Healing the Widower's Heart. Susan Mason Anne

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      “A makeover for the wedding.”

      “If you guys are going to trade beauty secrets, I’m out of here,” Jerry grumbled.

      “Relax.” Sandy patted his cheek. “We’ll catch up on the girl talk later. Right now I need a crash course on tomorrow’s schedule.”

      While Jerry filled Sandy in on the details, Paige went to get another round of iced tea. Thankfully, the cafeteria crowd had thinned out, which meant a quieter noise level for their meeting. She was on her way back with a tray of drinks when a tall figure blocked her path.

      “Hey, gorgeous. Let me get that for you.”

      Brandon Marshall, one of the students from last summer who did maintenance around the grounds, took the tray out of her hands and grinned down at her. His longish brown hair skimmed bold eyes that raked over her.

      Paige swallowed her dismay. She’d hoped Brandon wouldn’t be back this year. His arrogance had always rubbed her the wrong way. “Hello, Brandon. How are you?”

      If he noticed her less than enthusiastic greeting, he ignored it. “Fantastic, now that I’ve seen you.”

      He flashed a rakish smile, which only annoyed her further. She’d spent most of last summer fending off his attention, and it looked as if things would be no different this year. Reluctantly, she led him to her table, where he set the drinks down with a flourish.

      She nodded at her friends. “You remember Jerry and Sandy?”

      “Yeah, sure.” He barely glanced in their direction.

      Not wanting to appear rude, she asked if Brandon would like to join them.

      “No, thanks. I’ve got somewhere to be. But I’ll be seeing you around.” He winked at her as he backed out of the room.

      Paige dropped into her chair with a grimace.

      Sandy crossed her arms. “Looks like Romeo’s on the prowl again. You’re going to have to say something if you don’t want a repeat of last summer.”

      Paige groaned. “I tried to get rid of him last year, but he wouldn’t take the hint.”

      “Then you’ll have to be more forceful, so he gets the message loud and clear.”

      Jerry reached for his glass. “Aw, Brandon’s harmless.”

      Sandy shot him a disgusted look. “You men always stick together, don’t you?” She stabbed her pen in the air. “Seriously, Paige, be careful. Something about Brandon gives me bad vibes.”

      As they settled back to work, Paige hoped Sandy’s instincts were wrong. With everything else on her plate—initiating the new camp program, helping Zach Porter, struggling to figure out how she’d make ends meet for her last year of grad school—she didn’t need the added aggravation of fending off unwanted male attention.

      Especially since her plans for the future did not include romance. She’d learned the hard way what loving someone—and losing them—could cost, and she’d vowed to never let that happen again.

Chapter Three

      “Have you ever been in a canoe before, Zach?”

      Kneeling on the dock, Paige adjusted the belt on the boy’s life jacket. With a few hours left of daylight, Paige had opted to have a little one-on-one time with Zach before the hectic first day of camp the next morning. Nathan had seemed relieved at her offer to spend time with Zach and had politely declined her invitation to join them.

      The fact that Zach had agreed to come with her only after she’d bribed him with ice cream did not bode well for their talk. Paige hoped that being out on the water for an impromptu canoe lesson would work in her favor, as opposed to keeping Zach cooped up in her dungeon of an office. Paige sighed, wondering again how she’d gotten roped into this crazy situation.

      “I went canoeing once with my cousins on a camping trip.” Zach kicked at a stone on the dock.

      Paige rose and offered a smile of encouragement. “Good. Then you know how easy it is to tip a canoe and how careful you have to be to balance the boat.”

      “I guess.” Zach tugged on the zipper of his jacket. “Do I have to wear this thing? I can swim, you know.”

      “Everyone has to wear a life jacket no matter how well they can swim. It’s a Wyndermere rule.” Paige held the side of the canoe and motioned for Zach to board. “Nice and slow and stay low toward the bottom of the boat.”

      Zach stepped inside, wobbled for a second before regaining his balance and then scrambled to one of the seats.

      Paige steadied the craft and got in herself, opting to kneel on one of the floatation cushions. Using one of the paddles, she pushed away from the dock. The boat glided out into the lake. “I’ll get us out a bit farther before I show you how to row.”

      Zach nodded. He peered out over the smooth water and pointed. “Can we go all the way to that island?”

      “Not tonight. That’s pretty far out.”

      Zach scowled at her. “It doesn’t look that far.”

      Paige mentally counted to ten. Zach seemed prepared to challenge her every statement. “Let’s take it one step at a time.” She began paddling in a rhythmic pattern and headed toward the open water. A light breeze teased the ends of her hair, cool enough to make her glad she’d worn a sweatshirt.

      “When are the other camp kids getting here?” The brim of Zach’s cap almost hid his eyes, but Paige had no trouble telling that they were hard and closed-off. She had a feeling he was less interested in meeting new people and more interested in her being too distracted by the others to bother him.

      “Some arrived today. A few will come tomorrow morning in time to register.” She paused for a moment to adjust the brim of her Wyndermere cap to block the sun. Even her sunglasses couldn’t reflect the glare off the water. “Are you looking forward to moving into the cabins?” Zach had been staying in Nathan’s suite at the inn, but would be joining the rest of the campers tomorrow at the two cabins near the woods.

      “Yeah. As long as the kids aren’t lame.”

      Paige hoped the scowl lines weren’t permanently grooved into the boy’s face. “No one is lame, Zach. And I’ll tell you right now that everyone is expected to get along. You may not like every boy or girl you meet, but you will treat them with politeness and respect. And they will treat you the same way.”

      Zach pressed his mouth into a thin line and shrugged. “Whatever.”

      Paige bit back a rebuke and decided to change focus. “You ready to try paddling?”

      He nodded and she handed him a paddle. She positioned his hands on the tool and gave him some basic pointers on how to use the blade. Soon he had mastered the technique and was moving the canoe forward.

      “You’re doing great,” she told him. “Next time I’ll teach you how to steer.”

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