Gabi felt her forehead furrow. Sam didn’t even look scared right now. She’d avoided the beach area at all cost since they’d arrived, except when she’d pseudo-bathed in water barely over her knees, but now she was waist-deep in water, working on the dock with Luke.
Was this another one of his baiting exercises? Was he getting her into the water under the guise of helping him? Had he already decided that getting her to agree to swimming lessons was a useless venture? Was he using a back-door approach that—so far—looked like it might actually be working?
Then she crossed her arms carefully, thinking back to his words this morning, the way his hands had splayed across her ribs, inching slowly, achingly higher the other night.
Was he baiting her, too?
Chapter 22
Just before dinner, Gabi was in the kitchen helping Piper when she heard giggles coming from behind the admin cottage. Pausing with a potato half peeled, she looked up at Piper, who’d paused as well.
Piper cocked her head. “That’s an odd sound from this crew.”
“I know,” Gabi answered, setting down the potato and wiping her hands. “I’m not sure it’s a good one.”
She walked quickly through the dining area and pushed open the screen door, heading for where she’d heard the laughter. When she came around the corner of the cottage, she stopped fast, her eyes widening at the sight. Hanging from the trees were all four girls, tied into rope harnesses Luke must have taught them to make themselves.
Piper came up behind her, laughing when she caught sight of the girls. “Well, this is different.”
“He’s tied my students to trees.” Gabi tried to make her voice sound imperious, but when all four girls broke into laughter at once, she stopped bothering.
“They’re only three feet off the ground,” Piper pointed out.
“Yes, but … trees. They look like monkeys.”
Just then, Luke tossed a beach ball into the air. “Score is three to two. Go!”
The girls scrambled to get hold of the ball and toss or kick it to—well, she had no idea what the goal was, but they seemed to know. They bounced and swung and grabbed the ball, aiming it at each other and cheering randomly. A minute later, they all dissolved in laughter when Madison got her foot caught in her rope and spun in two full circles before she was able to get it freed.
As Luke held Madison’s rope steady, he seemed to realize for the first time that Gabi and Piper were there.
“Hey, ladies. Want to play?”
Piper stepped forward. “Calvinball? You bet I do.”
“Gabriela?” Luke reached down for a rope. “Remember the harness I showed you?”
She crossed her arms. She was not getting tied to a tree. No way, no how. “Yes, I remember. And no, I don’t want to play, but thank you.”
“Oh, come on. It’s fun.” Piper’s fingers flailed as she tied her rope into a series of knots that would probably keep her from executing an embarrassing splat, but Gabi was far less convinced of her own knot-tying skills.
Sam tipped back in her harness, to the point where Gabi started to reach for her so she didn’t topple out and land on her head.
“Come on, Gabi,” she said. “Let Luke tie you up. It’ll be fun.”
Gabi’s eyes flew to Sam’s, but the imp had already fixed her gaze elsewhere. Luke’s shoulders were shaking, however, as he knotted a rope.
“You know what?” Gabi lifted her chin. “Fine. I will.”
Waverly and Eve smiled, but Madison assumed her trademark bored face, even though she’d been laughing just minutes ago.
“Come here.” Luke motioned to her, his eyebrows up, and Gabi struggled to keep her mind focused on an innocent game of Calvinball, whatever the hell that turned out to be. She walked the ten steps to him, then stepped into the harness he’d fashioned. He drew the ropes up her legs, and she swallowed hard as his fingers skated slowly upward.
His eyes met hers, and in that moment, she knew that he knew exactly what he was doing, torturing her. She narrowed her eyes, but he just smiled. He spun her around and checked the knots, then took the end of her rope and climbed up one of the pine trees.
“Climb up on that stump and I’ll tie you up,” he called from above her.
She was going to kill him.
She stepped up onto the stump, then felt the rope pull hard as he looped it around a thick branch and tied it securely. She hoped.
“Okay, test it.”
