She forged ahead. “Look, this is probably inappropriate, but Autumn told us that you might be willing to give us some legal advice. It’ll be really quick. Probably. Or we could wait until you’re back in the office and video chat or something…”
“How about you ask me your question and we’ll go from there? Though it’s important to remember, I practice corporate law. In Washington.”
Hazel nodded as if she already knew. “We’ve had someone approach us about expanding.” She delivered this as if it were bad news, but Leo’s face was lit up. “To another state, probably Northern California.”
He cut in. “We don’t have any idea what we’re doing. With negotiations and the contract, not with the camp.”
“That sounds like a great idea. This place is magical,” I practically blurted.
Leo smiled at her, and they shared something I couldn’t explain before he looked back at me. “Thank you,” he said humbly. “We were thinking this might be a good way to spread that magic, I guess, so that more people can attend. We’ve sold out for years now, and we only have so much space to spread out in—”
“And barely up-to-code cabins can be built in a day,” Hazel deadpanned.
“She’s joking,” Leo corrected.
“Actually, if you’re going to be our lawyer, we can disclose anything, right?” Hazel continued her joke as if Leo hadn’t written the first one off. “Because those cabins in Orion are the worst ones. Like, we probably shouldn’t even be using—”
He ignored her. “Thepointis, this sounds like a pretty cool idea, and we wanted to go over what you think we need to address with all of this.”
They were right. This was my vacation, and work was the last thing I wanted on my mind, but I wanted to help them despite that. Not to mention the result would make Autumn happy. This was a no-brainer. Not that I was trying to make her happy or anything. I was being completely casual.
“I’d love to help. Tell me what you need.”
Therestoftheday went by slowly without Autumn around. I went for a swim, and now I was turning the last page of my book in the Meditation Meadow. This shouldn’t have been a momentous occasion, but it was.
I hadn’t read a book for fun since college. I hadn’t had time, and when I did, I usually spent it cleaning or sleeping. Even with the time I’d spent messing around with Ren and navigating this whole ex-girlfriend situation, I’d found the time to relax. It felt so good. It seemed like every activity I participated in, fun or mundane to most, made me reevaluate what I’d been doing with my life and what else I was missing out on.
As Ren had reminded me, that was just what happened on vacation. He’d also mentioned the fact that we’d probably need a vacation from our vacation, but I wasn’t worried about that.What I was worried about was the dread that filled me at the idea of leaving here. I chose not to dive into that too much.
By the time I made it to the mess hall, I was rejuvenated and relaxed, but I was also starving. I got some food and sat on a bench next to Emerson, Lamar, and Sawyer. I pushed my roasted broccolini around my plate to mix with my mascarpone mashed potatoes and took a hearty bite.
“Has anyone seen Gia?” Emerson asked.
I nearly spat out my food, choking as it went down the wrong pipe. Emerson rubbed my back until the cough went away, but no one else seemed to notice my outburst.
“She left early. Wasn’t feeling good,” Lamar said as if it wasn’t that big of a deal.
“Left as inleft?” I asked. I wasn’t surprised, not really, but it hadn’t been my intention for her to remove herself from the premises when I told Jack. But I guessed the chips fell where they did, and I had to accept the consequences of my actions. Still, I’d done the right thing.
“Yeah,” Sawyer said. The crowd in the mess hall drowned out their voice, so I leaned in to listen. “Apparently, she gets these bad migraines, and they weren’t going away. It’s probably the pressure or the altitude up here.”
“She seemed all right to me,” Lamar commented.
“Women are frequently able to cover that kind of shit up,” Emerson posited, and Lamar nodded in recognition. Her eyes filled with sadness. “I just wish we’d gotten a goodbye.”
I pushed down the snarky comment that Gia wasn’t able to cover everything up and chastised myself. I had no idea if she was planning on telling Jack about what she’d done. I didn’t know their situation, and it was none of my business. In my head, I just kept seeing Jack’s dismay at her betrayal when I told him outside of the thrift store. It’d eaten at me after the scavenger hunt, and the only way I’d wiped it from my mind wasby having sex with my ex-girlfriend. Like the true asshole I was, my mind went off track, and I started to wonder if that was the way to move on from most of my troubles.
“We’ll get her contact info. It won’t be over,” Emerson promised. “Meanwhile, I can’t wait for karaoke.” She changed the subject, but she was clearly still hurt over Gia’s lack of a farewell.
After we finished eating, we made our way to the campfire and found a couple of counselors setting up mics and messing with a portable karaoke machine. Someone passed a clipboard to me, and I quickly signed up. Ren had already added John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” to the list with his name next to it, and I was more than excited to see that show. I’d seen him do karaoke on rare occasion and it always made me smile. Most of our hangouts took place at our local bar, unless we were at my apartment watching basketball.
His vibrant and animated singing was just as amazing as I’d hoped. Grant gazed yearningly at my friend. He was the first crush I’d seen Ren have, and they appeared to be over the moon with each other.
Autumn’s cohort must have arrived at the same time, because Kell-y and Kell-i went up and sang Beyoncé’s “Halo” and were quickly followed by Janna singing Heart’s “Barracuda.” At some point, real instruments were being used, and Leo’s tambourine made an appearance. We cracked up as one of the less musically inclined campers tapped the instrument in overly enthusiastic bursts.
Hazel and Leo went next. The other camp counselors stopped their side conversations and immediately turned to the stage. People were respectful enough to listen and cheer others on throughout the night, but laughter and general conversation still took place around the campfire. That wasn’t the case here.
Leo carried an acoustic guitar, and they both sat on the edge of the wooden stage, no microphone or karaoke machine needed, apparently.
