I held down the parking lot and found the rest of our staff’s locations via walkie. Lamar checked the zipline area. Sebastian, Azalea, and Bobby had all spread out. After five minutes, he was finally found walking in the woods at Delphinus pod by Nat. There were cheers, some choice words to a child who “should have known better,” and an order to head to the mess hall to have a breather as every staff, camper, and family member carried themselves as if they had a weight lifted off their shoulders.
I didn’t see my parents, and I fought the urge to run and hide. There was no avoiding the inevitable. Everyone was heading into the mess hall for family breakfast, and apparently, my parents got the memo because I found them talking with Hazel at the entryway.
“She’s a wonder,” Hazel was saying. “You have no idea how happy we were to find her. With Autumn’s logistical mind and quick thinking… She’s such a great assistant director. We’d be lost without her.”
Assistant director? I’d never heard that job title before. Ilikedthat job title, but we didn’t exactly have business cards. I didn’t care. I was going to get them made. I’d hand them out to squirrels if I had no one else to give them to.
Hazel went on. “Autumn told me you’re a sales manager, Mr. Gardner. Tell me you were the one who taught her to use spreadsheets because no human should be as good at them as she is. I assumed she learned it in the cradle.”
He laughed. “We did have some sessions when she was a preteen so that she could organize her schoolwork.”
That we did. It was a surprisingly happy moment in my childhood that I looked back on, not that there were many bad moments. But we hadn’t had tons of time together when I was younger. They’d both been so busy that I had to get organizedor I would have floundered or, worse, needed to have my hand held.
“You’ve got quite a resort here,” my stepmom observed. “We’ve only seen a bit, but it looks like a place even I’d like to visit and”—she leaned over to whisper—“I hate the outdoors.”
Hazel did a full belly laugh and tapped my stepmom on the shoulder. “You’re invited any time. We have plenty of bug spray.”
That made my stepmom wrinkle her nose, which led to another laugh.
“Why don’t you go get some food and I’ll be right there?” I tilted my head toward the breakfast bar, and they did as asked. That left just me and Hazel.
Hazel smiled. “Didn’t mean to force your hand there but I think it’s time for a title bump, don’t you?”
“I mean…”
“With this potential expansion for Camp Starlight TBD, we’ll need extra help running things. I have no idea what starting another venture simultaneously will be like, but we know we can rely on you to help us see this through. There will be a pay bump of course. And with that will come different responsibilities—things you frequently take up on your own anyway, so if you’re interested…”
“I’m interested! I’d love to do more.”
“I hope you realize we couldn’t do any of this without you.” She grabbed my hand and squeezed. “You are integral to the running of this place, and we enjoy having you here. We love you, Autumn.”
Warmth filled my chest. I swallowed and nodded without saying anything. It made me think back to the early days when we were setting up camp. When Jack, Hazel, Leo, and I lived in tents until we had Jack’s cabin up and running for us to sleep in. Before we had functional spaces for each of us, we’d stayedin what was known as the bunk cabin and slept in the same room. They were some of the best moments of my life, staying up telling ghost stories and giggling like we were at an actual slumber party until we inevitably crashed early. They were messy and exhausting days, but they were also fun. Nothing bonds a team quite like sharing the same bathroom.
“I’m gonna go tell Diego’s kid to get off that table. The apple clearly doesn’t fall far from the tree.” She laughed. “Now I wish I’d thrown Diego into the lake like I threatened.” In true Hazel fashion, she sounded completely serious. And how many people did she threaten to throw into the lake?
I was stunned. Not about the kid on the table but about my new role. This was more than I’d hoped for. We’d been solvent for a few years, but now there was a second camp, which hadn’t even been on my horizon. And to have this new role added to our staff. I’d felt like a partner in this venture, sure, but now I was going to get more responsibility, more buy-in. It made things feel more concrete. I didn’t know if I realized it before today, but I’d always been worried that this would be taken away, even now.
I didn’t even pay attention to what I loaded onto my plate, finding my stepmom and sitting next to her in a daze.
“That was quite a spread.” She took a bite of bananas foster French toast and placed it delicately on her fork. “You sure your camp can afford this, honey?”
“Yes, Mom, we can afford it.” I tried to hide my annoyance. “Where’s Dad?”
“He went to say hi to Jamie.”
Fuck.I scanned the room and found them by the kitchen shaking hands.
“So, are you seeing each other again? Is that why he’s here?” She didn’t look excited or disappointed. Just curious.
“No, he’s here as a guest. It’s a coincidence.” They seemed to be having an easy conversation. There were no angry faces. Then I thought about it and realized there was no reason for either of them to be angry. I just felt like I was a kid again. I thought a decade would be enough of a gap for me to move on from that feeling, but it wasn’t working with my dormant feelings for Jamie either, so…
“That’s some coincidence.”
If she only knew.
“What are you doing here, Mom?” I asked again, trying to sound as interested as possible, rather than annoyed at the fact that they’d just dropped in without asking.
“Oh, we were visiting the wineries in Emerald Falls and decided to come around the mountain to see where you worked. Today might not have been the best day, though. I’m sorry we didn’t ask first.”