He keeps talking, but it’s all I can do to just nod and smile. Once he thinks I’m okay, he turns. Then the tears fill my eyelids. Why I’m so disappointed is beyond me, but I can’t stop the waterworks from coming. Maybe it’s because I have to endure another week of Logan and Kat’s relationship rubbed in my face.
“What’s wrong?” Syd asks.
I look up and catch Logan’s frown, then I dart out of the kitchen.
“Maddy?” Syd grabs my hand. “What happened?”
“Kat’s staying. Dirk doesn’t need me.”
“No,” she whispers.
I swallow the tears down. Joe catches my eye. “Madison?”
“Can I leave early?” I ask him.
“You alright?”
I nod. His gaze bounces between us. “Get out of here. Both of you,” he says with a soft smile.
We dart outside, and I lose it. Syd has me sit on a fallen log.
She rubs my back. “He’s such an asshat.”
I huff. “He never wanted to ask me. I’m a last resort. I could tell.”
“I can’t believe Kat. Doesn’t she have a job?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. It just sucks. He should just say, ‘thanks, but the position is filled,’ and send her home.”
My phone vibrates. I look down.
Unknown: You mean the world to me. Miss you.
I groan and turn the phone off. This summer just keeps getting worse and worse.
“Just go back to the cabin. I’ll do the skit tonight, and meet you there right after. We’ll go into town and do something fun.”
My stomach rolls over. I’d rather hide. “How can he offer the job, then take it away like that? Crush me and think nothing of it?”
“I don’t know.”
“It’s like he doesn’t want to give me a chance.”
“You’d make a great counselor. Better than me, I think.” Syd gives me a tender smile.
“Thanks,” I say, but my feelings are raw. “Your vote doesn’t count.”
“Chocolate covered pretzels later, okay?”
I smile. “Yeah, okay.”
The bell chimes to announce the meeting. “Oh, crap. I need to change. I guess I’ll just raid the skit closet tonight.”
She darts off toward the auditorium just as the kids start to leave the dining room. I stand up to escape. No one needs to see my disappointment.
“Maddy.” Logan walks over.
My mouth grows dry, as I wipe under my eyes for smudged mascara and force a smile. “Hey.”
“You okay?”
I shrug. How does he not know what’s happened? Kat’s staying. “It’s nothing, oh, and thanks for fixing the snack shack lock. I haven’t had a chance to thank you.”
“It’s the least I could do, considering Bryce was the culprit. Are you sure you’re okay?” He watches me like I’m a lit fuse and my cheeks burn with humiliation.
“Really, I’m fine.” I yank down on my shirt, and give my rump one last dust off.
“Okay.” He starts to leave, then turns. “I have rotation next week again. I was hoping we could hang out.”
I blink at him in shock. “You’re not on the same rotation with Kat?”
“She’s not going to get a rotation ‘cause she won’t be here long enough. Besides, she’s just filling in for Kitty, as I’m sure you’ve heard.”
“Yeah. Oh. Right.” I lick my lips. Maybe this has worked in my favor. “I’d love to hang out.”
“Good,” he says before he darts off.
I suck in a cleansing breath and lift my chin. Logan wants to hang out with me. Instead of going to Aspen, I head toward the auditorium. Dirk can’t ruin my evening, not with this news.
~|~
“Truth or dare,” Syd says with a wicked smile as we sit on the top of the hill in the dark and wait to bust truant kids. Technically, we’re supposed to be patrolling the girl’s cabins, but from this vantage point, we can peruse all the good make out spots.
“Seriously?”
“I’m bored.” She snaps her gum. “What about I’ve Never.”
“It’s not fun without any booze.”
“I’ve never had escargot.”
“Me neither.” I look at my phone. Thirty more minutes are left until we are free to go. “This is lame. Let’s walk the cabin perimeter again and call it a night.”
“I’ve never ridden in an ambulance.”
“Me neither. Pick something harder.”
“Okay.” She sighs. “I’ve never had unprotected sex.”