She pulled with her hands and it didn’t give. “I think it’s fine.”
“Just jump, Gabi.” Sam rolled her eyes. “You’ll fall, like, two feet if you dump.”
She held on to the ropes tightly, sure she was about to make a spectacular flop, but to her surprise, instead she sailed a few feet one way, then swung backward. It was kind of like flying.
“See? No crash and burn.” Luke smiled from above her, then caught Piper’s rope when she tossed it up to him.
After he’d tied Piper in, he climbed back down the tree, and Gabi couldn’t help but think about the range of muscles it took to scale a tree without looking like it was taking any effort at all. She also couldn’t help but think about what those muscles would look like with less clothes on, but shook her head before that distraction did her in.
One minute later, the ball was bouncing, the girls were laughing, and Gabi and Piper were right in the thick of things. Before long, Gabi’s stomach and cheeks hurt from laughing, and an hour later, when Luke called the game in favor of Eve and Waverly, Gabi’d forgotten why she ever thought his baiting technique was a bad idea in the first place.
The girls had learned to tie their ropes, they’d learned to make their own harnesses, and they’d spent a couple of hours getting comfortable with hanging in them … all without realizing Luke had very clear goals for what seemed like just a silly game.
As Piper disappeared into the dining hall with the girls, Gabi finished untying her knots and coiling her rope.
“Have fun?” Luke raised his eyebrows, obviously already knowing the answer.
“None.” She shook her head. “Clearly.”
“Want to help me get this stuff put away in the shed?” Again with the eyebrows. “Girls will be busy for a bit.”
Gabi felt her cheeks flush, so she turned to grab a few ropes before he could see how easily she blushed.
“You know what I love?” His voice was low and close to her ear, and shivers enveloped her whole body as he spoke.
She swallowed nervously. “What?”
“I love that your face doesn’t let you hide your feelings. You’re like an open book, Gabriela.”
“That is not at all comforting.” She stepped away from him. “Has no one ever told you that a woman prefers to be a mystery?”
He shook his head. “Mystery is overrated. I like you just the way you are.” He leaned toward her, and she automatically closed her eyes, already longing for his kiss.
But just then, a shriek from the dining hall had Gabi springing away from him and sprinting up the hill, Luke hot on her heels. When they banged open the screen door, they stopped fast.
First they saw the girls huddled together on top of a table.
Then they saw the bear cub.
Chapter 23
“Luke?” Gabi’s voice was low and panicky as he pushed her behind him and scanned the room. The cub was up on the service counter, but he couldn’t see a mama bear. With all of the screaming they’d just heard, he’d find it hard to believe she was still in the building, but unfortunately, he found it harder to believe she’d have left her cub behind.
“There’s a tranquilizer gun in the admin cottage.” He spoke in a low murmur to Gabi, whose eyes were wide as she looked from the cub to the girls and back again. “Go get it in case we need it.”
“I can’t leave them,” she whispered back.
“You have to.” He sidled by her, opening the door. “Go. I’ll take care of them.”
“Oh, God.” She whimpered as she bac
ked out the door, then sprinted toward Oliver’s office. Luke watched her go, then turned to Piper and the girls.
“Okay, ladies.” He spoke in a quiet voice, not looking at the bear cub. “Step down backwards and back toward me slowly. Don’t look at the bear, and don’t make any sudden movements.”
The girls stayed frozen on top of the table, apparently under some delusion they were safer there. He sighed. Maybe later, they’d have a little talk about how high bears could climb.
“I don’t know where mama bear is, girls, and I don’t want to find out. We need to get out of here in case she’s still here.”
He wished he could see into the kitchen, but the half-wall service area was blocking his vision. He’d seen this particular mama and her cub a couple of times this summer, but never this close to camp. And never inside a building.
He scanned the windows, looking for dark fur moving in the trees. If she wasn’t in the dining hall, then he was damn sure she wasn’t far away. At this moment, he didn’t know if it was safer to have the girls stay inside or send them out.
