Page 9 of Peaks and Promises

“I can’t help it if they decide to come in and have lunch just to bother me. What am I supposed to do?”

She pressed her lips in a thin line and shook her head. “I had a feeling you were going to be a problem. Don’t make me regret keeping you.”

Careful, Summer. You need this job.

“I won’t.”

With a brisk nod, as if that settled the issue, she turned and went back to her office.

I left through the back door and stepped into the oppressive heat. If it was this hot in May, I didn’t want to know what July and August were going to be like.

My car—a white Chevy Malibu that had seen better days—was parked out front, on the far side of the parking lot. I got in and waited a moment for the AC to start cooling the air, then pulled out of my spot and left.

We’d lived in the dusty small town in Arizona for a little over a year. The last place we’d lived had been okay for a while, until a perfect storm had made me throw up my hands in defeat. Problems at Nate’s school, problems with our apartment, problems with my job…

I wanted Nate to have a stable life, not move around every couple years, but being a single mom was freaking hard. We were broke more often than not, and I barely had a high school education. That made it tough to get a job that paid enough to live on, let alone enough to get ahead. As much as I would have loved to take classes or learn new skills so I could do better, I never had the money or the time.

Our apartment complex wasn’t far from the diner. I parked outside building A, where Nate and I lived, and walked across the hot asphalt to Mindy’s apartment in building C.

I’d been lucky to find Mindy. She had two kids at Nate’s school and was happy to let him come home with them and stay until I got off work. And she didn’t charge me much. A lot less than a day care center, that was for sure. Which was great because this single mom wasn’t exactly making six figures serving up mediocre eggs and hash browns at the local diner.

I knocked on Mindy’s door, and a moment later, she answered. Her brown hair was in a loose bun and she had a smudge of peanut butter on her shirt.

“Hi,” I said. “Sorry I’m a little late.”

She waved that off and stepped aside so I could come in. “You’re fine. I used to wait tables. I know how it is.”

I glanced toward her living room. Nate sat in one corner of the couch, as if he’d wedged himself as far from Mindy’s son and daughter as possible. They were playing a video game while he watched. His blond hair was a little messy. He needed a haircut.

Although Nate was only ten, he was big for his age. I kept hoping he’d grow into his body. He moved like he didn’t have a sense of where he was in space. I’d asked his doctor about it, and she’d said it was normal. He’d grown fast and needed time to adjust.

But his physical awkwardness had only made Nate’s life harder. He’d never had an easy time making friends, and his growth spurt over the past year had made him stick out among his classmates.

Moving around a lot hadn’t done him any good, either.

“Hey, buddy,” I said.

His eyes stayed glued to the TV. “Hi.”

I lowered my voice. “How’s he been today?”

Mindy shrugged. “Quiet, like usual.”

“Yeah.” I sighed. “I was hoping he’d make a friend this year. Don’t get me wrong, your kids are great. But it doesn’t seem like he’s opening up.”

“They’re younger than he is. I bet he’d have fun with kids his own age. Maybe even older ones. He’s an old soul.”

That made me smile. He was an old soul. Always had been.

“Speaking of kids his own age,” Mindy said. “I need to talk to you about summer break. My kids go to a day camp. It’s great, and they always have so much fun. They take kids all the way through middle school, so Nate could go, too.”

“How long does it last?”

“You can sign them up in two-week blocks. We usually do all four.”

“Eight weeks of camp?”

She nodded. “It ends at three and includes lunch. And like I said, they have a great time. It would be good for him. And he could come here afterward until you get off work, like he does now.”