“Ah, to be young and fifteen,” I teased.
“Yeah. I fell head over heels, but I barely talked to her. The counselor told me to stop staring at her, and then he cuffed the back of my head. He was absolutely no fun.” Landon flipped another page. “Is this still from camp?”
I nodded as he looked over the collage, which featured photos of a second-cousin I absolutely despised. “Mom took a lot of photos that week. I remember because Rosemary was there. That was one of the few times Aunt Willa tried to integrate her with us. It didn’t go well — she bonded with Lila and tried to torture me — but I think that was one of the last times we saw her until she returned a few months ago.”
“I don’t think you were missing much.”
“Definitely not,” I agreed.
“Look at you guys.” Landon tapped a photo. “You look as if you’re about to get into trouble.”
“We were probably trying to spy on the boys. I had hormones back then, too.”
“Yeah? Tell me about them.” Landon’s smile was mischievous as he scanned another photo, his smile dipping as he leaned closer and stared at the snapshot.
“What’s wrong?” I was confused at the way his merriment shifted.
“I ... don’t know,” Landon replied after a beat. “Are there more photos from that camp?” He flipped the page without waiting for an answer and focused on a campfire photo. “Is this from the same camp, Bay?”
“Yeah. It’s the same year. We only went to one camp that year. What’s wrong?”
Landon pressed the heel of his hand to his forehead. “Okay, this is going to sound weird, but ... that’s me.”
“What’s you?”
“That.” Landon pointed toward the dark-haired boy standing about three feet behind me in the photo. “That kid with the black hair, Bay, that’s me.”
I was dumbfounded. “Are you sure?” I leaned forward. “Maybe it’s just a kid who looks like you.”
“No, it’s me.” Landon shook his head as he flipped another page. “And that’s my brother Denny. Right there.”
I had no idea what to make of the turn of events. “So ... we went to the same summer camp. That’s weird. Do you think we met?”
“I do, Bay. I know we met because you’re the girl who sent my hormones revving.”
“Get out.”
“You’re the girl I had a crush on.” Landon flipped back two pages. “You were wearing the same outfit. I remember two girls being mean to you and I stepped in. That was Rosemary and Lila, wasn’t it?”
I opened my mouth to answer but couldn’t find the appropriate words. “I ... .”
“It was. I know it was you.” Landon transferred the photo album to my lap and hopped to his feet and began pacing the living room. “How is it possible I met you when I was a kid and didn’t remember?”
“Because you were a kid,” I automatically answered, opening to the photograph that featured him. I remembered him. Now that it was right in front of me I couldn’t forget. “You did stand up for me with Lila and Rosemary. I had a crush on you, too, but I was way too embarrassed to admit it.”
“Your mother. I talked to your mother.”
“What did you say?”
“I don’t know. That I was going to marry you or something. I was gone for you because you were so sweet and cute and you made my heart do funny things.”
“Are you sure it was your heart doing funny things?”
“Hey, I was a teenager. My hormones were out of control. I’m not going to deny that.”
“That’s probably wise.”
“That doesn’t change the fact that there was something about you that touched me ... and not in a gross way. I remember you. I remember staring at you during that bonfire. You had your head bent together with two other girls ... who I’m just realizing were Clove and Thistle. Wow!”
“I’m more interested in the fact that Chief Terry was your counselor and you didn’t remember him. How could you forget Chief Terry?”
“Oh, geez!” Landon slapped his hand to his forehead. “At the time he was a nice guy who kept warning me about getting ideas about a certain girl. You were the girl. He was acting as your father even then.”
I snickered, genuinely amused. “Oh, that’s kind of sweet. That was one of the things Melanie brought up during coffee today. She said that she wanted me to like her because Chief Terry thought of me as a daughter. That’s why I got out the photo albums in the first place.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He offered a dismissive wave as he went back to his pacing. “We’ll talk about your irrational dislike of Melanie later. I want to talk about us right now.”
“What do you want to talk about?”
“That!” Landon waved at the photo album. “We knew each other as kids.”
“So? Thistle and Marcus knew each other as kids. He visited during the summers.”
“Yeah, but ... this is different. Don’t you think there’s something magical going on here?”
“Like what?”
“Like ... I don’t know ... destiny?”
“You think we were destined to meet at summer camp, fall into puppy love and then meet again as adults?”
“I think it’s possible.”
I wanted to argue, but the words died on my lips.
“Oh, I can see your mind finally working,” Landon noted. “You’re starting to wonder, too. I never believed in that goddess you always pray to before casting a spell, but now I’m not so sure. I mean ... think about it.”
He moved closer and knelt directly in front of me.
“Maybe someone was leading us the whole time,” he said quietly. “Maybe this was always going to happen.”
He was so serious I instinctively gripped his hand. “I’ve always kind of believed that. You came into my life at the perfect time.”
“You came into my life at the perfect time, too.” He linked our fingers. “It’s weird to think about, isn’t it?”
“I think it’s kind of neat.”
“I think it’s kind of neat, too.”
