Hidden Gifts (A Castle Mountain Lodge Romance) (10 page)

Bo tried not to laugh. She looked so cute when she was flustered and he got the impression that Morgan didn’t ask for help very often. “I’d love to show you some trails that are good for kids.”

“Oh
…
”

“What?” He eyed her, waiting for the rest of the favor.
 

“I was kind of hoping you could come along.” She twisted her hair around another finger. “Kind of like a miniature guided hike. You could point out some of the plant life and maybe any other things
…
”

“Like wildlife?”
 

Morgan blanched.
 

He couldn’t help it, Bo laughed. “Don’t worry. If we’re lucky, we might see some squirrels and maybe a deer or a rabbit.”

“But no
…
you know?”

“Bears? Cougars?”
 

Morgan’s face turned an even paler shade of white, if it were possible.
 

“No,” Bo said quickly, trying to end her panic. “It’s not likely that we’d run into any major wildlife if we stick close to the Lodge and make lots of noise. Which probably won’t be a problem with a group of children.” He smiled, trying to get her to relax. “But the big animals are definitely out there. And not really all that far away, so it’s important to use common sense.”
 

“But we’d be safe?” Morgan asked. “I can’t take a group of children out into the woods if there’s a real danger.”
 

“We’d be safe,” he assured her. “You really haven’t been into the woods before?”

She pressed her mouth into a firm line and shot him a look. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”

Bo suppressed his grin. “No,” he said. “Nothing. But you don’t know what you’re missing. And I can’t wait to show you how amazing the outdoors can be. So much better than the city.”

As Morgan relaxed into her chair and picked up her coffee mug again, Bo realized that he, in fact, couldn’t wait to show her the outdoors. Anything, if it meant spending more time with her.
 

Chapter Ten

For the second time that afternoon, Morgan checked her list. She had only five kids in the Cub’s Club today, and one extra staff member to help. The season was still gearing up, so it was a good time to try out the trail hike.
 

“Don’t forget to stock up the first aid kit, Lisa,” Morgan called to her staff. “We don’t want to run out of bandages.”

Lisa smiled at her, but Morgan didn’t miss the eye roll as the other girl looked away. So what if Morgan was being extra careful? She’d done a lot of things with children before. Taken them on field trips to the zoo, painted clay pottery, and even gone to a swimming pool. But she’d never ventured out into the wild with them. If she were being a little paranoid, well, that was better than not being prepared.
 

Ever since Bo agreed to help her with a hike, Morgan had spent her evenings thinking of creative and fun ideas that they could incorporate into the day. She’d also spent a great deal of time thinking of all the potential things that could go wrong. She’d tried not to listen to the other residents of staff housing when they were telling stories of their own run-ins with the wildlife around the Lodge, and she’d done her best to ignore Astrid, who thought it was hilarious that she’d never been on a hike before.
 

Everyone else seemed to think it was funny that she was like a fish out of water when it came to anything remotely outdoorsy, but she was trying. And even if she hadn’t wanted to be in charge of children, Morgan had enough pride to do the best job that she could. Even if it meant venturing way out of her comfort zone.
 

“Miss Morgan,” a voice distracted her from her thoughts. She looked down to see a little boy, about six, looking up at her with big eyes.
 

“Yes, Zak,” she said, quickly reading his name tag. “What can I do for you?”

“My mom said we were going on a hike,” Zak said. “Are we? ‘Cause I like outside better.”

Morgan smiled. She still couldn’t believe that none of the parents had any concerns when she’d told them about the hike. They’d all thought it was a great idea. And it was, she reminded herself. “We are,” Morgan answered. “We’re just waiting for a few more people. Hey, do you think you could help with something while we wait?”
 

When Zak nodded, Morgan handed him the cards she was holding. “How about you hand these out to the others, and then you can have everybody choose a marker from that bucket over there.”
 

The boy ran off to complete his task and Morgan scanned the room. The other few children were playing with the buckets of toys and Ella and Bo should be arriving any minute.
 

