Page 103 of It’s Your Love
Courtney leaned forward and poured another glass of ice tea. “Amazing, Beth. That’s completely amazing.”
And she had Grayson, who made all this work seem not so much like work. They’d fallen into an easy routine. Every morning, she spent two hours in her camp office before helping Grayson saddle the first group of horses. Trail ride, untacking. Another two hours of work with lunch squeezed in. The second group of horses saddled—sometimes by Grayson alone, though Beth tried to get enough work done to jump in and help every time she could.
“Have you talked to Jesse?” Courtney asked.
Beth wanted to ignore the question. Sure, she needed to reach out to Jesse and find out when he’d be returning, but he hadn’t reached out to her, so there was that.
“Beth?”
“I don’t know—what if he isn’t coming back?” she asked.
Courtney scratched her head. “Um, pretty sure he is. Once his leg is healed—Grayson’s only here for this summer—or, until Jesse gets back, right? Whichever comes first?”
Beth lifted a shoulder. “I’m just saying, I haven’t heard from him. Maybe he won’t want to come back.”
“He’s got a family to support.”
“I get that.” Beth held up a hand. “But we don’t know how his leg is healing or if he’ll be able to ride come late summer or fall.”
Courtney blew out a breath. “Look, I know you like Grayson, but he isn’t staying, is he?” She frowned. “He’s leaving.”
“I know.” Beth’s response was a little short. She just couldn’t wrap her mind around what the future looked like. Grayson seemed like he wasn’t in any hurry to get back to Oregon.
And if he was, where did that leave them? Her?
“So, are you two a couple?” Courtney eyed Beth over her tea glass. “Because every time anyone sees you in town, the two of you are together. And we all know you spend nearly every moment here at the camp with him.”
“He isn’t here now.” She didn’t have the answers about the future, but ever since the night they’d kissed, leaving hadn’t seemed to be on Grayson’s mind.
And yeah. That had bolstered hope. The light, inescapable, joyful hope that obliterated every bit of doubt and fear she’d carried.
“Let me remind you, I had to schedule this visit.” Courtney wrinkled her nose. “And as I recall, you said, ‘Let me check with Grayson.’”
“I did no such thing—I said I had to connect with Grayson. About some work items.” She gestured toward her laptop and the stack of papers. “This trail ride is a big deal.”
“Okay, don’t answer me. Your non-answer is an answer.”
Beth mistyped a number in her calculator. “You’re messing me up.”
“I just want to say that Vivie and I called it.” Courtney jingled the ice in her glass.
“I didn’t say we’re a couple.” Beth stood and poured more tea into both their glasses. The thought of Grayson caused a flip-flop in her belly.
“Again, you didn’t have to. It’s all over your face.”
“That’s sunscreen.” Beth grinned and went back to her calculator. Punched in the last few numbers and hit the equal sign. “That can’t be right.” Beth cleared the screen and started over. Ran through the checks and credit card receipts again. She turned her calculator. “Did you see this total? If we run a few of these sessions, we’ll cover the lost grant funds and then some.”
She had Grayson to thank. She touched her fingers to her lips.
“Who needs grants?”
“We’ll have a few other expenses, but not too much. Grayson got a few area outfitters to loan us some rental pack equipment.” Beth made a notation on her spreadsheet. “I’m picking that up this afternoon.
“And you’ve got food covered?”
“Robin’s coordinated snack and meal donations from her bakery, the VFW, Loon Café…I can’t even remember where else.” Beth took a long drink of her tea. “It’s like everyone is rallying behind the camp.”
And even behind her.