Chapter 21

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Two weeks flew by after the contentious visit from her father. In the meantime, she'd had a bunch of nasty texts from Langford Cottins, each one pressuring her more and more to sell before the lawsuit was filed and she "lost everything she valued" for being a stubborn bitch.

Hilly kept all the texts in a special file, just in case his correspondence and slurs might help her win her case. Other than that, Hilly had given neither the threats nor the developer's continual offers any consideration. There was no way she was selling, and if he or Marty thought she'd cower in a court of law, they were dead wrong.

Of course, it helped to have the amazing support of the firm she and her mother worked for, as well as the broad shoulders of her friends. Buffy and Ellen were firmly and quite vocally on her side, and while Alvero had been here, he'd remained ultra-vigilant on her behalf, lest Cottins or Marty make a return appearance.

Then there was Cisco. He'd made a point of hanging around late on the Tuesdays and Thursdays when he was scheduled. But he'd also shown up at random times during the week after finishing his shifts at the OPD. Last weekend he'd appeared out of the blue on Saturday morning, on the pretext of helping Alvi build more stuff.

Hilly gave a mental shrug. Who was she to discourage him? She'd certainly benefited from the unplanned visits, gleaning furtive kisses behind trees, inside the supply barn, and even once, underwater when they'd both been swimming. What Cisco hadn't done, was escalate beyond furtive touches and light kisses, and Hilly was beyond frustrated. She thought the air had been completely cleared after Marty had outed who she'd been in the past, but maybe…

No. She shouldn't doubt Cisco. He'd said he liked her.

Buffy had repeatedly called her a dumb-ass, and talked her down off the various ledges on which she continued to perch. Well, more like her best friend had scoffed. "Do you not see how that man's hungry for you?" she'd laughed. "If you were a four-course meal, he'd sate his appetite, and there wouldn't be a crumb of you left on the table by the time he was finished."

It was a metaphor that had covered her in goose-bumps.

Hilly had derived some reassurance from that, but as time passed and Cisco continued to treat her like spun glass, she still couldn't help doubting herself.

Old habits were hard to break.

Hilly pondered the anomaly that was Cisco while she watched the road for her new arrivals.

Yeah. Her new arrivals.

Alvero, much to her sadness, had left early that morning. He'd had to go back to work, and she'd lamented that his replacement couldn't possibly fit in here as well as the gregarious man. Alvi had loved the emotional sendoff, but told her Mason Sothard had assured him his replacement, Dean "Crash" Christopherson, was more than up for the job.

But the man was from freaking San Antonio.

When Mason—as well as a large group of acquaintances he'd tagged to help find Hilly a replacement medic—had come up blank locally, he'd reached out to a good buddy in Texas, who, he said, always had answers and solutions. That man, Quint Axton, had immediately proven to be a godsend, and had found the exact person they needed.

Crash, a close friend of Quint's and a firefighter in the city, had—a few days prior to Mason reaching out—broken his wrist while knocking down walls during a particularly bad building blaze. He'd been put on mandatory medical leave for six weeks. That sucked for him, but was great news for Hilly, because as well as a firefighter, the man was a certified paramedic. He held all the credentials needed to fill the vacant spot here at camp for the rest of the summer. Hilly couldn't believe her luck… Well, not luck exactly, it was actually the benefit of having good friends.

When Crash had been told about the opening here at camp, he'd jumped at the chance to have a Maine vacation. His only question being, could he bring his wife, Adeline, and their dog, Coco?

Hilly had assured him they'd all be welcome, although she'd warned them their accommodations were not exactly five-star. But if they thought they might enjoy cabin living, along with all things outdoors, she'd welcome them with open arms.

They'd agreed with alacrity and a healthy dose of excitement.

A big, honking SUV now headed her way as she stood with Buffy, waiting in the parking lot. She could only assume it was her new medic. But when the vehicle came to a halt and the doors finally opened, not only did two fresh new faces—along with a four-legged friend—pop out, but Mason and Cisco alighted.

"What are you doing here?" Hilly asked breathlessly, as Cisco strode over to brush a very quick kiss across her lips.

"I took the day off. I thought I'd show Crash the ropes and help get him and his wife settled. If that's okay with you," he added, a little belatedly.

She stuck out her tongue so only he could see, tasting where his mouth had touched hers, hoping to tease him a little while wishing—for the hundredth time in the past two weeks—that he'd take his affections a bit deeper. If Buffy was correct, and Cisco's interest in her was real, what the hell was he waiting for?

Hilly turned from him, taking a deep breath, and pasting on a bright smile to greet the others. "Hi, Mason. It's great to see you again. Why do I have the feeling you finagled your way here at lunchtime so you could sample your mother's cooking?"

"Because you know me too well," Mason chuckled. "I've already told Crash and Adeline they're in for some good eating."

"You've got that right." Hilly turned to the two newcomers. "Hi. I'm Hilly. I'm so pleased to meet you. I'm sorry you were injured," she told Crash, "but you don't know how happy I am that it gave you the free time to come here," she told them sincerely. "And this is my friend and our camp therapist, Buffy."