As if she’d conjured them, the door opened and Ella ran into the room, gave Morgan a quick hug, and then to her surprise, joined the other children on the rug with Bo following closely behind. He was wearing well-worn jeans that hugged his hips in all the right places and a t-shirt, snug on his chest and biceps. He had a heavy sweater slung over his arm. Morgan swallowed hard against the desire that rose up unexpectedly. Ever since their shared dinner, she’d had trouble keeping Bo out of her thoughts and those thoughts almost always involved what it would feel like to be pressed up against that chest, held tightly by those arms.
 

“Good afternoon,” Bo said, as he came up beside her.
 

“Hi.”
 

“She’s not so shy, is she?” He pointed to Ella, who had plopped herself right in the middle of the other children.
 

Morgan laughed. “She’s really been coming out of her shell with the other kids. I think it’s really benefiting her to be here.”

A look she couldn’t read flashed across Bo’s face. “You think so? You really think it’s good for her to be at the Lodge?”

There was so much more meaning loaded into Bo’s questions, and Morgan knew it. But she didn’t know how to respond. After a moment, she looked him square in the eyes, and said, “I think it’s good for Ella to be a kid and to have fun.”
 

They stared at each other for a minute, and Bo looked as if he wanted to say something else. Finally, he pointed to the group of children again and asked, “What are those cards that they have?”

Morgan straightened and braced herself for Bo’s response. “As you know,“ she started, “this hiking thing isn’t my specialty, but I wanted to offer something to today as well. So I thought it would be fun to do a scavenger hunt.”
 

She waited for Bo to laugh or tell her she was silly.
 

“I think that’s an awesome idea,” he said. Morgan turned to look at him. His eyes weren’t mocking her. He wasn’t laughing. Instead, he looked genuine. Maybe it was a good idea. “Kids can be a tricky group,” he said. “Some will love being outside and just enjoying everything that nature has to offer. But others tend to get bored. They have trouble relaxing and need something to keep their minds busy to keep focused. A scavenger hunt is perfect. I’m sure they’ll enjoy it.”

Morgan beamed. “I was worried.”
 

“I can see that,” he said softly. Bo’s face turned serious and he took her hand in his. “I promise I won’t let anything happen to—“

“Miss Morgan?” Zak squeezed himself in the gap between them and thrust the unused cards at her. “I handed them
 
all out.”

She dropped Bo’s hand and took a step back. “Good,” she said. “I think we’re all set then. Ready, Bo?”
 

“I’ve never been more ready.”

~ ~

By the time they turned on to the trail that would lead them back to the Lodge, Morgan was ready to laugh at herself. The afternoon hike had gone better than she ever could have expected and she’d been so busy that she hadn’t even thought about any of the things in the woods that terrified her. Together with Lisa, she’d helped the kids find everything on the scavenger hunt cards while Bo led them through the trails, pointing things out along the way.
 

It surprised her to see how someone who claimed to need help learning how to be a dad could be so natural with the children. Maybe it was just being outside that gave him confidence around the kids? He was definitely in his element, and Morgan loved watching him. And she loved watching how Ella, for the most part, stayed closer to Bo than to her. That was definitely progress.

“What do you think, Morgan?”
 

She shook her head, embarrassed to be caught daydreaming, Morgan looked to her right and to Lisa, who was waiting for an answer to the question she hadn’t heard.
 

“I think—“

“That you weren’t listening.” Lisa laughed. “You okay? I know this whole nature hike has really thrown you for a loop and all
…
”

“I’m fine,” Morgan said. She picked at a loose thread on her sweater. “It’s been a great day. Thank you for all your help.”
 

“Hey, it’s my job.” Lisa laughed and Morgan found herself laughing along with her.
 

She liked Lisa. She was smart and great with the kids, and made her job easier, which meant that Morgan would have more time to focus on lining up some fun activities to do with the kids. She still couldn’t believe how quickly she’d changed her mind about the job. It wasn’t all that long ago that she was ready to cut and run.
 

“Now, what were you asking me about?”

“Oh, you mean while you were daydreaming about Bo?”

