Family Camp (Daddy Dearest, #1)(15)

As Jayden ran back over, Travis continued. “Okay, campers, here’s the order! Cindy’s canoe leads. Joe’s canoe will be in the middle. And I’ll be the sweep. Don’t get ahead of Cindy or behind me. Got it?”

Everyone nodded or yelled “yes!”

“Cool, now look at your canoe. There’s a number on the prow. When we do a head count or sing, that’s your canoe’s number. So what’s your number, campers?” Travis held his hand behind his ear in an exaggerated listening pose.

Everyone shouted their number out. Geo’s group’s canoe had the number “10” painted on it in white.

“Ten!” Geo shouted.

Travis pointed at Jayden with raised eyebrows.

“Ten!” Jayden said.

“You all are math geniuses!” Travis proclaimed. “Now let’s rock and roll. Onward to Devil’s Island!”

Everyone piled into their canoes, but Travis didn’t seem to be in a hurry.

“What’s that mean?” Jayden asked him. “That sweeping thing? We don’t hafta stay here and clean, do we?”

Travis chuckled. “No, that means we’re the last canoe. We stay behind everyone else and make sure no one gets lost.”

Jayden pouted. “So we’re last? I thought this was a race.”

“Guess not so much,” Geo said, feeling stupid now for having said he and Lucy would beat Van’s canoe. “But, hey, we get to go with Travis which is pretty cool, right?”

Jayden’s lip stuck out further.

Travis pushed his sunglasses up on his head and looked into Jayden’s eyes. “Our canoe is the most important in the whole group. Do you know why?”

Jayden shook his head.

“Because we’re the last line of defense. Remember how I told you we’d never had anyone hurt on a canoe trip? That’s because of the sweep. If a canoe tips over, or someone falls out, it’s up to us to do a rescue. You see all those little kids?”

Jayden looked over the canoes shoving into the water. There were quite a few kids under ten and even a baby strapped to a father’s chest. “Yeah.”

“We have to make sure they have fun today and don’t get hurt. Sort of like the Coast Guard. Are you with me?”

Jayden’s frown cleared and his eyes brightened. “Sort of like firemen, right? Only on the water? I can do that!”

“I knew you could. That’s why I picked you to come along.” Travis held out a fist and Jayden bumped it, looking all kinds of pleased with himself. “Okay, guys. Let’s do this thing.”

Geo’s mouth hung open. Jesus, how did the guy do that? Geo was the one who was supposed to be an expert on kids. How did a guy who was basically a professional jock handle Jayden so brilliantly? Earlier, Jayden had been worried about drowning, yet somehow the idea of being responsible for others made him excited. And Travis had plucked that string like an expert in child psychology. It wasn’t fair.

“Geo?” Travis said, holding their canoe a little way into the water. “Can you put Lucy in the middle? And you can row from the front.”

“Oh, yeah.” Geo lifted Lucy into the middle of the canoe, then climbed into the front himself. Max jumped in and Jayden got into the back, completely submerging his Nikes in the process. Which Geo absolutely wasn’t going to worry about.

When all the other canoes were in the water and paddling, Travis climbed in, sitting on the rear seat with Jayden. He used his paddle to push them away from shore. His biceps bulged like perfect half melons. He looked so… So rugged and outdoorsy. Just exactly Geo’s type. Hell, everyone’s type.

Geo made himself turn around. There was no use tantalizing himself over something that was never going to happen. Plus, Travis got enough of that kind of attention already from the women in camp.

Geo worked the paddle in the front of the canoe, getting the feel for it. It was fine. Nice, even. The day was typical of California—not a cloud in the sky and hot. But it was cooler on the water and there was a bit of a mountain breeze. He liked the sound the water made lapping up against the aluminum canoe. The lake was calm and peaceful.

And deep. It was really, really, quite considerably deep. Geo suddenly felt the responsibility of having two little lives in his canoe. But Travis was there, and his presence made Geo feel a little easier. Even if he refused to look at the guy.

He glanced back at Lucy and Max. Lucy clung to Max’s neck, looking out at the water with a fearful set on her little face.

“This is fun. Huh, Luce?” Geo asked.

She gave him her patented skeptical look and said nothing. Geo glanced farther back at Jayden. He was trying to look like it was no biggie, but both of his hands gripped the side of the canoe. Next to him, Travis paddled with long, sure strokes.

Right. Time for a distraction.

“So we’re goin’ to Devil’s Island,” Geo said in his best pirate drawl. He waggled his eyebrows at Jayden. “That’s where I buried me gold ten years back.”

“Geo!” Jayden complained, but there was a touch of laughter in his voice.

“Me ’n me best mate, Jayden the Scourge. Him of the whiplash tongue and the beady eye. Argh.”

Jayden rolled his eyes, but he was grinning.

Travis joined in, his pirate voice way better than Geo’s. “Aye. Legends tell of Geo the Terrible and Jayden the Scourge, feared on all seven seas.”