Brick Callahan sat at his desk in the office of the Stardance Ranch RV Resort just south of Eternity Springs with the phone on speaker, massaging his temples while he listened to his adoptive mother’s scolding. “It’s a high school reunion, Mom. I didn’t go to the tenth. I have no desire to go to the fifteenth.”
“But you were Homecoming King. And Student Council president. You should support these types of events. There will come a time in your life when relationships from your youth will matter to you again, and if you don’t keep in touch…”
“I can always find ’em on Facebook.”
“Now, honey.”
“Mom, I appreciate your concern. Truly. But I do keep up with the people who matter to me. I talked to Derek Howe earlier this month. He’s not going to the reunion, either, by the way.”
“That’s a shame. He was class president.”
“And he’s got bigger fish to fry nowadays, Mom. Did you hear that he did the heart part of the surgery for those conjoined twins from Brazil last month?”
“Yes, it was in the newspaper.” Cindy Christopher sighed. “I just hoped to get you home again, sweetheart.”
“I run a summer business, Mom. It’s simply not practical for me to take time away in the middle of June.”
There was a long pause that had Brick bracing himself. He knew his mother so well.
“As long as you’re not staying away because of that woman.”
Bingo. “You’ve seen what I’m building up here, Mom. I’m in the tourist business. It’s tourist season. Which reminds me … you and Pop are coming up for the Fourth this year, right?”
“Oh, definitely. We wouldn’t miss it. In fact, I had a conference call with Annabelle and your aunts last week to make plans. I’ve always loved the Fourth of July holiday, but being able to help make it such a fun and special day for the Rocking L campers takes it to a whole new level.”
“I know.”
Local philanthropists Jack and Cat Davenport had established the Rocking L to give a few weeks of fun, adventure, and respite to children who had had suffered a significant loss. Brick’s good friend Chase Timberlake was in his first year as camp director and he was doing a great job lining up locals to help make the session the best it could be.
“So how are the Callahan women doing?” Brick asked, happy for the conversation to shift in a different direction. They discussed his birth family for a few more minutes, but when his persistent mother tried to bring the subject back around to a visit home Brick was relieved to see his foster brother Josh Tarkington arrive early for his shift.
“Guess who just walked into my office, Mom? Here, say hello to Josh.” He shoved the phone at his brother and mouthed, Be back in a few minutes.
Brick decided he might as well make a tour of the camp and see how today’s arrivals were settling in. His business had welcomed a windfall this summer when a large camping club chose Stardance Ranch to be their summer headquarters. They’d bought out the entire camp for fifty-three nights and the vast majority of his available seventy-five spaces for the balance of the summer.
He’d been able to add two more full-time employees, which freed up his time and allowed him to concentrate on his other project—Stardance River Camp.
He climbed into one of the golf carts he used to get around the RV park and made a slow circuit, waving to those guests who were obviously busy, stopping to chat with anyone who looked as if a chat would be welcome. He’d just finished an entertaining conversation with two sisters from Louisiana in a thirty-one-foot Dutchman who were out exploring the camp with their miniature dachshund, Elle.
“Brick! Hold up a moment, will you, dear?”
He turned to see the head camper herself, Patsy Schaffer, hurrying toward him. The woman just made him grin. She wore fire-engine-red hair cut short and styled spiky on top, a white cotton blouse with the club logo on the pocket, Capri jeans, and sneakers. Bright red lipstick framed a smile as bright as sunshine. “What can I do for you, Patsy?”
“I know we don’t have the activity center booked for tonight, but I wonder if it might be free? We’ve a new member due to arrive later—Jana cleared the reservation for us earlier this morning. I always like to have a special welcome to our new members. So if no one is using the center, may we impose?”
“It’s open. You’re welcome to it.”
“Oh, that’s just wonderful. Thank you so much.”
“No problem.”
Brick finished his route and returned to the office to find Josh ringing up a sale of laundry detergent for a guest. “You owe me,” Josh said.
“For what?”
“Backing you up with Cindy. You could find time to go home for your high school reunion.”
Brick scowled at his foster brother. “Did you tell her that?”
Josh snorted. “Yeah, right. I like this job. I don’t want to lose it.”
