She's Got a Way (10 page)

What was in that bag? Gabi narrowed her eyes at the other cots. And who had brought it in here?

Just then, Madison stirred and sat up. Then she turned sleepy eyes toward the corner, and before Gabi could warn her not to move, she let out a screech that had Waverly and Sam popping up out of bed.

Oh. Holy. Hell.

Gabi had smelled skunk spray before. Who hadn't? But ten seconds later, as the five of them stumbled out of the tent and gasped for air, she realized she'd never
really
smelled skunk before. There was
nothing
like ground-zero spray, expertly delivered by a panicked creature who'd just been looking for a little chocolate, dammit.

As Gabi and the girls bent over, coughing and gagging, she saw Luke come sprinting over the hill. Then she saw him stop dead and hold his nose.

Then
she heard him laugh, and she thought she might just have to throttle him.

“Ladies?” He tried to tamp down his smile. “What happened?”

Gabi glared at him. “Pretty sure the smell gives that away, don't you think?”

“Who ticked off the skunk?”

“Nobody! He got into our tent.”

“Wow. That's pretty odd. They don't usually do that unless—uh-oh.” Luke tipped his head suspiciously, like he was about to ask a question he damn well already knew the answer to. “Wouldn't happen to be any
food
in that tent, would there?”

“I don't know.” Gabi turned to the girls, picturing the skunk with his little skunky nose buried in the plastic bag in the corner. “Girls?”

All four of them shook their heads, but no one did so harder than Sam, who was tops on Gabi's suspect list. But there was no way any of them was going to admit it at this point, so asking was pretty much moot. Plus, the punishment the skunk had doled out on its own was way worse than anything she might have come up with.

“You guys better get yourselves down to the lake. That stuff burns if it's on your skin.” Again Gabi saw Luke trying not to smile, but he was pretty much failing.

Gabi held her hands out to her sides. Good God, she stank. “Will it come
off
in the lake?”

“Sort of. Not really. Gonna need to make yourselves a big ole tomato bath. Luckily, I know a girl whose family specializes in tomatoes.” He finally lost his battle not to laugh. “I'll give Piper a call and see if she can score some from the restaurant. Maybe she can bring them when she comes out to make breakfast. Till then, you seriously better go take a swim, all of you.”

Waverly sobbed, “I. Hate. This. Place.” She headed toward the path, Madison close behind … and oddly silent. Sam and Eve brought up the rear, and Luke stepped off the path as they passed, his hand over his nose.

Once they'd gone over the hill and down toward the lake, he turned to Gabi. “You okay?”

“Oh, I'm just fabulous, yes. Thanks for asking.”

“They had food, didn't they?”

“Yup.”

“So my voice of doom apparently wasn't as effective as I thought? Hard lesson. Sorry you had to be a victim.”

“Luke?” Gabi clenched her teeth together. “You'd sound a lot more sympathetic if you could stop laughing.”

*   *   *

Four hours later, Gabi and the girls had slopped some sort of tomato-based concoction all over their skin and done their best to rinse it off in the lake, but they all still reeked. Gabi was pretty sure the skunk scent was locked into her scalp, as every time a breeze caught her hair, all she could smell was that sickening, horrible scent.

They'd taken down the tent, washed their sleeping bags in the same pungent mixture of tomatoes and who-knew-what-else, and everything was currently laid out in the sun to dry. Whether that would happen before dark was anyone's guess.

Eve pointed at Sam. “I can't believe you had food in the tent.”

“It wasn't mine.” Sam shook her head. “Swear.”

“It's
always
you.” Madison glared. “You're like a squirrel, for God's sake. You
always
hide your food. Jesus, it's like you think we're going to steal it or something.”

“It wasn't me
this
time.” She sent a pleading look at Gabi. “It wasn't.”

Only Gabi knew about Sam's locked cupboard in the kitchen—not the other girls—and if it hadn't been for that knowledge, she totally would have pinned this on Sam, too.

