Unlikely Allies (11 page)

"Like this
,
Kimmie
?" one of the younger boys asked, making me sigh. It seemed inevitable that I would be "
Kimmie
" for the rest of the summer.

"Yes, Dennis, just like that," I said, smiling at his misshaped clay bowl. "It looks wonderful
,
dude," I said, ruffling his hair before it even registered. I was amazed at the ease I felt with the kids in just a few days. The ineptness I had felt earlier had all but disintegrated.

My affection and praise had him beaming at me as he raced to the shelf to set down his new prized possession before he headed off for his last lesson of the day. I cleaned the tables to get the last remnants of the clay off the tables before my girls showed up for my last class of the day. I couldn't help smiling at my possessiveness over them. In just a few short days I had already come to think of them as mine. Life at camp was definitely better than I would have ever thought, marred only by the silence of one. Since our confrontation the day I discovered the truth about Quinn, Mason and I hadn't shared another word. I kept my distance from him and trained myself to refrain from looking in his direction, no matter how badly I wanted to.

"
Kimmie
," my girls yelled, bursting through the door in their usual exuberant way. Most of them rushed over to hug me like they hadn't seen me in days. Only Alyssa refrained from the hug-fest.

"Hey,
Lyssa,
how was archery?" I asked, setting the stack of colored tissue paper on the table.

"Fine," she answered, no longer bristling at my questions.

In the beginning, I thought she would balk at the nickname I had chosen for her, but much to my surprise, she seemed to like it. She never actually told me so, but the first night I overheard her correcting Parker when she called her Alyssa. She had informed her that it was Lyssa from now on. I was proud of myself, thinking I alone had broken through her shell. Of course, she burst that bubble when s
he continued to snub me
.

"At least you're making more progress than the rest of us," Amy said admiringly anytime she was around to see it firsthand.

I was still frustra
ted I couldn't break through
Lyssa's
wall completely, but I wasn't giving up.

"Did you show up the boys?" I asked.

She nodded, flashing me a rare grin before ducking her head down to read the open book on her lap. The first da
y I had tried to engage her with
the art project, but saw her instant withdrawal and backed off.

"Can we make flowers again today,
Kimmie
?" Parker asked.

"Sure, we're going to make ones with more sheets today.
You up for the challenge?"

"Heck yeah,
" she squealed, hurrying off to the table to join her friends.

"Okay girls, we're going to do the same flowers as last week, but today I'm going to show you how to make ones like this," I said, holding up the sample flower I had made
that was roughly the size of a F
risbee. "You'll be using
twelve sheets of tissue paper, s
o pick your favorite colors. The key to t
he bigger flowers like these is
to keep your
folds smaller and more concise.
"

"
Ohhhhhh
,
I want that one," Frances, one of the younger girls
,
declared, eyeing it.

I laughed. "I'll show you how I made it and yours will be even better than mine," I promised. I glanced around the table and saw all of them watching me with rapt attention, including Lyssa. It was a unique feeling to have younger kids eating up what I
had to say, and made me second-
guess my career choices.
Maybe I had a future in teaching.

Amy joined me after the last rotation of the day as I was putting supplies away. "So guess what? We're having an after-hours campfire tonight," she declared, dramatically sitting on top of the table I was cleaning off. She lifted her butt as I swiped the rag where she was sitting.

"Um, has it been approved through the boss?" I asked, not keen on the idea of breaking the rules when I was just beginning to fit in.

"Duh, it was his idea. He said it's a treat for all of us, since everything has been
running so smoothly. He said he
and Louise will check on the campers while we party it up
,
baby!"

I raised my eyebrows at her.

"Okay, so I may be paraphrasing, but you get the gist. We're off babysitting duty for the night
,
sweets," she said enthusiastically, hoping
off the table to give me a one-
armed hug.

"Sooo, are all the counselors coming?" I asked nonchalantly as I turned out the light before we headed out the door.

"Yes, Miss Avoidance,
everyone
will be there," she said, making her point clear. "And you
are
going, even if I have to kick your askish all the way from our cabin.
"

"Whatever," I sighed. I had been avoiding Mason like the plague, but knew I would eventually have to face him. I wasn't the kind of girl that normally hid from anyone, let alone a sarcastic ass. I was disgusted at myself for letting him dictate my life.

"Fine, but I don't want to sit anywhere near his smug self," I grumbled as we made our way to our cabin to clean up before dinner.

"Don't worry
,
my sista from another motha, I got your back," she teased, nudging me with her hip.

"Right, like I don't see your ploy."

"What?" she asked, feigning innocence.

"Um, let's see he's tall, has long auburn hair, eyes that could only be described as bedroom eyes and oh yeah, grins like a goon anytime you're around."

"Travis and I are just friends," she protested for the hundredth time over the last few days.

"
Right,
and I'm married to Channing Tatum," I teased.

"How can you be sure he doesn't just think of me as a friend?" she asked in a voice filled with insecurity.

"Because
,
Silly Nilly, those sexy eyes of his light up the instant you enter a room
," I said
.

"How come I don't see it?"

"Because some meek spirit from the Victorian era takes over your body anytime he's around. I swear
,
you be
come a shy, blushing girl who's
hardly recognizable. I was tempted to do a séance last night after your body was taken over yet again."

