“Whose fault is that?” Vicki winked then dodged out of reach when he would have grabbed her.

“I didn’t break your bed,” Joel insisted.

There was a snort of disbelief from a few feet away where Matt was setting up a second tent.

“Stop listening,” Joel called out to his brother.

Matt stood and shook his head. “First, I’m moving our tent farther from yours because you’re too damn loud, and if I can hear you now, who knows what we’ll be hearing tonight. And second? You broke her bed? Damn…”

“I didn’t break her bed. Idiot.” Joel threw a tent peg at his brother, but Matt had already grabbed his and Hope’s tent by the sides and lifted it in the air.

Vicki knelt beside where Joel continued to work. “You’re so bad.”

“He’s my older brother. It’s in the rules I have to torment him on a regular basis.” Joel caught her this time, tugging her into his lap. “But I’m glad they moved farther away. He’s right. I don’t want to listen to them fool around all night.”

His hand smoothed upward, stroking along her throat until he held her chin captive, kissing her with lots of tongue thrown in for good measure. Vicki dug her fingers into his hair and went for broke. When he groaned in arousal, she smiled. From never having had a kiss to knowing how to drive him mad, she hadn’t done poorly over the past month.

They separated just enough to draw in air. “Maybe they’ll be happy not to listen to us all night as well,” Vicki teased.

That delicious expression washed over his face, the one that said he had definite plans. “You not sore anymore?”

“Nope.” His palm rested on top of her thighs, an innocent enough touch. She wanted him to shift his grasp a little and cup her sex. Oh shoot. “Did you bring a condom?”

“Hell, yeah, more than one.” Joel glanced over his shoulder. “But stop talking about sex, or there’s no way I’ll last without dragging you into the tent right here and now.”

The food coolers were still in the back of the truck, and neither Hope nor Matt was anywhere to be seen. “Umm, Joel? Where are the others?”

She and Joel fell silent for a bit until a loud laugh gave the answer. Joel grinned. “Damn, they’re at it already.”

Vicki wiggled her brows. “I think I’m going to like camping.”

Only before Joel could haul her into their own tent, Hope popped up, her hair mussed, deep masculine laughter following her. She glanced their direction then rolled her eyes as she turned back to scold through the tent flaps. “Great. Now your brother and his girlfriend think we were fooling around. Nice going.”

Matt’s head poked out, an ear-to-ear grin shining on his face. “Pay no attention to the mad woman over here. She’s in need of a little discipline.”

“Matt,” Hope snapped. “Behave.”

He crowded out of the tent and went after her. “You’re in trouble…”

Watching the two of them run and play made something break free in Vicki’s heart.

That a couple could have a fun relationship as well as a sexual one—well, she knew about it, but to see it played out before her?

Magical.

A finger stroked her cheek. “What’s got you smiling so sweetly?”

She went for honest, pointing across the campsite.

“It’s good to see how much in love those two are. Makes me believe in positive things for down the road. That fairytales can come true. Maybe there’s someone out there who will love me like that some day.” She glanced up and was surprised to see his expression turn serious. “What’s wrong?”

Joel shook his head. “Nothing. Just, yeah, you are right.” He settled her to the ground and gazed after Hope and Matt. Matt had caught her in a close embrace, kissing her soundly with so much life and energy and sheer happiness in his attentions Vicki smiled even harder.


They got the fire going. It was cold enough even with the thing blazing, Vicki cuddled in tight to his side and still shivered.

“I hope our sleeping bags are good and thick.” She shivered again, and he pulled her into his lap, wrapping the quilt around her tighter.

“You’ll be warm tonight, I promise.”

The way she looked at him with the promise of something else showing in her gaze made Joel have to focus on what they were about right now.

“Vicki, you did a super job with the dinner. Thanks.” Hope and Matt were curled up to the right of them, the smoke from the fire drifting to the west away from where they were all huddled. Close enough to speak quietly, and yet not able to see exactly what was going on with the other couple unless they deliberately got up and looked.

“Matt and Joel made the list.”

“You cooked. On short notice, I might add.” Joel stroked her cheek. “I agree, everything was great.”

“Better than the typical beans and hotdogs you told me about?” Vicki teased.

“I’ll still make you coffee in the morning,” Joel assured her.

