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Eventually, we reach Kilroy Camp, the small campground that’s a little over a mile from the outlook where we’ll enjoy the sunrise and view of Cedar Lake and all of Cedar Point tomorrow morning.
My dad leads us all over to site three, the one he reserved for us online. Even though this spot isn’t particularly busy since not everyone wants to hike up a mountain to camp, it’s still a good idea to reserve a spot in advance.
Thankfully, we are greeted by a completely empty campground, and my family makes no bones about setting everything up with quickness and efficiency.
It’s been a long time since I’ve come up, so it’s a bit surprising to watch all of them move in this well-oiled manner that I’m not as familiar with. My dad begins unpacking his travel cooking supplies. My mom and brother set up one of the two big tents while Briar and Busy set up the other. Bellamy begins yanking out the lightweight chairs from each of our packs, setting them around the fire pit.
“I want to help,” Ruby says, her eyes taking in their movements.
“Help me find wood for the fire.”
She nods, and once I call out to dad to let him know what we’re doing, the two of us wander out of the campground clearing and back into the wilderness in search of logs and sticks we can use for a fire tonight.
“I’m glad you’re here,” I tell her.
Ruby smiles. “You’ve told me that five times already.”
“Well, it’s important to speak the truth, right?”
It takes about an hour, the two of us mostly wandering around in silence, but we end up bringing back three bundles each of small logs, wood pieces, and big sticks that will be more than enough for us to have a nice long fire this evening.
“I thought you said you don’t like to go on this hike,” Ruby says on our final scavenge through the trees.
“I don’t. I mean, most of the time, I’m too busy with work, so it just doesn’t fit in my schedule.”
Ruby eyes me. “Too busy with work? I haven’t seen you work once on this trip.”
I nod, knowing what she’s said is true, much to the irritation of my employers.
I’ve been working for SolvTech since a year out of grad school. Normally, they allow me to take the two weeks off in August without issue because I’m fairly accessible while I’m traveling.
For many reasons—one of which is the petite brunette walking next to me—the emails from my boss have sat unanswered in my inbox. I know it’s an immature way to handle a problem. I shouldn’t skirt around it to avoid the confrontation I know is coming, but I just don’t have the mental fortitude to deal with it right now.
There’s something to be said about shutting out work and just living life for a little bit. My bank account can handle it. My workload might suffer a smidge, but there is nothing on my task list that is time sensitive or needs handling before I return next Monday, promotion be damned.
So the decision to ignore the job-related shit piling up for me at home is an intentional one. Sometimes, avoidance is done in the name of and for the sake of mental health.
“I’ve been doing things different this trip,” I reply. “Better priorities this time around,” I add, winking at her as we come through the trees and back into the clearing where my family has mostly finished setting up camp.
“Boyd, which tent should I chuck your bag in?” Bishop asks, holding my pack in his hands.
The choice he has presented me with is to either sleep with mom, dad, and him in one tent or my sisters in the other.
Thankfully, I had enough foresight to avoid this.
“Neither,” I reply. “I brought my own.”
Busy giggles, and when I look over at where she stands next to Bellamy, I see them each giving me wiggly eyebrows.
“I don’t wanna hear any sex noises tonight,” Bishop grunts, dropping my bag back on the ground and giving me a glare.
Ruby dumps her stack of wood in the pile near the fire pit, her face bright red, and not from the exertion.
“I can’t believe he said that in front of your mom,” she whispers to me.
I laugh. “You wouldn’t believe the things he talks about in front of my mother,” I reply.
She wiggles her nose and shakes her head. “I’m just going to pretend this conversation isn’t happening.” And then she wanders over to where my sisters are taking seats in their chairs, presumably to talk about whatever girls talk about.
