“So do you have any Family Functions of Doom planned for this summer?” Kenzie asked.
Danny almost choked on the pasta salad, and he swallowed hard before turning to face her. “You know about the doom thing?”
It was one of his family’s quirks going back as long as he could remember. He knew it was probably one of his brothers—or maybe even him—who’d started referring to anything awesome or epic as the whatever “of Doom,” and it had stuck. Hard. He’d even heard Nora and Oliver use it, so the doom had spread to the next generation.
“I’ve heard it mentioned a few times at the restaurant,” Kenzie said. “Somebody finally explained it to me, probably because hearing about your cousin’s Wedding of Doom confused me, and it must have shown on my face.”
“Thatwasquite a wedding,” he said, and then he sent a pointed look across the picnic table.
“Nope.” Hannah laughed and held up her hands. “We arenotgetting married here at the campground. My family will bring the camper from California and stay here, obviously, but we don’t want to actually get married here. We’re still working on what wedowant.”
“I know I don’t want to sit on this hard bench anymore,” Rob said. After getting up, he stretched and then went to light the kindling he’d laid out in the fire ring. There were already camp chairs set around it, though Danny hadn’t realized they were for tonight.
Not that he minded. As tired as he was, if a campfire kept Kenzie there longer, he’d stick it out.
By the time the rest of them had finished eating and cleaned up, the fire was crackling and starting to give off some much-needed heat. His brother managed to be a pain in the ass without even trying, though, because he’d spaced the four chairs pretty evenly around the fire ring. Danny would have liked to sit closer to Kenzie.
While Rob regaled Kenzie with funny stories from their first year of campground ownership, with Hannah often adding in the details about Rob’s involvement, Danny sat back in his chair and listened. He hadn’t been around for most of the day-to-day operations, so he didn’t have much to add.
He was also more relaxed than he’d been in months. The book was done. His stomach was full. And he was sitting around a campfire, listening to Kenzie laugh.
If there was one thing marring the perfection of the evening, it was being keenly aware that it was probably a one-time thing. Once he went home, Kenzie would become a woman he saw on the rare occasion he visited the campgroundandwanted a meal out. She wouldn’t really be a part of his life anymore, and he found himself wondering if it would be weird if he called her sometime, just to say hey.
Hannah looked at her phone. “I told my sister I’d call before my niece goes to bed so she can tell me about her school play, and even with the time zones, I’m cutting it close. It won’t take long.”
When she stood, Rob did, too. “I’m going to grab a drink. Anybody want anything while I’m in the house?”
Once they’d both declined, Rob and Hannah went inside and Danny found himself alone with Kenzie. And, of course, his mind went blank.
“When are you heading back?” she asked before he could think of anything to say.
“In the morning, probably.” He hadn’t really decided until that moment. But he knew if he didn’t just get in his truck and go, he’d linger. He’d get nothing done, but it wasn’t as though he could hang out with Kenzie. She had a restaurant to run. “I have a lot of stuff that piled up while I fought with the book. And I want to get out of Rob and Hannah’s way so they can have their home back to themselves for a bit before the season starts.”
She nodded, giving him a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “I guess you’ll be glad to be home again. Sleeping in your own bed. Sitting at a real desk.”
“Rob not raiding my stash of late-night snacks.”
“That wasn’t me,” he heard his brother say from behind him. A few seconds later, he dropped in the chair, a metal tumbler in his hand.
Had he sprinted? It felt as if he’d had about half a minute to talk to Kenzie. “Are you blaming Hannah, then?”
Rob shrugged. “Maybe it was raccoons.”
Kenzie laughed. “Good call. Always blame the raccoons.”
“Or bears,” Rob added. “But they usually leave a mark.”
Kenzie pushed herself out of the chair. “Thank you for dinner. It was delicious, but I really need to get going. I learned a long time ago that getting up at dark o’clock is a whole lot more miserable if you stay up past your bedtime. And please tell Hannah I said thanks and bye. I’ll see her soon, I’m sure.”
“I’ll walk you to your car,” Danny said, getting up.
That made her laugh. “It’s right around the house. I’m sure I can find it.”
“I’m sure you can, but apparently we have a raccoon problem.” When Kenzie turned away, he flipped his brother off, which just made him chuckle.
Then he slid his hands in the front pockets of his jeans so he wouldn’t do something reckless like try to hold Kenzie’s hand. She hadn’t given him any reason to think she’d welcome the gesture, and he didn’t want to end this night on an awkward note.
Once they’d reached her car, she opened the door but didn’t get in. Instead, she turned to face him. “Will you let me know when you hear from your editor? I’m sure it’ll be fine because it’s really good, but I’ll be thinking about you—the book, I mean.”