Just as Gabi came flying up the steps carrying the gun, there was a tremendous crash in the kitchen, and the question was answered. He took the gun and cocked it, aiming toward the noise. He was trained to use it, but damn, he’d never wanted to.
Not moving his arms, he motioned with his chin for the girls to head for the door behind him.
“Now. Go. Head for Oliver’s office and stay there until I come get you.”
They stayed frozen.
“Go!”
Finally, logic seemed to overcome terror, and they eased down from the table and backed out the door, taking off at a dead run for the admin cottage once they were clear of the steps. Luke let his eyes bounce from the cub to the cottage until he was sure everyone was inside.
“Gabi. You, too. Go. Mama bear’s in the kitchen. This might not be pretty.”
“I can’t leave.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m scared of papa bear.”
Luke almost chuckled, but then realized she was serious. She had no idea how the whole bear thing worked—no idea that papa was probably nowhere close to here.
“There’s no male. Just these two.”
“So he’s not sitting by the kitchen door, sharpening his claws in preparation for a nice, juicy housemother?”
“No. But once mama bear gets done pilfering the kitchen and decides to make a break for the woods, I don’t know which way she’ll go. I’d prefer you’re not between her and an exit, okay?”
Gabi slid farther behind him. “Luke? Remember when you showed us those claw marks on that first hike?”
“Yep.”
“I really hoped you were joking.”
* * *
“Gabi? Now can we go back to Briarwood?” Eve whispered as they crowded to look out the admin cottage windows. “Pretty sure our parents didn’t okay this.”
Gabi didn’t answer, her eyes trained on the dining hall. Luke was still in there, and Oliver had left the cottage with two pistols. “One shoots blanks,” he’d said as he sidled out the door. “Just to scare them away.”
Piper squinted. “See anything come out yet?”
They both jumped as they heard a shot, and then two bundles of fur bounded out the kitchen door, headed for the woods at a dead run.
Waverly closed her eyes, huddled in the corner. “Can’t believe we saw a bear. Can’t believe we have bears. Can’t believe Pritch-bitch wants us to get eaten by bears.”
Her words somehow broke the tension inside the cottage, and one by one, the girls started giggling. Gabi resisted joining in, but when even Sam fell victim to the contagious laughter, she felt herself give in as well. A minute later, when Luke showed up at the door, he looked from one to another of them, shaking his head.
“What in the world is so funny?”
“Bears.” Sam snorted, then laughed harder.
Luke’s eyes widened as he looked at Gabi, who put her hand over her mouth, clamping her lips shut. “Sorry. Just a little nervous terror here.”
“That’s a big mama bear. Glad none of you went in the back door.” He leaned against the doorjamb, scanning all of them again. “Speaking of doors, there is an unholy mess in that kitchen, and the reason there’s an unholy mess is because someone left the door unlocked. I’m gonna let you guys figure out who that someone was, and then that person can get busy with a broom.”
The girls looked at each other. “Wasn’t me,” claimed Madison.
“Me, neither,” said Waverly.
“Not me.” Eve shook her head.
“Definitely not me.” Sam smiled. “I was in a tree.”
“Oh, no.” Piper’s eyes widened as she looked at Gabi. And in that moment, Gabi pictured dropping a potato peeler to go see what the laughter was about outside the dining hall. She cringed as she looked at Luke.
“It was us.”
“You?” His eyes went wide.
Piper raised her hand. “Us. Crap. Sorry, Luke. I never thought—I mean, we were right there behind the admin cottage. That’s pretty bold, isn’t it? For them to come in when we were so close?”
“Yeah, it is. They’re getting bolder all the time. I don’t like it.” He sighed. “Really? You two?”
“Sorry.” Both Piper and Gabi spoke at the same time. Then Gabi stood up from the desk where she’d been leaning. “I’ll get it all cleaned up. And I’ll pay for whatever damage they caused. I’m so sorry, Luke. I just didn’t think.”
