousins. What did you do on the weekends or during summer vacation?”

Disappointment dropped in her stomach like a stone going down an endless well. “We moved a lot and always seemed to be in a new place.”

“I never moved as a kid. We always lived in the same house. The house where they still live.”

Stability. He’d had stability. She doubted her parents had known how to spell the word.

“How often did you move?”

“Every year or two. Sometimes twice a year.”

“Really?” Intrigue sparked his tone. “I went to school with some of the same people my whole life. I can’t imagine going to school and knowing no one. Even in kindergarten, I knew the kids from church and my neighborhood.”

“I was the perpetual new girl.” She kept her voice upbeat.

“Did you ever move back to the same place?”

“No.”

“What about family?”

“I’m an only child. My folks were from London. I have grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, but they’re in England.”

“Were from London?” he asked.

“They were killed in a car accident when I was eighteen.” She tried to keep the devastation from her voice.

“Oh, I’m sorry. You weren’t with them, were you?”

His words caused a crushing blow to her heart. “I wasn’t.”

“What happened?”

“Drunk driver.” She tried to think of something else to say to divert the conversation.

Thankfully, he took care of it by pulling a white plastic bag from his pocket and handing it to her. “Something to remember your first camping trip.”

“You didn’t have to buy me anything.” She carefully opened the bag to find a keychain inside. Made of pewter, it had the scene of a lake with the words Lake Life . She smiled. “Thank you, Kasey.” She felt around in her purse and found her keychain. She slipped the gift onto the big anchor ring holding her keys.

“You’re welcome. I’m glad you’re here.”

When they made it back to the lake, the sun shone brightly and the clouds were gone. Kasey showed her how to cast a fishing rod. She caught on quickly and sat on the dock.

He stood a good distance away and cast his line off the other side of the dock. “If we’re too close, we’re going to hook each other.”

Edward padded back and forth between them.

She’d watched Kasey catch two fish before she felt a sudden pull on the fishing pole in her hand. The line stretched tight. “I have something.”

“Reel it in,” he encouraged her.

She turned the reel handle and pulled on the rod. It yanked back toward the water, pulling her upper body forward. Edward barked. She righted herself and stood up.

“Looks like you’ve got a fighter. Hang in there. I’ll be right back.” Kasey hurried off.

Planting her feet on the dock, she leaned back and rapidly reeled, mimicking how Kasey caught his fish. Again. Again. Edward continued to bark as if cheering her on. Even though the temp topped in the sixties, she broke out in a sweat. Afraid if she let up the slightest bit the rod would be yanked from her grasp, she held it in a white-knuckled grip.

Kasey came back with a net. “Get it close enough to the dock, and I’ll scoop it up.”

He stood on one side of her and Edward on the other as she continued to fight the fish. Her pole arched as she struggled. How big was this fish? Excited, she concentrated on reeling it in.

“You’re good.” Kasey grabbed the fishing wire with one hand and used the net to scoop with the other. “You caught a perch.” He turned so she could see it.

Inside the net, a small gray and yellow fish floundered. He pulled it out and held it up by the hook in its mouth. Its scales glistened.

“Oh, doesn’t that hurt it?”

“I would think so.”

“I thought it’d be huge.”

“It’s the spirit of the fish, not the size.” He carefully held the squirming fish and maneuvered the hook out of its mouth. “It’s not big enough to keep.”

“What do you mean?” She couldn’t see herself eating the poor thing, but she’d worked hard to catch it.

He tossed it back into the lake. “They have to be a certain size to keep.”

“All that work for nothing. I’m exhausted.” She twisted her torso to stretch her back. “You promised me relaxation. What part of fishing is supposed to be relaxing?”

“All of it.”

“I believe I need to teach you how to relax, Kasey Hunter.”

“A great many people, and more all the time, live their entire lives without ever once sleeping out under the stars.” ~ Alan S. Kesselheim