Gunner pulled me to him and hugged me. “Nonsense. That is a priceless piece of work. Look at how beautiful and … unique it is.”
My arms instinctively wrapped around his body. “I love you, but you are a terrible liar, Gunner Mathews.”
“What? I’m not lying.”
“It’s unique all right,” Ari threw in. “She was supposed to put wild flowers, and she put mild.”
Gunner tilted his head and stared at the painting. “Wait. Is that a mason jar or a can of paint?”
Playfully pushing him away, my hands went to my hips. “Ugh. I hate painting.”
The instructor tsked. “Don’t blame the canvas for the brush not working.”
I rolled my eyes and finished cleaning up. Gunner and Jeff took our paintings and we headed back to the campsite. It was hard walking near Jeff; he still smelled like skunk. I wasn’t sure how Ari was going to sleep in the tent with him tonight.
“Jeff, did you soak in the mixture?” I asked while waving my hand in front of my nose.
Ari giggled and glanced back over her shoulder at Heather who was walking with Alison.
“I did soak in it … twice. Apparently you need to do it almost immediately. Hopefully a few more soaks and the smell will be off of me.”
Gunner chuckled. “Only you would get sprayed by a skunk.”
With a groan, Jeff responded, “Tell me about it.”
Heather walked up alongside of me. “Hey, where is your painting?” I asked.
“I left it there! I just did the class for fun ‘cause you and Ari wanted to do it.”
I looked around. “Where did Alison go?”
“She headed back to her campsite to get lunch ready for her husband. He’s been fishing while she took the art class. I may head over to her campsite to chat for a bit later. Introduce Josh to her and her husband.”
My heart dropped. “Really? But, you don’t even know her.”
Heather shrugged. “I know, she seems really nice though. She’s a kindergarten teacher, and I think Josh will get along with her husband. He loves working with wood. Plus, they live outside of Fredericksburg. How cool is that?”
I forced a fake smile. “Pretty cool. Hey, I thought we were all going to go for that hike?”
“I don’t think it’s such a great idea with Josh’s ankle. Besides, I’m not really feeling up for a long hike, Ells.”
“It doesn’t have to be long.”
Heather gave me a sweet smile. “Still not feeling it. You and Gunner should go, spend some time together. I’m sure Jeff and Ari wouldn’t mind some alone time as well.”
With a nod, I replied, “Yeah. Sounds good.”
I had no idea why I was feeling the way I was. It was nothing but jealousy and downright childish. I knew it was wrong to be upset with her, but I was. As she talked to Ari about this Alison girl, I grew more and more upset. This was our friends camping trip and she was leaving us to go spend time with some strange woman.
“So, what’s on the agenda for this afternoon?” Jeff asked.
Everyone looked at me. “Heather has already made plans, so everyone just figure out what you want to do. I couldn’t care less.”
I spun on my heels and practically stomped off.
Trying like hell to stop the tears from falling, I took in a deep breath and blew it out.
I would regret my silly behavior later, but for now I needed to get away from everyone and clear my head.