Summer Nights

by Sanders, Jill

  ALSO BY JILL SANDERS

  The Pride Series

  Finding Pride

  Discovering Pride

  Returning Pride

  Lasting Pride

  Serving Pride

  Red Hot Christmas

  My Sweet Valentine

  Return to Me

  Rescue Me

  The Secret Series

  Secret Seduction

  Secret Pleasure

  Secret Guardian

  Secret Passions

  Secret Identity

  Secret Sauce

  The West Series

  Loving Lauren

  Taming Alex

  Holding Haley

  Missy’s Moment

  Breaking Travis

  Roping Ryan

  Wild Bride

  Corey’s Catch

  Tessa’s Turn

  Haven, Montana Series

  Closer to You

  Never Let Go

  Holding On

  The Grayton Series

  Last Resort

  Someday Beach

  Rip Current

  In Too Deep

  Swept Away

  High Tide

  Lucky Series

  Unlucky in Love

  Sweet Resolve

  Best of Luck

  A Little Luck

  Silver Cove Series

  Silver Lining

  French Kiss

  Happy Accident

  Hidden Charm

  A Silver Cove Christmas

  Entangled Series: Paranormal Romance

  The Awakening

  The Beckoning

  The Ascension

  Pride, Oregon Series

  A Dash of Love

  My Kind of Love

  Season of Love

  Tis the Season

  Stand-Alone Novels

  Twisted Rock

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  Text copyright © 2019 by Jill Sanders

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

  Published by Montlake Romance, Seattle

  www.apub.com

  Amazon, the Amazon logo, and Montlake Romance are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc., or its affiliates.

  ISBN-13: 9781542007573

  ISBN-10: 1542007577

  Cover design by Vivian Monir

  Cover photography by Wander Aguiar

  CONTENTS

  PROLOGUE

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  PROLOGUE

  Zoey held her sister’s hand more tightly as they walked across the large wooden bridge—walking toward the place they would be spending the next month, alone. In the sweltering heat of the swamplands in Florida.

  Sure, their father had driven for over five hours to bring them to the gates of the camp, but upon seeing the mass of young girls and parents inside the large iron gates, he’d come up with an excuse about needing to get home again and had practically shoved them out of the car.

  Since she was the older of the two, by twenty months, it fell on her shoulders to make sure they both were checked in to the summer camp.

  “Aren’t you even going to wave goodbye to Dad?” Her sister, Scarlett, nudged her.

  Zoey’s chin rose before she answered. “No.” She tugged on her hand so Scar, as she liked to call her, would stay in step with her as she shifted the heavy backpack on her shoulder. What her little sister didn’t know was that Zoey had overheard their parents talking last night. Not only was their father having an affair, but he’d confessed that he was in love with someone named Bridgette. Zoey’s eleven-year-old blood boiled at the thought of their father betraying their soft-spoken mother in such a way. Also—BRIDGE-ette? Blech.

  “Why?” Scar tugged on her hand, breaking Zoey out of the dark thoughts. Her sister was still at the age where she had to know everything. Zoey joked that Why should have been her middle name. Scarlett Why Rowlett.

  “Because.” She rolled her eyes as they moved down the neat gravel path that took them toward the main building of River Camp, the “exclusive summer camp for young girls from elite families.”

  Their mother had sprung it on Zoey and Scarlett during the last week of school that they had been accepted to attend River Camp. Which both of the sisters had loudly complained about until the very moment their father had dropped them off at the gates of the large facility.

  “Why?” Scar’s voice turned to a whine.

  Zoey silenced her by tugging on her hand again. “Don’t be a baby,” she hissed. “People are watching.” She nodded to all the other girls around their age.

  River Camp “delights young women ages eight to twelve via hiking, swimming, paddleboarding, yachting, gymnastics, ballet, and equestrian activities.” Or so the brochure her mother had given her said.

  But Zoey knew what this really was. This was a prison for her and Scar while their parents tried to work on salvaging their marriage. But really, what would happen was their father would promise to change, as he always did, and then, once things died down, he would return to his old ways. BRIDGE-ette was not the first. Sneaking around on his family while tearing down their mother and making her believe it was all her fault was his MO.

  As she looked around the open field, Zoey spotted the line they were supposed to be in and started across the grassy field. They stopped behind a tall blonde girl in cutoff shorts and a light-brown tank top with worn tennis shoes. Zoey tossed her bag down in the dirt.

  “Listen,” she whispered, turning to give her sister a shake. “Dad and Mom shoved us in this camp for one reason: to get rid of us this summer. So let’s try to look at this as a vacation”—her eyes narrowed—“even if it’s nothing more than a prison.”

  Scar shrugged and raised her chin, much like Zoey had done less than a minute ago. “Whatever.” She smiled brightly.

  Zoey wished she had the same way to turn off depression Scarlett had. Her sister was an abundance of joy and cheerfulness most of the time—when she wasn’t asking questions, at least. Unlike herself. Maybe it was because Scar hadn’t hit puberty yet?

