Chapter 6
For the secondday in a row, Grace was woken up by the breakfast bell, followed by a knock at the door.
Today, though, the knock was a hard, unyielding tap against the frame. Not the happy bounce of knuckles by a camp staff person.
Nope, that was Frank, and she knew that before he even announced himself with a clearing of his throat. “Grace? You up?”
She shoved her blankets off her legs and padded over to the door in her pajamas. “Morning,” she said as she pulled it open.
He gave her a tight smile. “Are you going to breakfast?”
“Looking for company?” Breakfast and kayaking would mean they were spending the whole morning together.
He hesitated. “I guess so. If you want company, that is.”
She thought about it long enough that he got a sheepish look on his face. She couldn’t handle that, so she held out her hand and touched his forearm. His skin was warm and tight in the early morning cool, and his muscles flexed under her fingertips. “Sure. Give me ten minutes to get ready?”
He nodded, and she gently closed the door, keeping her confusion off her face until she was alone again. In the bathroom, she sighed at herself in the mirror. What was happening?
She didn’t know. And thinking about it too hard made her head hurt.
At breakfast, all the tables for two were taken, so they sat with a woman named Ruth who had to be in her eighties, although she was full of energy. She had big plans for a tennis lesson with Nate, which she raved about for most of the meal.
“If you want a lesson, you’ll need to sign up soon,” Ruth said.
“We’ve got kayaking this morning, but we’ll put it on the list for later,” Frank told her.
We? List? Later? Grace did a double-take as Ruth turned to flag down a waiter for more coffee. Frank winked.
That didn’t help her confusion in the least.
After Ruth finished eating and excused herself, Frank leaned in. “Beard coverage goes both ways.”
She couldn’t help but smile at that. “Okay. Thanks for saving me from the agony of spending an hour with the hot tennis instructor.”
He chuckled. “Come on, my friend. Let’s go grab two kayaks before the rest of the campers steal the chance from us.”
In fact, they had the lake to themselves. Grace was already wearing her swimsuit under her clothes, so she stripped down in the boathouse again and put on a life jacket. When she came out, Frank had two kayaks in the water next to the dock and two paddles waiting as well.
“All set?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” she said bravely.
But this turn on the kayaks went better than the day before. No tipping, and her paddling was getting smoother. She even returned to the dock relatively dry, enough that she could have left her shorts on if she didn’t mind a bit of dampness.
“If you go out on the lake again tomorrow, you’ll be a pro in no time,” Frank said as they returned their gear to the staff.
You. Not them, just her. The need for cover was gone, and it was a good reminder that Frank was there to lean on—and she’d offered to be there for him to do the same—but he didn’t really want to spend all his time with her.
He was miserable here, and just counting down the days until the wedding.
Speaking of which, that was where she should put her attention today. “I need to go find Heather,” she said brightly. “She’s officiating Tegan and Wyatt’s wedding ceremony and I’d like to go over those details. Thanks for the company on the kayaks, and all the tips.”
She skedaddled out of there before he could reply.
* * *
Frank was prettysure he spent more time watching Grace hustle away from him than was natural. And yet he very much liked watching her, so he didn’t question it too much. There wasn’t anything else to do around here, anyway.
