“Because you know me too well,” Mason chuckled. “I’ve already told Crash and Adeline they’re in for some good eating.”
“You’ve got that right.” Hilly turned to the two newcomers. “Hi. I’m Hilly. I’m so pleased to meet you. I’m sorry you were injured,” she told Crash, “but you don’t know how happy I am that it gave you the free time to come here,” she told them sincerely. “And this is my friend and our camp therapist, Buffy.”
“So pleased to meet you both,” Buffy smiled and shook Crash’s hand.
They both turned their attention to Crash’s wife.
“I’m Adeline,” the pretty, petite woman with short dark hair approached with her hand outstretched.
Hilly, as well as Buffy, took her gesture in a warm clasp, then Hilly looked down at the gorgeous black lab who clung to the woman’s side.
“And this is Coco. My service dog. I have epilepsy,” she said straight out, without any prevarications or indications of self-consciousness. “Although these days he’s more friend than caretaker, since I had surgery and my seizures are now fewer and farther between.”
Hilly accepted that news as it was given, with a simple, but heartfelt nod of her head. “Is it okay if I pat him?” He was beautiful and looked extremely friendly, but Hilly was well aware that people shouldn’t assume they could just go ahead and touch a service dog without permission.
“Absolutely,” Adeline said with a grin. “Coco. Say hello.”
Immediately, as if let off some invisible leash, the dog ran to Buffy, then Hilly, sniffing at their feet as they gave him some love. But the pooch was clearly distracted, whiffing and chuffing all around as if looking for something.
Hilly laughed and raised her head to her company. “I’m thinking he smells my pup, Nel. She’s very friendly, but I left her inside my cabin since I wasn’t sure how your Coco would be with another dog.”
Crash laughed, and for the first time, Hilly really looked at him.
Wow.
If she hadn’t already been crushing on Cisco, this man would have stolen her breath. Tall, with light brown hair that stuck up a little bit on top, he had a chiseled face, and a body that was…magnificent.
From behind her, Cisco placed his hand possessively on her lower back.
Hah.
Was her appreciation for Crash bringing out the little green-eyed monster in Cisco? She hoped so. And if Crash wasn’t married, Hilly might have played up her interest a little more. As it was, she simply beamed at the man until he stopped laughing.
“Coco loves everybody and everything,” Crash finally said. “I swear, if he weren’t so in love with Adeline, he’d follow anybody home who gave him a pat.” After that, he introduced himself. “Hi. I’m Dean, but everybody calls me Crash.”
Hilly finally received a hearty handshake with his one good hand as he continued. “So please, if you will, put Coco out of his olfactory-misery and let your dog out.”
Hilly grinned. “I have a feeling the two of them will be running this place by the time summer ends.” She took a step backward and beckoned. “Follow me. We’ll go let Nel loose, then I’ll show you your cabin and give you a quick tour before lunch. You want help with your bags?”
Crash waved her off. “You, Buffy, and Adeline go on ahead. Even though someone,” he eyed his wife with loving amusement, “packed enough for ten people, Cisco, Mason, and my one-handed self can probably handle it.”
Coco went bounding ahead while they were talking, not waiting for directions. Hilly figured he had some kind of doggy-radar that was leading him straight to Nel.
Sure enough, when they reached Hilly’s living quarters, the pup was already on the small porch, waiting patiently with his tongue out and his tail wagging.
Wasn’t that just how she’d imagined Cisco coming to her over the past few weeks? Shaking from head to tail with excitement while waiting for an invitation inside? Of course, having Buffy as a roommate kind of made that an impossibility. Maybe that’s what was keeping Cisco from making deeper moves. Although…there were plenty of places…
Nope. Hilly did not need her mind going in a carnal direction while she was trying to make a good first impression on her new arrivals.
As they approached the cabin, with the men still far behind dealing with luggage, Adeline giggled. “Cisco’s kind of cute, isn’t he?” she probed with a smirk.
Buffy was staying pretty quiet, but there was a definite grin attempting to pop out.
“Umm, yeah. Kind of,” Hilly admitted, not sure where the woman was going with this.
“He’s got a crush on you, you know,” she continued.
Buffy rolled her eyes in an “I told you so” way.
Hilly swallowed in a suddenly dry throat. “What makes you say that?”
Nel was now audibly scratching from inside her living quarters, and whining to be let out. Hilly dismissed the conversation for a moment, jogged up the steps and quickly opened the door. Nel burst out, greeting her new summer pal with a lot of sniffing. Whatever they smelled must have agreed with both of them, because within a minute, the two ran off together into the woods.
Adeline giggled, watching the pair, then continued with their previous topic. “The amount of time Cisco spent talking about you after he picked us up from the airport, clued me in that he was smitten.”
“And on that note, now that I know I have an ally where your love life is concerned, Hilly, I’ll be off to interface with the kids.” Buffy winked at Adeline, then strode off.
Hilly knew she was blushing, and changed the subject for a moment. “Uh, will Coco take her cues from Nel, and not run away?”
Adeline nodded, still grinning. “She’ll be fine. And if you don’t want to talk about Cisco, I understand.”
Hilly’s face now felt crimson. “It’s not that I don’t want to talk about him. It’s…just that everything is pretty new. He’s…made a few overtures, but I’m still not quite sure if he wants to start something long-term or not.”
Adeline made a phhht sound. “Oh, he wants to,” she assured Hilly. “But from what he said, I get the feeling he’s just waiting for you to give him the big green light.”
Hilly wasn’t sure she could do that. She wanted to. She’d contemplated it. But with her sadly small amount of experience, she felt she might screw things up and he’d find her lacking.
“Yeah. I’m, uh, kind of on shaky ground with that one. It’s not exactly my thing, to make the first move,” she admitted.
