Erika turned away from the desk and Brian when she heard the door open, and her face lit up when she saw Hannah. Her high-pitched squeal of excitement startled the dog and made the men wince, but Hannah just laughed and met her friend halfway across the store, wrapping her in a tight hug.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” she said, surprised when her vision got a little blurry from tears. She really had missed her.
“I can’t believe I’m here, either,” Erika exclaimed. “Did you see that monster machine?”
Hannah frowned, shaking her head while she ran through the possibilities. The tractor? The UTV? Brian’s truck? “Monster machine?”
When she looked to the guys for a hint, Rob tipped his head toward the window that faced the house. When she went over to look, she saw one of the big, sporty side-by-sides that she’d been watching go by since the ATV trails opened, but this one had two seats in the front and two in the back.
“Oh.” She had to admit it fit the description of monster machine. “I haven’t seen that one in the campground before, I don’t think.”
“It just arrived,” Danny said. “Our cousins in Maine own a lodge and campground on ATV trails and they were selling it, so we bought it and paid a guy to go get it because everybody’s busy. It arrived this morning.”
Joey shook his head. “Still think it’s not a great idea to buy a vehicle driven by Kowalskis.”
They all laughed, and there was some brotherly shoving. Erika leaned close and looped her arm through Hannah’s. “Can we go for a ride in it?”
“I don’t think so,” Hannah said at the exact same time Rob said, “Hell yeah.”
Erika looked back and forth between them a few times and then pointed at Rob. “I’m listening to him.”
Joey shrugged. “There’s no reason Bobby can’t take you both for a ride. We’ve got all those helmets in the garage.”
Rob nodded, and Hannah could tell by that cheeky sparkle in his eyes when he looked at her that he was really enjoying this. “What do you say, Hannah? Want to give Erika the full Birch Brook Campground experience?”
She wasn’t sure shedidwant to do that, but Erika was practically bouncing on her toes. “You realize you’ll get dirty, right?”
“That’s part of the fun,” her friend who didn’t even eat wings or ribs because she couldn’t stand her fingers being dirty actually said out loud, and Hannah rolled her eyes.
“How’s eleven tomorrow sound?” Rob asked, his look practically daring Hannah to back out.
That wasn’t going to happen. Erika had gotten them into this, so she was going to enjoy watching her friend trying to brush dirt out of her hair. “Sounds good to me.”
His eyes widened in surprise, but he grinned. “I’ll be ready.”
“I can’t wait,” Erika said. “Okay, time to see your home away from home, Hannah.”
“You’ve seen my parents’ camper before.”
“Sure, but not its parking spot.”
On her way out, Hannah glanced over her shoulder to see if Rob was watching her leave. He was, and he didn’t look the slightest bit guilty about staring at her ass while everybody watched him watching her.
It was strange for all four of them to be in the store. As far as she knew, there was nothing going on to indicate this would be a busier than usual weekend, so maybe they’d all shown up to see the side-by-side they’d bought from their cousins.
She got in the passenger side of Erika’s rental and guided her through the campground. There was plenty of room for her to park next to the truck, and since Erika only had one carry-on and her tote, it didn’t take long to get her settled.
Hannah brewed them each a mug of coffee. “Do you want to sit outside?”
Erika’s nose wrinkled. “With the bugs? I’d rather sit here at the table.”
“You do realize you signed us up to be outside for most of the day tomorrow, right?”
“Yeah, but we’ll be moving, so the bugs won’t be able to catch us.” She grinned and leaned closer. “You didn’t mention the campground is owned by four very attractive men. Seriously, Hannah. There arefourof them.”
“I didn’t mention it because I don’t care.” But of course, there was that image of Rob laughing that seemed permanently imprinted on her brain. And because she was talking to Erika and not a random person, the slight deception made her cheeks feel warm.
And her friend didn’t miss it. She leaned closer. “Which one is it?”