“Honestly, girls, it doesn't matter who it was at this point. The damage is done, we smell like a bunch of skunks, and our tent is probably ruined.”

“So can we go home
now
?” Waverly's eyes were wide.

“No. Now we just have to be more miserable—and smelly. Thank you, whoever did leave food in that tent last night.” She let her eyes land on each of their faces. “I assume this won't be an issue again?”

They all shook their heads, and for a moment she was struck by the humor of the scene, from anyone
else'
s perspective.

Just then, Sam snorted. “Pritch-bitch would
love
to hear about this.”

Eve smiled. “Yeah, she would.”

“Girls.” Gabi rolled her eyes. “You have to stop calling her that.”

Sam raised her eyebrows. “You really want to argue right now about whether or not it fits?”

After a long pause, Gabi sighed. “No.”

“So what do we do now?” Madison pulled at her long blond strands of hair, frowning as she lifted them to her nose. “We can't possibly stay here under these conditions, Gabi.”

“Here's what we're going to do.” Gabi stood up from the grass. “You four are going to go find another tent in the shed, you're going to put it up, on a different platform, and you are
not
going to kill each other doing so. We'll figure the rest out later. Clear?”

“Clear as glass,” Sam muttered, then put up her hands in mock surrender as Gabi sent a scorching glare her way.

After they'd disappeared inside the equipment shed, Gabi put her fingers to her eyes, trying to stop the frustrated tears that were wanting so badly to break free. She wished she could believe the rest of the summer was going to get better, but her confidence was fading fast.

Oliver's words echoed in her head, and she blew out a long breath, picturing Luke sitting beside her at the lake last night.

Maybe it was time to ask for help.

She watched the girls jostle each other out of the shed, carrying poles and canvas, then dropping the whole pile in a noisy clatter and squawking about who'd let go first.

She put her hands to her ears, closing her eyes as she turned toward the lake and counted ten deep breaths. Once they put up the tent—
if
they put up the tent—she was going to march them up to the garden area and give them each a hoe, a shovel, and a quadrant of dirt to turn into plantable soil.

And tomorrow, after she'd had time to gather her thoughts and figure out how to request assistance without feeling like a dismal failure, she'd talk to Luke.

 

Chapter 9

The next morning, Gabi jumped when Luke pushed open the door of the dining hall, despite the fact that she'd been waiting for him. She'd tried to get up earlier than he did so she could at least make him coffee before she begged for help, but even though she'd slid out of her sleeping bag at the crack of dawn, she'd still barely beat him to the coffeemaker.

“You're up early. No more skunks?”

She looked at him in his clean T-shirt, hair damp from the shower, a dab of shaving cream near his ear, and tried not to find him adorable. She barely knew him, for God's sake. She shouldn't be using the term “adorable,” even casually.

She'd been the queen of fall-fast-fall-hard-fall-stupid for a long time now, even after she'd identified her own ridiculous pattern. It was mortally embarrassing just
how
stupid she'd been a few times, and “adorable” had no place on her vocab list right now.

This looking at him in the morning sunlight and wondering what the planes of his chest might look like without his T-shirt? It was just … a bad habit, not attraction. Not
real
attraction, anyway. He was here, he was hot, and he pressed the fall-fast button perfectly. If she let herself get drawn in by his deep green eyes and that damn dimple, she'd head right into fall-hard territory.

And inevitably, the stupid part would follow.

He'd reveal an irresistible sense of humor, he'd be a great kisser … he'd have a kitten back at his cabin that revealed his softer side. And she'd be a goner.

“Gabi?”

She shook her head, clearing the vision. What had he asked her? “I'm sorry, what?”

He raised his eyebrows like he'd seen every thought that had just flown through her head. “Skunks. Just asking if you'd seen any more critters last night.”

“Um, no. None. Pretty sure the girls swept out every piece of dust that could be mistaken as a crumb.”

“Good. Hard lesson to learn, but a good one. Could have been a bear.”

Gabi shivered. “Thank you. I need to have
that
on my mind right now.”

