Page 2 of A Little's Campervan

The woman tucked a rogue strand of hair behind her ear, rolled up her sleeves, and smiled at Emmie.

And Emmie was lost.

2

Wren

Crater Lake Pride Campout was a yearly event that Wren loved and loathed in equal measure. The camping part? Excellent. Helping people get situated and explore the park for the first time? Magical. Seeing all her friends couple off whilst she spent yet another event alone?

Miserable.

This year was her last year. Wren had sworn it. She was going to get her head down, plough on through, and when she came out the other side, get out of the event organisation game for good. This wasn’t even her full-time job. She didn’t even get paid to have her heart stomped on in hiking boots every year.

But the woman standing in front of her wasn’t wearing hiking boots. She wasn’t even wearing trainers. She was wearing suede heeled ankle boots and the largest floppy hat that Wren had ever seen.

And she was enchanting.

“Your first year?” Wren asked, trying ever so hard to remain cool.

“Yes,” the blond said. “I’m not really used to camping much—hence the outfit.”

“I think you look great,” said Wren truthfully, and she did think that. Shereallythought that. That top was tied in a bow under the woman’s more than ample bosom and Wren wanted to undo it with her teeth and possibly lose herself in cleavage.

If she never found her way out again, she’d be fine.

Closing her eyes, she tried counting to ten. No. Absolutely not. This poor woman was just trying to…

“Are you okay?” Okay, said woman was all up in Wren’s personal space and Wren was tempted to swoon, just so that she could bask in this attention a little bit longer.

“Sorry, it’s a bit of a manic first day. You wanted an itinerary…?”

“Emmie,” said the curvy vision. “Yes please.”

Wren watched as she took the itinerary and casually glanced over it. Then froze and looked at the itinerary more carefully.

“Areyouokay?”

“Yeah,” said Emmie, but her voice was a little too high pitched for that to be even remotely convincing. She cleared her throat and attempted an airy wave. Wren wasn’t fooled. “Just looking forward to the six hour hike tomorrow.” She did not look like she was looking forward to it; if anything, she looked a little panicked.

“There’re shorter three hour hikes,” offered Wren, and then, when she saw wide-eyed panic at even that, “and there are really nice areas where you can just wander and enjoy the scenery. Just because you’re out here, doesn’t mean you have to hike.”

“I’m here with my sister,” said Emmie, dropping her voice and looking around in case her sister was about to jump out from behind a tree and catch them talking. “I think she wants to do the hike. Or at least, her girlfriend’s into hiking and so Christie’s been enjoying trying it out too.”

Her fingers were fluttering by her sides, and she was clearly anxious. Wren reached out and put what she hoped was a reassuring hand on her arm.

“You know that the campout is about more than just hiking, right? I’m sure if you joined in some of the other activities, your sister won’t mind if you don’t do the long hikes. In face, she probably knows you well enough to know that they might not be your thing.”

Emmie took in a shaky breath, and then let it out again. “You’re right. You’re definitely right. I should just speak to her about it. I guess you’re doing the long hike?”

Wren loved a long hike, and had been very much looking forward to this particular one. It was a challenging enough trail that everyone just focused on hiking, which meant she avoided being peppered constantly with questions about her dating life. Questions that she’d very much have liked to avoid. “I could take you out to some of my favourite viewpoints instead, if you decide not to hike. It’ll involve some walking, but this is one of my favourite places and I don’t mind showing it to you.”

Emmie nodded slowly, “And it has an end goal of getting to the viewpoints, rather than just hiking for the love of it.”

Wren chuckled. “Hiking can be wonderful, but loving it is definitely something that grows. You shouldn’t be expected to love it right out of the gate.”

“Thank you.” Emmie’s smile was brilliant, and Wren felt dazed in its light. “I’d really like that…?”

“Wren,” she said. “I’m Wren.”

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