“Need us to help carry anything else inside?” Kylie asked Chance and Marcus when they reached them.
“No, Dad and I can handle things, Ms. Hagan,” Marcus said, not giving Chance an opportunity to respond. “But remember we don’t use electricity, so you and Tiffany might want to unpack and get familiar with the inside of the cabin. Right, Dad?”
Chance smiled. “Right.”
Kylie could feel Chance’s eyes on her but she refused to look at him. She was beginning to feel ridiculous and out of sorts because a part of her was still upset about yesterday. He, however, was acting like their conversation never took place. To her chagrin, he was in the best of moods.
“So what’s for dinner?” Tiffany would have to be the one to ask.
“I thought it would be nice if we grilled something outside on the open fire,” Chance said. “Any ideas?”
Kylie saw the opportunity to make peace and seized it. She glanced over at Chance. “Anything but hamburgers,” she said softly, as a tentative smile touched her lips.
Chance met her gaze, immediately recognized their private joke and smiled back. “Okay, no hamburgers.”
“What about a hot-dog roast?” was Tiffany’s suggestion.
“That’s a great idea and we have plenty of hot-dog sticks to use,” Marcus chimed in.
“Okay, all that sounds good,” Chance said, as an amused grin eased up the corner of his mouth. “But because I need something a little bit more filling, I’ll throw a couple of steaks on the grill, too.”
He lifted the last box into his strong arms. “Come on, let’s go inside and get this show on the road.”
KYLIE INHALED A DEEP breath as she stepped out of the bedroom she and Tiffany were sharing. More than a dozen candles were strategically scattered about and a couple of huge lanterns blazed in the corners of the living room.
She couldn’t help but smile, thinking of all the fun they’d had so far. Chance had given both her and Tiffany a quick lesson on camping and had shown them how to assemble a tent in case they ever needed to use one. Roasting hot dogs on the stick had been fun but she’d appreciated Chance’s idea of grilling the steaks when Marcus and Tiffany overcooked the weiners.
And then later, before it had gotten dark, Chance had taken her out in a canoe to the other side of the lake. The scenery there had been just as breathtaking with numerous trees, flowering plants and a catfish-filled stream. Kylie smiled and thought that a person could get spoiled by so much of nature’s beauty.
“Marcus is out like a light.”
Kylie’s smile froze when she turned and saw Chance coming out of the bedroom that he and Marcus were sharing. She thought he had turned in for the night.
“So is Tiffany.” She gave him a curious look and said, “I thought you had gone to bed, too.”
“Not without first putting out the candles and lanterns. Fire hazards, you know.”
She nodded. “I never realized there was so much to know about camping.”
“There is but it’s an excellent way to get back to nature. My mom agreed up to a point, which is why my parents purchased this place. She didn’t mind getting back to nature but wanted all the comforts of home while doing so.”
He grinned as he moved around the room to put out the candles and lanterns. “I hate to say this but we had more fun when we left her at home. Dad was too laid back to worry about us turning over in the canoe or eating berries off the bushes without washing them first. And the only reason we have hot and cold running water is because she refused to let us bathe in the lake. Good old Mom always came with a strict set of rules.”
Kylie chuckled. “Haven’t you figured out yet that’s one of the things we’re best known for? Your mother sounds like my kind of woman. I would love meeting her one day.”