Page 6 of Class Clown

He had said all the right words, but I was still waiting to see if I’d somehow end up as his secret background director and run the camp for him while he frolicked in the reservoir and shot kids with water guns. We’d been down that path before. But the need to pay my bills had won out this time.

I shivered and received a cramping reminder that it was time to use the facilities. I crawled out of my bag, tugged on my freezing cold hiking boots, and made my way across the meadow to a big gathering area where Cole was standing near the camp fire pit, heating water on a grate over the flames.

“It’s been a long time since the two of us got to spend a summer together,” he said. “Cheers to this being amazing.”

I mean, I wouldn’t call it amazing so far. Amazing wouldn’t involve a cabin that required fumigation and having to camp under the stars in freezing temps. Oh, and did I forget to mention that I’d be sharing the infested cabin with my brother? Something he’d forgotten to tell me until last night. Apparently, when they’d found out we were siblings, they’d shuffled me in to bunk up with Cole and solved some sort of numbers issue by doing so.

Exactly what a thirty-two-year-old woman wants - to share bunk space with her twenty-eight-year-old brother. I sincerely hoped the stinky cave smell of teenage boy years had passed, because I wasn’t looking forward to having to spritz air-freshener all summer.

“It’s pretty here, I’ll give you that. It’ll be even prettier when you tell me all about the lovely flushing toilet nearby,” I said as I approached him, rubbing my hands together.

He rolled his shoulders and neck before looking over the field area where we’d camped. “Just think, pretty soon this field will be full of kids and counselors, having the time of their lives.”

I followed his gaze until mine landed on the log building he’d pointed out as ours. “Is there a bathroom in our cabin?”

“Sure is.”

“Oh my gosh, thank goodness.” I took a few steps in that direction and then remembered why we were out there in the first place. “What, exactly, needed to be fumigated?” I asked.

His eyes lit up in anticipation of my reaction. “Bed bugs and termites.”

“How splendid,” I replied, suddenly caring a little less about the ice still dangling from the ends of my hair. “Don’t these temperatures freeze them out?”

He shrugged. “How should I know?”

I puffed out a big breath. “Cole, the camp director should probably know that stuff.”

“Well, the director does know that you’d be better off using the toilet in the main lodge. It’s the biggest building and the sign over the door says ‘Bearadise’. Go in the front door, hook a left down the hallway, and you’ll find it. It’s right past the staff bunk area.”

I’d started walking, but at his last words I turned slightly. Which to address first. The fact that the name Bearadise made me ridiculously happy, or the fact that there were beds in there. Obviously, I went with beds.

“There’s a bunk room in the lodge?” I asked.

“Yeah. But the cook staff and maintenance crew sleep there.”

I bit my lip and gave him laser-beam sibling death eyes. “So, we could have slept in there?”

“The beds were all full.”

“Mmm-hmm. But the building is usable and we could have maybe put sleeping bags on the floor and been warm?”

“Now that you mention it . . .”

I threw my hands in the air and stomped away. Day one ofNotSummer of Love was off to a great start.

Chapter 2

Ruby’s Truth: Only about six percent of surprises are actually good.

I pulled my little red hatchback car into the space behind our cabin, parking where the insect control people had parked their van the day before, and took in my first close-up view of the place. It was square, made of logs, and had both a front and back porch – although the porches were only big enough for maybe one chair. Zero surprises there. It might have been fairly typical, but I found it exciting anyhow. I’d never summered in a cabin, and I planned to fully immerse myself in the experience.

When we’d been given the all-clear to move in, Cole graciously offered me the single parking space and I’d zoomed over so fast that the maintenance crew would probably need to lay more gravel down to even out the potholes I’d created. As a sister, I knew better than to hesitate and risk the offer being reneged. Also, as a sister, I had accepted his peace offering and didn’t make a lot of noise about the fact that I was currently sitting in a slightly damp t-shirt thanks to the ice that had been steadily melting from my hair and dripping down my back.

The day may have started out cold, but the temperatures were slowly rising as they always did in the mountains, and I wanted to get my things hauled in before the sun hit its peak in the afternoon. Even more than that, I wanted to shower away the camp fire smell I’d picked up while sipping that warm drink, and melt away any lingering ice particles. I needed a fresh body and dry clothing if I was going to make a good first impression on the other staff. And I really wanted to do exactly that. If I was going to spendthree months up here, away from my besties, then I was going to need to make some friends.

Cole and I were far from alone up here. This morning I’d seen other staffers moving around in the clear morning air. Across the meadow people were moving their things into cabins that would house the campers. On my side of the meadow, not far from mine and Cole’s cabin, more staff was working their way in and out of the Bearadise Lodge. There was a palpable cheer in the air as they waved, and hugged, and called out to each other.

I watched Cole bop around, cheerfully greeting them. He’d removed his coat and beanie and was wearing a bright neon yellow t-shirt and blue cargo pants, and they did absolutely nothing for his skin tone and build. I blew out a breath, amused. The fashion failure he’d been as a boy was still inside the man.

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