Authors: Bekah Bancroft
Summer Camp Love: A Bekah's Clean Romance Story (Bekah's Good Clean Romance Stories Book 1)
Summer Camp Love
A Bekah’s Clean Romance Story
Copyright © 2016 by Bekah Bancroft
Published by BBancroft Romance
www.bekahbancroft.com
Cover art by Steven Novak
www.novakillustration.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Lissa pulled her little car into the parking lot. A sign out front read, “Hill Country Nature Camp for Girls.”
“Yup, this is the place,” she said to herself.
She hopped out of her Sentra and walked over to the door of a small building. The season hadn’t started yet, and she noticed there were only two other vehicles parked outside: a pickup and a big white Lexus.
“Wow, someone drives a Lexus to summer camp. I didn’t know the job paid that well.”
She smiled, and walked through the door.
The receptionist’s desk stood empty, along with the rest of the office. She looked around and couldn’t see anybody. A mirror hung on one wall and she paused to make sure her hair was in place. She was a dirty blonde, but her best friend Katie always tried to encourage her to bleach her hair. But so far she had resisted. She told Katie it always gets lighter in the summer, especially if she spent a lot of time outdoors and in a pool.
Lissa heard voices coming through a door behind the receptionist’s desk. It was open, and nobody else was around. She debated for a moment, then decided to seize the day. She walked around the desk and poked her head in the doorway.
“Hi!”
A girl jumped off the lap of a young man sitting behind the desk. The look of shock quickly wore off her face, replaced by a frown.
“Who are you?”
The girl seemed to be about twenty. She had perfect makeup and looked far better than Lissa felt. Even wearing a tank top, shorts, and flip flops, she seemed stunning enough to pose for a magazine cover. Unlike Lissa, this girl had bleached her hair blonde. And it looked good on her.
She prolly drives the Lexus,
Lissa thought to herself.
“Oh, I’m Lissa Jordan. I talked to somebody named Josh on the phone?”
“I’m Josh Sharper.”
The guy stood up and smiled, slightly embarrassed.
“It’s okay, Raven. I need to interview Lissa here for the camp counselor position.”
Raven gave Lissa a disdainful look as she walked out the door and sat down behind the receptionist’s desk.
“Shut the door, please.”
Lissa pushed the door shut, and struggled not to stick her tongue out at Raven, who shot her another dirty look.
Of course her name is Raven,
Lissa thought.
And there’s no doubt she drives the Lexus.
“So, uh, have a seat. We’re pretty casual around here.”
He chuckled, self-deprecatingly.
“I noticed.”
“What, you mean Raven? Yeah, she’s just affectionate.”
I bet she is.
“So, I checked your references and everybody says you’re great. You’re lifeguard and CPR certified. That’s good, we need that.
“Basically, we go three weeks in June and three in July. A lot of girls come in, mostly middle schoolers. Sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. A lot of them are from Austin and San Antonio. Some are from Dallas and Houston. We get a few others from around Texas. On occasion someone will come in from out of state, especially if their mom went here back in the day.
“We’ve got cabins that are sorted by age. The opening you applied for is in the older girls’ cabin. You’ll have a private room and bathroom. The girls sleep in bunks and share one large shower facility.
“There are some basic rules. You can never be alone with a camper. You always have to have at least two, and it’s best to have more with you. They should never be in your room.
“No cell phones or electronics. As you probably noticed, we’re so far out in the Hill Country that reception is terrible here anyway.”
Lissa nodded. She hadn’t had a good signal the last several miles while driving.
“In an emergency, if you climb on top of what we call ‘Mount Killjoy,’ the highest elevation in the campground, you can get a bar or two on your phone, depending on which carrier you use. If something comes up and you have to call or text home or something, we usually let staff bend the rules a bit. But day to day usage is a no-no.”
“Why do they call it ‘Mount Killjoy?’”
He laughed.
“Because getting to the top is the hardest hike we offer. But, if you really need to use your cell phone, that’s going to be where you can get a signal.”
She nodded again. It sucked to give up her phone, but she wasn’t surprised. Summer camp was about getting away from technology, after all, so it made sense.
“What else? Let’s see, you get three meals a day from the cafeteria. Free room and board. You get to spend time helping young girls grow and develop in maturity and learn about nature. Does that sound like a great way to spend your summer, or what?”