"So pleased to meet you both," Buffy smiled and shook Crash's hand.

They both turned their attention to Crash's wife.

"I'm Adeline," the pretty, petite woman with short dark hair approached with her hand outstretched.

Hilly, as well as Buffy, took her gesture in a warm clasp, then Hilly looked down at the gorgeous black lab who clung to the woman's side.

"And this is Coco. My service dog. I have epilepsy," she said straight out, without any prevarications or indications of self-consciousness. "Although these days he's more friend than caretaker, since I had surgery and my seizures are now fewer and farther between."

Hilly accepted that news as it was given, with a simple, but heartfelt nod of her head. "Is it okay if I pat him?" He was beautiful and looked extremely friendly, but Hilly was well aware that people shouldn't assume they could just go ahead and touch a service dog without permission.

"Absolutely," Adeline said with a grin. "Coco. Say hello."

Immediately, as if let off some invisible leash, the dog ran to Buffy, then Hilly, sniffing at their feet as they gave him some love. But the pooch was clearly distracted, whiffing and chuffing all around as if looking for something.

Hilly laughed and raised her head to her company. "I'm thinking he smells my pup, Nel. She's very friendly, but I left her inside my cabin since I wasn't sure how your Coco would be with another dog."

Crash laughed, and for the first time, Hilly really looked at him.

Wow.

If she hadn't already been crushing on Cisco, this man would have stolen her breath. Tall, with light brown hair that stuck up a little bit on top, he had a chiseled face, and a body that was…magnificent.

From behind her, Cisco placed his hand possessively on her lower back.

Hah.

Was her appreciation for Crash bringing out the little green-eyed monster in Cisco? She hoped so. And if Crash wasn't married, Hilly might have played up her interest a little more. As it was, she simply beamed at the man until he stopped laughing.

"Coco loves everybody and everything," Crash finally said. "I swear, if he weren't so in love with Adeline, he'd follow anybody home who gave him a pat." After that, he introduced himself. "Hi. I'm Dean, but everybody calls me Crash."

Hilly finally received a hearty handshake with his one good hand as he continued. "So please, if you will, put Coco out of his olfactory-misery and let your dog out."

Hilly grinned. "I have a feeling the two of them will be running this place by the time summer ends." She took a step backward and beckoned. "Follow me. We'll go let Nel loose, then I'll show you your cabin and give you a quick tour before lunch. You want help with your bags?"

Crash waved her off. "You, Buffy, and Adeline go on ahead. Even though someone ," he eyed his wife with loving amusement, "packed enough for ten people, Cisco, Mason, and my one-handed self can probably handle it."

Coco went bounding ahead while they were talking, not waiting for directions. Hilly figured he had some kind of doggy-radar that was leading him straight to Nel.

Sure enough, when they reached Hilly's living quarters, the pup was already on the small porch, waiting patiently with his tongue out and his tail wagging.

Wasn't that just how she'd imagined Cisco coming to her over the past few weeks? Shaking from head to tail with excitement while waiting for an invitation inside? Of course, having Buffy as a roommate kind of made that an impossibility. Maybe that's what was keeping Cisco from making deeper moves. Although…there were plenty of places…

Nope. Hilly did not need her mind going in a carnal direction while she was trying to make a good first impression on her new arrivals.

As they approached the cabin, with the men still far behind dealing with luggage, Adeline giggled. "Cisco's kind of cute, isn't he?" she probed with a smirk.

Buffy was staying pretty quiet, but there was a definite grin attempting to pop out.

"Umm, yeah. Kind of," Hilly admitted, not sure where the woman was going with this.

"He's got a crush on you, you know," she continued.

Buffy rolled her eyes in an "I told you so" way.

Hilly swallowed in a suddenly dry throat. "What makes you say that?"

Nel was now audibly scratching from inside her living quarters, and whining to be let out. Hilly dismissed the conversation for a moment, jogged up the steps and quickly opened the door. Nel burst out, greeting her new summer pal with a lot of sniffing. Whatever they smelled must have agreed with both of them, because within a minute, the two ran off together into the woods.

Adeline giggled, watching the pair, then continued with their previous topic. "The amount of time Cisco spent talking about you after he picked us up from the airport, clued me in that he was smitten."

"And on that note, now that I know I have an ally where your love life is concerned, Hilly, I'll be off to interface with the kids." Buffy winked at Adeline, then strode off.

Hilly knew she was blushing, and changed the subject for a moment. "Uh, will Coco take her cues from Nel, and not run away?"

Adeline nodded, still grinning. "She'll be fine. And if you don't want to talk about Cisco, I understand."

Hilly's face now felt crimson. "It's not that I don't want to talk about him. It's…just that everything is pretty new. He's…made a few overtures, but I'm still not quite sure if he wants to start something long-term or not."

Adeline made a phhht sound. "Oh, he wants to," she assured Hilly. "But from what he said, I get the feeling he's just waiting for you to give him the big green light."

