Family Camp (Daddy Dearest, #1)(16)

“And even a few bathtubs. Argh,” said Geo.

“Travelin’ on the great ship TEN,” Travis went on, “a craft blacker than the devil’s own shriveled ’eart.”

“And swifter than the headman’s axe!” said Geo.

“With Cap’n Travis the Brave!” put in Jayden eagerly. “And Princess Lucy. We captured her and we’re gonna get a huge ransom!”

Geo glanced at Lucy, but she didn’t seem perturbed at this idea.

“And Max!” she said, her eyes bright.

“And their faithful companion, Max,” agreed Geo. “A hound who can snatch fish from the sea with his lightning paw and sniff out a villain’s liver at twenty paces. Arg. We was comin’ back from the Great Indonesian Whirlpool of Death, we was, and headin’ for Devil’s Island to find me buried treasure. When Cap’n Travis spied….”

“A mighty crocodile,” Travis said on cue, pointing out a log nearby. He bared his teeth with a phony snarl at Jayden and Lucy, making them giggle.

Geo’s heart flopped over in his chest. Fucking hell. Gorgeous and kind-hearted and great with kids. It wasn’t remotely fair.

But he’s also a cold asshole to you, so there’s that.

“Don’t worry, I’ll save you!” Jayden cocked an imaginary gun at the imaginary crocodile and went “pew pew pew.”

“Max, save us!” Lucy said loudly, her face lit up with a smile.

Aw! She was so stinking cute. Geo felt a surge of love for her. She was playing along instead of checking out, like she usually did. She hadn’t even tried to get her dolls out of her backpack. And Christ, that was worthy of a gold star on the progress chart.

“Aye, Max the Hound and Jayden the Scourge chased away that crocodile,” said Geo. “So Princess Lucy was safe. And then Princess Lucy decided she wanted to be a pirate too.”

“No, princess!” Lucy argued.

Okay, then. Geo could work with that.

They played the game for a while. Jayden invented a devil fish that stalked the boat and Lucy added ponies to the voyage. They had just said goodbye to a pack of friendly whales when singing wafted to them from up ahead. It was Cindy.

“I paddled me a long, long way, tucked in my canoe! And on the way I had to say what others joined me too! One little rig rider.”

“Two little rig rider,” sang the family in another canoe.

“Three little rig rider,” sang a third group.

“Okay guys, we’re number ten and need to be loud. Get ready,” Travis said, paddling faster.

“Ten little rig rider!” Geo and Travis sang when it was their turn.

More boats rang out. After the last one, Travis, Joe, and the others who knew the song sang the chorus loudly with Cindy. “Canoe, canoe, Lake Big Bear canoe!”

Cindy began a new verse. “I paddled me a long, long way, stuck in my canoe! And on the way I had to yell what others joined me too! One little rig rider.”

The silly song went on with Cindy calling out the directions. They yelled, roared, howled, and whispered their numbers in turn. Jayden started to sing along. Even Lucy mouthed the word ten, her hands clutching Max’s fur.

Geo’s arms grew tired from the paddling, but he didn’t care. The day was perfect. He had all his favorite people with him—well, minus Travis. He was having a great time and the kids were participating with him in a non-TV-related activity. That was a huge win right there.

This felt… It felt like Family Camp was supposed to feel. The doubts he’d had about the wisdom of coming here floated away, just like the imaginary crocodile.

He was a little disappointed when Devil’s Island came into view.





Chapter 8




Travis watched the kids run off to explore the island. Devil’s Island was nothing but a mile-long sand bar with trees and scrubby brush at the north end of Lake Big Bear. There was a fire pit near the shoreline with logs and an area of pebbly “beach.” But Travis’s dad had gotten permission from the county years ago to trick it out as a pirate’s den, setting up the decorations at the start of camp season in April and clearing it away again in October. There were skull flags hidden around the island along with plastic treasure chests in tree nooks, fake skeletons, pirate hats, strange markings on trees, and other decorations. The kids loved to run around and find it all.

Stryker pounced on Jayden as soon as their canoe landed, and they ran off together. Travis secured their canoe, brushing off Geo’s offer to help. Geo and Lucy wandered off with Max, and Travis then went over to Cindy to help unpack the food and drinks from her canoe.

His gaze kept going to Geo and Lucy though. They were walking around with Bridget and Aimee. Lucy had her dolls clutched in both hands, held against her chest, Max at her side. But she seemed to be listening as Bridget pointed things out. Geo obviously cracked a joke, making Bridget and Aimee laugh. The sound of Geo’s chuckle carried on the wind, ridiculously audible to Travis’s ears.

“Yo, Travis! A hand here?” Cindy asked loudly.

Travis snapped back to attention. He took a case of waters from her and put them on top of a cooler on the beach.

“Who is that guy?” Cindy asked.

“Huh? Whaddya…. Who?”

Cindy gave him a hairy eyeball. “The hot dad you shared a canoe with. The one you keep staring at.”