‘She must be stressed about the end of the summer,’ Alice said finally.
Noah’s eyes flashed to hers in the rearview mirror again. ‘About you leaving, you mean?’
‘No,’ Alice said, hoping she was right. ‘When the summer ends, real life starts.’
‘She’s not scared of real life – she’s done this a million times before, finished camp and gone back to school or jobs. She’s scared of real life without you.’
‘She’s scared of real life withoutSusan,’ Alice corrected.
‘That’s part of it,’ Noah agreed. ‘But as the person who saw her through you leaving the last time, I think you should trust my judgement when I tell you she’s going to miss you.’
Alice swallowed. ‘I don’t know why you’re telling me this. My life is in London.’
‘Aye, and he’s saying ye have a life here too,’ Cook said quietly.
Noah frowned. ‘Just don’t pull a disappearing act again, okay?’
‘I’m figuring it out,’ Alice said, focusing on folding her hands tightly in her lap. ‘I don’t want to hurt her again, believe me.’
‘I believe you,’ Noah said, cracking a smile, his easy demeanor returning. ‘I had to bring out the tough guy act. Sheismy best friend, after all.’
‘I’m glad she has you,’ Alice said, staring through the window.
When they pulled into the driveway, Cook whistled. ‘This place is looking ship-shape,’ he said admiringly. ‘Alice Hughes, you’re a miracle worker.’
‘It’s all Noah,’ Alice muttered sheepishly.
‘How much is she selling for?’ Cook asked, as they got out of the car.
‘I don’t know,’ Alice said, walking up the porch steps. She was proud to note that it did look significantly nicer with a structurally sound railing. ‘Briar seems too focused on fixing it up to think of anything beyond that.’
‘You know,’ Cook said, ‘I have a bit of retirement saved up. And a small fiefdom in northern Scotland bequeathed to me by a duke…’
He kept talking, but Alice barely followed the dizzying details of Cook’s almost certainly fictional story, which seemed to involve a duke disguised as a pirate, lovers separated by circumstance, and a badly behaved lion.
Chapter 26
Briar
Briar watched from the parking lot as the counselors closed the cabins up for the summer, dragging mattresses into storage and deep cleaning the bunks. How children got so sticky was still a mystery to Briar, but the phenomenon required thorough scrubbing of all surfaces.
She might be giving them pointless work to maintain a camp that was soon to become hunting grounds. In minutes, she would be showing the potential buyers around, while hopefully avoiding anyone finding out. It was hot, and sweat dripped out of every pore on her body. There was no place she wanted to be less.
As a car appeared in the distance, Briar wrangled her emotions into less complicated shapes, pulling herself into the charming persona she used at the bar.
‘Hey there,’ she called to the man who stepped out of the car. He was tall, dressed simply in khakis and a blue shirt, but the fit of them screamed custom tailoring. His wife wore a large woven hat and a dress so white it was hard to look at in the direct sunlight. Neither of them had broken a sweat yet, and Briar felt disgusting in comparison.
‘You must be Ms. Elwood,’ the man said, his voice booming with a Southern twang. He put out his hand for Briar to shake. ‘I’m Sonny Randolph and this is my wife, Gladys.’
‘Nice to meet you,’ Briar said. ‘Mr. Lavish said you wanted a tour. Anything in particular you wanted to see?’
‘Just want to get a sense of the land,’ Sonny said. ‘Whatever you want to show us.’
‘I’d like to see the kitchen,’ Gladys said.
Briar nodded, trying not to cringe at the thought of bringing them into the thick of the action. ‘Sure, okay.’
She led them towards the cluster of cabins off the main green.
