The Summer Place

CHAPTER SEVEN



SUMMER SAT AT THE TOP OF THE circle dressed as her fairy princess persona. The girls had been inordinately quiet since she came in, although a couple found the voice to apologize for the incident at the fire pit.

While she cleaned herself up, she’d tried to come up with a strategy that might turn the girls’ behavior around in one day. There was no guarantee it would work, but she had nothing to lose.

“So.” She moved her eyes slowly around the group, making direct eye contact with each girl. “An hour ago, I was poor Cinderella, and now I’m ready for the ball.”

A ripple of giggles passed through the group, and the wide-eyed stares relaxed, relieved she wasn’t angry.

“The last time I was here, we discussed our pretty hearts and what they tell us about our own special magic wands.” She paused. “Would anyone like to share something her pretty heart has told her?”

Greta’s hand drifted up slowly. “My pretty heart tells me we should be nicer to one another.”

Summer felt the smile break out on her face. She had so hoped someone’s conscience would make her feel bad about the boisterous behavior. She glanced around the room again. “And how can we be nicer to one another?”

Almost everyone’s hand went up and a flurry of answers ensued.

“We can take turns better.”

“We can be more careful not to step on people smaller than us.”

“We can share stuff.”

“All wonderful ideas,” Summer said. “We certainly have to learn to be careful when we’re in large groups in small spaces. I wasn’t hurt tonight, but think about what might’ve happened if there had been a fire in the fire pit.”

M&M raised her hand hesitantly. “You would’ve been hurt really bad.”

“That’s right. No one meant for it to happen, but it did happen. So what can we do to be more careful so another preventable accident doesn’t occur?”

Greta spoke up. “The boys are always in line. Maybe we need to line up more.”

Summer could hardly believe her ears. They wanted to line up? Maybe Tara was right about giving them some limits.

“And we could take turns being the first in line,” Braelyn offered, “so everybody would get a turn. That way the little ones won’t always get pushed to the back.”

Summer well remembered what that was like.

Although she hadn’t expected it, this was exactly how she’d hoped the discussion would go. She could feel her face beaming. “Great ideas. All of them. So how do we start?”

“We start with M&M because she’s the smallest.” Amanda seemed to be giving this some analytical thought. “We line up in the morning, smallest to tallest. And then we change each time until everybody’s gone first, and then we decide on a new way to line up.”

“Super!” Tara applauded. “And what about watching our manners like Mr. Rick said the first day? I think we need to be quieter when we’re indoors.”

“I think so, too,” Summer agreed.

While the other girls seemed agreeable, Shannon sat with her arms folded, frowning. She wasn’t buying any of this.

“Shannon,” Summer addressed her directly, “you aren’t happy about these plans?”

“It sounds like school,” Shannon huffed. “Line up. Be quiet. Don’t do anything fun.”

“We’ll still have lots of free time to play and have fun,” Summer assured her. “That’s not going to change. But we need to concentrate more on our fairy princess training. Sunday will be the end of our first week. So Sunday night, we’re going to choose which camper has made the most progress toward becoming a fairy princess by listening to her pretty heart. That person will get a special prize.”

Tara threw her a questioning look, and Summer winked in response.

“Now, to bed all of you. Dream about your pretty heart and listen to what it tells you.”

As the girls climbed into their bunks, Tara sauntered over. “Good job, but do you really have a surprise in mind?”

Summer kept her voice low. “My dad’s making some wands I was going to give out at the end of camp. But maybe doling them out one at a time will be a better incentive. I’ll ask him to bring a couple when they come up Saturday.”

Tara nodded. “No staff meeting tonight, by the way. Rick didn’t think you’d be cleaned up so fast.”

“I rushed. I had to start tonight trying to straighten up this mess I’ve created.”

“It’s not that bad. ...” Tara reassured her.

“Yes, it is. And I’ve got to rectify things before my parents get here.”

Tara gave a resolute nod. “We can do this.”

“Well, let’s hope so.” Summer looked around to find all the girls in bed. “Want to come over for some lemonade?”

“Thanks, but I think I’ll pass tonight. I’m beat, and I just want to go straight to bed.”

They tucked the girls in, and Summer left the bunkhouse. Sleep wouldn’t come easily tonight. Too many things happened today, and she still had a lot to think about concerning tomorrow. She needed something to make her worries more palatable, and she knew just the thing.

A healthy, organic chocolate chip cookie was calling her name.

* * *

RICK WAITED UNTIL ALL WAS quiet before he grabbed his folder. Tonight, he would make his notes about the kitchen. He took the shortcut through the dining hall.

Although the emergency light put out a glow, the kitchen at the back of the building would be too dark to see the numbers on his measuring tape, so he flipped the light on as he passed through the open door. His movement was met by a startled “Eek!” The wide-eyed fairy princess was caught literally with her hand in the proverbial cookie jar.

“Oh, my God, Rick. You scared me.” A becoming blush crept from the rounded neckline of Summer’s gown into her cheeks.