“Smart man.”
Smirking, Josh returned to the computer, where he had the accounting program open and the stack of receipts Brick had left for him in a manila folder beside it. “What’s this cash receipt from the lumberyard? From January?”
“I sent my sport coat to the dry cleaners yesterday. Found it. Had that meeting with the Marriott reps.”
Josh shook his head. “You need to be more careful with receipts, Bro.”
“Yeah … yeah … yeah. I know.” They both turned when the door opened. Brick straightened and prepared for problems when he spied the unhappy frown on the face of his guest up at Stardance River Camp. “Mr. Beyhan. Is there a problem?”
“Other than the fact that I’ve been married two whole days and I may never get laid again?”
Brick and Josh shared a cautious look.
“The tree house is fabulous. It’s luxurious and has everything a guest could wish for. The views are breathtaking.”
“And the problem?”
The young man sighed heavily. “My wife thought she heard a bear last night. I think it was something smaller. Probably a rabbit. Nevertheless, I followed the directions you have posted and scared it away. We got back to sleep and I thought everything was cool, but today she’s been chewing on it. She’s scared. This is not the honeymoon I’d hoped for.”
Brick started thinking. Moving them to the tents at River Camp wouldn’t be any better. He’d send them into town to the honeymoon cottage at Angel’s Rest except it was currently booked. That’s how they’d ended up at River Camp.
“Do you have anywhere else we could stay? It doesn’t have to be fancy. Just … not so isolated?”
It was an issue Brick hadn’t previously considered. A problem like this wasn’t really his problem—guests knew exactly what they were getting when they rented at Stardance River Camp. That said, he was selling five-star service. So … he needed to provide it. And he had one option to offer.
“I do have something. It’s a different experience, but it’s definitely luxurious and it’s parked here at the Ranch. It’s a large RV, a motor coach. Has a king-sized bed and a custom interior. It’s definitely not as rustic as the tree house but—”
“I’ll take it!” Relief infused the honeymooner’s voice. “Thanks, man. You may have just saved my marriage.”
“Don’t you have a horseback ride scheduled for this afternoon?”
“Yes.”
“We’ll move your stuff down to the RV during your ride. Check with Josh, here, when you’re done and he’ll show you to the motor coach.”
“Okay. Great. This is great. Thanks so much. I need to go tell Elizabeth so she stops calling her mother.”
The young man rushed out of the office and the door banged behind him. Josh arched a curious brow. “You’re renting out your grandfather’s coach?”
“Hey. He’s a partner in River Camp. And a businessman. He’ll understand.”
“Are you going to tell him?”
Brick hesitated. “Afterward. Maybe. No.”
Josh laughed. Brick shrugged and added, “It’s their honeymoon. Will you hold down the fort here? Branch doesn’t keep a lot of personal items in his coach, but it’ll take me a while to deal with what’s there.”
“Sure.”
Another trailer pulled into the park as Brick got back into his golf cart. Josh exited the office to greet the new guests and Brick headed back through his camp, returning waves and asking after his guests’ comfort. When a woman from New Mexico called out her praise of the shower room, he thanked her and drove on toward his grandfather’s motor coach, his spirits high. What a friendly group. That gave him a good feeling about the summer.
When he’d first received the query through his website from a female-only camping club, he wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. Would they be inexperienced campers? Complainers? Prima donnas who’d expect the staff to do all the physical work of setting up a campsite in an RV park?
Not that it mattered. The reservation numbers Patsy Schaffer had rolled out to him in her initial e-mail had taken his breath away. No way could he turn down that amount of business—even if they did prove to be guests from hell.
He’d done a little Internet sleuthing of his own, and after reading their website he’d felt encouraged. Women primarily in their fifties and sixties whose organized activities included bingo, bunco, and a book club didn’t sound like prima donnas. In his subsequent e-mail exchange with Patsy she’d included a few photos of their most recent campout along with a list of the club’s rules: no drugs, alcohol only in moderation, and campgrounds and fellow campers must be treated with respect.
Brick had processed the reservation immediately.
And today the Tornado Alleycats were descending upon Stardance Ranch.