It was almost two more hours before Drew got to see Liz again. And, unbelievably, he got to see her alone. Or as alone as they could be in a campground surrounded by her entire extended family.
Rose and Mary had finally gotten tired of fussing over him and stuffing him full of brownies, so he was on his way back to his tent. He wasn’t sure what to do with himself or where he was welcome, so his intent was to go stretch out in his tent, close his eyes and relax.
Liz was carrying her laundry bag from the bathhouse to her tent and he changed course to intercept her. She smiled when she saw him and, though she looked as beat as he felt, it was warm and genuine.
“You doing okay?” he asked, taking the bag from her.
“Yeah. Mitch and I are okay, so...yeah. How about you?”
“I wasn’t tarred, feathered and ridden out of town on a rail, so I’ll count it as a win.” He set the bag down at his feet. “I could use a hug, though.”
She didn’t hesitate before stepping into his embrace. He wrapped his arms around her and rested the unbruised side of his face against her hair, breathing in the scent of her shampoo. Her arms looped around his waist, so her hands were pressed against his back.
“I’m sorry this blew up,” he said. “The last thing I want to do is cause friction between you and your family.”
“Me and my family will be fine. We always are.” She squeezed him. “And, even though it wasn’t the best way, I’m kind of glad it’s out there now.”
He guessed he was, too. It would have been better to sit down with Mitch and yell it out in the privacy of his home, but at least now he could look his friend in the eye again without feeling like an ulcer was eating him from the inside out. And he could hold Liz in his arms without looking over his shoulder like he was committing some kind of crime.
“I promised Joey I’d go for a walk with him,” she said, backing out of his arms. “He’s looking at colleges and he wants to ask me about the west coast. I can’t tell him much about colleges, but he has a lot of questions about the climate and the whole art thing.”
“He wants to be a writer, like Joe, right?”
She laughed. “I guess he’s more of a literary book club kind of writer, though he’s admitted making millions of dollars writing horror novels like his uncle isn’t a bad plan B.”
“I was going to go lay down for a little bit. Decompress and get my head on straight.”
She kissed him quick on the mouth, then picked up her laundry bag. “I’ll see you later, then.”
Drew’s step was a little lighter as he continued the rest of the way to his tent. Despite the drama of the day, it was nice not feeling as if his feelings for Liz were some dirty, shameful secret.
After straightening up around the tent for a while, he flopped down on the air mattress and closed his eyes. He was still too wound up to actually nap, but he tried to let the tension flow out of his body.
“How the hell do you knock on a tent door?”
It was Mitch’s voice, which kicked up the tension again. He got up and undid the zipper, intending to step outside.
Mitch took the flap and blocked his exit. “I’ll come in.”
Drew sat carefully on the plastic bin he’d packed his clothes in and gestured for Mitch to sit on the cooler. Mitch opened it first, pulling out two cans of beer. After tossing one to Drew, he popped his open and had a seat.
“Everybody’s unanimous in wanting you to stay the rest of the week,” he said after taking a drink. “Let me rephrase that. Everybody else is unanimous.”
“If you want me to leave, I’m gone. But that won’t be the end of it. I’ll call you when you get home and I’ll keep calling you until you talk to me because I’m not sweeping almost forty years of friendship under the rug.”
“You’ll leave if I tell you to? Sure. Run away and leave Liz to take all the crap and teasing the family’s going to dish out.”
Drew held up his hands, careful not to spill his beer. “You want me gone, but you’re giving me shit about going?”
“Because I don’t want to see your face right now, but running out on Liz is a dick move,” Mitch growled, yanking off his hat so he could push back his hair. “See? This is why you’re not supposed to sleep with my sister. It puts me in the middle.”
“Bullshit. This isn’t about you, and you put yourself in the middle.” Drew felt his temper rising and it was mirrored on Mitch’s face, so he took a deep breath and tried to dial it down a notch. “I’m sorry I’m falling for your sister. It would be better if she was anybody else, but if she was anybody else, she probably wouldn’t make me feel the way she does.”
“So you are falling for her?”
“I think so. I don’t know how she feels. I know she feels like she’s still looking for what she wants out of life, but I can’t walk away from her if there’s a chance it’s me.”