Hilly wasn't sure she could do that. She wanted to. She'd contemplated it. But with her sadly small amount of experience, she felt she might screw things up and he'd find her lacking.

"Yeah. I'm, uh, kind of on shaky ground with that one. It's not exactly my thing, to make the first move," she admitted.

"It could be," Adeline told her with all sincerity.

"Could be what?" Crash asked, coming up from behind them with Mase and Cisco following.

" Could be enough time before lunch for us to unpack and catch our breath," Adeline responded.

Hilly appreciated the save. "Sure. If you guys would rather do that, we can put off your tour until later, and do it while the kids have free time and none of us are teaching or supervising anything."

"I'd like that," Adeline said. "I'm not the best traveler, so I could use a little down-time."

"Take as long as you like," Hilly smiled at her. "This is your vacation, after all." She then realized she had no clue if Adeline worked outside the home or not. "At least I assume it is," she added.

Adeline laughed as they weaved their way toward the cabin where the pair and Coco would be residing. "I'm in marketing, and after a really bad experience with an old boss, I quit and began freelancing. Which means I can do my job from wherever I park my ass."

"That's great. I did sort of the same thing after I got out of college, before I inherited the camp. Then I gave it up because I'm here half the year, and working in an attorney's office for the balance."

"Who does your marketing for the camp?" Adeline asked. "You know, like your PR and your website?"

"I do." Hilly scrunched up her nose. "It's not optimum, since I don't really have the time to devote to it, but I've managed to bring the camp to capacity this year for the first time, simply by word of mouth."

"That's awesome." She looked hesitant for a second. "Would I be overstepping if I asked to take a look? Maybe I can tweak things for you."

"Would I mind?" Hilly came back incredulously. "Are you kidding? I'd freaking love it."

"Then it's a plan. I'll see if anything needs sprucing up. And if you notice me taking pictures around, don't worry. I won't use your campers' faces unless their parents sign releases."

"I'm not worried," Hilly responded almost giddily. "I'm sure you know what you're doing." She bit her lip. "Damn. Now I'm afraid I'm not paying you and your husband nearly enough for being here."

"Seriously?" Adeline laughed. "A summer away from the hustle and bustle of the city? A camp setting with free meals as well as all the fun and games we can possibly imagine? I feel like we should be paying you ."

Hilly opened the door to her newcomers' cabin, and held it ajar for Adeline to look in. "Don't make any rash statements until you see where you'll be living."

Three hours later, Hilly felt like she had new friends for life. The pair had settled in, professed their love of their accommodations, then had come to find her and her companions in the dining hall.

Over lunch, with Buffy giving her waggling eyebrows from a table across the room, Hilly began to feel more at ease. Crash proved to be hysterically funny, and Adeline was so warm and giving of her time, Hilly wanted to adopt them both and never let them go. It buoyed her up to an even greater degree that Cisco was showing her more public affection than he had at any time in the past two weeks. Perhaps he was staking some kind of claim in front of company? Whatever was in his head, Hilly wasn't going to complain about the number of times he touched her; a hand to her back here, a brush to her arm there, a kiss to her cheek…

With the touchy-feely vibe Cisco was giving off, it was all Hilly could do not to drag the man into the woods. And now that Adeline and Buffy had met and joined forces, the two would probably help her tie the man up and haul him anywhere Hilly wanted.

The idea had certain appeal, and Hilly's lips twitched upward as she finished chewing her last bite of salad.

"What's funny?" Cisco asked, having polished off his third grilled ham and cheese sandwich.

Of course he'd seen her little grin.

Should she tell him? Hilly wasn't sure, and bought some time.

"Just thinking about how dangerous the combination of Buffy and Adeline is going to be, moving forward."

Cisco chuckled. "You're not including yourself in that group? I can already see that the three of you are going to be thick as thieves."

Hilly gave him a wide-eyed, innocent look. "Moi?" she responded in her best Miss Piggy voice.

Cisco snorted. "Don't give me that. I don't for a second buy your harmless expression. What are you planning?"

Okay. Fine. He wanted to know what was on her mind? Hilly leaned in close and gave it to him, after taking a moment to breathe in his rich, masculine scent.

She made her voice purposely sultry. "I was imagining enlisting their help in tying you up and dragging you off into the woods where I could have my way with you."

Cisco spluttered.

Hilly watched his face in fascination.

She had no idea that a man with skin so dark could blush so prettily. And, hell yes, she liked that he was the one at a loss for a change.

He finally picked up his napkin and coughed into it before edging close and whispering back.

"Really, Hilly? You say that here? With a hundred or more people watching?"

She continued to tease. "Why? What would you do if they weren't?"

Cisco's eyes smoldered. "I'd clear this table with one sweep of my arm, rip those tantalizing short-shorts right off you, and give myself a very different kind of meal."

Holy hell. Now it was Hilly's time to blush.

She could picture it vividly.

And she wanted it with every molecule in her now-shuddering body.