Chapter 1
Always trust your gut.That had been Frank’s motto his entire adult life and had served him well up until a month ago, when he foolishly accepted a well-meaning gift from the Navy SEALs serving under his command.
Frank hadn’t known what to think about the week of vacation in the Berkshire Mountains before the wedding of one of his favorite SEALs. An adult summer camp didn’t sound like his kind of thing, but that’s where Wyatt had met his bride, and it was where the wedding would take place next weekend.
In the end, he couldn’t bring himself to decline the generous offer, so he’d flown out to the east coast a week early.
But from the moment Frank arrived in Boston, he’d wanted to turn around and fly right back to San Diego. The feeling intensified when he got on the Camp Firefly Falls shuttle bus the next morning and was hit by a wall of pheromones and testosterone-laden side-eye from people he assumed saw him as some kind of competition for the single women who easily made up half of his fellow adult campers.
Ha, he thought.The joke is on you guys. I’m never getting laid again.
Which was a damn shame, given that he was only fifty-seven and his equipment worked better than it had when he was twenty-seven.
It wasn’t that he wasn’t interested in sex, either. But his partner-in-crime on that front was gone, and he wasn’t looking to replace her—ever.
The one-year anniversary of Bianca’s death was barely behind him, anyway. Maybe one day, way down the road, he might…
His stomach twisted as he threw himself into a seat at the very back of the camp bus.
Nope.
Not even if he lived to be ninety-five. He’d jack it to the sweet memory of his wife bouncing on his lap. That would be enough. It had been everything, after all.
He flexed his hand and looked at his wedding ring.
This was definitely a mistake.
He appreciated what his team had been thinking—get the old man away from Coronado, away from his favorite haunts and all those memories of Bianca.
Frank dragged in a rough breath.
The first sign of trouble had been when the welcome package had arrived, highlighting the theme as Silver Fox week. Adult summer camp for the fifty-five-and-up set.
He glanced at the hormone-fest playing out in front of him on the bus as they waited for the last few stragglers. The camp people should call it High School 2.0.
Well, Frank wasn’t going to play any of those games. No drama, no making out under the bleachers.
He turned his hand over, revealing the tattoo he’d just had done on his forearm. A breast cancer ribbon wrapped around the nicknameBiain script. It had healed well, unlike his heart.
At the front of the bus, a camp staffer started counting heads.
Great, maybe they could get underway. He didn’t care if they left anyone behind.
Unfortunately, the staff person didn’t agree. “We’re just waiting for Grace,” he said pleasantly. “And then we’ll be underway.”
“That’s me!” A blonde woman popped onto the bus, her backpack banging against the door as she waved her hand. “Sorry I’m late. I just wanted to grab some treats for the ride.” She lifted her other arm and wiggled a plastic bag which bulged from cardboard boxes inside it. “Who likes canoli?”
Frank pulled his headphones out of his carry-on bag. He didn’t like canoli, sunshine-y personalities, or blonde women in general. He’d lose himself in music just as soon as they got under way, which was thankfully happening now.
The camp staffer gave the word to the driver, and the bus started up. “I know everyone is eager to continue the socializing, so I’ll keep this brief. As you know, this week at Firefly Falls is sponsored by the dating siteStarCrossed…” The rest of what the staffer said was lost in the dull but growing buzz in Frank’s ears.Dating site.
How had he missed that? He wanted off this bus right the fuck now. But he wasn’t going to make a scene. He swallowed around the giant lump in his throat, jammed his headphones onto his head, and sank as low in his seat as he possibly could get.
This was going to be the worst week of his life. He’d stick around for Henderson’s wedding because he wasn’t a jackass, but until his SEALs arrived, he was hiding from everyone.
* * *
Grace stretchedher neck one way, then the other. She may have overdone it today with all her walking carrying that beast of a backpack. But she’d heard amazing things about a bakery in the North End, and the only thing that sounded worse than a two-plus hour bus ride with a bunch of strangers was the same without anything to eat.