Morgan stopped short and grabbed the other woman’s arm, spinning her around to face her. “I wasn’t daydreaming about Bo,” she said, careful to keep her voice low.
 

Lisa raised her eyebrows, but didn’t say anything else.

“I wasn’t,” Morgan insisted. “I have no interest in a relationship or
…
well, anything. That’s not why I’m here.”

“I believe you,” Lisa said, but the gleam in her eyes said that she definitely did not believe Morgan. “Anyway, I was just saying that we should head to the main fire pit and have a campfire. We could roast hot dogs for the kids for dinner—it would be fun.”

“And that is why we pay you the big bucks,” Morgan joked, grateful for the change in topic. “Do you want to run ahead and get that organized? I’ll tell Bo.”

Lisa gave her another knowing look, but thankfully took off to get things ready before she could say anything else.
 

Morgan looked ahead at the small group of kids that was clustered around Bo. He was squatting and using a stick to point to something on the ground. He had their complete attention while he spoke—all except Ella, who instead of looking at the item of discussion, was staring at her father. Morgan’s heart hurt for the little girl. In all her training at school, the first thing they’d been taught was to not get involved or overly attached to the children they were working with. And it had never before been a problem before. Sure, she got close to the kids, but not so close that it would be hard to be professional. But Ella was different. Maybe because it wasn’t just Ella. She looked to Bo as he caught her eye and smiled. No, it definitely wasn’t just thoughts of Ella that twisted her stomach and kept her up at night.
 

Chapter Eleven

“Do you like it crispy? Or barely cooked?” Bo called to the little boy that was waiting for his hot dog.
 

“Black,” the boy yelled.

Bo stuck the roasting stick deeper into the flames. “As you wish,” he said.
 

This was the fifth hot dog he’d cooked, and the end didn’t seem to be near as kids lined up for seconds. “Wasn’t this your idea?” he asked Lisa, who was pouring juice into paper cups. “Shouldn’t you be doing this, too?”

“I’m busy. Besides, you’re doing such a good job.” Lisa laughed and turned to mop up a mess.
 

He scanned the group, his eyes landing on Ella, who was finishing up the last bits of her own dinner. She quickly licked her fingers as ketchup squeezed out from the bun but she wasn’t fast enough and some dripped on to her pants. She looked up and met Bo’s eyes with a look of concern.
 

He shrugged and gave her a big smile to let her know it was okay. The pants were brand new, but as he was learning, kids were messy. Good thing there were a lot more clothes where those came from. He’d taken the list Morgan had drawn up for him and ordered some clothes online. The shipment had arrived only the day before, and Ella had been thrilled with her new wardrobe. Bo had just laughed while Ella dug through the pile of jeans, sweaters, and shirts. Females must be born with a love for clothing, he’d decided. He didn’t want to think of the other option, which was that Ella had never had so many new things before. Not for the first time, Bo wished that he knew more about Tessa and Ella’s background.

“Hey there,” Morgan said, disrupting his thoughts. It was a welcome interruption. “That looks pretty good.” She pointed to the hot dog that was now completely black.
 

“He’s crazy,” Bo said as he slid the wiener into a bun and handed it to the eagerly waiting boy. “Me, I like them a little less like charcoal. Have you eaten?”

Morgan waved her hand. “Oh, no. I’ve been busy.”
 

“There’s time to cook one right now.”

“It looks as if you have a line.” Morgan pointed to the group of kids.
 

“Oh,” Bo said. “I didn’t mean that I’d cook you one.” He flashed her a grin. “You must have roasted a hot dog before?”

“Um
…
”

She blushed and Bo felt his body react in what was becoming a familiar way. Damn, but she was beautiful. Especially when she was off guard.
 

“Well, because you’re so outdoorsy now,” Bo said, “I’ll show you how. It’s easy.”
 

Before she could protest, he stuck a raw wiener on a stick for her and prepared his own as well. “Why don’t you guys go see if Miss Lisa has some chips or something?” he suggested to the kids. He didn’t have to ask twice, and the kids were off running.