[gif of excited girl]
Nicole:
How’s camp going Liv?
Molly:
Yeah, any updates on the Gage situation?
Nicole:
There’s a situation??
Molly:
Well just that he’s there working with her
Nicole:
You know, she totally had a thing for him back in high school
Molly:
Really? Oooh
Molly:
If you need any help navigating the whole falling for your coworker thing, let us know. Nicole and I are experts [wink emoji]
Olivia:
I hate you both so much
Nicole:
No you don’t
Molly:
You love us
Afterthenear-constantactivityand noise around camp all week—and I heareverythingthat’s going on with the other staff as they rotate in and out of the lake area each day—the quiet on Friday night after the campers leave is palpable.
Other than cleaning up our areas and making sure we’re ready for the next group of kids, the counselors are all off now until Sunday morning.
Many of the counselors, including the juniors, waste no time getting out of Dodge for a few days. The staff parking lot is conspicuously emptier by eight that night.
The camp cooks—a super sweet couple named Rob and Stephanie who are around the same age as my parents—will set out grab-and-go type foods at mealtimes through the weekend for staff who choose to stay on property.
While I might head to Austin on a Saturday later this summer to hang out with Annie, I don’t see any real reason not to stick around at camp. I can hike and relax without burning through gas in my car, and because Nina has already warned me that she won’t be around on weekends, I know I’ll have the cabin to myself.
Of course, I wonder whether Gage is staying at camp this weekend, though I’m not quite brave enough—or foolish enough—to seek him out at his cabin to ask. I may go check the parking lot for his Jeep, though.
When I get back to my cabin after straightening up the boathouse, the man himself is sitting on the stoop.
I stop in my tracks, my heart slamming rhythmically against my rib cage. “Hi.”
It’s like I summoned him magically through my wishful thinking.
