Flirting with Disaster by Elizabeth Hrib

Author:Elizabeth Hrib
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2023-11-29T21:31:42+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Mid-October had brought a surge of activity to the Team Rebuild camp. Sarah had learned that this final push would finish out the remaining Team Rebuild work, and though she was busier than ever—there wasn’t a day that went by when she didn’t hand out at least five Band-Aids—she couldn’t help but notice the sense of loss that had already permeated camp.

“You coming?” Melanie asked as Sarah wiped down one of the work tables.

“Where?”

“To say goodbye.”

“Goodbye?” Sarah dropped the cloth she’d been using on the table. She’d already removed one stubborn sliver and cleaned up a nasty-looking paper cut courtesy of a cardboard box this morning. There had been no mention of goodbyes. “What are you talking about?”

“Oh, that’s right, you weren’t around yesterday afternoon,” Melanie said. “The bus is coming.”

“Bus?”

“I keep forgetting you haven’t done this before,” Melanie said with an apologetic smile. “Feels like you’ve always been part of the team.”

Sarah let herself be touched by Melanie’s words for a few seconds before waving at her to continue.

Melanie shrugged. “When a group of volunteers completes their site contract, Team Rebuild packs them on a bus destined for the airport. It’s tradition for everyone else to gather around and wave them off.”

“Oh,” Sarah said. Sending people home meant that Hatchet Lake was almost back to its old self. Well, maybe not its old self, but its new and improved self. There were fewer projects to tackle, less new construction happening. Most of the injuries Sarah was tending to now came from assignments called teardown and cleanup. She should’ve been overjoyed for the town. Glad that everything had been put to rights. But a dull, aching sadness settled in the middle of her chest and refused to budge.

“Don’t worry,” Melanie said. “None of your favorite people are leaving yet.”

Sarah snapped out of her melancholy thoughts. “And who would my favorite people be?”

“Well, me, obviously.”

Sarah clipped a radio to her jacket in case someone needed her, then threw her arm over Melanie’s shoulders, escorting her out of the first aid tent. “Obviously.”

“And Evan and Jordan.” Melanie dropped her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “And Desmond.”

“Desmond, huh? Doesn’t ring a bell.”

Melanie snorted. “Oh, please, you two are the camp’s worst-kept secret. Everybody knows.”

“Everybody knows what?” Sarah said. She stopped and looked at the girl. She might have been in her early twenties, but Melanie still spread rumors like a teenager.

“How you two feel about each other.”

Sarah rolled her eyes. “Gossip.”

“Hot gossip,” Melanie clarified. They continued walking, following a line of volunteers out to Main Street.

“We’re friends,” Sarah said. “And you should have spent more time paying attention to what was going on in the first aid tent and less time focusing on us.”

“I was paying attention. That’s how I know you two are way more than just friends,” she said. “I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but the two of you sort of stare at each other with these big doe eyes.”

Sarah scoffed, shoving the girl gently.

Melanie snickered. “It’s actually pretty cute.

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