“Really?” I smirk and roll my eyes. “Well, me neither. Duh.”
“Okay, you’re right.” Syd stops to yawn. “Let’s ditch this job and go home.”
My yawn follows after. “Stop that.”
“Well, if they haven’t snuck out by now, they’re not going to. It’s Friday night and they’ll all be totally exhausted anyway.”
We stand at the same time, but my eye catches bluish light coming from the snack shack window. My heart gallops in response. “There’s someone in the snack shack.”
“What?” Syd’s head swings over. “Really? Oh… I see it. Those little bastards.”
“Twice in one week?” I take off running.
“Wait.” She follows. “Should we bust them together? Or should I get Dirk?”
“Get Dirk,” I say. “I want to catch them red handed.”
“Alright.”
I sneak around the back of the shack, expecting the door to be busted. My breathing picks up as I turn the knob, but it’s unlocked. A woman’s moan sluices ice down my spine, and I’m transported to my apartment. To the naked bodies of people I trusted, entwined together in passion, the moment my heart was ripped from my chest and stomped on.
No. I’m hearing things. I shake my head. I’m busting kids breaking and entering, not some sexcapade, at least I hope not.
The door slides open and the light spills across the floor to the stool, highlighting blonde hair trailing down a bare back to a bare bottom. I suck in a gasp. She turns, but it’s not Allie.
“Oh, shit!” Kat exclaims, and she grabs her shirt.
I fly out of the shack and run past the pool, confused how she got ahold of a key, when my heart stops. Logan, the little sneak, kept a copy. I fight the tears of jealousy. How could he do this in my shack?
“Maddy! Wait!”
Kat’s running behind me, and I can’t figure out why. She has every right to screw Logan, well, maybe not in my snack shack, but he is hers after all.
She runs up and though she’s graced with saline solution pillows, it’s evident she’s braless. “Maddy! Please wait up!”
She puts her hands on her legs, panting short breaths.
I’m speechless. What’s the big deal? I stare at her and try not to look pissed. “What?”
“I’m sorry. Please… listen to me.”
My eyes dart to the shack as Logan ducks out of the door and takes off, the spineless coward.
“Please,” she begs again.
I look away, mortified. They hump in my snack shack, and expect me not to tell anyone. That’s justice for you.
“Yeah, whatever,” I say as a knee jerk reaction. “I get it.”
“You do?” Her eyes round and she straightens.
I’m surprised at her reaction. If she lost this job, she has another better paying one. It would be my word against theirs anyway. Maybe it’s better if they both get fired and get out of my life.
She blows out a relieved breath. “I thought for sure you’d judge me.” She touches my arm and squeezes.
Judge her? Why? I glance down at her new engagement ring and my stomach sours. They act aloof in public, but when no one is looking, it’s a rabbit fest. “What you do with your fiancé is none of my business, just do it somewhere else.”
She lets go and pulls down on her T-shirt, staring at me with wide eyes. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
She takes off down the trail to the girls’ cabins with h
er shoes in hand. My stomach turns. I’m so violated by Logan’s selfishness, I think I’m going to throw-up.
“I’m such an idiot,” I mumble to myself.
I reluctantly return to the shack, expecting a mess. There’s nothing. I glare at the stool, then grab it and toss it onto the lawn, before I shut and lock the door. Why couldn’t they have gotten it on in the woods or her car? I’ll be reminded every day of what’s happened here. How could he after I confessed my feelings?
Syd runs through the pool area toward me, out of breath. “Hey, you catch ‘em?”
I caught ‘em alright.
“Dirk’s not at his cabin,” she continues. “And he’s ignoring my texts.”
“It was nothing,” I say without thinking.
“Nothing?” Syd blows out a breath. “Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh, well, let’s go. I’m exhausted.”
I follow her up the path to Aspen, my entire body numb.
“I’m going to sleep all weekend,” she says.
Nausea riddles me as the images keep replaying in my head. Maybe Gage is the best I’ll ever do. Maybe I need to give him a second chance.