  Zoey watched as her sister’s dark eyes traveled behind her. “Hi.” Scar’s smile grew bigger.

  When Zoey jerked around, she almost bumped into the tall blonde girl, who was now smiling back at them.

  “Hi.” The girl looked between them. “Sisters, right?”

  They both nodded.

  “I’m Scar.” Scarlett waved.

  The blonde girl’s eyebrows shot up. “Scar?”

  “She’s Scarlett,” Zoey corrected. “I’m Zoey.” She sighed as she silently wished the summer were over already.

  “Elle,” the girl replied. “Is this your first time here?”

  Zoey nodded and stuck her hands in her jeans. “You?”

  “Gosh, no—my g
randfather owns this place. I’ve been coming here since I was born.” She giggled and shrugged.

  Zoey stopped herself from rolling her eyes once the girl’s words sank in. Her family owned this place. It wouldn’t do to make enemies of her on the first day—after all, it wasn’t her fault they were stuck here.

  “Cool,” she said under her breath. But in her mind she instantly put Elle in the rich, stuck-up category.

  Unlike the tomboy category, which she fell into herself. Girls who enjoyed being outdoors, wore torn jeans, and more often than not had a few cuts and bruises to show off from sports. Most of them either had short hair or tied most of it up in a ponytail, while the rest of it flew around crazily, like hers was doing currently. She reached up and tucked her dark locks behind her ears quickly.

  Then there were the stuck-up, rich daddy’s girls. Zoey’s gaze ran over Elle—even though her shorts were cutoffs, they were name brand. Her sandals were designer too, and she had a very freshly painted pink manicure and pedicure on both her fingers and her toes. She wasn’t quite the princess type but was somewhere close to it.

  “This is Hannah.” Elle stepped aside and motioned toward a blonde girl in front of her. “I was showing her where to check in.”

  Where Elle was tall and lean, Hannah was shorter and extremely petite. The fact that she was wearing pink shorts with a lacy cream top and white sandals and that her long blonde hair was neatly braided in rolls and tied with pink ribbons slotted Hannah instantly into that princess category.

  “Hey.” Zoey nodded, suddenly feeling extremely lanky.

  “Hi,” Hannah said. Zoey thought she heard an accent, but the girl hadn’t said enough for her to be sure.

  “Where are you guys from?” Elle asked as they moved another step closer to the check-in table.

  “Jacksonville,” Scar answered quickly. “You?”

  “Here.” Elle smiled. “Well, less than half an hour from here. Hannah’s from Savannah, Georgia.” Elle sighed. “I visited there once; it was beautiful.”

  “This is pretty too,” Hannah answered. “The beaches, the water.” She nodded across the green field to the small private beach that Zoey had been too busy moping to even notice.

  Now, for the first time, she took a look around. Hannah was right: the place was pretty amazing.

  “We should all bunk together,” Elle suggested, to Zoey’s surprise.

  “Sure,” Zoey said, thinking that it was probably impossible since she was pretty sure summer camps didn’t work that way. Not that she’d ever been to one, but adults didn’t usually listen to kids when it came to this sort of thing.

  And besides, she’d probably never see either of the two girls again for the rest of their monthlong stay. After all, there were hundreds of girls running around the place.

  “It’s Hannah’s first time too.” Elle continued to chat easily as the line inched forward.

  “My first time here. Last year I was in Europe,” Hannah replied with a shrug.

  Yup. Princess, Zoey thought, then had to catch herself when someone bumped her.

  “Sorry.” A soft apology came from behind her.

  Zoey turned to yell at whoever had almost knocked her down, but then she noticed the worry and fear in the redhead’s light-blue eyes and swallowed her retort.

  “It’s okay,” she said instead. The look in the girl’s eyes reminded her so much of their mother’s after she’d found out about the cheating that Zoey doubted she could say anything harsh to her, even if the girl had knocked her over. She could see tears filling up the girl’s blue eyes.

  “Are you okay?” Elle asked.

  “Yes,” the redhead answered as she looked down at her feet.

  “I’m Elle. This is Hannah, Zoey, and Scarlett.” Elle motioned to each of them as she talked.

  “Aubrey,” the girl said, her eyes returning to her tennis shoes.

  The four of them looked the newcomer up and down. Aubrey had fiery-red hair, the kind that models paid lots of money for, and skin like a doll Zoey had seen in a shop several years ago. Her clothes said she was borderline princess, but the fact that she looked uncomfortable in them had Zoey watching her more closely to see where she would land on her scales.

  “We were going to bunk together,” Elle continued. “Would you like to join us? There’s room for one more.”

  Aubrey’s head jerked up, and she took a moment to search their eyes. “Sure.” She nodded. “Thank you.”

  They all moved forward. Hannah was next in line as Elle continued to ask questions and talk about all the fun they were going to have. Aubrey told them that she was from New York, but there was a slight southern accent hidden in her voice. When they finally stepped forward, Elle took control and leaned on the table.

