Fixing the damage on the water pipe from Lily’s cabin was going to take more work than Ethan had anticipated. Unlike with the other cabins, where the pipe had been cleanly cut, this one looked as though acid had been poured over the pipe, causing damage to eat away at the metal like rot. Like the Town Council members had said, the entire pipe would need to be replaced. At least six feet of it.

When Ethan admitted as much to Ruby, she looked even more grim. Her white eyebrows pulled together, low over her eyes.

“I can’t ask you to go through all that trouble.”

From the corner of his eye, Ethan noticed Lily adjusting her hold on Wookie. Guilt gnawed at his stomach as he recalled that she still thought him the handyman on the campground. He felt especially bad because she’d confided in him about the reason she was really here—the contest to win a promotion. Ironically, he’d come out here to get away from people because he had been fed up with them lying to him and now he was doing exactly that to Lily.

“I’ll fix it,” he said, his voice firm. “But if I’m replacing six feet of pipe, I’m going to need to go back down to the hardware store and buy that length and solder it together with the existing, undamaged pipe. I’ve done that kind of thing before, though not in as large a quantity as Greendale’s Town Council seems to want.” It seemed fairly senseless, for a fist-sized hole, but if that was what it took to keep Pinecrest Lodge in business, then that was what Ethan would do.

If anything, Ruby looked even more worried. “You can put the supplies on my tab at the hardware store.”

“I’ll do that,” Ethan lied. “But first, we need to talk about these misfortunes.” He crossed his arms, staring her down. Did she know who was responsible—and if so, why hadn’t she gone to the sheriff with that knowledge?

The old woman glanced from Ethan to Lily and back again. Her shoulders deflated as she heaved a sigh. “Very well. Why don’t we talk back at the lodge? I have a fresh batch of cookies ready to go in the oven.”

* * *

If oven-fresh cookies were meant to butter him into forgetting about the troubles on the campground, Ethan had to admit that they did a remarkable job. As the chocolate chip cookies melted in his mouth, he closed his eyes in bliss.

It was Lily’s voice that reminded him of the situation at hand.

“No, Wookie,” she chided her dog. The wooden kitchen chair on which she sat screeched as she pushed back to make room to place the dog on the floor. “You can’t have any. They have chocolate in them.”

Pawing at her owner’s leg, Wookie whined.

Ethan stuffed the rest of the cookie in his mouth and dusted off his hands. Down to business. “Tell me how long this sabotage has been going on.”

“This is the first I’ve heard of it,” Ruby insisted from the counter, where she poured coffee into three mugs. She stirred in milk and sugar and passed the cups around to Lily and Ethan.

As he received his mug, Ethan cocked an eyebrow. “I told you of the pipes at the other cabins only a couple days ago.”

“Yes, that too. Those are the only incidents that I know of.”

He exchanged a look with Lily, who narrowed her eyes. Was the old woman telling them the truth? Might she have forgotten something due to her age?

Ethan indicated the refrigerator with a wave of his hand. The notices he’d first seen had been taken down and stuffed out of sight, but he recalled them altogether too well. “What about all those citations from the Greendale Town Council? I know Carter Pittman has been making trouble for you.”

Her chin set, Ruby wrinkled her nose and looked down into her cup. At the moment, she looked every bit her age, a frail old lady devoid of the spark and stubbornness he knew her to possess. “He makes trouble for me in town, yes. I know he wants my land, not that he’s offered me even half its value. Even if he had, I couldn’t sell.” Her chin trembled as she admitted, “This was my husband’s love and joy. I could never betray him by selling the campground, let alone to someone like Pittman. He wouldn’t keep it open as a tourist destination.” Lifting her gaze, she wiped at the corners of her eyes. “It’s lucky for couples in love, you know.”

Although Ethan felt Lily’s gaze, he didn’t turn his head. He couldn’t help but replay their kiss down by the lake this morning. The touch of her lips had been … transcendent. But his woman radar was messed up and he didn’t know if she’d liked it, too. He hadn’t felt any vibe one way or the other and later on at breakfast she’d acted like nothing had happened. Maybe the kiss hadn’t even registered, she’d been half frozen and scared to death. Besides, she thought he was the campground’s handyman and in a few days, Pinecrest Lodge would be in her rear view mirror.

You could follow. It wasn’t as though Ethan didn’t have the money to go anywhere he wanted. But down that path laid disaster. The only reason Lily hadn’t yet tried to use him for his money was the fact that she didn’t know about it. Although a part of him wanted to believe that she wasn’t that sort of woman… History had shown him differently. Everyone was the sort to squeeze him for money, even his own sister.

He had to be careful around Lily. For goodness sake, back at the campfire he’d nearly offered to buy her a newspaper so she could set one up in Greendale and follow her dreams! What madness was that?

No, when Lily left the campground, he couldn’t follow, even if having her nearby helped to chase away the demons he carried since retiring from the Rangers. Besides, he loved nature and the peace of the forest. What would he do in a city again? That life held no appeal to him at all.

“He’s been reporting small issues to the Town Council all along. I don’t know the particulars, but suddenly a pipe breaks and the Council is right there to inspect it. Don’t you find that timing more than a coincidence?”

The hopeful look on Ruby’s face dimmed. “You can’t mean to imply that Carter Pittman is destroying my property so I’ll sell to him.”

Ethan and Lily exchanged a look. “That’s precisely what he’s implying,” Lily said. “No, we’re outright stating it. I know there wasn’t any problem with the water in my cabin before last night. Someone had to have done this.”

“Not Pittman,” Ruby insisted, stubborn. “He’s grown up to be a bit of a sour apple, but he isn’t all bad. He can’t have done it. His daddy was good friends with my husband for over twenty years.”

Although he hated to admit it, Carter Pittman might indeed have tossed aside that past camaraderie for his own means. Ethan had seen it altogether too often. When it came to the question of money, men and women did stupid, selfless things.

Lily drummed her fingers on the table. If the agitated gesture was any indication, she too didn’t share Ruby’s conviction.

Still, the old lady insisted, “Simply because you didn’t notice anything didn’t mean there wasn’t an issue with the pipes. This might have been going on for months.” Her cheeks colored and she lowered her gaze to the table, ashamed. “I’m not as spry as I used to be. In recent years, I haven’t been able to tour the grounds nearly as often as is needed.”

“Have you given any consideration to hiring a property manager? You could avoid this sort of thing in the future.”

Lily whipped her head toward him, her hair stinging as it smacked against his arm. He resolutely ignored her. Somehow, he’d have to explain to her why he wasn’t the property manager, but here at this table was not the place. Ruby didn’t know of the deception between them, and he’d prefer to keep it that way.

Shaking her head, “I don’t have the money for full time help. Especially not with all the cabins up and running. I know, it is a vicious circle, but I can’t change the reality.”

He dropped the subject — for now. “I’ll fix the pipe,” he promised. “But Ruby, something sinister is happening on this campground. Whether you like it or not, someone seems to be determined to stop you from operating. If this sabotage doesn’t stop, they might succeed.”