Some of my misgivings at being so far removed from civilization began to dissipate as the magnitude of what Rick was doing here hit me. He was changing the lives of kids. It was such an admirable cause that my whining about missing the beach and my art studio seemed utterly ridiculous.
“It’s a perfect name,” I said, smiling at him.
“Uh, thanks,” he said, looking slightly embarrassed. “Sorry, I sometimes think I get overzealous when I explain the name,” he added, chuckling.
“You just sound proud, which you should be. This is amazing,” I said, taking in my surroundings. I wasn’t a nature buff, but I had to admit, the towering trees overhead with the sun streaming through the breaks in the branches gave the aura of an enchanting hideaway.
“It’s always a work in progress. We just updated the mess hall this winter,” Rick said, indicating the building in front of us. “The girls' dorms over there are only a couple years old,” he added, pointing at two cabins on the right side of the building. “We plan on updating the boys' dorms this winter if my panhandling comes together in the fall,” he joked, pointing toward the two identical cabins on the left.
I looked at him curiously, wondering about his "panhandling" comments. I wasn’t sure how much it cost to keep a venture like this floating, but I was pretty sure it wasn’t cheap.
I climbed out of the vehicle and shivered in the cooler temperatures. Rick hadn’t been kidding, it was easily twenty degrees cooler here than when we left the airport.
I rubbed my hands over my arms that had a multilayer of goose bumps already popping up on them.
“The room I stay in is right outside my office,” Rick said as he opened the hatch of the vehicle. “You’ll be sharing the ten-to-twelve-year-old dorm with Amy,” he added, dragging my heavy suitcase from the cargo bay.
Share a cabin? “What?” I asked, not sure I had heard him right. I didn’t have much experience with kids since I was never one to babysit. Mom was the one who was good with kids, not me. I liked them okay, but always found conversations with them stilted since I never knew what to say, and being with them in such close quarters made me want to hightail it back to the airport as if the hounds of hell were nipping at my heels.
My train of thought was derailed when I heard the swing of an ax.
Turning around to find the source of the noise, I felt all the air leave my lungs when I saw a blond-haired, shirtless, oh-my-god-he’s-too-hot-for-words stud cutting wood in the clearing just beyond the boys’ cabins. I watched in awe as his muscles rippled while he swung the ax to cut clean through the small log on the tree stump in front of him. His shirtless back glistened with sweat that slowly trickled beyond the jeans that rode low on his hips. My eyes followed the trail and I felt myself flush at the direction my thoughts were taking. I’d spent half my life around half-dressed surfer boys, but I was pretty sure none of their abs came close to the ones I was openly admiring. The artist in me yearned to grab a sketchpad and immortalize him on paper before the moment disappeared. A pair of dog tags hung down his back so they wouldn't get in the way as he swung the ax. For some reason, the sight of the dog tags made his glistening back even sexier. He exuded hotness and I couldn't help responding.
Rick asked me a question, but stopped when he spotted me ogling the guy in front of me. His face spread into a wide smile. “Mason, son, come meet my daughter,” he said, slinging an arm around my shoulder.
My stomach dropped to my toes. Did he say, son?
Chapter 2
I stared in disbelief at Mr. I’m-Too-Sexy-For-My-Own-Good in front of me in disbelief. Mom had neglected to tell me that Rick had a son too. The bile rose in my throat, and I don’t know if I was more embarrassed or angry about ogling my half brother. Would Mom’s half-truths never end?
“Hi,” I said, trying not to sound as stupid as I felt at the moment.
He swept his eyes disdainfully down my frame, taking in my long flowing sundress that was completely inappropriate for the mountain conditions. “You won’t find any waves out here, beach bunny,” he taunted.
“Excuse me?” I said, caught off guard. Was he seriously judging me? He was the show-off, standing around with no shirt on, trying to impress everyone. I opened my mouth to shoot off a catty comeback when Rick intervened.
“Kimmie wasn’t aware we were so high up in the mountains,” he said, offering an explanation I felt was highly unnecessary.
“Kimmie?” Mason said, smirking at me.
“Kim-ber-ly,” I said, dragging out my name like I would if I were talking to a two-year-old.
“Well, this isn’t awkward,” Rick said, darting his eyes between us. Ordinarily, I would have laughed at his outright bluntness. It was nice to know we shared that trait.
“Sorry,” I said, trying to ease the tension. “I guess Mom forgot to mention I had a half brother, among other things.”
“Oh, we don’t share blood, beach bunny,” Mason said, like the mere idea was distasteful.
“Come again?” I asked, hoping I wasn’t misunderstanding him.
“Mason came here as foster kid when he was ten and pretty much never left,” Rick said, proudly slapping Mason on the back.
Well, that was a relief. Not because I was just gawking at him, but because I had the strong desire to jump off a cliff at the idea of actually being related to such an arrogant ass. Still, I have to admit, I felt a little uncharacteristically jealous over the bond they seemed to share that was never an option for me. I knew that was irrational considering we were all practically adults, but I kind of felt like a kid with my nose pressed to the window of a candy store while all the other kids got to pick out a treat.
“Little old to be a camper, aren’t you—or do they go by maturity level around here?” I asked in a sugarcoated voice.
Rick swept his gaze between Mason and me, obviously catching the hostility that seemed to vibrate between us. “Mason is the best counselor/all-around-handyman I could ever ask for.”
“Yep, see beach bunny, some of us actually work for a living,” Mason said before sauntering off to resume his work.
I was left sputtering in his wake as he sank his ax into the tree stump and pulled his t-shirt off the nearby branch where it was hanging.
“Okay, so, that wasn’t the way I expected that to go,” Rick said, puzzled by the way we had reacted.
“Sorry, I’m just not used to being around arrogant guys,” I said, passing the buck off on Mason.
“Well, he’s usually not like that. He’s usually very courteous to girls,” Rick said, scratching the light hair that covered his face.
“I guess I bring out the worse in him,” I said, feeling bad for spoiling the moment for Rick. This wasn’t exactly the first impression I wanted to make.
He nodded, still looking confused and a little bit hurt. I followed meekly behind him, suddenly overwhelmed by a feeling of homesickness. What the hell was I doing here? This wasn’t my element. I knew nothing about the people I would be spending the next six weeks of my life with. I’d already alienated myself with one, and followed that by disappointing the father I had known all of five hours. I felt like an epic failure.
“This will be your dorm,” Rick said, pushing open the heavy wooden door open with his foot. I dragged my suitcase up the two shallow wooden steps and crossed through the doorway to take in my surroundings. The interior was as rough and rugged as the exterior. Six sets of bunk beds lined three of the walls. Tall unfinished wardrobes stood between each set while two more flanked the wall by the door we had entered. Two solitary twin beds sat in the center of the room.