He’d misunderstood her disappointment, and she let him. “I understand. I won’t go out back while you’re gone.”
“Thanks.” He exhaled slowly. “It sounds like you get pretty adventurous on your walks. Brian saw you after your last walk and he said you looked like it was a rough one.”
She laughed. “Yeah, I got a little muddy. Also got very well acquainted with the local insect population.”
He nodded slowly, and she could tell there was more on his mind. “We were surprised you went that far—like past the wetlands and all that.”
“By the time I realized it was probably a bad idea, I was already in it, so I kept going.”
“But...why? We can’t figure out why you’d work so hard at taking a walk in the woods.”
Understanding dawned and her hand failed to cover the bark of disbelieving laughter that burst from her. “You thinkI’myour statistical probability serial killer!”
“No!” He shook his head emphatically. “No, I don’t.”
“Yes, you do. You think...what? That I was muddy because I was dragging a body through the woods to dispose of it?”
“No.” He paused. “Okay, Brian’s not so sure, but I don’t believe it for a second.”
Hannah knew she shouldn’t laugh. She should be absolutely horrified, but she couldn’t help it. The irony of having built a career around murders and serial killers, only to end up on vacation in a place where they were speculating aboutherwas too much.
“It’s not me,” she said, her stomach already aching from laughing. This was the most ridiculous conversation she’d ever had.
He held his hands up, palms facing her. “I believe you.”
“It’s probably Dave,” she said, mostly joking. Sure, she could just tell him what she’d been looking for out there, but what fun would that be?
“It could be Sheila. I’d want to murder people if I lived with him for decades.”
She shook her head. “Since you’re all so obsessed with statistics, you should know your resident killer is more likely to be a man.”
“Really?”
“Sure. Female serial killers are a very small subset. Then you narrow that subset to New England, then New Hampshire and then this campground... I mean, it’s unlikely you even have a serial killer at all, but a female one is highly improbable. Plus, if it was Sheila, she probably would have killed Dave years ago.”
“Good point.” He nodded. “Okay, I have to get back because we’ve got deliveries coming in. Sorry we talked about you maybe being a killer and all.”
“I’m tempted to leave a shovel leaning against my truck and some rope on the ground just to freak Brian out.”
He laughed. “Please do.”
Hannah watched him walk away, which was why when he spun suddenly, he caught her looking. His eyes sparkled as her cheeks heated, and she lifted an eyebrow. “Something else?”
“Yeah. I still want to know what you think of the plot twist at the end of that book.”
Then he walked away and kept going, leaving Hannah with a silly smile on her face and an urge to grab her book and read straight through to the end.
Chapter Eight
On Monday morning, Rob declared the pool saved from the neglectandtheir attempts to rescue it. They weren’t going to open it to campers until Memorial Day weekend, but at least it was just a daily to-do now and not a nightmare.
“What are we going to do about Joe?” Brian asked out of the blue. He was sitting on the stool behind the counter, his chin propped on his hand.
“What do you mean?”
“You know what I mean.”
Rob did know what he meant. They’d both done some grumbling about Joey not being around to put some sweat equity into the business, but it was probably on Brian’s mind because they’d seen him yesterday at their parents’ house for brunch.
