She went to the doorway and looked down the hallway to see Alex leaning down to talk to one of the campers with a smile on his face before he ruffled the girl’s hair before he disappeared down the stairs. Jordyn chewed her lip and thought hard, because suddenly Alex seemed like he was back to normal. He was the Alex she had fallen for. He was being sweet, kind, and understanding. This washer Alex,and it was throwing Jordyn for a loop.
Turning back into her room, she plucked up her phone and saw that she didn’t have long until it was time to get her group ready to head to dinner. She noticed she had zero bars and trying to get any data to work out here was not happening.
“Yay for a really fancy clock,” she said, softly, and jammed it into her back pocket before she worked on hurriedly unpacking the rest of her belongings.
“Girls! We’ve got fifteen minutes before dinner! Last one downstairs has to think of the first ghost story to tell tonight!” Jordyn called, walking down the hallway, and was instantly rewarded with peels of laughter and pounding feet. Smiling, Jordyn slowed her steps to nothing and acted pained as the girls ran past her and tromped down the stairs, beating her to the front door.
“How did that happen?! Honestly!” Jordyn asked, walking out of the bunkhouse and scratching her head with feigned shock. “I thought I was going to beat some of you for sure!” She threw her hands up and laughed when the girls grabbed her arms and started yanking her forward.
“Don’t make it too scary!” Brianna, a ten-year-old girl with a worried smile, cautioned Jordyn as they walked along towards the cafeteria.
“I swear. It’ll be just right, ok?” Jordyn said, crossing her heart. “There will even be s’mores and everyone knows that something sweet chases the scary right out of any story.” When Jordyn said that, Brianna relaxed and nodded, holding onto Jordyn’s hand.
They continued onward with Jordyn making sure none of the girls got too far ahead. It was easier to keep them all together rather than chasing them down for head counts after dinner. She hustled them through the line because she didn’t want to give Alex an open opportunity to speak with her. He was, she could see, very much trying to catch her eye. So with her eyes focused on the girls around her, she debated the merits of the dinner options with them: cheeseburgers or spaghetti?
Once she had everyone sitting down, Jordyn made conversation with the girls, stopped an almost food fight with the neighboring table of boys, and had managed to not get spaghetti on her shirt. In other words, dinner was a success. It was only after she had put her tray away, and was waiting for her group to do the same, that Alex appeared at her side.
“We’ll be sharing a camp fire tonight,” he told her, leaning close to her as he spoke.
Jordyn cleared her throat and stepped away with a nod. “Sure, okay,” she said, keeping a smile on her face while the girls watched, and without another look at Alex, she guided her group out of the cafeteria and down the wooded path to the lake. She was walking along talking to Cora when Yvonne caught up with her.
“Can I have a word, Jordyn?” she asked. Jordyn repressed a sigh but nodded and turned to Cora, “Would you mind leading the girls to the campfire site? I’ll be there in a minute.”
Cora nodded eagerly, but gave Yvonne a wary look before she took off at a jog, directing the girls to follow her. Jordyn looked at Yvonne, then. “What is it?” she asked, keeping her voice clipped. Jordyn kept walking along, keeping the girls within viewing distance while she waited for Yvonne to speak.
“You’re sharing a campfire with Alex tonight,” Yvonne said, simply, and shoved her hands in her pockets.
“I guess,” Jordyn replied, still not looking away from the girls that were now swarming around the unlit fire pit, looking for the best seat.
“I thought you had a new boyfriend.”
“What is this about, Yvonne?” Jordyn sighed, still looking ahead.
“Don’t try and worm your way back into Alex’s life, ok?” Yvonne snapped, the harsh tone of the other woman’s voice caused Jordyn’s eyes to momentarily leave her group. When Jordyn looked at Yvonne, all she saw was a flushed face and angry eyes. “He’s mine now. Things are different since you left for that tattooed guy or whatever.”
“I don’t want Alex,” Jordyn muttered and turned to look back at the girls. “So you might want to save your breath for keeping Alex away fromme.”
Yvonne gasped. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means,” Jordyn paused and put her hands on her hips, “that since I left Alex, I have had the great pleasure of having my eyes opened to a few things. As far as I’m concerned, you and Alex are perfect for one another. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a ghost story to tell.” Jordyn gave Yvonne a tip of her head and set off at a jog towards her group who was now being joined by Alex.
“Hey! I was just wondering where you were.” Alex smiled at her while he shifted a load of kindling in his hands.
Jordyn shrugged. “Had to sort a thing or two out.”
“Like what?” Alex asked, crouching down to arrange the wood within the fire pit. When Jordyn didn’t answer, he looked up at her. “Everything all right, Jordyn?” he asked with a concerned frown, and Jordyn gave him a sharp nod, trying not to notice how the familiar tone of Alex’s voice was putting her at ease.
“I’m fine.” Jordyn bit out and turned away from him. She didn’t like having Alex so close by and doing this camp with her. It was too easy to feel like it could be the previous year when they had practically been inseparable and had put the camp together all on their own. If she just closed her eyes and forgot about the past couple of months, it was like nothing had changed at all since the summer before. But Jordyn would never let that happen because there was no way she could forget what she had seen in Alex’s office. And as much as it might hurt, she could never forget what being with Steve had done or meant to her.
So, turning quickly to the girls, she gestured for them to come close. “Who wants to hear a ghost story?”
If Jordyn was telling a story, then she wouldn’t dwell on her thoughts, and that counted towards something when it came to keeping Alex at arm’s length.
Chapter Thirty
Jordyn spentthe next two days of camp devoted to the girls she was in charge of and surreptitiously avoided Alex. Out here at the camp, where they had always been together, it was too easy to fall back into a routine with him. Even Alex’s mood had seemed to even out again—to the man she had known and loved for five years. It was a little unnerving if she was honest with herself.
Alex was cordial, he was generous, he was funny, he was attentive, he was a perfect gentleman, and it had her teeth on edge. He also seemed to be anticipating her needs. In fact, Jordyn almost batted away the pen that he held out to her, just when she started to pat her pockets, looking for the pen she needed to scribble down the instructions the nurse had given her about the bee sting one of her girls had suffered.
