Lighting the Flames (7 page)

He felt himself flush, his heart speeding up to push
more blood to his face, and elsewhere. He was going to have to take
his parka off again. There was probably steam rising off his
hair.

Gen blinked and barely
smiled at him, a tentative, confused expression he
wasn
’
t used to seeing on her face. She looked embarrassed that
he
’
d
caught her looking.

He smiled his regular,
happy grin. He wasn
’
t embarrassed, but he didn
’
t have a word for how
he felt. He moved closer to her, and her head tipped back so she
could look up at him. But he didn
’
t say
anything.

He tugged one of her
curls before heading out to find her some heat. Maybe he could use
the space heater in his room. He didn
’
t need any extra
warmth
—
not right now, anyway.

*

Wednesday, December
17, 2014
—
26 Kislev 5775

Evening
—
Maariv, second night
of Hanukkah

Later that evening, after sundown, the families were
back in their cabins preparing for bed, and he and Gen finally sat
down together. Neither of them had anything left on their to-do
lists, and they were both exhausted.

“
I
don
’
t think the activities are working well,
”
Gen said quietly.
The light from the fireplace shifted over her as she watched the
logs collapse in a shower of sparks. Her dark hair gleamed, the
light, like liquid gold, sliding down each curl.

“
I
don
’
t know, it looked like you guys were having a good time in
the art shack.
”

“
We
were, but there isn
’
t a lot we can do when it
’
s that cold, even
with the space heater
—
and thank you for that, by the
way.
”

He nodded, watching as
she turned to face him as she spoke. They were on the hookup couch,
which they
’
d pushed closer to the fireplace. He was still too warm,
though. He had on old, threadbare sweatpants and a T-shirt, but Gen
was wearing fleece pajamas over a long-sleeved shirt and leggings,
with giant knit socks on her feet. Plus, she was huddled inside one
of his hooded sweatshirts, her legs and arms tucked under the hem.
It was big on him, but it was so large on her the fabric barely
stretched even though most of her was inside it.

“
The
activities Scott has scheduled are too much like summer
camp,
”
she was saying, her voice very low. He stopped watching the
curving shadows on her face and listened to her voice.
“
I mean, I
know this is a summer camp, but doing
—
or trying to
do
—
the same things just
…
reminds everyone how
in the summer it
’
s a lot more fun and a lot less cold.
It
’
s
not the same.
”

Jeremy nodded slowly,
turning back to the fire for a moment.
“
Yeah. Trying to mimic
summer camp when there
’
s this much snow is
not going to convince anyone to get excited about next year.
They
’
re going to get excited about going home.
”

“
Exactly.
”

“
So
what did you hear during dinner? Anything?
”
They
’
d eaten at separate tables, a rare thing for them.
They
’
d each wanted to sit with different board members and try
to find out anything they could about Meira and its status for next
summer.

“
Very little. I sat near the new executive director, Glenn,
but he was with his family, so he didn
’
t talk business.
Another one of the board members stopped to chat with him, but I
didn
’
t hear anything meaningful.
”
Gen rested her chin
on what he assumed were her arms, folded inside his sweatshirt. She
could use it as a tent in the summer. Then he realized she was
waiting for him to speak.

“
I
talked to some of Nadine
’
s kids in the
kitchen
—”

“
Oh,
that was smart,
”
she said.

“
I
know.
”

“
So
modest.
”

“
Always.
”

Her grin appeared and
was gone in a flash, but it moved through him slowly, and he took a
breath before he spoke again.
“
Once Nadine left to
go have a smoke, I helped out with the cleaning and started talking
to Corey.
”

“
Corey? The one who never talks?
”

“
He
talks. Just not to girls.
”

“
Why?
”

“
They
’
re scary.
”

“
They
’
re scary?
”

“
Yes. Girls are scary to Corey.
”

“
They
are scary?
I
am
a girl, you know.
”

“
You
’
re not scary, though.
”

“
Does that mean I
’
m not a
girl?
”

“
No,
you
’
re a mutant. Now hush up and let me talk.
”
Her smile
reappeared, and made him feel warmer inside. He might need to
change into shorts. No, better if he didn
’
t.

