Page 8 of Touch of Heartache


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Lilac stood on quivering legs, tightly clutching her purse in front of her knees with both hands. The sweat dripping from her palms made it difficult to hold on to the strap. She’d made a quick dash to the bathroom after kissing her Aunt Frankie on the cheek and thanking her for the ride, doing her best to touch up the flyaways that had become a permanent part of her hair in this heat, then taking her blazer off and running it under the hand dryer to evaporate some of the moisture. Of course, now it felt warmer than ever on her, but it had seemed like a good idea at the time. And she had made a point of standing beneath an air vent while she waited for the receptionist to page Mr. Stevenson, which put her right in line with a screen playing old Tildy Tapir cartoons, a couple of kids sitting on the floor and staring vacantly at it. One little girl with her hair in two pigtails clutched a worn Tildy Tapir plush—it had to have been a hand-me-down, as it looked just like Lilac’s old treasured one, which ought to have been arriving in her boxes sometime this week—and Lilac thought vividly of her own childhood spent staring at the samething.

“Don’t you want to watch a princess movie?” her mom had often asked, holding up a collection of DisneyDVDs.

Lilac shook her head. Mama always asked that right at the good part when Tildy Tapir reached her hand out to save Silly Sandgrouse from falling off acliff.

“I’m here!” Tildy said. “Reach out and wish hard enough–your dreams will cometrue!”

“You’ve seen that movie five hundred times, I swear,” said her mom, tossing the DVDs onto the coffee table with a sigh. “Yesterday, she asked me if Tildy and Silly could come to her birthday party. I had to tell her they aren’t even real, but I don’t know if she believedme…”

“Oh, let her be,” said her daddy. He looked up from his laptop then to reach forward and ruffle Lilac’s hair. “There’s nothing wrong with letting her dream, isthere?”

“Miss Townsend,” said someone from behind her in a deep, burly voice. “It’s so nice to finally meetyou!”

She turned around, a smile plastered onto her face. “Mr. Stevenson,” she said, extending her hand toward him. He stepped closer, taking her hand with both of his and shaking itvigorously.

“Please,” he said, “‘Earl’ isfine.”

“And call me ‘Lilac,’” she said. “Thank you again for extending me this opportunity. I really appreciateit.”

“No, I appreciateyoufreeing up your schedule like this to fill in on such short notice.” He held tightly to her hand as he grinned at her, his eyes flicking down and up a few too many times. “But come on,” he said, turning and only then finally letting her hand go. “Let’s go to my office and we can getstarted.”

“Okay,” said Lilac, slipping her purse over her shoulder and wiping the moisture from her palm on her pant leg. She thought she caught sight of the woman behind the reception desk smirking at her as they passed the counter, almost as if to say she’d caught her in the movement, but the woman’s attention was quickly diverted by a man in a Hawaiian T-shirt who left his family and a mountain of luggage behind to approachher.

“Tent Tildy is the only official resort of Tildy World,” said Earl as they wove through tourists throughout the lobby. Lilac probably knew everything he was about to tell her, like the fact that the guests there were officially called the “campers,” but she kept her mouth shut. “We may not match the size or number of resorts they have at thoseothertheme parks, but we like to think we have even better service, better amenities.” He stopped suddenly and Lilac almost crashed into him as two kids ran across hispath.

“I’m so sorry!” said a beleaguered woman running a few steps behind them. “Colin,Embry!”

Earl laughed. “No problem at all, happy camper.” Tent Tildy was about as far from a camping experience as you could get, but the entire place was decked out like a wilderness lodge or a camping site, with decorations like fake campfires and plastic pine trees peppered throughout. It was supposed to be like the campsite where Tildy, Leah, and Silly had spent most ofTildy Tapir: The Grand Adventure: The Movie, Tildy’s first and most popular feature-length adventure. Lilac remembered shouting at her mom that Tildy and Sillywerereal after all the first time they’d set footinside.

“Those young campers might just be on their way to Tildy’s Tots,” said Earl, pointing down the hallway through which they’d vanished. “The daycare center. I might be needing you to show off your childcare expertise and run to and from there,” he said, and Lilac smiled, trying to project a confidence in her “expertise” she didn’t quite feel. Earl ran a hand under hischin.