He had to think fast, hiding the measuring tape in the back pocket of his cargo shorts. “I had a hankering for some more cookies.” He had a hankering, all right, but Summer was by far the most delectable morsel around.

Her eyes cut to the file folder and narrowed. “You always bring inspection sheets with you to get a snack?”

He laid the folder casually on the shelf above the microwave and above her line of sight. “Just notes on some activities Neil and I discussed.” He shifted the conversation away from his lie. “You couldn’t resist, either?”

“I didn’t get any earlier.” She stepped away from the gigantic jar on the counter to give him access...or maybe to gain some distance from him. Again.

That little flicker of irritation he always felt when she was around flared. He’d told Charlie he would help her, and if he was going to do that, he had to get past his anger...and whatever the hell else it was that distanced them. He opted for a light approach. Looking her over thoroughly, he saw no sign of the soot that covered her earlier. “You cleaned up fast.”

“Fairy magic.” She pulled her wand from her pocket and he noticed a slight tremble when she held it up. Was she nervous? Because of him?

Nibbling on her cookie, she reminded him of some wild, skittish woodland creature, ready to bolt at any second. He had the urge to calm her by reaching out and brushing his fingers across her face. Or his lips across her mouth.

Damn it, this woman vexed him. Her presence turned him into a fickle lunatic...from Jekyll to Hyde in a matter of seconds. If there was ever going to be even a modicum of peace between them, he had to get something off his chest. He took a determined breath and tried to ignore the luscious, clean scent that filled the small space between them. “Summer, this afternoon when you came to Charlie’s office, you didn’t know I was there, did you?”

“No.” She fumbled with her skirt, unable to find the pocket for the wand.

“So you’d gone to Charlie to talk about me.”

She straightened and looked him directly in the eye. “To talk to him about replacing you.”

Her honesty took him aback, scraping off the protective layer of lust and exposing his aggravation again. “Why? What have I done that’s made you dislike me so?”

“I could ask you the same thing.” Her head tilted back, lifting her chin. “But since you asked first, I’ll tell you.” She swallowed the bite of cookie. “I thought you were too hard on the boys, and you were going to make them hate being here. If anybody wants to go home it could start a chain reaction and then my parents are going to suffer. When I heard Willard saying he hated this place, it was like confirmation of my worst fears coming true.”

“But he told us why he said those things.”

“I didn’t know that when I went to talk to Charlie.” She glanced down at the cookie, seeming to contemplate another bite, but laid it on the counter instead. “Anyway, it doesn’t make any difference now because it turns out I’m the screwup, not you. The girls are out of control, and I have tomorrow to get them turned around, or I’m the one who’s history.”

Her frankness doused his anger somewhat, but he stirred it, anyway. “Why didn’t you come directly to me?”

“Because you’re unapproachable. You’re evasive...like you’ve got some big secret you’re hiding.” She flicked her hand in the direction of the folder. “And you don’t seem to like me very much because...?” Her head tilted.

Hard as it was for him to admit it, the woman was extremely perceptive. Rick shrugged. At least her doubts about him were backed by her concern for her parents. His were pure prejudice. “Well, you’re the owners’ daughter, but not their first choice for the job, and you do have that wild-child image.” He waved his hand toward the costume she wore. “I mean, a grown woman pretending to be a fairy princess. It seems a bit bizarre to me.”

Her cheeks blazed a hot pink, which made her blue eyes deepen. “You don’t know anything about my business.”

Despite her pissy-ass answer, Rick’s gut told him they were making progress and he sure as hell didn’t want to screw it up now. He smiled. “I didn’t know anything about it until Tara shared a little about your healthy recipes.” He took a quick bite—“Damn fine cookies, by the way”—and was rewarded by a hint of a grin that made his breath catch. “She says, at your parties, you teach kids about eating healthy.”

Summer braced her hands on the counter and weightlessly hopped up to sit on it. “It’s not just about eating right, though. It’s all about empowerment for girls. Making good choices. The fairy princess shtick is just the gimmick I came up with.”

“Empowerment and fairy princess? The terms hardly seem appropriate in the same sentence. Why a fairy princess?”

“I’m the baby of the family and, as you and Charlie so aptly put it, a wild one. ...”

Rick’s body stirred as his mind played with new images related to the term.

“And I’ve always been small,” she added, which gave a dimension to his images that made him shift his weight to relieve the growing pressure. “So it’s harder to get people to take me seriously. I decided to use that to my advantage. Be the fairy princess that my size and voice are suited for, but—” her eyes twinkled, pulling him with their magic “—give them a message they don’t expect, and let the dichotomy work like a surprise attack.”

Hellfire and damnation. The little minx spoke with the spirit of a seasoned soldier. “And what’s the message?”

She pursed her lips in thought before she spoke. “As females, we’re taught we have to take care of everything and everybody, and sometimes it seems like the only way to do that is with the wave of a magic wand. But when we discover the magic within us—our wand is our talent, if you will—then we realize we can only do so much. We begin to accept the world and our limitations and keep the faith that other wands will take care of the things we can’t.”

