“That’s fine. Just writerentalon that space.” She did that and then slid the paper back to him. He skimmed the information and then looked up at her. “She’s arrivingtomorrow? How long have you known she’s coming?”
“About two hours. She flew into Boston yesterday for a meeting today.” She paused, her jaw tightening, and Rob got the impression she wasn’t pleased about the meeting. “Then she decided since she’d come that far, she should check out where I’m staying. She’ll spend a couple of nights and then drive back to Boston to get a flight home.”
Rob ignored the pang in his chest when she saidhomelike that. While it might be good for him to have regular reminders this woman lived in California and they were over halfway through her time in New Hampshire, it still got under his skin.
“It’ll be interesting,” she continued. “Erika’s not really the outdoorsy type. Or the camping type. Or the woods and bugs and dirt roads type.”
He chuckled. “Introduce her to Dave and Sheila. They can bond over their joy of Birch Brook Campground together.”
“I can’t think of anybody I dislike enough to do that to. Erika would never speak to me again.”
“Decision made,” he joked, but the quick glance she sent his way told him it hadn’t landed well. “I can steal a bag of marshmallows for you if you want to introduce her to s’mores.”
That made her laugh, much to his relief. “I bought marshmallows for just that reason, but I appreciate your willingness to turn to a life of crime for our entertainment. The customer service here really is excellent.”
It was her turn for the innuendo, he thought, and he winked at her. “Anything you need.”
Muttering from Joey’s direction caught their attention, though Rob couldn’t make out what he said. Probably something along the lines of telling them to get a room. Of course, hehada room, but his niece had stolen it.
Hannah had a room, though. She had an entire camper.
“I should let you get back to it,” Hannah said. “Thanks for the guest approval.”
“Anytime,” he said. And then he grinned. “Some conditions apply, of course.”
She laughed, and then waved goodbye to Joey on her way out. His brother returned the wave and then, as soon as the door closed behind her, he turned to Rob with a smug smile on his face. “Seems like Mom was right.”
Rob shrugged. “She usually is, but about what specifically?”
“We were stillatthe seasonals and family welcome cookout when she said you and Hannah were going to end up together. She didn’t even wait until we got home to say it.”
Rob spent enough time thinking about it. He didn’t want totalkabout it. “Hannah’s going to end up back in California next month.”
“Plans change.”
Not when those plans also affected one’s family and business partner. He knew all about that since he couldn’t changehisplans without disappointinghisfamily and business partners. “I hate to burst anybody’s bubble, but Mom’s wrong on this one.”
If she’d said Rob was going to fall for Hannah, she would have been right. Or if she’d said they’d end up breaking that no-fraternization rule. Or almost anything except that they’dend uptogether.
They were together now. But he couldn’t see any way for them to have a happy ending.
Hannah woke at an indecently early hour the next morning, despite having tossed and turned for what felt like half the night. Erika was coming today. Sometime in the early afternoon, Erika was going to drive into this campground and throw her arms around Hannah, hugging her so hard she wouldn’t be able to breathe.
And even though she was still somewhat mad, Hannah couldn’t wait.
When Erika had called to tell her she was in New England to meet with a potential sponsor and wanted to see her, Hannah had let her business partner know in no uncertain terms that not only had she overstepped her boundaries, but she’d essentially set them on fire. Erika had insisted it was for good reason and that it would be better to talk in person, so she was going to join her at the campground. Hannah was tempted to tell her not to bother and go ahead and get an earlier flight home, but she didn’t.
Yes, there were going to be some tough conversations in their future, but she missed her family and she’d missed her best friend. Video chats and text messages weren’t always enough, and she was looking forward to some in-person time.
She’d even cleaned the camper, not that it really needed much. And she’d done a rushed grocery shopping trip to stock up on some of the things Erika liked. She’d also gotten a few things Erika mightnotlike, like the makings for s’mores and some bug repellent lotion that was supposed to be all-natural, and which Hannah happened to know smelled so bad it was more of a people repellent. There was no reason she couldn’t have some fun with it.
Just when she was starting to wonder if Erika had taken a wrong turn somewhere and ended up in Vermont, her phone chimed.
I’m heeere!
Hannah smiled and headed toward the office, tucking her phone in her pocket. They could talk about the heavy stuff later. For now, her best friend was actually here and she couldn’t wait to see her.
The rental car was empty when she got there, so she went into the store. All four of the Kowalski brothers were in there, and Stella immediately trotted over for some pets.