“Maybe I should introduce you,” he said, “then we can head to my office and sort out the rest of your duties once we get there.” He made a sharp turn, retreating through a dark hall lit with glowing stars all over the ceiling and walls to make it seem like a starlight sky. Lilac got goosebumps as one of the lights lit up across the ceiling—a shooting star. She remembered this hallway and the way it had made her feel. She even remembered being sent to Tildy’s Tots. After checking in, you had to crawl through what looked like a tent flap in a hole in the wall to get inside to where the video games, TV screens, and crafting tables were. Earl nodded at the woman behind the reception desk and she nodded back, but she kept her attention focused on the mom of the two rambunctious kids who were practically salivating at the prospect of climbing through that tent hole. Earl opened a door painted to look like just part of the overall mural of a stream and mountains on the wall and stepped inside, ruining the perfect illusion of the picture as he did. Lilac felt a small, ridiculous twinge of jealousy toward the kids at the idea of not crawling through that tent flap hole. As if she’d expected employees to get inside thatway.

“Tanya!” said Earl, cupping his hands over his mouth as he dodged a couple of boys running to dive into a ballpit.

“Hey!” said an approaching woman with a deep brown complexion and black-and-purple hair. She was wearing what could only be called a “camp counselor” Tildy Scout uniform and she made Lilac envious of her polo shirt and cargo shorts, even if she had to wear a ridiculous handkerchief scarf around her neck. Her gaze followed the little runners. “No jumping into the balls!” She turned back to Earl, blowing a strand of hair out of her face. It was only eight in the morning and she looked as if she’d been working for half a day. “What can I do you for,Earl?”

Earl smiled and Lilac was sure she saw his eyes rest on Tanya’s well-toned legs for just a moment before she put her hands on her hips and cleared her throat. “This is Lilac, the girl I told you would be starting today,” he said, reaching behind him and placing a hand behind Lilac’s back, shoving her forward. His hand lingered there an uncomfortably long moment, his fingers wrapped around her side as if they were intimate acquaintances instead of a boss and employee who’d only justmet.

Don’t say anything, she thought. She clutched one hand into a fist and reached the other out toward Tanya. “Nice to meetyou.”

Tanya shook hers quickly and Earl’s hand finally fell from her side. “Same,” said Tanya. A woman wearing a marker- or paint-stained apron over her Tildy Scout uniform jogged up to Tanya and asked something about the new shipment of construction paper. Tanya told her to check theback.

“Ah, I’m not sure if we replenished any of your supplies yet,” said Earl, rocking on his feet. “Mei left so quickly—hardly gave me any notice—and it’s been a hassle trying to pick up things where she left off, let me tell you.” Lilac noticed a slight quirk to Tanya’s brow as she stared down at Earl. “But Lilac here will get everything you need in quick order, I’m sure.” He reached around and patted Lilac’s shoulder. She was about to step aside slightly to weasel out of his way when his phone buzzed. “Excuse me,” he said, lifting his hand and holding up his finger. He headed toward a corner as he raised the phone up, using his free hand to cover his other ear. Between the Tildy Tapir cartoon playing on the big TV screen and the sounds of kids laughing and shouting, it was certainly hard tohear.

“Hope you last longer than all the other assistant managers,” said Tanya. She gazed over her shoulder as a door in the back corner opened up. “We could use some stability and structure around here.” Before Lilac could ask any more about that, Tanya excused herself as she headed back toward the opening door, through which Silly Sandgrouse—or more accurately, a person in a Silly Sandgrouse suit—stepped out, his wing looped through the arm of a woman dressed like a Tildy Scout campcounselor.

“Hey, kids!” shouted Tanya, cupping her hands over her lips. “Look who’s come to visityou!”

A bunch of the kids squealed in excitement and jumped up, rushing toward the backcorner.

“Don’t run!” said one TildyScout.

“Form a line!” saidanother.

But kids were already running toward Silly, the nearest fighting to seize hold of hislegs.

“Hey, hey!” Tanya clapped her hands together. “The line is over here! Don’t you go scaring off poor Silly with all your love and affection. You know he’s sometimesshy.”

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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