‘So, I’ll start with the mess hall. It’s got a full chef’s kitchen. It’s also the only building that’s winterized.’
She glanced back, trying to discern if the thought of having to install heating units in the cabins made any impact on their opinion of the property, but Sonny’s opaque aviators made it impossible to tell.
She pulled open the doors to the mess hall, which was thankfully empty. The tables had been folded and stacked against the far wall, making the room look bigger.
Gladys clapped her hands. ‘Oh honey, look at the skylights!’
Briar smiled tightly. ‘Yeah, it’s a good space. We can fit 150 in here for meals. Of course, that’s children, so it will be fewer with full-sized humans.’
She’d meant it as a joke, but they ignored her, walking into the middle of the room.
‘What do you think?’ Gladys asked, pointing to the far side of the room. ‘We can add the wet bar and dining table over there and leave this side for the living space.’
Briar squinted, trying to picture the room with real furniture and not donations from local elementary school cafeterias.
‘Let me show you the kitchen,’ Briar said, guiding them. When she opened the door, she was surprised to see Cook, since he should’ve been at least six hours into his twenty-four-hour post-camp nap. They blinked at each other before Briar realized she was blocking the Randolphs.
‘Um, this is our cook,’ Briar said, stepping aside. Cook gave the Randolphs a withering look.
‘How do you do?’ he asked, bowing his head. Briar was pretty sure only she could tell he was doing it mockingly.
Sonny smiled and clapped Cook on the back. ‘An Englishman! Amazing.’
‘I’m Scottish,’ Cook corrected, but Sonny didn’t seem to hear.
‘The Randolphs are thinking about buying the camp,’ Briar said awkwardly, and Cook’s eyebrows almost disappeared into his hairline.
‘Are they now?’ he said, sizing them up more aggressively. Briar knew she only had a few moments before Cook went feral.
She began ushering the Randolphs away from him. ‘Like I said, this kitchen could feed a small army, so you should have everything you need.’
Gladys evaded Briar’s herding, surveying the room. ‘I think we’ll have to gut it.’
Briar gritted her teeth, refusing to look at Cook. ‘Right,’ she said brightly, grabbing the Randolphs by the shoulders and spinning them out the door.
‘Your cook’s quite a character,’ Sonny said.
‘Haha, yeah.’ She couldn’t get the image of Cook’s face when she’d mentioned selling the camp out of her head.
Briar took them along the path to the lake, then reversed direction skillfully as she spotted Freddie. He was another person she didn’t want to meet the Randolphs – she still hadn’t figured out what to do about his visa.
Looping around, she pointed out the archery range and the greenhouse as they made their way towards the camp entrance.
The last stop on the tour was the director’s cabin.
‘This is the smallest of the residential cabins,’ Briar said, showing them into the hall. ‘Bedroom to the left, office to the right.’
‘I think we could keep the rifles here,’ Sonny said from the office doorway. ‘Build custom shelves along that back wall.’
Briar blanched, her stomach flipping at the thought of her mother’s books and furniture being replaced by guns, ammo and neon orange beanies.
‘Well,’ she said, clapping her hands together, ‘is there anything else you needed to see?’
The Randolphs took the hint and followed her out the door. She led them back to their car and shook their hands again. Sonny said he’d put an offer in on Monday.
‘I think you’ll be pretty pleased with the number,’ he said, winking as he slid into the driver’s seat. Briar repressed the urge to scowl as she watched them drive off, the wheels kicking up a dust storm down the drive.
‘Bri,’ came a small voice on the other end of the line. ‘I messed up.’