  She turned to the teenage camp counselor at the desk. “Hi, Carrie. This is Hannah Rodgers, Zoey and Scarlett . . .” She narrowed her eyes.

  “Rowlett,” Zoey answered.

  “And Aubrey . . .” Elle motioned and waited.

  Aubrey’s eyes moved around, and for a moment it looked as if she couldn’t remember her name; then she sighed. “Smith.” Zoey’s eyes narrowed as another mystery piece surfaced. Smith wasn’t a hard name to forget.

  Elle didn’t seem fazed and turned back to the teenager sitting behind the desk. “They’re going to be joining me in the River Cabin.”

  The older girl didn’t even blink at the request. Instead, she checked off their names and then smiled up at Elle.

  “Have you picked a name for your cabin team yet?” She leaned over the table as if eager to hear the answer.

  Elle turned toward the four of them and tilted her head, as if thinking. Then she snapped her fingers and turned back to Carrie. “Wildflowers.”

  Zoey had to admit it was a good name. She hadn’t thought Elle had it in her to find a perfect name for the five of them. The girls were all so different, yet looking across their faces, she was easily reminded of the flowers her father had given her mother for her last birthday. Uniqueness had its own beauty.

  “I love it.” Carrie chuckled. “Okay, you’re all set.” She wrote something down. “Go ahead, you know what comes next.” She motioned Elle aside.

  “Thanks.” Elle picked up one of Hannah’s bags. The fact that Hannah had three of them, to Zoey’s and Scarlett’s one bag each, confirmed the “princess” title.

  “This way. We’ll go drop off your stuff at the cabin, then meet up there.” She nodded to a large field. Zoey thought of the softball fields with yearning. But this field didn’t have any lines; instead, on one side there were wooden bleachers, and each end had wooden walkways around the green grass.

  “That’s where the campers meet up every morning before breakfast and events,” Elle said as they walked down the pathway. “That’s the main building. My grandpa lives on the top floor when he’s here during the summers. He started River Camp back when my mother was my age.”

  Scar was lagging, and Zoey reached over to take her heavier bag so that she could catch up. She estimated the other four girls were closer to her age, eleven, while her sister had just turned nine. However, Scarlett was still taller than Hannah, but Hannah wasn’t having a tough time keeping up with Elle’s longer legs.

  “That’s the cafeteria.” Elle pointed to a larger wooden-sided building. “The boathouse is down to the right. The horse barn is down toward the left. The main swimming pool is back there.” She turned back around and motioned to the wood cafeteria. “There’s a swimming pool house, so you can change and shower there instead of walking around in your swimsuit.” She turned again, and Zoey thought that Elle was actually enjoying acting like a stewardess, waving her arms around and talking about the camp as if she had built the place herself. “All of the cabins are this way.” She motioned toward another pathway. “There’s twenty of them. Most of them will have at least ten girls, but I took the smaller one for us.” She smiled. “It’s the best one, closest to the water.”

  “Are there all
igators in that?” Aubrey asked quietly from behind them. She pointed toward the water.

  The entire group stopped and turned toward her. Aubrey’s gaze homed in on the water beyond them. Then, as one, the rest of them turned to look out at the almost clear surface.

  Zoey loved the water. Ever since her uncle had taken the family sailing one summer, she’d dreamed of learning herself one day. But with her father being busy all the time and her mother focusing on keeping the marriage together, she’d never gotten the chance.

  “I guess so, but I’ve never seen one.” Elle leaned closer. “Sharks too, I suppose.” She started walking again. “They pretty much leave you alone—my grandpa says that they are more afraid of us than we are of them. Although, I had heard that someone living nearby lost a dog once—a gator got to it. Ten cabins are over there, and ten down this pathway.”

  Zoey stopped. “I thought you said we were going to our cabin. If they are all that way . . .” She tilted her head toward the paths that Elle had just pointed out.

  Elle’s smile grew. “The other cabins are that way. Ours is this way.” She motioned. “Come on. Trust me.”

  Zoey looked down at Scar, who returned her glance, her eyes filled with curiosity. They all followed Elle as she continued to talk about the camp and her grandfather. The path narrowed slightly, then opened up to a clearing. A small river flowed from there into the larger bay. A small wood cabin painted a soft green sat on the edge of the water with a large deck that hung over the edge of the stream. Its tall pointed roof was accented with large glass windows that overlooked the water. Chairs hugged a gas firepit on the deck.

  “This was my grandfather’s first home. He lived here for almost a full year with my mom while the camp was being built.” Elle smiled at them. “It’s my favorite place in the entire world.” She sighed.

  Zoey set the bags down and looked around. She was in love. She had never expected to have anything in common with Elle, yet here they were, standing on a dirt trail, looking at a cabin in the middle of the forest as if it were the best place on earth.

  When her mother had mentioned that they were going to be stuck in a camp for a full month, Zoey hadn’t imagined she’d get so lucky as to stay in a place with girls like this. Maybe her summer wasn’t going to be as bad as she’d thought after all.