Page 21 of I'll Be There
That stopped her. “Huh?”
“It’s...” Oh no, what was he doing? Because the last thing she needed was to worry about him, to take her focus off the wedding—for him to add more tension to her life. If it turned out to be something important, then...
“It’s a...guy thing.”
“A guy thing?”
“Yeah, we’re going to, um, do...guy stuff.” This from Pete, his lame rescue attempt.
She raised an eyebrow. “Guy stuff?”
“At Fort William,” Conner said. “It’s a living history—”
“I know what it is. I’ve been there. Really? That’s your bachelor party excursion?” She glanced at Pete, back to Conner. “Okay, I’m definitely marrying the right guy. Because I thought, in Pete’s hands, you might end up skydiving or something.”
“Oh, that’s a great idea! I should have thought—”
Conner held up his hand. “Yeah. It’s just a little getaway. Me and the guys, hanging out at Fort William, watching them carve canoes.”
“Actually, it’s the world’s largest fur trading post. They have an entire compound, and it’s all living history, so you can ask questions and—are you sure you want to go toFort William? For yourbachelor party?”
“We promise to bring him home in one piece,” Pete said, coming up to take the tray from her.
Liza looked at Conner. “Who are you?” She shook her head. “Ho-kay, but...are you sure you don’t want to do something more exciting? Like maybe a fishing trip out to Lake Superior, or you guys could rent fat bikes and go trail riding?”
“Who’s renting fat bikes?” John, Ingrid’s husband, came down the path carrying a try of hot dogs in one hand, skewers in the other. He reminded Conner a little of Tom Selleck.
“Oh no, they’re going to Fort William,” Liza said, taking the hot dogs from him.
“Fort William?” Grace appeared right behind him. “But—I mean, it’s definitely a tourist stop, but—I thought you guys might like to go zip-lining. We have a new setup north of town, through the trees.”
Yeah, that actually did sound—
“No, they should go, and take Romeo,” John said. He stepped away from them and called back up the trail. “Romeo!”
“This should be fun,” Grace said and headed to the fire with her plate of cookies.
“What—no, John.” Conner shot a glance at Pete, who wore what Conner supposed might be his own exact expression.
Uh oh.
A kid, about twenty, came down the path rolling a wheelbarrow filled with chopped firewood. Tall, wide shoulders, a little on the lean side, he possessed the wiry build of a young man used to hard work. He wore his dark blond hair a little shaggy behind his ears, a green Evergreen T-shirt, now dirty and soiled, work gloves, and a pair of jeans. “Sorry, Uncle John. Took a little longer to get this cord chopped.” He brought it over to the fire pit and began to unload it, stacking it.
“Romeo is our nephew—he’s here for the summer, earning some cash for college.” John walked over and began to hand Romeo the logs. “But he needs a day off, and frankly, it would do him good to see a little history.”
“Oh, it’s not...well...” Conner glanced at Darek, who was frowning at him, then to Reuben, who had stilled, cell phone in hand.
“It’s sort of a bachelor...party.”
John raised an eyebrow. “That’s not the bachelor party I had.”
“We don’t want to hear it, Dad,” Darek said.
Oh, this was a bad idea, mostly because—
“I don’t know—”
“No worries, it’s all good,” Romeo said, lifting a shoulder. “I got work to do.”
