Rob wanted to know more. She could practically see the questions swirling around behind his eyes, but he only nodded and took a bite of ice cream. Clearly he was smart enough to realize if a woman said she had big decisions to make and needed time away to think, it was personal, and possibly a touchy subject.
“So you didn’t find it?” he asked after a few minutes of ice cream eating. “The foundation, I mean.”
“No, but it’s not exact, you know? An old, tattered rough sketch and some notations in a diary don’t match up that great with current maps. Obviously you try to use some common sense and look at it the way they would have as far as terrain and drainage and whatnot, but it’s pretty overgrown.”
Brian made a low humming sound of concern. “If there’s an old foundation, there could also be an old well.”
“Absolutely, which slows down the walking pace considerably. There’s a lot of woods left to walk back there.” When Rob and Brian exchanged a look, Hannah caught the meaning behind it. “I’d be happy to sign some kind of waiver or whatever.”
“Yeah.” Rob scrubbed his hand over his face. “But it’s not just the liability. The cell signal’s really spotty, and it’s probably not great from the bottom of a well in the middle of the woods.”
Hannah didn’t want to lose access to the woods. Even if she didn’t find the actual foundation, knowing she might be walking in Elizabeth’s footsteps grounded her somehow—it connected her with the sense of purpose that had driven her since her time at college. It hadn’t been social engagement and income, but the need to remember the past and the people who had disappeared from it.
“If the foundation is still there, it would make for great photographs,” she said, and she saw the spark in Rob’s eyes. “This is your land now, and from what I’ve been able to glean from old records, the Whaley house was the first permanent structure built on it. It’s quite a history.”
Brian snorted. “A little over a week and you already know Bobby’s magic words.”
She noticed the slight clench of Rob’s jaw at the use of the old nickname and smiled. “And I can make sure you don’t fall in a well.”
Rob laughed. “Okay. We’ve got our hands full with this cookout coming up and then the campground opening to the weekenders, but I could probably find a day when we could go out and look around. And the previous owners told us that strip of marshy stuff does dry up, so a little time wouldn’t hurt.”
“Sounds like a plan,” she said, relieved she’d still be able to walk the woods.
As far as Rob accompanying her, she had mixed feelings. Obviously, it would be safer. The back of their property was overgrown, and she’d already considered the possibility of old wells or caved-in root cellars. But having somebody with her would mean less quiet time to sort through her thoughts and reflect on what she wanted from her future.
Exploring the woods with Rob added an entire new column to the pros and cons list, though, because she wasn’t sure if it was a good idea or a bad idea, butalone time with Robwas definitely starred, underlined and highlighted in her mind.
And there was something in the smile he gave her that made her wonder if taking pictures of old stones while keeping her from falling in an abandoned well wasn’thisonly motivation. “Definitely a plan.”
Chapter Nine
“Today’s going to feel three days long,” Brian mumbled while poking the yolks of the eggs sizzling in the pan with a fork.
Rob didn’t bother pointing out he liked his yolks runny. The last time he’d reminded his brother of that fact, there’d been a lot of grumbling about being a short-order cook and slamming of pans.
“What time is everybody getting here?” he asked instead.
“Last time I opened the group chat, they were still arguing about what time to leave and how many vehicles to bring, and I’m not looking again. We’ll know they’re here when they pull in, I guess.”
“Do we at least have a head count?” Rob asked, splitting the last of the coffee in the carafe between their two mugs.
“Nope. Still not sure if the grandparents are coming. They haven’t un-winterized their RV yet, and a four-hour round trip with a cookout in the middle is a lot for them.”
Rob didn’t roll his eyes because his mom had cured him of that habit during his middle school years, but he wanted to. “I offered them a cabin, but Gram let me know in no uncertain terms she has no interest in walking to the bathhouse every time she has to pee, and she’s convinced Danny made us cheap out on the mattresses.”
Brian snorted. “She’s not wrong.”
Leo and Mary Kowalski called themselves campers, but the extravagantly luxurious RV they so-called camped in barely met the definition of the word. It was nicer than the house he’d grown up in.
“What time are Danny and Joey planning to show up?” Rob asked when the overcooked eggs were ready to eat and they were seated at the table.
“Don’t know.”
Rob bit back a frustrated growl. Brian’s ability to just go with the flow was something he had always envied, but at the same time, it was a source of never-ending frustration. They were also both beat after the work they’d done yesterday. Not only had they put up a big canopy tent alone to offer shade, but they’d gone around and borrowed a bunch of picnic tables from the sites that weren’t occupied yet and brought them to the grassy area next to the playground. Two grills and three folding tables for food. And each of the tasks had been punctuated by one of them grumbling about how nice it must be for Joey and Danny, who got to reap any profits they might sow without doing the labor. Danny had coughed up a lot of money and wassupposedto be silent, though, so mostly they’d complained about Joey.
Instead of pushing at Brian now, which probably wouldn’t get Rob anywhere but even more frustrated, he ate his breakfast in silence. After cleaning up, Brian went to take Stella on her daily walk around the campground, and Rob went into the store just to check on everything. There were already signs on the front and side doors letting people know they’d be closed today due to the cookout. It shouldn’t be a problem because most of the seasonal campers were planning to attend—though he still didn’t know what Hannah would do—and if there was an urgent need, one of them could always leave the cookout for a few minutes.
Once Brian and Stella were back, they started carrying stuff outside. Not anything that needed to be on ice yet, but there was a lot they could bring out in advance, like the king’s ransom’s worth of paper products they’d bought for the occasion.