He filled a coffee mug, then motioned toward the door. “Want to come sit by the lake for a few minutes before the princess posse awakens?”

She paused. Would it be easier to have the conversation she'd practiced down by the water? Or here in the dining hall?

She shook her head internally. It didn't matter. No matter where they were, it wasn't going to be easy. She followed him out the door and down the wooden steps, inhaling the woodsy scent of pines and moss. Even through her anxiety, she already loved this time of the day at Echo Lake.

In the morning light, with wisps of fog lifting off the lake, it looked like they'd stepped into a magical summer wonderland, rather than a run-down, has-been summer camp. As they walked over the dewy grass to the water's edge, she looked around, trying to appreciate the beauty of the setting, even though the distinct scent of skunk still lingered in the air.

Or maybe she was still carrying it with her, despite three lake shampoos yesterday.

Echo Lake stretched for what looked like a mile or so across, and the camp property was nestled in a sandy cove surrounded by the tallest pines Gabi had ever seen. It reminded her of dream-vacation pictures she'd seen online, where water met land met sky … and not one building interrupted the sightline.

The moment she sat down, she felt her blood pressure drop, as it did every time she sat here. She didn't know if it was the mist, or the mountain, or just the fresh, clean air, but there was just something about this spot that called up her inner Zen.

The arm of the chair made a perfect landing spot for her coffee mug, and she closed her eyes for a long moment, just drinking in the peace as she called up her courage. She could hear the water lapping softly against the sand and the dock, and somewhere behind her, birds and squirrels were busy in the trees.

“So what are you going to do with the girls today?” Luke's deep voice made her open her eyes.

Gabi sighed. Here was her opening, but for some reason, she couldn't find the words she'd practiced. “I'm not sure yet. Leave them out for the bears? Send them on a hike with bad directions?”

“If I said I had an idea, would you trust me?” He kept his eyes focused on the other side of the lake, not looking at her.

Wait. Was he about to actually make this easier on her?

“It's … possible. Tell me why I should.”

He tipped his head. “I think the girls could use a little wake-up call.”

“Because the skunk wasn't enough of one? What does
that
mean?”

“It means—and you may not want to hear this—it means despite what they did back at Briarwood, in all honesty, their first few days at camp have been a piece of cake.”

“I beg your pardon? Did you miss the part about raccoons? Outhouses? Baths in a glacial lake?”

“And scavenger hunts and art projects and swimming every day. Yes, it's been harsh.” He raised an eyebrow like she was being obtuse. “I know Camp Echo is hardly their normal lifestyle, but I also know these four girls aren't feeling a whole lot of pain around the decisions they made that got you sent here.”

“No offense, Luke, but I actually think they're feeling quite a
bit
of pain.”

“Not the lasting kind.” He shook his head. “Not the kind that'll really change their behavior in the end.”

She sighed, knowing he was right, but not wanting to admit it quite yet. “So what do you propose?”

“I propose we give them the kind of consequences that'll leave them too tired to even think about causing trouble again—the kind that'll make them test their limits and work together.”

“You sound like an advertisement for military school or something.” She shook her head. “And also, you might be a glutton for punishment, if you think that approach has a chance of flying with this crew.”

Luke shrugged. “Give me one day. Trust me for today, and if it doesn't work, we'll reconvene tonight and you can officially un-trust me.”

“One question—less than a week ago, you made no bones about the fact that you had a project list a mile long, and no interest in having us bother you. And now you're sitting here offering to … well, I'm not sure yet what you're offering, but it's something. Why?”

He nodded. “Good question. And I don't even know how to answer it.”

“Is it because you think I'm so inept that someone's going to actually get hurt? Because the fish hook wasn't my fault. Oliver said those poles are ancient. And the poison ivy … well, I guess that one could probably be blamed on me, but really, it was just discomfort, not real pain or anything.”

She knew she was babbling, and she
also
knew her goal waking up this morning was to get help, so really, she should be feeling grateful that he was offering first, but instead, her initial reaction was to feel defensive.