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Chapter One

Kyler

“Ta-da!” I cheered aloud, having just finished the website for R & R Adventures. Our first foray into our new campsites. Mark was out completing a final check of all twelve cabins to ensure they were ready for our first guests, who arrived in two days. Talk about down to the wire.

My best friend and contractor, Mark, and I happened upon these log cabins during a hike on our annual boys’ trip in northern Arizona, not too far from the town of Williams. Why we continued to call our yearly mecca that all these years later, I hadn’t a clue.

We’ve been getting together since we were kids.

First as trips with our boy scout troops, then as adults.

Either way, we found the derelict buildings, and after a bit of research we learned they belonged to a family who were more than willing to offload them to the highest bidder.

And that was us.

Now, eighteen months and a terrifying amount of cash later, our investment was ready to turn into profit.

We hoped it would, at least. While I assumed the administrative and financial duties for our endeavor, poor Mark and his crew oversaw the renovations.

Which were far more extensive than I’d initially thought, though he knew otherwise.

He’d been the one to conduct the site inspections.

Words like foundation and termites had been thrown around, but I pretended not to hear.

I was a numbers guy and beyond that, you lost me.

So far they’ve had to redo the plumbing and electricity in every cabin, including the unit that housed our office and onsite home.

Every toilet and sink had been replaced, as well as the small appliances in the cabin kitchenettes.

Don’t even get me started on the costs associated with the new commercial appliances for the mess hall.

The failed roofs…

Ugh.

The list goes on and on.

Above the office were two bedrooms, a small kitchen, and a single bathroom, which was where I now lived full time and where Mark stayed while onsite.

Otherwise, he was back in Surprise where his home was or on another site his company was working on.

The man was wise and had purchased a travel trailer to live out of when he was off doing large out of town jobs.

Yes, these cabins had turned into gut jobs due to the water damage sustained from massive roof leaks and the squirrels having set up residence inside them.

The blasted varmints were living large in the grandiose hotels they’d set up.

Thankfully we renovated the office building first so I could get to work on my portions of the projects.

Idle hands weren’t for me, and while I could help haul trash to the huge roll off dumpsters we had onsite, I was useless beyond that.

Fucking squirrels.

Even though our website had been under construction for a few weeks, we’d already had a couple of groups reach out and inquire about booking events.

No clue how they found out about us, but I wasn’t one to turn away business.

One was a group of nudists that wished to “Free Willy”— the curators event name, not mine, scheduled for later this summer.

But our first group were littles and their mommies and daddies who’d be checking in on Monday.

Kinda strange they didn’t just say parents and kids, or families for that matter, but to each their own.

By littles, I assumed they meant children though their comment about no glitter left me stunned.

I thought kids loved glitter and shiny things.

Considering I had none of my own, maybe there were other issues with the art supplies that I wasn’t aware of.

But I’d abide by their requests and find plenty of other fun stuff for them to do while they were here.

Off and on I’d worked on clearing and cataloging the numerous trails around the massive property.

I even managed to put together a map to share with our guests and numbered each path.

I thoroughly enjoyed that adventure, finding where each led and saved the fallen branches I removed to use in the firepit that sat in the center of the cabin area.

I couldn’t wait to see our guests perched fireside on the massive logs or at the nearby picnic tables singing camp songs and making s’mores.

Yes, I was indeed the sap of this business partnership.

Many fond childhood memories were set in just such an environment.

From family camping trips to the outings Mark and I enjoyed beyond that.

Come to think of it, I should speak with my parents and plan a Richards family reunion up here.

Hell, as close as we were with Mark’s family we should include the Ramsey’s as well.

Maybe this fall or even for the holidays we could swing it.

How beautiful would that be, opening presents Christmas morning with snowfall just outside the warm cabins. My nieces would love that.

I followed my favorite trail down to the lake.

It wasn’t a huge body of water by any means, but at one point it had been stocked with trout and smallmouth bass and now housed a thriving fish community.

