“Oh, you know. A mother hears things.” She smiled and rested her hand on his arm. “Listen, honey. I know it’s hard to own a business with family and it requires setting boundaries, but if she’s the one, don’t let a rule about fraternizing with campers stand in your way.”
“Theone? I’ve known her for two weeks, Mom.”
“When you know, you know.”
“I know she’s pretty and smart. I know we share a similar taste in books and that she loves history. And I know she’s going back to California at the end of July. That’s what I know.”
“She just needs to get to knowyou.”
“Mom.”
“I could tell you were looking for her earlier. You said you were just making sure nobody needed anything, but as you’ve learned, moms know things.”
Mothers heard things. They knew things. Basically, they didn’t mind their own business. “Fine. I like her. But if you make it awkward, she’ll go back to her camper, so leave it alone.”
“You must really like her to be taking that tone with me.”
“I’m sorry.” He sighed. “It’s just that when it comes to this family being up in her business, she’d probably rather be left alone.”
“From what I’ve heard, she doesn’t wantyouto leave her alone.”
“We’re getting to know each other and that’s all I’ll say. But please keep in mind everything you’re hearing is filtered through my brothers.”
“Oh, trust me. Ineverforget that.”
When he saw Danny making his way over, Rob was relieved. He could hand Mom off to his brother and then make his way back to Hannah.
But his grandmother called his mom’s name, and it turned out Danny was actually looking for him. “Hey, are there any cabins open next weekend?”
“Memorial Day weekend? Nope. We’ll be totally full, which is both awesome and terrifying.”
“What about the weekend after?”
“Pretty sure the small one’s open, but I can’t guarantee it’ll stay that way. We get more calls every day.”
Danny snorted. “Of course it’s the small cabin. That’s the same one Uncle Joe used to stay in so he could write in between family activities.”
“You thinking about coming up? You can just stay in the house. I know it’s not great, but you don’t have to go outside to get to the bathroom.”
“I need to lock myself away and figure out how to push through this writer’s block.”
“I thought you didn’t believe in writer’s block.”
“Yeah, I didn’t—until I got writer’s block.”
“If you really need to lock yourself away, it makes more sense to come up during the week when it’s quiet. I have a feeling weekends won’t be quiet.”
“And we won’t lose the weekend income on the cabin, I guess,” Danny said.
“Oh, you weren’t going to pay?” Rob asked, and they both laughed. He’d only been half joking, but he’d let it go. Without Danny, they couldn’t have gotten the financing to buy the campground, so they’d all be cutting him slack for a long time.
“Later, let’s get together and figure out which week I can come up for several days. I just need space and quiet to get out of my head. Or deeper into my head. I don’t even know what I need anymore.”
“We’ll get you set up.” Over Danny’s shoulder, Rob could see Hannah looking around, and judging by her expression, she was thinking about leaving. “Right now, though, I’ve gotta talk to somebody about something.”
Danny snorted. “Tell her everybody loves the fruit salad.”
Hannah was about to head back to her camper when she saw Rob heading her way. He looked determined about it, too, brushing off several people who tried to talk to him. He even dodged his grandparents, which was flattering, she thought. Hereallywanted to talk to her.