She could feel the girls’ eyes bouncing between her and Luke, wondering how he was going to react. Sam’s arms crept across her stomach, while Eve stepped back, and Gabi swore internally. If he got angry right now … if he made these two girls feel scared of him in addition to the damn bears, whatever fledgling feelings she had for him were going right out the window.
But instead of getting mad, he smiled. And then he laughed, and she saw the girls eyeing each other like they weren’t sure what to think.
“Well, girls. Looks like Piper and Gabi have some work to do, unless anyone here feels like chipping in to help.” He raised his eyebrows. “I might be able to make it worth your while.”
Madison looked around. “No offense, Luke, but I’m pretty sure there isn’t enough money in the world to make me want to clean up bear slobber.”
“I’m not talking about money,” he said, holding up six tickets like they were million-dollar lottery winners.
The girls perked up immediately. “What are those for?” Sam asked.
“Snowflake Village. It’s a theme park just a couple of miles away. My friends run the place, and they dropped off some tickets in case I thought you all deserved an evening away from our little paradise here.”
Eve’s eyes narrowed like she didn’t quite trust him. “What kind of theme park?”
“The kind with rides and bad-for-you food and Christmas music piped in 365 days a year.”
“Good rides?” Sam piped up. “Or little-kid ones?”
“Both.” He smiled. “So if you’re hankering for a teacup or merry-go-round, Sam, you’re all set.”
“Very funny.”
“You asked.” He put the tickets back in his pocket. “So what do you think? Evening at Snowflake Village worth a little extra elbow grease?”
The girls looked at each other like it still might turn out to be a trick, then seemed to decide it was worth the risk to find out. Sam grabbed for the door handle.
“Come on, minions,” she ordered. “Let’s do this, so we can actually leave this joint.”
As the girls headed out the door, Luke moved to stand closer to Gabi, making her feel torn between backing up from his heat … or melting into it.
“Just a quick question?” Gabi put up a finger as she reached for a roll of paper towels in the supply closet. “How likely is it that mama bear and baby bear will make another appearance?”
He raised an eyebrow. “You want the comforting answer? Or the truth?”
* * *
Two hours later, Luke and Gabi were strolling through the courtyard of Snowflake Village, which was ablaze with thousands of tiny white lights strung from tree to tree. Sunset was still a long way off, but under the tinkling music of the rides and the speakers high in the pines, Luke could hear peepers and tree frogs warming up for their nightly chorus.
It had taken the girls a remarkably short time to put the kitchen back in order, most especially because Gabi and Piper had hardly let them do any of the work. When he’d argued, they’d both pointed to the door.
“We caused this,” Piper’d said.
“We’ll clean it up.” Gabi’d finished.
But now they were here, and he’d finally convinced Gabi to let the girls go off exploring on their own, pretty sure there’d be little risk of them heading for the hills. Ethan, Molly, and Josie ran a fun, but tight, ship here at Snowflake Village, and if any of the girls tried to make an escape, the security guys would alert Ethan before they got even ten feet from the park’s borders.
“Thanks for returning the van battery.” Gabi leaned into him slightly, and he fought the urge to slide his arm across her shoulders in a possessive move he had no idea how she’d react to. “And for driving us into town. You’re right—I don’t think my driver’s license covers the skill it takes to get the van around that curve by the river.”
“The battery return is just temporary. I figured you could all use something to think about besides bears, but I’m still under orders to keep you under lock and key, don’t forget.”
“Oh, I couldn’t if I wanted to.” She rolled her eyes. “This place smells ridiculously good, by the way. I haven’t been to an amusement park in—well, actually, you know what? I don’t think I’ve ever been to one.”
“How is that possible?” He knew he’d never been to one as a kid, but as a foster kid bouncing around from one poverty-stricken family to another—until the last one, that is—that was no surprise.
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