Joey was following him, laughing, and taking pictures with his phone, and she wasn’t surprised when Rob laughed, too. He seemed like the kind of guy who’d see the humor in any situation.
The back door opened and another guy with dark hair and blue eyes walked in. Now that she knew there were four brothers, she could see the family resemblance and she assumed this was Brian.
He confirmed it by introducing himself, and then the dog who’d come in with him. “This is Stella. She’s pretty well trained, but she’s also shameless when it comes to wanting new friends to hang out with.”
Hannah rubbed Stella’s head. “Dogs make the very best friends.”
“If you want to head to your site, I’ll help you get your camper in place. Just take a right at the fork and go around the playground. Then it’ll be a left and the road goes into the tree line, but by the time you get there, I’ll be there to show you which site.”
Rob was nowhere in sight as she drove the truck slowly through the campground. He was probably in the shower, and yeah, that was really not a visual she needed in her head right now. Luckily, his brother appeared on a four-wheeler with Stella running alongside, and she concentrated on following him to her campsite.
This part of the campground was wooded, offering shade and a slight buffer against noise. She didn’t have the luxury of appreciating it in that moment, though, because it took all of her concentration to work with Brian on getting the camper into place.
Luckily, there was a minimum amount of backing up. The site was designed for an RV to pull in rather than backing in. And it was tight for her truck, but her camper was small enough so she was able to get it in place without Brian having to go get the tractor to maneuver it.
He didn’t stick around after they’d gotten the camper placed the way she wanted it and unhooked her truck. After helping her back out between the camper and the firepit, making sure she hit neither, he pulled a business card out of his pocket and handed it to her.
“You know where to find us if you need anything,” he said. “The number for the landline in the office is on there. But our cell phone numbers are on the back, so you can call or text if there’s nobody in the store. There are stars next to mine and Rob’s because we’ll be the two around most of the time. Joey and Danny will come and go.”
“Thanks,” she said, glancing at the card. “And thanks for the help setting up.”
“No problem. Oh, and if Stella makes a nuisance of herself, the wordsgo homewill send her looking for me.”
“Stella’s always welcome here.” She loved dogs and would have one for company if her apartment building was more pet-friendly. Maybe someday, when she had a yard of her own, she’d rescue a few pups.
For now, it was time to make this spot her temporary home.
Hannah and her sister, Jenn, had been raised by parents who thought camping was the ultimate family adventure. Luckily, their mother had a hard limit when it came to roughing it—learned after their first and last time tent camping—and there had always been campers in their life.
The bugs seemed pretty excited about finally having a human on the site, though, so she took a minute to apply some bug spray before getting to work leveling the camper. After doing the water and sewer hookup, she plugged in the electrical cord and tested to make sure everything was in working order.
It definitely wasn’t time for the air conditioner yet, which was a blessing. Hannah hated the constant drone of the fan—like an extreme white noise machine. She liked being able to hear the birds singing and the wind in the leaves.
Once she confirmed everything was on and the fridge was starting to cool, she went back outside to pull the last few things out from under the truck’s tonneau cover. There was an outdoor carpet, which she unrolled and spread out under the awning. Then her single camping chair. The site had a picnic table, but she probably wouldn’t use it often. They were uncomfortable to sit on, and she’d probably eat inside, out of the bugs.
The last thing was the small, collapsible grill. It was meant for tailgating, but it was the perfect size for her parents’ camping trips once their nest was empty. And was a perfect size for Hannah.
The next thing on her list was buying groceries. Distracted by Rob falling in the pool, she’d forgotten to ask them about stores in the area. She wanted directions to the grocery store the locals used, not the local markets that were overpriced and tourist-friendly.
She was about to walk down to the office when a flash of light caught her eye. It was the sun glinting off a camera lens and when she realized it was pointed in her direction, every muscle in Hannah’s body tensed.
Somebody was taking her picture, and she was pretty sure it was Rob.
That was a weird invasion of her privacy, making her skin feel hot and prickly. If there was one thing an interest in true crime had taught her, it was that a bad man could have a great smile.
She spun, presenting the camera with her back. Then she walked across her site—not allowing herself to break into a jog—and retreated into her camper.
Chapter Three
Rob didn’t intend to take a photo of Hannah. He hadn’t even realized she was in the shot until her movement caught his attention, and then he watched her scramble back into her camper.
Dammit, he really hadn’t meant to do that. Now that there were campers on some of the sites, he wanted to update the website to show glimpses of the campers and RVs through the trees because semiprivacy and shade were definitely perks for a lot of potential guests, but he hadn’t intended to capture any people.
And if she’d seen him and recognized him as the guy who’d hit on her that morning, she might get the wrong idea about him. He’d been interested in her, sure, but she’d made it clear the feeling wasn’t mutual. Disappointing, but he’d accepted it graciously. What he definitely wouldnotdo is become a creeper, trying to get pictures of her without her knowing.
The last thing he wanted was for her to think he’d do something like that and end up feeling unsafe here. And thenext-to-lastthing he wanted was for her to complain about him to his brothers and add this, along with falling in the pool, to the list of ways Rob screwed up on opening day.
He was done with being the class clown of the family, and with looking like a screwup just because he’d been born last and had three older brothers riding his ass about every little thing all the time.