The depth of her words left Rick intrigued and speechless for a few seconds. He wanted to keep her talking—about anything. “So tell me about the recipes. How did you come up with something this good yet still healthy?”

“There was a time I thought I wanted to be a nutritionist, so I started a major in that.” She seemed about to say something, but changed her mind and gave a shrug. “I lost interest. But later on, I took some classes under a pastry chef, and learned the basics. I combined what I learned and started coming up with my own recipes.”

A seed of admiration had been sown. Rick took in the tiara, the silvery wings, the pink dress. If the effect worked on him, a hardened marine—and he was definitely hardened at the moment—he imagined little girls would follow her without ever knowing they’d been recruited. “Well, it all works together nicely for you,” he said. “You’re enchanting.”

The twinkle in her eyes began transforming into a bewitching smolder before she glanced away. “Thanks.” She reclaimed her cookie. “And what about you?” She crunched off a bite. “Why all the macho stuff?”

Rick smiled. Her use of the term twenty minutes ago would have irritated him but now seemed to be part of her charm. “Discipline’s all I know. My dad was a marine. I’m the middle child and was a marine. Both of my brothers are still active-duty marines. Organization, discipline—they’re all I’ve ever known.”

Her head tilted in question. “How come you left? I mean, if your brothers are still in active duty...”

“I...” Rick wasn’t about to get into his personal issues. He shrugged. “I’d had enough.”

She seemed to ponder that—and him—as she swallowed the last bite of her cookie. Then, placing her hands to each side of her on the counter, she shifted her weight, leaning toward him slightly. Her pink tongue darted out to swipe the last crumbs from her lips, leaving behind a glistening trail of moisture that Rick had a hard time tearing his eyes away from. The air around them pulsed with an electrical charge, and his heartbeat took up the rhythm.

“It must be hard, living with all that pressure to be perfect,” she said quietly. He watched her eyes deepen again, and it wasn’t embarrassment that darkened their hue this time. “Don’t you ever just let go and do whatever you...um, whatever you want to do?”

Her eyes. Her lips. The way she leaned forward. Everything screamed of invitation. But in his thirty-four years, Rick had never kissed a woman the first time without asking. It was something a gentleman didn’t do. He leaned forward, his eyes locking with hers. “Summer, I’d like very much to—”

A whistled tune. Close by. Someone in the dining hall was headed their way.

Rick straightened and cleared his throat. “I’d like to help you get the girls under control.”

She drew back, looking like he’d slapped her. “Thanks,” she said curtly, and the irritation he’d grown familiar with returned. “But I think Tara and I will be able to handle it by ourselves.” She rubbed her hands together briskly as if demonstrating how finished she was with the conversation—and him—just as Kenny strolled into the kitchen.

“Caught ya,” the guard announced with a broad grin. “I saw the light and knew somebody was after cookies.”

Rick consciously unclenched his fists, which had tightened at the interruption. Sure as hell, what he’d almost gotten a taste of would’ve been sweeter than any cookie.

* * *

SUMMER’S HEART POUNDED a strange nonrhythm. Rick had been about to kiss her, she was sure. What she wasn’t sure of was if she wanted to thank Kenny or throttle him. Feuding parts of her cheered for both.

The grown-up part she’d been trying so hard to cultivate these past couple of years told her that kissing a guy she’d considered the enemy just a few hours ago was capricious and wouldn’t lead anywhere she needed to go.

The wild child was totally miffed, though. A good kiss—and she sensed this would’ve been on the superlative end of the scale—was one of the things that should never be passed up, provided it was between two people who had no other commitments.

Did Rick have a girlfriend? She hadn’t thought much about that—hadn’t allowed herself to think about him in terms of any kind of relationship. And just the idea she was thinking about it now scattered her thoughts willy-nilly.

Rick and Kenny began discussing the morning’s skunk encounter, and somewhere between the polar extremes of her thoughts, her mediator said to get out of there while things were in neutral.

“I’m going to leave the cookies with y’all,” she said when Kenny hesitated in his own skunk tale for a moment. “If I stay, I’ll only want more.”

“Yeah, me, too.” Something in Rick’s tone fractured the reserve she’d momentarily gained. Was he insinuating something, or was her imagination running away with her? Either way, she needed to get out of there. Immediately. She scooted to the edge of the counter to jump down.

Rick’s hands flew to her waist, lifting her. Involuntarily, her eyes swept up to meet his, and she saw her own frustration mirrored there. Time seemed to slow down as the press of his thumbs along her rib cage imprinted on her consciousness. She was still aware of where they’d been long after they were gone and he’d set her on her feet.

“Some for the road.” Kenny grabbed a handful of cookies and screwed the lid back onto the enormous jar before they all left the kitchen.

Her irritation and frustration coalesced into one manageable, meaningful mass, which grew with every step back to her cabin.

By the time she reached her door, she was carrying a weighted balloon in her chest cavity, and though she tried to mollify it, her “Good night” to Kenny and Rick was expelled on a petulant huff.

She closed the door, aching for the kiss that had been thwarted by Kenny, who’d made it his job—intentional or not—to be their chaperone...all the way back to her cabin.