That made me absurdly happy. “Maybe other things are meant to be besides us,” I mused, my eyes traveling back to the photo. I could see Mom and Chief Terry standing next to each other in the background. They were laughing and having what appeared to be a good time. “Maybe it’s all about timing ... and other things will work out once the timing is right.”
Landon followed my gaze. “Oh, geez. I thought you were going to let that go.”
“You just said things happen for a reason and some things are destined.”
“I meant us.”
“We’re not the only people in the universe.”
“No, but you’re going to stick your nose into Chief Terry’s private business and cause trouble. I just know it.”
“I’m going to make sure things end the way they’re supposed to end.”
“I can’t even ... .”
I squeezed his hand tightly. “You said it yourself. Some things are meant to be.” I flipped another page in the photo book with my free hand, turning to a photo that featured young Landon and me looking at one another next to the river as the sun rose. It was a beautiful photo that meant very little to me before I realized the true implications. “Maybe more than one thing is meant to be.”
Landon smirked at the photo. “You’re turning into a schmaltzy woman, Bay.”
“Yeah.”
“Yank out that photo. I want to frame it.”
“Now who’s schmaltzy?”
“Oh, sweetie, I’m the king of schmaltz. I can’t wait to show you later.”
Ten
“I want to go through Hopper’s house,” I announced as Landon and I walked the back path that led to The Overlook.
Initially we were going to get takeout and stay home, but my mother texted that they were having pot roast — one of Landon’s favorites — so our plans quickly changed.
“Why?” Landon asked, his fingers linked with mine. He was in a relatively
good mood after our discovery. Once his emotions settled, he grew to like the idea that we’d met as kids. In fact, he was obsessed with talking about it. This was the first time we’d chatted about something else in almost two hours.
“Because I figure that the good doctor probably broke up more than one marriage. I want to get a look at his patient records.”
“I can get those tomorrow if we can get the judge to agree. It shouldn’t take much to get him to sign off.”
“I want to do it tonight.”
“What’s the rush?”
“I don’t know. I don’t like the way he was acting when I questioned him about his treatment methods. He acted as if he didn’t do anything wrong. While he technically didn’t break the law, he definitely crossed an ethical line. I doubt very much he did it only once.”
“That’s a fair point. I need to get authorization to go through his patient files. That shouldn’t take long, two days at most.”
“If we follow the letter of the law,” I agreed.
Landon slowed his pace. “Wait ... you want to break into his house and illegally go through his files?”
“I want to magically slip inside and look at the files without taking them,” I clarified.
“How is that different from what I said?”
“Perspective.”
Landon pursed his lips. “Fine. We’ll break into Hopper’s house and go through his files. We have to be sneaky about it, though, so you can’t tell anyone what we’re going to do.”
“Why would I tell anyone?”
“You have a big mouth.”
“I do not.”
“You have a huge mouth.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m like the wind, buddy. I can get in and out without anyone knowing, and I’m so good at keeping a secret that I could be a spy.”
Instead of agreeing, he snorted. “Oh, you’re so cute I just want to kiss you.”
“You’re still feeling schmaltzy, I see.”
“That won’t fade anytime soon.”
“Good to know.”
AUNT TILLIE SAT ON the couch, her gaze focused on Jeopardy, when we entered through the back door of the family living quarters. She didn’t bother looking in our direction as she yelled at the screen.
“What is the Great Barrier Reef,” she barked at the television.
“What is the Taj Mahal,” Alex Trebek corrected.
“Oh, he’s full of it,” Aunt Tillie muttered as she flicked her eyes to me. “I didn’t know you guys were coming for dinner tonight. I thought it was just going to be Clove and her big book of marriage stuff.”
I snickered at her annoyance. “Mom texted to say there was pot roast.”
“And your Fed can’t live without pot roast,” Aunt Tillie surmised. “I should’ve seen that coming.”
“He’s a slave to his stomach,” I agreed.
“And, on that note ... .” Landon slid me a sly look and planted a quick kiss on the corner of my mouth. “I’m going to see what’s cooking in the kitchen. I’ll leave you two to ... I have no idea. I’m sure you have things to discuss, though.”
I knew exactly what he wanted to discuss, but I had no idea how to broach the subject. Aunt Tillie eyed Landon speculatively until he disappeared from the room, and then she shifted her eyes to me. “What was that about?”
“Something weird happened,” I admitted as I sank to the couch next to her. Now seemed the perfect time to bring it up. “Do you remember that summer camp we went to the year I was fourteen?”
“You went to a lot of summer camps.”
“It was the one Mom and Chief Terry ran. The one Rosemary attended because Aunt Willa got a bug up her butt that we needed to act like a family.”
“Ah, yes.” Aunt Tillie made a face. “The summer camp of annoying little girls. I remember it well.”
“There were boys there, too,” I reminded her. “They were across the lake. Chief Terry was in control on that side.”
“I vaguely remember that.”
“Well, I happened to be looking through the photos with Landon and he noticed something.”
“What?”
“He was in them.”
Aunt Tillie slowly shifted her eyes to me, her expression unreadable. “What do you mean?”