Lissa laughed at his enthusiasm. He was really cute with his thick brown hair and eyes. It was too bad that Raven girl had been all over him. But she could see why. He seemed to have a really muscular chest under his t-shirt. And his arm and leg muscles were thick and toned.
“Yeah, it sounds like a good summer.”
“Okay, great! Well then, you’re hired. Here’s a staff t-shirt. Be back here Monday morning at eight wearing it, and once you get settled in your cabin you can help out all the new campers coming in.”
They shook hands, and she said goodbye. She didn’t even let the frowning Raven dampen her mood as she walked out the door and back to her car.
The following Monday, Lissa drove into the parking lot at 8:00 am on the dot, only to find it half full already. Most of the cars pulling in had parents dropping off daughters. Out in front of the building she saw Raven and some other girls wearing staff t-shirts. Josh came out of the office and spoke briefly to one of them, then started to head back toward the campgrounds.
Lissa grabbed her bag out of the back seat, locked her car and ran after Josh.
He was walking at a brisk pace, carrying a walkie-talkie. She ran to catch up. He heard her coming up behind him and turned to look.
“Oh hey, there you are. Come on, I’m headed to your cabin. Maintenance says there’s a water leak over there somewhere. I’ve got to check on that, but I can show you around a bit beforehand.”
The path opened out into a large clearing with several buildings. They were built to look like mountain lodges, with lots of stone and rustic wood, and large scenic windows that offered splendid views of the landscape.
The Texas Hill Country is kind of a cross between low mountains and desert. The hills are not nearly high enough to be considered mountains, and the soil is not nearly dry enough to be considered desert. But the combination of the two makes for very pretty scenery west of Austin and San Antonio.
The campgrounds were built in a particularly scenic area, and Lissa took a moment to soak it all in.
“Yeah, beautiful, isn’t it? Wait until you go on a hike. This whole area is stunning.
“Okay, over there is the cafeteria. That’s the most important building, ha ha. The other large one serves as our central meeting and classroom facility, otherwise known as Harquart Hall. The Harquart family bought the camp years ago and paid for a lot of the upgrades you see around here.
“The pool and amphitheater are down that path. From there we’ve got several well-marked wilderness trails that branch off in all directions.”
Lissa looked out at a big open space, where a sidewalk led to a large square concrete pad with a circle painted on it.
“What’s that?”
“Oh, that’s our helipad. That’s mainly there to fly somebody out on a medevac if they get injured. It takes too long for an ambulance to drive out here.”
They walked a little further and came to three large buildings, connected by sidewalks.
“These are the cabins. The one marked ‘Explorers’ is for the youngest girls, the sixth graders. Seventh graders go in the one marked ‘Troopers.’ Eighth graders bunk in ‘Adventurers.’ That’s your cabin that you’ll be in charge of. Here, let me show you in.”
He opened the door to the large building. They walked into a common room filled with rustic wooden chairs and tables. Floor to ceiling windows reached up to a high, vaulted ceiling. Fans up there spun slowly, circulating the air.
“So, you can have meetings in here with everybody. Probably a good idea to have one tonight and spell out the rules. There’s books and board games on the shelves over there, in case anybody gets bored since they can’t have electronics. Through here is the sleeping area.”
He opened a door and Lissa saw several bunk beds spread out in a large room.
“We’ve got room for about fifty girls in each cabin. On occasion, someone has to sleep in one of the other cabins if the one for their age group is full. But, we try to maintain balance when registering them for camp so that shouldn’t be a problem.
“Okay, through here is the large shared bathroom. It’s only got showers, no tubs. Lots of sinks and stalls, though. And through here is your private quarters.”
He opened a door to a simple room that had a window, a single bed, a chest of drawers, a little closet, and a small desk with a lamp and chair. Another door opened to her private bathroom.
“Home sweet home for the next few weeks. Laundry facilities are coin-operated, if you need them. You’ll find the laundry room near the cafeteria. It has a bunch of vending machines, too, if you get a craving for a soft drink or something.”
He stopped, looked down into her eyes and smiled.
Gosh he’s cute,
she thought.
“Okay?”
“Okay! I’ll just leave my stuff here for now.”
She tossed her bag on the bed.
“Great. You can go out to the parking lot and help the girls find their cabins. Just ask what grade they finished, and you can walk them over. I’ve got go to check on that leak. I’ll see you at lunch!”
