Originally, the three of them—Joey, Brian and Rob—were supposed to split the campground duties pretty evenly. Danny was more of a silent partner, having done most of the heavy lifting where the financing was concerned. But Joey had fallen in love unexpectedly, and his wife and stepdaughter kept him pretty busy even before they had a baby. Brian had taken up most of the slack for him, but then Brian got sideswiped by falling in love with the mother of the son he hadn’t known he had.
It was lucky for all of them that Rob and Hannah loved living at the campground, but that didn’t mean Danny—or any of them—were comfortable with them doing all of the work.
“Rob mentioned throwing some steaks on the grill tonight to celebrate,” she told him. “The restaurant closes at two today, so you should invite Kenzie to come over.”
Danny froze in the act of transferring coffee mugs from the drying rack to the cupboard. “What? Like a double date?”
Hannah blinked, her expression blank. “Um, I guess? I meant because she helped you so much. From what you’ve said, you couldn’t have done it without her, so it’s only fair she gets to celebrate with you.”
“Oh, sure.” He forced himself to give a casual laugh. “That makes sense. I thought you were implying something else, and that would have been…no.”
She nodded, and he really hoped she believed him. “Do you want me to ask her?”
“No,” he said, too quickly. Based on the way Hannah’s mouth quirked up at the corners, he wasn’t doing a very good job of acting nonchalant where Kenzie was concerned. “I was about to tell her I sent the book in, so I’ll ask her.”
“Okay. Just let me know if she’s coming.”
Once Hannah had wandered off to do whatever was next for her and he’d finished putting away the dishes, Danny took his phone to sit at the table.
He definitely wanted Kenzie to join them for dinner. Not only because of her help on the book, but because he wanted to spend the time with her. Not walking or talking about his manuscript, but relaxing and chatting about anythingbutwork.
The fact it was moving them one step closer to him going home was something he didn’t even want to think about.
Chapter Seven
Kenzie was in the walk-in freezer when her phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out as she exited, securing the door behind her. Then she leaned against it to open the text message from Danny.
I sent the book to my agent. It’s one of the rougher drafts I’ve ever sent, but it’s a complete manuscript.
She read the message twice, her heart pounding. Now that the book was done, would he leave? He’d come here to bust through his writer’s block and he’d done that. Now there was no reason for him to stay.
She pushed down that initial, rather selfish thought, and sent some celebratory emojis back.Congratulations! I knew you could do it!
“Hey, Kenzie, you’ve got food in the window,” Frank called back to her.
“I’ve got it.” She was about to put her phone away when another text message flashed onto the screen.
We’re throwing steak on the grill tonight to celebrate around five. Can you come? I couldn’t have done it without you.
“Kenzie!”
“I’m coming!” She slid the phone back into her pocket and gave her father a dark look before pushing through the swinging door.
She hated when he did that. The customers could hear him thanks to the giant open window, and his impatience made it seem their food had been sitting in the pass for longer than it actually had.
After delivering the meals and taking a trip around the dining room to see if anybody needed anything, Kenzie went to the small counter where they kept the register and all the various other things she needed. The phone hung there, and there were extra order pads, a mug of pens and the credit card machine.
By putting her phone next to the register, Frank couldn’t see it and he’d just assume she was working on something. Instead, she read the message from Danny again.
She shouldn’t go. It wasn’t going to make it any easier on her when he went home. And she’d have to tell her dad where she was going because they usually ate together on the days the restaurant closed early. But she was annoyed with him at the moment, and it was sweet Danny wanted to include her in celebrating the book being done.
Sorry, had food in the window. I’d love to come. Can I bring anything?
Just yourself. Maybe a beverage if you like something other than water, lemonade and iced tea. Or coffee.
She laughed, and then caught herself. After a glance toward the window, she went back to her phone.That’safter decaf o’clock for me, but lemonade’s good. See you at five.
The thumbs-up emoji was the only response, so she slid the phone back into her pocket and got back to work. The rest of the so-called lunch rush dragged on, and she’d gotten all of her closing tasks done by the time she flipped the sign to Closed and locked the door.