“
Go
on.
”

“
He
said that Nadine has been asking Scott for weeks about when to
place the summer food order and what the projected numbers would
be, but instead of giving her ballpark figures, he
won
’
t give her anything.
”

“
That
’
s not normal. Scott is all about projected
figures,
”
Gen whispered. Scott and Rebecca were down the hall,
presumably asleep, but neither of them wanted to chance being
overheard.

“
Yeah, and it gets worse: Corey says his
mom
’
s mad about it now. If she can
’
t get a straight
answer out of Scott, she
’
s going to look for
another job. She won
’
t put her family
’
s summer income on
the line for someone who may flake out on her.
”

“
Oh,
no.
”

“
It
happened to her before. Corey told me. He was with her back when
Pine Lake closed. They shut down in late spring with no warning,
refunded all the camper deposits and fired all the staff at the
last minute.
”

“
I
forgot that she came from Pine Lake.
”

“
I
don
’
t know how their enrollment declined,
”
Jeremy said.
“
If she was
cooking their food, it would have been some fabulous eating. Woman
is a goddess of awesome in the kitchen.
”

“
Yes, and it
’
s totally the food that keeps campers coming
back.
”

“
Keeps me coming back.
”

“
Sure, it does. That and all the scary
girls.
”

“
Girls aren
’
t scary to me,
”
he said with a
grin.

When she
didn
’
t reply, he frowned. But she was looking away, into the
fire, and didn
’
t see him.

A short while later, she went to bed. Jeremy
followed her as far as the doorway to her room, then went to his
own. Her voice came through the thin particleboard between their
rooms wishing him good night, and he replied just as quietly.

But when he got into
bed, the springs on his cot were so loud he jumped in surprise.
Then he cursed, louder than he intended. Even his breathing made
the bed creak rhythmically, a truly embarrassing sound effect. He
heard Gen
’
s laughter, the sound so deceptively close he looked to see
if she
’
d opened their door. It was still closed.

Jeremy spun his
sleeping bag and pillow to the other end of the cot and lay down,
trying to stay still so his bed would shut up. He watched the thin
slice of light beneath the door and the moving shadows that broke
it into pieces. She was still awake. The shadows looked like Morse
code, a message that maybe she was as restless as he was, and
feeling as unsure, and as curious. Maybe she wanted to open that
door as much as he did and was just as wary of what waited on the
other side. He told himself he wasn
’
t being creepy,
watching the lines of her movement in a tiny sliver of light, but
he made himself shut his eyes before her light went out.

He was nearly asleep
when the door opened, and didn
’
t register that
she
’
d come into his room until her arm on his shoulder woke him
up with a start.

“
Jeremy?
”

“
What?
”
Why was she here? Was something wrong? Did his
sleeping bag cover him enough?

“
We
’
ve got three more nights, right?
”

“
Here?
”

“
Yeah.
”

“
Um,
yeah. I think so.
”
Math and date identification were not something
he could manage at that moment.

“
Let
’
s do something.
”

“
What now?
”
Wide-awake, he leaned up on one arm. Gen sat down
on the edge of the bed frame at the same moment, and their
movements made the bedsprings squeal. They both held their breath
as Jeremy put his hand on her arm to still her, and they waited to
see if anyone else was awake. Her eyes were a gleam in the shadows,
but it sounded like she was frowning at him when she spoke. He
leaned closer to her.

“
Say
that again?
”

“
You
heard me.
”
The gentle breeze of her whisper moved across his skin, and
it was nearly impossible to keep himself from moving even
closer.

“
You
want to
…
do what?
”

“
Do
something
—
do something
big
.
”

“
Define, please.
”
He tried to keep his voice level and
calm, like he was teaching kids how to climb to the treetops. If he
sounded relaxed and confident, they absorbed those same feelings to
help them climb. Of course, now he needed to convince himself he
was relaxed and confident.

“
Let
’
s do something huge, something totally unexpected, and
surprise everyone.
”

Jeremy leaned back
down slowly to keep his bedsprings quiet, folding his hands behind
his head. It would be freezing and awful to sneak out at night like
they usually did, but if she had a plan, he would follow
her.
“
Like what?
”

“
Not
sure
—
wait, what did you think I meant?
”

“
Anything, really. Hiring a circus. Landing airplanes on the
lake ice
…”

“
Seriously, listen to me,
”
she whispered, moving her face nearer
to his so he could hear her.