~~~
Raven glared at Lissa when she walked back to the parking lot. Lissa ignored her, mentally deciding to maintain a positive attitude today, come what may.
Soon, a handful of cars drove up, and several parents brought their daughters out. She smiled at a pretty young Hispanic girl.
“Hi, welcome to nature camp! I’m Lissa.”
“I’m Victoria.”
“Hi, Victoria! What grade did you just complete?”
“Eighth.”
“Awesome! You’re in my cabin. Let me show you where to go and you can pick out a bunk. Mom and Dad, take her stuff and follow me.”
~~~
When Lissa returned to the parking lot, she saw a large black Infinity SUV pull up. She went over to it as two cute girls stepped out, each with long straight black hair. One was a little shorter than the other.
“Hi! I’m Lissa.”
The shorter one answered for both.
“I’m Alexis. This is my big sister, Kylee.”
“Pleased to meet y’all! Now, which grades did you both complete?”
“I just got out of sixth. Kylee is going into ninth.”
Raven butted in, physically elbowing Lissa out of the way.
“Well, hello! You’re in my cabin, Alexis. It’s the best! Come on, I’ll show you to your bunk.”
She led Alexis off toward the cabins. Lissa smiled at Kylee, then at her parents who were just exiting the SUV.
“You’ll have to pardon my colleague, she’s a little over-enthusiastic about camp starting.”
The girls’ mom laughed.
“That’s quite alright. I remember my first day here almost twenty years ago. I’m Phyllis Schulmann. This is my husband, Ted.”
Lissa shook their hands.
“I’m Lissa Jordan. I’m in charge of the Adventurers’ cabin, where Kylee will be staying.”
They made small talk while Kylee went to the tailgate of the SUV, opened it, and pulled out two suitcases.
“Oh, let me help with you that.”
“It’s okay. One of them belongs to my sister.”
The Schulmann’s laughed.
Ted said, “That’s our Alexis, always forgetting things. I have to remind her to grab her backpack every morning before school.”
“Don’t worry about it, I’ll drop it off at her cabin after getting Kylee settled.”
~~~
Lissa grabbed a quick bite to eat in the cafeteria around noon, then rushed back out to the parking lot to help guide more campers as they came in.
Along about two o’clock, the steady of stream of cars began to taper off. By three, Raven and some of the other staff members began to joke among themselves. She walked over to where Lissa stood.
“Hey, noob. Somebody needs to stay out here and wait for late arrivals. Since you’re the new girl, you get to stay.”
“Okay. How long do I need to wait?”
“Somebody needs to be out here until at least ten o’clock tonight. I guess you’re it.”
With that, she walked off with the other staff girls, and Lissa stood alone in the parking lot.
~~~
About six o’clock, Lissa had checked in only four more girls. Josh walked out of the office, and saw her standing alone in the parking lot.
“Hey, what are you doing here? It’s time for supper.”
“Oh, Raven said somebody needs to stay out here to help guide people coming in late.”
“What? No, we’ve never done that. If they’re not here by three or so, they can just check in at the office. Come on, let’s get some supper.”
~~~
Lissa couldn’t believe that Raven had lied to her. Being snooty was one thing, but telling her to stay out there until ten at night? Unbelievable!
She followed Josh to the cafeteria. Most of the campers were already there, about 150 of them, eating and talking and making new friends.
Josh led her through the line, and they picked up meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and carrots.
“The meatloaf isn’t bad, really. We have it every Monday. You get used to it real quick.”
Lissa nodded and grabbed a glass of unsweetened iced tea to drink, then followed him over to the table where the other adults sat.
Raven looked surprised to see her there, but with Josh sitting next to her, she didn’t say anything. Lissa just ignored her, and spent supper making light conversation with Josh.
~~~
After assembly that evening, everybody relaxed and headed for their cabins.
“Lights out at ten!” Lissa called into the bunk room.
She heard some general grumbling and complaints. Someone said, “Awww!” But they were good girls, and everyone climbed into their bunks at ten when she hit the light switch.
Lissa stayed up reading a book (a paper one, since she wasn’t supposed to be using her phone), and heard quiet whispers in the dark as newfound friends conversed into the night.
She smiled and let it slide, remembering her own times at camp in years past. Around eleven she turned her lamp off and fell asleep.
