Page 15 of Let's Go To Camp!

It was evident the question wasn’t truly directed at her, but his mind was still trying to make sense of the unexpected turn of events.

She couldn’t blame him. It was a lot to process.

“Quite the crazy coincidence,” she said with a forced smile.

“But…” It seemed as if he couldn’t say anything beyond that.

“I, uh, better get back to my friends,” he finally muttered, walking away without saying goodbye or looking her in the eyes.

Once he was with his buddies in line for ice cream, and safely out of earshot, Maisie said, “Oh boy. This week suddenly just got interesting in all the wrong ways.”

Declan looked sympathetic as he reached across the table and put his hand atop hers.

Just that small bit of contact sent shockwaves of excitement throughout her body.

Okay, Derek’s presence isn’t that big a deal when Daddy is holding my hand.

She chided herself for even thinking that way. Declan wasn’t her Daddy. He was probably just a really nice guy.

Still, a girl could dream!

He sure sounded like her Daddy, though, when he offered some advice. “You know, you can still have an amazing week even with him here. It doesn’t have to ruin the experience. This camp is big enough for the two of you. Just stick to your plan, do all you have on your list, and have the most amazing time of your life.” He smiled. “Who knows? You two might bond over all this. You could even become friends.”

“I guess,” she said uneasily after considering his words for a moment. “When I saw him earlier, I was sure hoping we could gothe whole week without him realizing I was here.” She offered a little shrug. “I guess that wasn’t realistic.”

She looked across the table and saw Declan shaking his head. “Unfortunately, no. You were bound to run into each other. At the mess hall or some of the other activities. The camp is big…but notthatbig.”

“Makes sense,” she said.

“Why do you dislike this guy so much?”

She pondered the question while she worked on her ice cream. A melted stream spilled onto her fingers. Declan grabbed a napkin from the holder in the center of the table and reached across, cleaning it up for her.

Just like a Daddy would.

Mmm.

Her eyes fell to Derek across the room, though, bringing her mind back to the question Declan had asked. Finally, she explained, “He’s a sexist, arrogant jerk! We work together. And you should see how he acts! He’s always making rude comments and stuff.” She shook her head and sighed. “And now he’s here at camp. Bleh.”

“For what it’s worth,” Declan said, “I’m sorry.”

“Thank you.” Maisie sighed. “Guess you wasted that kiss. I ran into him after all. Sorry.”

“That’s not how I see it. I hope you don’t see it that way, either.”

The response came so quickly that Maisie was a bit taken aback.

“No,” she said eagerly, hoping she hadn’t offended the man.

He didn’t seem to be upset, because he chuckled. “You free tomorrow night?”

“I don’t have anything on the schedule,” she lied.

She did, in fact, have a pottery class in mind. But she would gladly miss that for whatever Declan was about to propose. Especially since she had a hunch he was asking her out.

That was proven true a moment later when he said, “Want to go to dinner? I suppose the mess hall isn’t the most romantic spot for a guy to take a gal. But…” He made a show of looking around. “We don’t have many options. And we’ll need something more than ice cream for supper.” He stopped for a moment as if thinking things over. “We could travel into town. Just about fifteen minutes away.”

She grinned. He was sure making this sound like it was a date. He was even looking for something moreromantic!

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