Hope groaned. “No. Not Joel’s campfire coffee.”

“What? What’s wrong with it?” Vicki asked.

Matt’s laugh rumbled out. “Thick enough to paint the walls. But it’ll wake you up.”

Comfortable, easy. Such a contrast from the tension in the bar two nights earlier. Joel relaxed against the log they’d hauled over to use as a backrest.

“Well, I appreciate good cooking.” Hope tossed a small stick into the fire, making sparks fly. “Funny how I got one of the so-called domestic skills—sewing—and totally missed the others.”

“Hush,” Matt chided. “You can cook just fine. And so can I. We’re not going to starve.”

Joel was having trouble concentrating while Vicki drew designs on his chest with her fingertips.

“I learned how to cook young. I hid out in the Home-Ec room during recess and lunch hours,” Vicki shared.

She spoke so soft Joel wondered if the others had heard her.

“Did you have Mrs. Underwood for Home-Ec?” Hope asked.

“No. Well, not at first. This was back when Miss Graves was the teacher. I must have been about ten at the time.” She spoke a little firmer. “The first couple of times I was…hiding. She was surprised to see me, but she made me a hot chocolate. I still remember that. It was so kind.”

Joel sat motionless, willing Vicki to keep sharing. It was the first time she’d talked about something like this. A memory from her past. The total sum of what he knew about her, which wasn’t a hell of a lot, hit him.

The girls carried on their conversation while Joel pondered.

“A good teacher makes a huge difference,” Hope agreed. “Miss Graves taught me to sew.”

“She wasn’t even the teacher anymore when I hit Junior High and actually had Home-Ec classes, but she started bringing in little things for me to make during lunch hour, thank God, because there were times that—”

She jerked to a stop.

Times what?

Vicki took a deep breath before continuing. “It was one way to get something to eat for me and my sister Lynn. During the years she was there, Miss Graves probably fed us more than my mom did.”

Joel’s stomach tightened.

“Hope used to hang out at the boys and girl’s club.” Matt stared upward as he spoke. His words solemn, carefully chosen. Joel was grateful, because right now he was pretty speechless. “The first time that registered, I was in shock. Like, why had she hung out there instead of at home?”

He twisted to gaze at Vicki. “I hadn’t much of a clue not everyone’s family was like Joel’s and mine. And I had no excuse for being so ignorant. I was involved with Helen at the time.”

“Oh, family.” Hope sighed. “Wait, let me adjust that ponderous comment. Oh, my family member who continues to drive me nuts.”

“It’s tough, right? Having family that’s not family,” Vicki whispered.

“Toughest thing in the world.” Hope pressed a hand to Matt’s face. “Then one day you get a taste of the other side, and figure out why people rave about it.”

Silence fell. Joel wasn’t sure what he would say, if he did speak up.

They hadn’t actually come out and said Vicki’s family was a pain. That Hope’s family had been a disaster as well. The fact was there, though, hovering.

Joel wanted to apologize for his good fortune in having scored a family that knew something about sticking together, yet that impulse sucked. It was wrong. It wasn’t right to try to cast off the good he’d had to make someone else’s pain less.

That kind of attitude diminished what his dad and ma had worked for all these years. He appreciated his lot, never wanted to take it for granted, but the contrast—

With every breath it was clearer he had a good thing, and he’d never really noticed until now.


“Look, a shooting star.” Vicki pointed skyward, and they all twisted to follow the trajectory.

A welcome peace floated over them, with nothing but the crackle of the fire carrying through the air.

“What did you wish for?” Matt asked Hope, his words soft but audible.

“Nothing doing. If I tell you, then my request won’t come true.” Hope stroked his smiling face to soften her denial.

“Maybe if you tell me, I can make sure all your dreams come true.”

Oh, God. Vicki’s heart fluttered at the sheer romanticism of the moment as Hope whispered I love you and kissed Matt, right then and there.

In so many ways, this camping trip had been more of a learning experience than Vicki had expected. She turned away from the other couple and gazed into the darkness. The cold wrapped around them, but Joel’s arms were warm and gave her a sense of security, real or not.

Vicki hadn’t been sure about sharing earlier, but it seemed right. The setting, the people, all of it worked together to make her want to open up. As if they wouldn’t consider it a bid for sympathy, but more a statement of reality. Her reality.