The small dock had to be rebuilt, and we purchased a dozen two person canoes that our guests could sign out to use whenever they wished.

We had double the amount of life vests in various sizes than we’d ever need, but a vendor going out of business offered us a great buyout deal we’d have been foolish to refuse.

Mark and his team built a large storage shed to keep all the outdoor toys in it next to the lake.

It more than suited our needs and perfectly organized the canoes, vests, and a plethora of poles and fishing gear.

Basic first aid kits had been added to every cabin.

The largest unit, which was filled with everything medical you could buy without a license, hung in the office and an eye wash station had been installed in the mess hall kitchen.

The cabin chimneys had been cleaned and recertified, not that they’d need them during the summer months.

But for the winter they’d be perfect. To keep the whole rustic cabin ambiance, a pile of wood was neatly stacked beside each one.

The towels, linens, mattresses and cabin furnishings were all new. Hell, who was I kidding. We’d literally had to replace everything but the log walls themselves. The old mattresses were no longer mattresses but homes for wayward critters.

We sourced the bath products from local vendors and had them rebranded under our brand—R & R Adventures.

The logo I created was adorable, with a tiny cabin that had smoke coming out of the chimney and a pine tree beside it.

Above the cabin it said R & R and below it Adventures .

The locals were thrilled to be included, and it was a great way to build a community with them.

No stone had been left unturned, and no updates were missed.

Or so we hoped. As with most of life we’d learn along the way.

I was a regimented, structured, lived by spreadsheets, OCD guy. I tracked everything from expenses, to the life expectancy of the appliances, to the amount of food we’d need to have available for our guests right down to the cost of every last roll of toilet paper.

No wonder I was single.

In my spare time, I laughed, having written such frivolity off long ago, I put together a directory of shops, restaurants, bars, summertime farmers markets and such into binders and placed one in each cabin.

Then if the guests wished to wander offsite they’d see the wonderful offerings the nearby towns had for them.

“All done with the trails?” Roen, an electrician with Mark’s company asked as he jogged up to me. I don’t know what it was about him, but his never-ending smile was infectious.

“I am. Have you had a chance to walk them all?”

“Nah,” he shook his head. “I’m not one to hike alone.”

Was that an offer or merely the sad wish of a middle-aged man whose ego required a boost in the form of a young cutie hitting on him?

“Understandable and a wise choice. What brings you out this way?” Not that I was far from the office. Dumbass question, you could see me from the cabin he was working on.

“Saw you passing by and wanted to say hi.”

“To me?” Did that squeak come from me or a freaking squirrel tormenting me? Again. Fucking squirrels. Two words I’d uttered more times over the past eighteen months than I had in my life.

“Yeah,” he blushed. “So, um, Mark said littles are checking in on Monday?”

There’s that word again. Was that just the cool, hip way to call a kid nowadays? “Yes, sold out show. Tons of kids running around.”

“You, um, you do realize littles aren’t kids, right?”

Hit. The. Brakes. “What?”

Roen smiled and waved as he jogged off. “Have fun.”

What was I missing? “Thanks, Roen.” I think. I watched as he got into his truck and drove down the gravel driveway, disappearing around the bend.

“Did Roen leave?”

“Jesus!” I jumped. “You scared the shit out of me, Mark. But yes, he just did.”

“That kid’s crushing hard on you. He asked me if we were a couple.

” The jackass had the audacity to laugh.

As if the idea of dating me was funny, though my last relationship was a joke for sure.

Thankfully, my dear, yet smart-assed friend was there to help pick up the pieces after it fell apart.

While Mark was my first experimental kiss as a young teen, there has never been anything sexual between us nor the desire for there to be. We were brothers through and through.

“Have you been drinking on the job?”

“Nope but given it’s the end of the day I’m headed up to the comfortable pub conveniently located above the office lovingly known as our home away from home. Care to join me?” I adored my jokester yet ill-informed friend but there was no way that cute, young thing was crushing on me.

“I’d love to.”