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“I’m so happy for you. You deserve that hot cop so much,” she rambled, sounding very un-therapist like. “I hope you rocked his world, blew his…well, you know, and that he comes back for seconds.”
“Fourths,” Hilly mumbled next to Buffy’s ear.
“Fourths?” Buffy screeched. “You did it three times? Oh, my God! That means it must have been phenomenal.”
Hilly nodded gleefully.
Buffy was the best of friends, and wouldn’t pump for details, but Hilly—also a good buddy—gave her a small, tantalizing taste. “It was absolutely epic, Buff,” she admitted, and knew her face was bright red. “He was…magnificent. And the thing is? He wants to do it again. He says we have something special together.” She almost hadn’t dared say the last.
“Of course you do!” Buffy cried. “You rock it, girl. High five.”
They slapped palms, and somehow that gesture made Hilly feel a bit more confident that her time with Cisco hadn’t been an anomaly.
Buffy leaped up from the couch as if her ass were suddenly on fire. “Damn. I need to pack quickly.” She took a few steps toward her room, then spun. “I will not be one of those clueless, cock-blocking chicks.”
Hilly laughed, then picked up and hugged a throw pillow to her chest. “There’s really no hurry, Buff. Cisco’s gone to do some scouting in the barn, the sheds, and the woods to see if he can find anything related to Bailey’s peanut poisoning.”
Buffy’s jubilant mood ramped down a few degrees. “Oh. I take it he didn’t find anything in the cabins.”
“Nothing,” Hilly responded. “But he’s not giving up.”
“Good. I’m glad he’s here for you in several ways, now,” Buffy stated solemnly. “Does he have his suspicions on who might be the culprit?”
Hilly sighed. “We talked over the possibility of it being someone who didn’t like Bailey.”
“You mean, like, almost everybody here.” Buffy rolled her eyes. “Not that I agree with them, but the girl was fairly antagonistic.”
“Yeah. I know,” Hilly concurred. “But now that Cisco’s cleared the cabins, he’s leaning toward Nurse Gorner being the bad-guy.”
“What about you?” Buff asked.
Hilly chewed on her bottom lip, finding it delightfully tender. “My money is on Langford Cottins or my sperm donor. They have the most to win if the camp gets shut down.”
“Which it won’t, now that Bailey is okay.”
“Unless her parents really do bring a lawsuit against me,” Hilly said dejectedly, losing all the elation she’d felt just a few minutes before. “I have insurance, but who knows what my new premiums will be if the company has to pay out a settlement? The new cost might force me to close.”
Hilly wasn’t hurting for money. Her Gran had left her a healthy bank account. But if word got out that Hilly had been negligent in any way, enrollment at the camp would plummet, which would eventually sound a death knoll for the place. Not a pleasant thought.
“Don’t borrow trouble,” Buffy told her as she walked into her room to pack, raising her voice to be heard. “I bet once Bailey’s parents see that she’s okay, they’ll change their minds.”
Hilly certainly hoped so, but she wouldn’t hold her breath.
Minutes later, Buffy emerged, duffel and suitcases in hand.
“Okay, girl. I’m outta here,” she stated. “And just saying, I’m jealous as hell. I’ll be sleeping with ten kids tonight, while you’ll have Officer McSexy in your bed, doing unspeakable things to your body.”
“Unspeakable things?” Hilly snickered.
Buffy’s eyes narrowed playfully. “Unless you want to share details,” she quipped. “Then it will no longer be unspeakable.”
“I might give you a few tidbits if you’re nice,” Hilly teased.
“Hilly-billy, I’m always nice.”
Hilly got up from the sofa and gave her best friend a huge hug. “Yes, Buff, you are. And I love you.”
“I love you, too, girlfriend. Now go position your body—naked, of course—strategically on your bed and wait for that luscious man to return.”