Harper was caught off guard. She eyed the tents for a bit, as if they were strange items from another time and place, and then shook her head. “Um ... I think we’ll take the rest of the stuff.”
“That sounds good,” Jared enthused. “Let’s all get to work, shall we?”
HARPER AND ZANDER LASTED EXACTLY THIRTY minutes before they lost interest in campsite prep with their significant others. Since Shawn and Jared seemed to be having such a good time playing master and commander of their tiny slice of land, Harper and Zander were more than willing to leave them to their devices.
That allowed the duo to walk around and meet a few of the other people staying at the campground.
“You’re part of the event, too?” Harper offered up a friendly smile to Josh and Jenny Sullivan, a newly married couple from mid-Michigan.
“Oh, yeah.” Jenny bobbed her head. “We’re huge paranormal fans, and when we heard about this event we couldn’t say no.”
“We’re big horror-movie fans,” Josh volunteered. “We hear they’re going to be testing out a variety of different murder-mystery clues and stories, including a horror storyline. We’ve always wanted to be part of something like this.”
“Horror, huh?” Technically Harper had read something similar in the paperwork that was sent her way. She’d managed to dismiss it, though, because that wasn’t what her focus was on. Sure, the paranormal was often linked to scary stories, but she looked at death as a new adventure, not a terrifying ending. Since she could see and talk to ghosts, that probably seemed out of the ordinary to others, but her belief system was a work in progress. All she knew was, when she sent troublesome ghosts off to the other side, she always saw a flash of something glorious. That’s what she preferred focusing on.
“Are you horror-movie fans, too?” Jenny asked hopefully.
“Sometimes.” Harper wasn’t sure how to respond. The last thing she wanted was to come off as snooty. “We’re big Halloween fans and watch a lot of horror movies during the month of October.”
“Tons,” Zander agreed. “We also go all out for costumes and decorations.”
“Oh, we love Halloween, too,” Jenny enthused, shooting an adoring look at Josh. “That’s one of the things we bonded over, in fact. We met at one of those warehouse haunted houses they have during the run-up to Halloween. You know the ones I’m talking about, right?”
Harper nodded. “I’m familiar. Those are the places where actors dress up like killers and chase horror geeks with chainsaws and stuff, right?”
“Yes.” Jenny’s eyes sparkled. “I was there with some friends, and Josh was dressed up like Leatherface and our eyes met across a table with about fifty body parts on it. It was ... kismet.”
“It was magical,” Josh agreed, sliding his arm around his wife’s slim back and tugging her to his side. “We shouldn’t have even noticed each other. There was too much going on.”
“There were people screaming,” Jenny explained. “There were monsters chasing prey ... and yet we couldn’t look away from each other. It was definitely magic.”
“Definitely,” Josh agreed, breathless.
The next thing Harper registered was that their mouths were fused together, and they appeared to be groping one another, oblivious to the fact that they weren’t alone. “Okay then.”
Zander gripped her arm and gave it a little tug, dragging his eyes away from the couple and focusing on a group of people at the next campsite over. He offered up a winsome smile and shuffled closer, hoping he would see a lot less tongue this go-round.
“I’m Leslie,” the blonde woman offered before Zander could speak, extending her hand. “We’re with the group, too. I see you met Josh and Jenny.”
“Yeah.” Harper bobbed her head, her eyes drifting back toward the handsy couple. “They seem ... great.”
“They’re heathens,” the man standing behind Leslie countered, a dark expression washing over his features as he glared at the younger couple. “We’ve only been here for a few hours, but mark my words, they’re going to have sex in public.”
Harper pressed her lips together and risked a glance at Zander, who appeared as amused as she felt. While she wouldn’t have been a fan of public sex — especially because it would’ve mortified her on a million different levels — she could think of worse things to worry about. “I think it’s sweet. They’re young and they’re in love.”
“They’re ingrates,” the man argued.
“This is my husband, Sam,” Leslie offered, making a face. “Ignore him. He hasn’t been happy since the second Bush was president.”
Harper did the math in her head. “Oh, well ... .”
“Be as snide as you want,” Sam argued. “It’s not okay to fornicate in public. You know it as well as I do.”
Leslie held back a sigh, but to Harper it looked as if it took a lot of effort. After a beat, she forced a bright smile. “So, what about you two? How long have you been together?”
“Since we were five,” Zander replied, his gaze drifting back to the adjacent campsite, to where Jenny and Josh had moved to a spot close to their firepit and were practically horizontal. “It was love at first sight.”
“Really?” Leslie looked taken aback. “I ... well ... that’s great.”
Harper took pity on her. “We’re not together. We’ve been best friends since elementary school. We’re here with our fiancés, though. They’re over there setting up the campsite because they think we’re a menace when it comes to outdoorsy things.”
“Oh.” Leslie almost appeared relieved as she looked in the direction Harper indicated. “Well, those look like nice boys.”
“I bet they're fornicators, too,” Sam said darkly.
Harper licked her lips and risked a glance at Zander. “So, we should get back to helping. There’s a big dinner, right? I’m sure we’ll see you then.”
“I’m sure you will, too.”
BY THE TIME JARED AND SHAWN FINISHED UP, THEY had no time to clean up before dinner. Zander supplied them with antibacterial wipes, and then the group happily headed for the pavilion at the
