Page 6 of Summer Ever After

Dozens of pathways snaked around the almost one hundred acres of land that made up River Camps. He knew each of them by heart.

With more than fifty cabins and twenty fairly new glamping tents on the premises, they usually had over a hundred guests each night. That was the main reason for the new event building. They had needed more space to hold things like music sessions, dances, and talent shows. The new building was closer to the bay’s edge and had a large deck that hung out over the water. To him, this made it one of the best spots on the grounds.

With the camp growing in popularity since it had opened its doors ten years before, it was no wonder his friend Brett Jewel had hired him on a few years back. Since the first year that the camp had opened, they’d had a shooting, a stabbing, a kidnapping, and even a hurricane.

There were half a dozen security personnel at this point, with two on the premises at all times. Day and night.

Normally, he and Brett worked the day shift, while Trent Foster and Mac Delgado, the joker of the group, worked night shift. Logan Trace and Darius Flint filled in when needed. Logan was a retired sheriff and Darius worked as a corrections officer part time at the county jail.

He glanced over when he heard a car turn in the gates and watched Beth’s car rolled in at an uneven pace, not fast, but not casual either. Her grip on the steering wheel was tight, and he could see that her eyes jerked around the lot before she pulled into the space closest to him.

He knew instantly that something was wrong.

Aaron quickly moved towards her, remembering that it was her day off.

Hell, most days he knew the moment that she drove onto the lot and the moment that she left. Not because it was his job, but because he knew the fear that she faced every single time she did so.

It was one thing everyone at River Camps had promised her, whether to her face or not—whatever happened, Beth Ellison was going to be safe here.

Beth stepped out of her car, one of her hands still on the door, the other already pushing her sunglasses up into her hair. Her face was pale beneath the flush of heat, and her chest rose quickly with shallow breaths.

“I think someone is following me,” she said when he stopped beside her. Her voice was low, and he could see that she was shaken.

Aaron’s smile vanished instantly. His eyes narrowed slightly, not with suspicion but with focus. He didn’t question her. Didn’t dismiss it as paranoia. He just stepped in close enough to offer steadiness as he glanced towards the gates.

He couldn’t see anyone there, but that didn’t mean someone wasn’t. Whoever it was obviously hadn’t wanted to turn into the parking area. He waited several heartbeats.

“Come on,” he said gently. “Let’s get you inside.”

He reached in and turned off her car, pocketing her keys before leading her towards the security office. It was a small building that was tucked between the pump house for the larger pool and the main lounge or, as everyone called it, the main building.

The air-conditioning hit him like a wave as he opened the door and waited for her to step inside. She collapsed into a chair closest to his desk while he grabbed a cold bottle of water from the mini-fridge and set it in front of her.

“Drink that. Just breathe for a sec,” he said when she started to open her mouth to talk.

Beth nodded, unscrewed the cap with trembling fingers, and took several gulps of water.

Aaron pulled a chair in front of her and sat, resting one forearm on his knee. “What happened?”

She hesitated, eyes flicking towards the window like she expected to see the car parked just beyond the trees. Her fingers tightened around the bottle of water that he’d given her, her knuckles pale against the plastic.

Then she spoke.

Not everything. Not all at once. But enough.

About the car. How she had seen it parked outside her place when she’d left to go to lunch with Julie. How the engine had been running. She described the windows as tinted so dark that she couldn’t see inside and tell if anyone was in there. Then about how it hadn’t moved for over an hour while she’d eaten with Julie and the kids.

Then she told him how it pulled out behind her when she left to head to the grocery store. How each time she turned, it followed, staying back just far enough not to be obvious but close enough to feel like a threat.

Her voice was steady at first, controlled. But he could hear the thin edge of fear buried beneath every carefully chosen word. The quiet kind of fear, the kind that sat in your bones and never really left.

“It could’ve been nothing,” she added finally, barely above a whisper. She’d no doubt tried talking herself out of her fear, not wanting to be called crazy. “But it didn’t feel like nothing.”

Aaron didn’t interrupt. He didn’t rush her or pepper her with questions. He just listened. He let her have the air space.

He watched the way her shoulders stayed rigid, like she couldn’t quite let herself relax even here, behind locked doors and reinforced glass. That flicker in her eyes, that constant awareness, told him more than her words ever could.

She’d been scared and she was used to being scared.