He smiled. Via had always been more of a town girl than a camper. Which had probably been the most surprising part of finding her up a tree. Or the most depressing part. Still, if she was serious about forgiving him, then hopefully it was in the past.
And they could really be friends again.
He gave her a cautious smile. “Ethan’s been roped into driving me, but I know he’d rather stay here.” He licked his lips, not sure if this was the dumbest idea he’d ever had. “If you volunteered, you’d get a legitimate pass from canoeing. And there would be coffee.”
“Real coffee?” A shudder went through her, as if she was considering it. “Doesn’t Ruth want to go with you?”
He shook his head. “No. Thanks to the poison ivy, she’s pretty tired. But…if it’s weird, then forget I said anything. Ethan won’t mind—”
“It’s okay,” she said, her eyes meeting his. “I’ll do it. I’m in.”
Really?
Hudson blinked. He hadn’t expected it to work. But it meant she was serious about their truce. And for the next thirteen days they might even be friends.
4
“I still can’t believe they fell for it,” Zac said in a mournful voice as he lazily kept a soccer ball up in the air, occasionally switching it from one foot to another. “You get to drive into town, and I’m stuck here. Smuggle in some chocolate for me. Oh, and soda. And tell the outside world I’m still alive.”
“I’m the one who hates it here, not you. You just spend your whole time being a jock and flirting,” Via reminded him.
“Good point.” Zac grinned and kicked the ball higher before neatly bouncing it off his knee.
“And Mom and Dad didn’t fall for anything,” she added in a sharp voice. “I really am driving Hudson to get his ankle X-rayed. Then I’ll go and hang out in some stores and meet up with him later. And if you hadn’t deserted me yesterday, I might have invited you along.”
“You say deserted, I say tactical retreat. And it turned out great. You got your differences all sorted out. You’re welcome.”
Via sighed. Arguing with Zac was like catching a rainbow. It was tempting until you actually tried it.
“Fine. You win.”
“I do like to win.” He kicked the ball up and spun around to keep it off the ground with the back of his heel. Then he spun and bounced it off his head and deftly sent it back to his foot. “Are you two solid again?”
“I wouldn’t say solid. It’s a truce, which means we’re capable of spending a few hours together without wanting to kill each other. End of story.”
“You mean without you wanting to kill him. I don’t think Hudson wanted to kill you. In fact I’ve always thought he had a—”
“If you finish that sentence, we’re going to have a problem.”
“What…crush?”
“Stop it, Zac. It’s not funny. We might not have spoken much lately, but he’s always been focused on schoolwork and studying.”
“Sounds like someone else I know. Besides, he wasn’t sixteen back then. Trust me, he’s not thinking that now. I know you got this weird thing about dating, but you should try it. You’re not so different from everyone else, Vee. You might even like it.”
Her face heated. There was a reason she didn’t date. Because dating would lead to kissing, and she’d never kissed anyone. Unlike her brother, who seemed to specialize in kissing girls. Once again, she wondered how they were related. Did he steal all of the ‘I know how to fit in’ genes while they were still in utero?
“Can we not talk about this?”
“Just floating an idea.” He shrugged. “What does Frankie say?”
“Nothing,” Via retorted, mainly because she hadn’t told her best friend about what had happened yesterday. Frankie had enough going on in her life right now. Besides, there was nothing to tell. If only she could get her clueless brother to believe her.
“Because you haven’t told her,” Zac said in a smug voice as Diana appeared from her cabin wearing a bikini and not much else. “Gotta go, but have fun on your date.”
“It’s not a date.” But he’d already left, jogging over to his latest target. Had she mentioned how annoying her brother was?
She muttered something in his direction and turned around as Hudson appeared in the doorway of his cabin. He’d mastered the crutches and swung toward her at speed.
His arm muscles were bigger than she remembered and strained with the effort. As he got closer, she studied his face. The shorter haircut made his cheekbones and square jaw stand out. There was a faint scattering of freckles, and his pale brown eyes had ridiculously long lashes. But that was irrelevant. If she did want to date him—which she didn’t—it would never work.
For a start, they’d be a laughing stock. It always happened when unexpected couples got together. And then she’d be the center of attention.
Her heart hammered and her palms went clammy. It would be the science fair all over again.
“You don’t think this is a date, do you?” she said, trying to force back the faint tendrils of panic.
“A date? Now who’s hit their head?” He leaned forward on his crutches and studied her face before holding up his right hand and tucking down his thumb. “How many fingers can you see?”
“I’m serious, Hudson.”
“O-kay,” he said, not taking his gaze away from her. “No, I don’t think it’s a date, Via. It’s been about a nanosecond since you hated me. I wasn’t even sure if you were serious about driving into town today. Best outcome is we get through the day without you hiding up a tree.”
Her panic lessened, and she nodded. “If I do, I promise not to fall on your other ankle.”
“Fair enough.” He shrugged. “So, we’re good?”
She slowly nodded. “Yes. Though since it’s not a date, after you’ve been to the doctor we
