P A S S I N G T H R O U G H
Nestled in a towering fir forest on British Columbia’s famous Vancouver Island, Three Rivers Campground is calling you to come relax, explore, and maybe even fall in love...
Emily Rivers does not have time for love.
Or dating.
Or even a one night stand.
As the eldest of the Rivers sisters, she’s too focused on keeping her family’s campground running in the wake of a devastating tragedy to even think about romance.
When Kim Jefferies shows up at the local small town bar looking like a lesbian snack on a stick, Emily writes her off as yet another tourist just passing through—no matter how much the butterflies in her stomach try to tell her otherwise.
Only Kim’s plans of ‘passing through’ fade the second she sees Emily Rivers, despite the fact that the whole point of her soul-searching journey was to stop falling for random women in bars who only lead her to heartbreak.
The last thing they’re looking for is a love story, but with the help of some conniving sisters, an interfering bartender, and the magic of the great outdoors, that might be exactly what Kim and Emily are going to get.
E X C E R P T
I came to British Columbia to avoid this kind of thing: sitting in bars with pretty women I always end up feeling way too much for way too fast. The whole point of my road trip is to process the break-up with Steph in a healthy and mature way that does not involve jumping into bed with anyone new. I’m living in a campervan that barely has a bed to jump into. I’ve made it as easy as possible for myself to stick to my post-break-up, post-job-loss resolutions.
That doesn’t stop the back of my neck from itching with the urge to turn around and get another look at the blonde woman.
“Emily!” the woman beside me snaps. She slaps one of her palms against the bar to emphasize her shout. “Stop working and get over here.”
I keep myself busy taking another sip of beer as I listen to Emily’s footsteps approach behind me.
“Hey, Scooter.”
I watch from the corner of my eye as she slides up to the bar beside Trish.
“Hey, Emily.” Scooter is back to his polishing now, and he waves his cloth in greeting. “How’s it going?”
Emily props one of her elbows on the bar so she can lean forward and massage her temple. She’s still got that little frustrated pout going, and I decide I’ve never seen anyone in my life who can make ‘tired and slightly pissed off’ such a sexy expression.
“Oh, you know, busy time of year for us,” she says. “I was actually wondering who you use for your plum—”
She gets cut off by Trish clearing her throat and giving a pointed jerk of her chin towards me.
I figure this is the moment to stop side-eyeing Emily and turn to face her instead. I shift in my bar stool, and our eyes lock for the first time.
She’s even prettier when I’m looking at her straight-on. It’s hard to see exactly what colour her eyes are in the dim light of the bar, but I can tell they’re some kind of blue-green. She blinks at me, the pout falling away as her bottom lip drops into a soft expression of surprise.
She’s wearing a light grey sweater with a wide enough neckline to show off a hint of her collarbones as well as a gold necklace with a tiny charm I can’t quite make out from here. I think it might be some kind of bird.
I jerk my gaze back up to her face when I realize it’s going to look like I’m ogling her chest, but I find her in the middle of giving me a full once-over. A rush of satisfaction runs through me, along with a few scattered pricks of heat that seem to spark against my skin wherever she looks at me.
I’m sure the whole exchange only takes a couple seconds, but when she meets my eyes again and then flicks her gaze away as soon as she realizes I’ve caught her staring, it feels like the whole room jumps back into action after grinding to a complete standstill.
“Sorry,” she says, staring down at the bar for a moment as she adjusts her hair. “I didn’t even see you there.”