“He attended the same camp. He remembered going to camp as a kid, but not the specifics. We met there. I found photographs of us together.”
“Huh.”
“That’s all you have to say?”
“I’m sorry, what was the appropriate response?”
I wanted to throttle her. “You don’t find it weird that we met as kids, developed crushes on one another for a few days and then reconnected as adults?”
“No.”
“But ... it’s so weird. He didn’t grow up here.”
“You’re such a putz sometimes,” Aunt Tillie lamented. “It was summer camp, Bay. It’s not as if you guys fell in love and carried a torch for each other for fourteen years. You flirted — which is what you do when you’re teenagers — and then you went on your merry way.”
I deflated a bit. “So ... you don’t think it was destiny? I know that sounds ridiculous, but I was kind of wondering about it.”
“I didn’t say it wasn’t destiny,” Aunt Tillie countered. “I said it wasn’t some miraculous thing. Destiny plays a part in our lives every moment of every day. Do I think you and Landon were destined to find each other? Yes. I’m a big believer in karma and you guys deserve each other. You’re both bossy whiners when you want to be.”
I bit back a sigh. “Thank you for that.”
“You’re welcome.”
“I was being sarcastic.”
“You should practice because your skills are fading. You used to be much better at it.”
“Being sarcastic?”
“No, being a clown. See, that was sarcasm.”
I flicked her ear, earning a dark look. “I’m serious. Do you think Landon and I were always meant to end up together?”
“Yes.” Her answer was quick and simple. “I knew that the moment I saw you together for the first time. There’s more than one type of magic in the world, Bay, and what you and Landon found together is magical.”
“That might be the sweetest thing you ever said to me.”
“You’re still a putz.”
“That’s less sweet.”
“It’s the truth.”
“It kind of is,” I agreed, getting to my feet. “By the way, do you want to break into a dead guy’s house with me later? I wouldn’t ask under normal circumstances, but something weird is going on with his ghost and I want you to help me control him should the need arise.”
“What makes you think I can control a ghost?”
“You frighten people. That probably extends to ghosts.”
“Fair enough. There’s nothing good on television tonight, so yes, I’d love to break the law with you.”
MOST OF THE FAMILY was already settled around the table when Aunt Tillie and I made our way into the dining room. Landon had three slices of fresh bread in one hand and the pot roast gravy ladle in the other when he caught sight of me.
“I see you waited,” I said dryly.
“That was better sarcasm,” Aunt Tillie offered as she took her seat at the head of the table. “I expect that to be on display when we go on our adventure tonight.”
Landon slid me a sidelong look. “What adventure?”
Uh-oh. “Well ... .”
“She wants me to help her with Dr. Lovelorn’s ghost,” Aunt Tillie supplied. “She thinks he’s a liar and she wants to control him. She’s going to break into his house to do it.”
I pressed the tip of my tongue to the back of my teeth and steadfastly avoided Landon’s gaze.
“I see my spy has been hard at work,” Landon teased, shaking his head. “No one can crack you, Sweetie.”
“Do I even want to know what you’re talking about?” Mom asked, her tone laced with annoyance. “You’re
not going to get arrested, are you?”
“I won’t let her get arrested,” Landon replied. “I might punish her myself, but I don’t want anyone else to do it.”
“If that’s some sexual reference ... don’t say it at the dinner table,” Mom ordered.
“Fair enough.”
Desperate to change the subject, I focused on Thistle and Clove at the end of the table. “So ... how are the wedding plans coming?”
“They’re endless,” Thistle replied, her hair standing up in short spikes, making me think she had swiped it so many times during the day it had taken on a life of its own. “That’s all I’ve talked about the entire day. Veils. Trains. Flowers. I’m pretty sure I’ll have to kill myself if the conversation doesn’t turn to something more entertaining.”
“I happen to think my wedding is very entertaining,” Clove sniffed. “It’s the biggest day of my life, after all.”
Aunt Tillie made a derisive sound in the back of her throat. “It’s a party, Clove. The biggest days of your life are yet to come.”
“I don’t want to be a downer, but that’s kind of true,” Marnie hedged. “Wait until you have children. Then you’ll be able to say that every day is a new biggest day and mean it.”
“Well, that’s a bit down the line,” Clove snapped. “Right now I want to talk about my wedding. I’m sorry that you’re all bored with the topic, but it’s a big deal to me.”
“And here we go,” Thistle muttered.
“We want you to talk about your wedding, Clove,” I said hurriedly, pity for my sensitive cousin washing over me. To her, a wedding wasn’t simply a big deal. It was the only game in town and would be until the actual day. “You said you were thinking about having an outdoor wedding, right?”
“I am ... but Mom thinks that’s a bad idea because it might rain.”
“I thought Aunt Tillie could control the weather,” Landon noted, half his dinner already devoured. He was a food-oriented guy on a normal day but even I was impressed by his dedication to joining the clean plate club this evening. “Why can’t she just make it sunny the day of the wedding?”
Clove brightened considerably. “I didn’t even think of that. Good idea.”
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