CHAPTER SEVEN
I pry my eyes open, and for a brief moment I forget. Then it all comes rushing back to me. My gut clenches at Logan’s cruelty.
“Morning, sunshine,” Syd says with a yawn and a stretch.
I sit up and look at the time. 11AM. “Wow. We are lazy bitches.”
“I could sleep for a month.”
I laugh and crawl out of bed. “Coffee,” I moan like a zombie, when I remember my mom is coming today.
“So, I guess later, I’ll have to move out.” She fakes a sniffle.
“Yeah. I wonder who my roommate will be?”
“Either Sophie or Jordan. They’re next on the rotation.”
The way things are situated, on full weeks, one girl stays in Marge’s extra room, the other stays with me.
“Is next week a full week?”
“Full enough. There’s not an extra cabin.”
I sigh, wanting to just be alone. “I wish they’d both stay with Marge.”
Syd crawls out of bed and heads to the bathroom. “That room’s tinier than this one.”
I sigh, sad that Syd is leaving me, but of all people, I couldn’t imagine living with Marge. The further I stay away from my mom’s BFF, the better.
Syd leaves the door open while she pees. “So, beach day? I think everyone else is just doing laundry and sleeping.”
“My mom is visiting today.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah.” Her surprise is telling. So far, no one else’s parents have come to camp. This makes me look like a mama’s girl. “Marge is her best friend. They met at camp when they were kids.”
“Oh.” She walks out with a toothbrush hanging from her mouth. “So you’re going to hang with her?”
“And my little sister, yeah. You’re welcome to stay here until tomorrow.”
“I’ll check with the girls and see when they want to move in.”
She returns and shuts the door. The shower water starts. I pull my hair up and throw on some clothes before running down to the kitchen.
Camp is quiet once again, and I do a quick once over in the dining room for Kat and Logan before entering. A few counselors mill about the dining room, snagging cereal and milk from the breakfast station. I shove my beloved travel cup under the spigot and pull the lever on the coffee urn. A few drops trickle out. Fumbling through the cupboard, I find a coffee pouch and brew another pot.
I grab a bowl of cereal while I’m waiting, my eye constantly on the door.
When they fly open, my heart leaps into my throat. My mother steps into the dining room.
“And this is where we ate when I was a camper… Maddy?” Her shrill voice hurts my ears. She clomps toward me with her overly high sandals and pulls me into a hug. All I can smell is perfume, which is a relief. “Maddy, baby!”
“Hey, Mom. Hannah. You’re here early.”
My sister smirks at me, and once Mom lets go, she shoves Hannah my way. I’m given a quick side hug. “Hey.”
“You know me. We couldn’t wait, could we Hannah?”
Hannah shrugs and yawns.
Mom doesn’t let that quell her enthusiasm. “How has your summer been? You’re so tan. This place is just like I remember it. One day you’ll be here, Hannah.”
The comments and questions don’t stop. The other counselors stop and stare. I dump my bowl in the dirty dish bin and take my travel mug over to the coffee urn (even though it’s not finished percolating) and fill it before ushering them outside.
“Yeah, so, what’s the plan for today?”
“We have it all mapped out.” Mom takes my arm, and walks me down the path. “We’re thinking the beach first, funnel cakes on the Boardwalk while you take your sister on rides, then having dinner at Margaritaville—”
“You’re taking Hannah into a bar for dinner?”
Mom’s eyes round. “It’s also a restaurant.”
It’s not, but I don’t argue with her. She’s not going there because of the food anyway.
“And then ice cream at that place you like.”
“Maryanne’s.”
“Yeah, there.”
Hannah rolls her eyes. The last thing she wants is to ride rides with me, or any of it for that matter. “So you’ve got our whole day planned.”
“Oh, that’s just today. Tomorrow, we’re going to the aquarium. Marge has tickets. And then we’ll walk around all the cute shops.”
“I do have to work tomorrow, you know that.”
“Oh.” She bats her hand forward. “I’m sure your boss will let you sightsee with your family.”
