Holiday chuckled. “Well, if you need therapy, I’ll pay for it. Come on, let’s walk to the lake.”
They entered the path in the woods and it got quiet. The sounds of the other campers faded, and only an occasional insect made a noise.
“You sure I’m not in trouble?” Della asked.
“I’m just a little worried,” Holiday said.
“About what?”
“You … and the whole bonding thing with Chase. You’re spending a lot of time with him. I just wanted to make sure that you’re … okay.”
“We’re not bumping uglies,” Della told her.
Holiday laughed. “You do have a way with words, young lady. And yes, that was one of my concerns, but only part of it.” Holiday looked serious again. “So you aren’t interested in him that way, at all?”
Della kicked at an innocent rock that happened to be at her feet.
“I wouldn’t say ‘at all.’”
“So what would you say?”
“I would prefer nothing.” She shrugged.
Holiday sighed.
They arrived at the lake and Holiday motioned ahead. “Let’s go sit out on the pier.” They walked all the way to the end of the wood planks.
Holiday plopped down, took off her shoes, and rolled up the bottom of her jeans. Her toes barely met the water. “It’s a nice day,” she said.
“Yeah,” Della agreed, and it was. Not cold, not hot. The sky was a bright blue, the clouds puffy white and the sun felt warm on her shoulders. Della dropped down beside her and removed her boots and socks. The water held just enough of a chill to be refreshing on her feet.
“Where’s Hannah?” Della asked.
“I’ve hired a nanny to come in and help take care of her for part of the day. I feel as if I’ve been ignoring my job.”
After a few minutes, Holiday spoke again. “Burnett’s checked into the whole bonding thing, and there’s a little information that backs up the fact that it’s real, but what it says is vague. Very vague.”
“What did it say?” Della asked, wondering if she knew more than Chase had told her.
“That the two vampires are emotionally connected. There is some proof that it can be between family members, so it’s not necessarily a romantic type of bond.”
A fish jumped up a few feet from the pier and both Holiday and Della looked over at it. “What do you think the bond means? Is it a romantic connection?”
“Did you know fish pee and poop in the water?” Della said as Holiday stretched her legs down to submerge her whole foot.
Holiday rolled her eyes. “I do. And that was probably the worst attempt to change a subject I’ve ever heard.”
“Yeah, but I couldn’t come up with anything else,” Della said.
Holiday grinned and then her expression got serious again. “I guess what I’m saying is that what Chase did for you was a wonderful thing, but I don’t want you to feel you have to offer part of yourself that you don’t want to offer.”
“He’s not pressuring me to have to sex,” Della said, knowing it was true. The whole closet thing had been about the vision, not about them. Even if he did enjoy it. And she did, too, she admitted to herself.
“That makes me feel better,” Holiday said, and ran her foot along the top of the water. “But you feel something for him. I can tell. And I can also tell that you aren’t altogether comfortable with it. And that worries me.”
Della kicked at the water. “I hate when you do that, you know.”
“Do what?” Holiday pulled her hair over one shoulder.
“Read me.” Della frowned. “Because while you’re right about me being uncomfortable, it’s not what you think. If I’m uncomfortable, it’s because of what I feel, not because he’s trying to push me into something.”
Holiday looked at her. “And what do you feel?”
“Crazy,” Della said.
“That makes sense.” She reached over and touched Della’s arm. “I just want to help. And I know you are a very private person, but sometimes it does help to talk about things.”
“What things?” Della asked.
“About what you feel?”
Della swallowed her frustration. “I told you: crazy.” She sighed. “Look, if I knew the truth of exactly what I felt, I’d tell you, but I don’t. Do I like him? Yes. Am I attracted to him? Yes. Do I think the bonding thing is real?” She almost said no, but the truth came out. “Yes. But I don’t know to what extent, or where it will lead. Part of me trusts him. Part of me doesn’t. So there, did you get anything out of that except I’m completely confused and feeling pretty much bonkers?”
Holiday smiled. “Love’s confusing and can make you bonkers.”
“I didn’t say anything about love,” Della said.
Holiday smiled. “I don’t mean ‘love’ as in the-rest-of-your-life love. Just romance.” She leaned back and looked up at the sky. “However, I wouldn’t be doing my job as a camp leader if I didn’t share Burnett’s concerns with you.”
“Oh, hell! He sent you to talk to me about Chase?”
“No, it was my idea, and when I mentioned it, he … well, he sort of shared how he felt about it.”
“He doesn’t like Chase,” Della said.
“He doesn’t completely trust Chase. He really doesn’t trust the Vampire Council.”
“And I think he’s being a tad overprotective.”
Holiday grinned. “It would be out of his character if he wasn’t. But he does have good instincts. So I just want you to be careful.”
“I’m always careful.” At least most of the time.
Chapter Thirty
Della had lunch with Jenny, Kylie, and Miranda. They got their food and took it behind the office and sat under the trees to eat.
They spent half the time laughing due to Miranda recounting some of her goofed spells. Like the day she wanted to remove a stain from her dad’s shirt and ended up removing all his clothes.
Seeing as they had their elderly “human” neighbor over, it caused quite a stir. Especially because the clothes disappeared when he was bent over pulling a roast from the oven. Moments later, her dad had used two pot holders to cover the important parts.
Della needed a laugh. Once or twice, she saw the temptation in Miranda’s eyes to bring up what Della had told her about Chase and the whole his-hand-her-hand thing, but the girl must have read Della’s “I’ll-kill-you” glare and bypassed that conversation. Della had no need to talk about that.