Page 29 of Camping with the Boss

“I like crossword puzzles,” George admits, although he sounds reluctant.

“No surprise to anyone,” Al mutters, and Wade glares at him.

“Anyone want to start us off?”

Lydia stands. “I should go first since I have so many letters in my name. It’ll be easiest for people to connect.”

“Great idea, Lydia.” And for a minute, I feel hopeful that this might work. Lydia spells her first name out on the ground.

“I’m not going next.” Owen motions to the cards. “There is literally nothing there for me to connect to.”

“I’ll go next, dear,” Sheila says in her Scottish accent. She’s petite. Is she even five feet tall? She connects Sheila to Lydia, sharing the last A in both names. “There you go.”

“I might as well get mine over with.” Al puts his A over the L in Lydia’s name. Vivian is up. She uses the I in Sheila to connect her name. After Owen adds his, the cards rustle a little.

There isn’t much wind at the moment, so that seems weird. George adds his name, and Jet is right behind him, connecting the Es, when the cards scatter. The breeze is coming from behind me. I turn, but now it’s calm.

“Are you okay?” Owen asks, but I’m distracted by Jet running after his cards. Al stands there with his arms folded as the cards flutter away. He’s such an asshole.

Whether we continue this activity or not, we still have to clean up our mess. I scramble to gather the remaining cards. Jet hands me his stack. “Thank you.”

“Should we try again?” Carol asks.

“What’s the point? It’s not gonna work,” Al says, unsurprisingly.

“Let’s use one piece of paper,” Ander says. Using the marker, he adds the letters that were already in place. Everyone huddles around the paper, adding their names.

It’s less effective, and I feel like the activity has lost its meaning,

Wade watches, almost expressionless. I can’t tell if he’s pissed or irritated or just done. Great. But at least he won’t fire me.

Our paper really isn’t big enough, but we cram all the names onto one side and make it work. I attempt my debriefing. “So this activity is supposed to be about how we’re all connected and depend on each other.

“Not how we scatter so easily at the first strong wind?”

Everyone laughs, and I smile at Al. Not to encourage him, but laughing is better than crying. I’m not sure I made much of an impact. What am I even doing here?

Wade squeezes the back of my arm at his favorite spot. “Do you want to do another activity?”

“Yeah. Sure.” But then I stop. It also involves notecards. Should I move them all inside? There isn’t any wind now. I rub my eyes and stare at the main hall. Wildflowers line the front, surrounded by rocks. It gives me an idea. “So this activity also involves index cards, but?—”

“Great,” Al says in a sarcastic tone. “Don’t expect me to chase them down.”

Owen laughs at this, and Dillian elbows him.

I open my mouth to explain how this will be different, but I don’t get the chance.

“Enough,” Wade says, storming to the front. The campers go quiet. I swear even the birds have stopped singing. “This is unacceptable.” He glares at every single person. This is bosshole Wade. I remember him. “You will respect Canyon, or you can leave—but don’t bother coming back. To the camp. Or to work.” He settles his glare on Al.

Oh Jesus.“It’s fine, Wade?—”

He turns his glare on me, and my mouth snaps shut. Not because I’m intimidated by him. I’m pissed. But yelling at him in front of his employees would just make things worse.

But I don’t step back, and I’ll take any win I can get at this point.

“Are we clear?” he says to his employees. There are various mumbles of “yes, sir” and most have their heads down. Sheila sighs. Al glares at the ground. Jared watches Wade, and I have a feeling he’s running through the legalities involved in torturing your employees. The IT guys tradeoh shitlooks. Ander…he’s gritting his teeth, and his entire body seems tense. Is he mad at the employees or his brother?

Doesn’t matter. I need to nip this behavior in the bud. Respectfully. “W—Mr. Darian, sir?” Can I speak to you for a moment? Please?” His eyes narrow. Yeah. Laying it on a little thick, but I’m practically shaking with anger, and I need to get him alone before I start yelling.

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