Page 84 of Mr. B

A small table in the kitchen corner held one chair. While Cassandra sat, Wes went to the office and dragged out the desk chair. He set it across the table from her, then sat and picked up his sandwich. “Cheers.”

She smiled at him. “You may be older and wiser, but you haven’t changed all that much from the guy I knew.”

He laughed. “I hope that’s not true.”

“Everything that made me fall in love with you back then is still present. You’re a good guy, Wes.”

“And yet, that wasn’t enough.”

She set down her sandwich. “Wes.”

“Sorry.” He ate a bite of his sandwich. “I don’t want to go back there.”

“No looking back?”

“Just forward.”

“And what do you see looking forward?”

He thought for a moment. “It’s still a little foggy. But we’re both in the picture.”

“Does the district have a policy against co-workers dating?”

“Officially, it’s not encouraged. But we wouldn’t be the first.”

“Oh, do tell. Who else is dating or has dated in the past?”

He shook his head. “I’m not one to spread gossip.”

She took a bite of her sandwich. “You’re no fun.”

“That’s not what you said a couple of hours ago.”

They finished eating their sandwiches, then split the warmed slice of pie with some vanilla ice cream. On the way back to the cabin, Cassandra took Wes’ arm. “Was that our first date?”

“It could’ve been. We can call it that if you want.” They reached the cabin, and he opened the door for her. “Of course, it’s not quite over yet.”

He closed the door, and she put her arms around his neck. “What did you have in mind?”

He kissed her. “Some of this.”

“I like that.”

He nuzzled her neck. “And a little of that.” He stepped back and pulled off his T-shirt. “And a whole lot of this.”

She put her hands on his chest. “You’ve really got this first date thing down.”

Chapter twenty-one

“What aren’t you telling me?”

Dave was trying to block Perry as he swung his pool noodle at the wiffle ball. Perry made contact, but the ball only rolled a few feet. Dave, expecting it not to move at all, let the ball get past him. Perry ran past Dave, giving him a small bump, which was technically illegal, then hit the ball again toward the goal line. Emily, playing goalie, swung and missed with her noodle. The ball rolled past the line, and Perry raised his arms in victory.

Wes and Cassandra cheered, just as they’d cheered when the other side scored. They had stayed neutral all day, watching the various games of the Camp Blueberry Olympics from the sidelines.

With the score tied 1-1 thirty minutes into the game, Lester announced that the next team to score would take the gold medal. It took another twenty minutes, but a goal was scored, and the game ended.

The games ran throughout the day, with a lunch break, and concluded late in the afternoon with the relay race. Each of the four teams raced through a roped-off obstacle course, from running through a row of tires to climbing over low structures with a shallow pool of water on one side. With eight players per team, almost all the campers were involved.