When he realized theuh-ohhad been her assuming he was returning due to the book and not just because he was going back, he chuckled.
Not yet. I’m just going to help get the place ready for the summer.
Seconds after hitting Send, it occurred to him that claiming he was working on the book would have made more sense. He couldn’t share Brian’s news with her, and she knew he wasn’t hands-on at the campground.
It was too late now, and he really was pretty bad at real-life fiction.
That’s great. I’ll probably see you around.
Disappointment flowed through him, and he sent back a thumbs-up emoji before dropping his phone on the desk.
He’d been hoping for a little more excitement. She could have told him to let her know when he arrived so they could go for a walk. At the very least, she could have invited him to stop by the restaurant to say hi.
I’ll probably see you around.
So maybe Kenzie Pelletier found Dan Kowalski more interesting than plain Danny. She wouldn’t be the first.
But it didn’t matter, he told himself as he added sticky notes to the packing list. He wasn’t going back to the campground to see Kenzie. He was going to help out his brothers, and between the outside work and his actual work, he’d have plenty to keep him busy.
* * *
There were several vehicles in the parking lot when Kenzie turned into Corinne’s Kitchen, but she didn’t pay them any mind as she drove around back. She parked in her usual spot beside Frank’s truck and went in through the back door.
“How’d it go?” Frank asked when he spotted her.
“Everything’s good,” she told him. Because it was her annual physical, he didn’t ask any more questions and she didn’t offer any details. If she said everything was good, that was good enough for him. “How’s everything here?”
“Pretty quiet.”
She tied her half apron around her waist before slipping an order pad and some pens into one of the pockets. From the dining room, she heard Hannah laugh and smiled. The campground was getting ready to welcome their seasonal campers back soon, so asking Hannah to cover her shift for a medical appointment had felt like a big deal. Her friend had only waved off her concern and reminded her she very much enjoyed getting to talk to other people in the community once in a while.
“I think we should kill off spaghetti,” Frank said as he flipped a couple of burger patties.
“Did we run out? Or is there something wrong with the sauce?”
“No, I mean from the menu entirely. Spaghetti’s such an easy thing to make at home. Why pay for somebody else to make it?”
Kenzie sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. Frank just didn’t like serving spaghetti, nor did he like eating it, and they had this conversation once or twice a year. “Because the meatballs and garlic bread you make are a treat. And it’s our Thursday special because we can make it on the cheap and sell it at a reasonable price and still make a profit.”
“My parents come for spaghetti night every other Thursday,” Nathan said, making Kenzie jump because she hadn’t heard him behind her. “They like it. Especially the meatballs.”
“Fine,” Frank said, holding his spatula up in dramatic fashion before setting it down to lay cheese across the burgers. “We’ll keep the spaghetti.”
“We could revisit the fish chowder, though,” Kenzie said.
“Nope. Get out of my kitchen.”
She laughed at his gruff tone and pushed backward through the swinging door so she could smile at Nathan—who also hated the smell of fish chowder—as she went. He stuck out his tongue, crinkling his nose, and she laughed.
“Hey, I’m back,” she said as she turned, knowing Hannah was standing nearby. Then she saw who Hannah was talking to—Rob and Danny. “Oh.You’reback.”
“You said you’d probably see me around,” he reminded her, his blue eyes sparkling. “When you’ve got the best burgers and fries in town, it’s almost a guarantee.”
“I have theonlyburgers and fries in town.” She scanned the dining room, but everybody looked content—either eating or lingering over coffee. “Hi, Rob.”
“Hey, Kenzie. You must have made good time. We thought we’d be gone before you got back and you’d never know we were here distracting Hannah.”
“I drove extra fast, trying to catch my friend who works for almost nothing as a favor in the act of talking to customers.” She poured herself a mug of coffee and leaned against the counter. “How’s the campground coming along?”