I cringe. Knowing Mom, she’s already had Marge ask Joe. “I have laundry to do, too.”
“Can’t you do that Monday? We’re only here these two days?”
“Yeah sure.” No amount of finagling is going to make her change her mind.
“Is that the snack shack? Look at the decorations. It’s painted blue. I love it!” She traipses over for a closer look and picks up the stool I’d tossed outside the night before.
“Oh, leave that there,” I say quickly. “It’s broken.”
“It looks fine to me.” She sets it under the order window and dusts it off with her hand. I cringe.
Apparently, I’m going to have to toss it off Devil’s Peak. At this point, though, I can’t deny that Logan and Kat have ruined Redwood Springs for me. Maybe getting them fired is the solution.
“Well, get your suit on.” Mom hits me in the arm. “The day is a wasting.”
“Yeah, sure.”
They follow me up to Aspen. My heart plummets as Logan passes by carting his stuff to the guys’ cabin. “Hey, Maddy.”
I blink at him, shocked. He’s seriously going to pretend nothing’s happened?
Mom nudges me after he passes, ogling his butt. “Who’s that delicious eye candy?”
“Mom.”
“I am serious.”
“That’s Logan, and he’s got a girlfriend, so don’t get any ideas.”
“A girlfriend? Pschtt. And you’re letting that stop you?”
“Really, Mom?” I stop walking, beyond furious at her and the world. “So Allie was perfectly in the right to throw herself at Gage?”
“Well.” She lets out a huff and her eyes dart to Hannah. “She did do you a favor.”
I shake my head. “Wow. Just wow.”
Mom recovers. “But she was your friend, which is against the girlfriend code, so that doesn’t count.”
“Well, Logan’s girlfriend works here at camp, so I’d say he’s off limits,” and I hate them both.
“Well, what about that hunky director. Dirk? Is that his name?”
I moan softly, and walk inside the cabin, heading straight upstairs toward my room. Syd has returned to her bed, but she’s not asleep.
“Wake me up on Monday,�
�� she says.
“I wish it were Monday.”
Syd’s eyes pop open. “Why? What happened?”
“I apologize in advance for whatever embarrassing or rude thing my mother says,” I whisper.
Her eyes open wider. “That bad?”
“Just… are you free this weekend?”
“Besides moving my crap back to Mulberry, yeah.”
“I need help running interference.”
“Okay.”
Mom’s shoes clomp up the stairs. “Oh, well isn’t this quaint? I just love the rustic-ness.”
I close my eyes, and mumble, “That’s not even a word.”
Syd sits up. “Hey, Mrs. …”
“Oh, call me Tara. I haven’t been married to her dad in a long time.”
Syd nods. “So, Maddy says you’ve got a full weekend ahead of you?”
“That we do. Family bonding time is so important.”
My shoulders deflate. This is her passive aggressive way of making sure it’s just us.
“So,” Mom says. “I’ll wait with your sister downstairs. Don’t take too long.”
Once they’re gone, I look helplessly to Syd. “Serenity now.”
~|~
I sit in the backseat with my sister, as Marge drives us to the beach. The entire time I can’t stop myself from thinking about Logan.
“How’s the new apartment?” I ask my sister.
She removes one earbud. “What?”
“The new apartment. How is it?”
“Oh. It’s okay.”
“Do they have a pool?”
“No.”
She starts to put the bud back in. “Been hanging out with your friends?”
She sighs. “Kind of. Mom’s always at work, so…”
I knew the drill. With Mom drinking, I could never have friends over, and getting to friends’ houses was always difficult. She puts the earbud back in, and I give up.
“I haven’t heard if you’ve secured a winter job yet, Abby. How’s that going?” Mom asks.
I slink down in my seat. I’d wanted to stretch out applying for as long as I could, for fear it would backfire, and nosey Dirk would find out I’d lied about attending U.C. Davis.
Marge looks at me through the rear view. “I didn’t know you were interested in staying on.”
Truly Madly Deeply: Volumes 1-4 Page 20