"
Gahhhhhh
, I know. I don't know what is wrong with me."

"Face it, you're smitten," I teased.

"Smitten?" she said, making a face like it was sour word.

"I figured your inner Victorian spirit would relate better to that term," I said, dancing out of the way as she took a swing at me.

"Shut it," she said, laughing with me.

"Hey, at least you know Travis likes you," I said sourly.

"So you say," she said, still not ready to accept it. "Besides, I still think Mason is harboring a secret desire to do the nasty to you," she quipped, racing to the cabin when I swung at her this time.

"As if," I muttered to myself.
More like, has the desire to pitch me off a cliff.

Dinner was the usual noisy affair as the campers compared their days and caught up. I was in my customary
seat, sandwiched between Rick and Amy, with Travis and Mason sitting directly across the round table from us.
Meal
time had become my own personal hell anyway. If I wasn't working to avoid meeting Mason's continuous glare, I had to watch Travis's starry-eyed gazes at Amy, and her blushing shy metamorphosis. I mean, seriously?

"Are you excited about your night off?" Rick asked, buttering a roll before dipping it into his hearty stew.

"Yeah, it should be fun," I said, still not completely convinced.

"They're always a hit," he said, taking a swig of iced tea. "Of course, you guys might get rained out when the cold front moves in tonight," he added.

"Cold front?"
I asked. The last few days had warmed up significantly, and for the most part, a hooded sweatshirt was all I needed.

"Yep, looks like Mother Nature wants to give us one more blast of winter before she lets go."

"But it's almost the third week of June," I protested, hating the idea of wearing the heavy parka again.

"Welcome to global warming," he said, laughing at the irony that we were getting the exact opposite of warm. "Don't worry though, if you guys are lucky, maybe i
t will hold off until your camp
out is over."

"I hope so," I said half-truthfully.
Getting rained out seemed like the perfect excuse.
By the excited chatter around our table that night, I could tell my feelings were solitary.

"You don't sound very enthusiastic," Rick stated.

"I was just contemplating the idea of wearing my parka again just when I thought I was going to be able to bury it," I lied.

He laughed. "Yes, I've noticed cold weather doesn't seem to be your thing. You're a California girl through and through," he said.

"Not really," I said, kicking myself. I had made it my goal to fit into Rick's world as much as I could. Bitching about the cold weather wouldn't go a long way in helping my cause.

"
Kimmie
, there's nothing wrong with preferring a certain state," Rick said quietly.

"I want to fit in, in this state," I said looking down, not liking how vulnerable I felt.

"You're doing amazing," he said, reaching over to squeeze my hand. "You've adapted wonderfully to this lifestyle, better than most people thrown into the same circumstance," he added.

I flushed with pride at his words. "Thanks
,
Rick. It really is an amazing camp
,
and the kids are great," I said, letting my gaze linger on Lyssa and Quinn who happened to be sitting together at the next table over.

"Yeah, it's hard not to get attached," he said, turning serious as he followed my gaze.

"Everything okay?"
I asked, puzzled by the
sudden tension radiating off
him. I wondered if it was because a boy and girl were sitting next to each other.

He sighed and lowered his voice.
"
I got a call from Alyssa's court advocate and the loony-ass judge has granted her father temporary custody again, effective immediately," he said grimly.

"What does that mean?" I demanded, not liking the sound of it.

"It means they're coming to get her tomorrow," he said, defeated.

"What?" I screeched, pissed beyond further words.

"
Shhhhhh
," he said, trying to quiet me down as everyone in the dining hall turned to look at me. "She doesn't know. Louise and I plan on telling her after dinner and we want you and Amy to join us."

Uncharacteristic tears filled my eyes. The judge was a moron.
What the hell was he thinking putting her back with her father?

"That sucks ass," I said, not bothering to watch my language in front of him.

"I know," he sighed. "But
it's our job to make it as easy on her as we can."

I nodded my head, knowing he was right. "We'll be there," I said.

"Good, I knew I could count on you," he said, squeezing my hand one last time.

I turned my gaze from his and found Mason studying us with interest. For the first time in days, I didn't glare at him. Right now, our apparent animosity toward each other seemed
silly. We were insignificant in the whole grand scheme of things.

I pulled my gaze from his when Amy said my name on the other side of me.

"What was Rick saying about Alyssa?" she asked quietly.

"They're sending her back to her dad tomorrow," I whispered back.

"Mother of focking hell, are you kidding me?" she hissed.

"I wish," I said miserably. "Rick wants us to join him and Louise when they tell her."

"Of course, but dang it to hell," she said.

"I know. Hard-Knock G
irl strikes again," I added.

The rest of the meal passed quickly as the three of us contemplated the impending unpleasant task ahead of us. When the meal was over, Amy and I headed over to Lyssa.

"Hey girlie, we need to talk with you for a few, okay?" Amy said.

She looked at us apprehensively and I tried to smile at her reassuringly, but it came out more as a grimace. Together we headed to Rick's cluttered office.

Amy and I perched on the small loveseat on the far side of the room with Alyssa sandwiched between us. Rick sat on the corner of his desk while Louise leaned against the wall looking like she wanted to strangle someone.