This wasn’t the stuff he was good at. Back in the day when he didn’t have a care in the world, he loved ‘em and left ‘em not giving a damn who he hurt along the way. He used his looks and fake charm to get the girls; there was never a shortage in high school or in his early twenties.
Mostly, he used women to drown out the reality of his life.
He dropped his and Gina’s shoes on the counter and shoved his hands in the front pockets of his jeans while he waited for the women to catch up to him.
Charlie dropped her and Liv’s shoes on the counter. “I thought maybe Olivia would like to go out for ice cream or something. As a final little birthday treat.”
“She’s managed to make this birthday last for two weeks. You’re spoiling her.”
“She deserves to be spoiled.”
That, she did.
“I’m sure she would love to.”
“Olivia,” Charlie turned to her and took out her keys. “How about some ice cream? Losers treat.”
“Can we Owen?” She tugged on the hem of his T-shirt.
“Sure.”
“Oh. You know what? I remembered I have to get some... things for the kitchen before our next campers come. Would you mind bringing Gina home after?”
“Charlie,” Gina said. “Owen doesn’t need to go out of his way. We can do a raincheck on the ice cream.” She fidgeted with the cuffs of her long sleeves, clearly as uncomfortable as he was.
“No. I want to go to ice cream tonight.”
“Liv. Don’t be rude. Gina and Charlie have work to do. It was nice of them to come out tonight.”
“I don’t want to spoil the entire evening. Besides, Gina lost the bet. She owes you an ice cream.”
“Bet?” He and Gina said at the same time.
“Sure. Every game is played with a bet. We just happened to make this one after the game.”
“Charlie.” Gina didn’t sound happy about the apparent set up either.
“I don’t mind bringing you back.” He did his best to feign a smile in an attempt to make the situation a little less awkward.
The entire evening had been the exact opposite of what he’d prepared himself for. He figured he’d be fighting off his urges to kiss Charlie, and instead he’d been fielding her poor matchmaking attempts.
“You don’t need to do that.”
“Will you come with us if Charlie can’t?” Liv asked.
Gina glared at Charlie for a moment, obviously annoyed and embarrassed with the forced matchup, and returned her gaze to Liv with a smile. “I’d love to sweetie.”
“And then you and Owen can talk about a day for me to make a fairy house.”
“Perfect,” Charlie said with a mischievous smile. “Happy birthday again, Olivia.” She kissed the top of her head and gave her a hug. “Have fun you two.”
Her smile was big and wide but didn’t quite reach her eyes like her smiles had the other night at the Beckett’s house.
“After you.” He motioned to the door and followed Liv and Gina to his truck.
Liv was a constant chatterbox, which helped with the awkwardness in the front seat. He pulled into their favorite ice cream stand and let the girls place their order before asking for his rocky road on a sugar cone.
They ate their ice cream at one of the picnic tables knowing they looked like a family of three enjoying an evening together. He stayed quiet right up until he started to turn down Brooke’s driveway.
“Keep going down the road to the camp.”
“You don’t want me to drop you off here?”
“No. Charlie and I are staying in the director’s cabin. Even Brooke stays with us when the campers are here.”
“I knew that, but I figured you stayed at her house on your nights off.”
“We know Drew likes his privacy and we don’t want to intrude.”
He’d mentioned the same at dinner, but also told Owen about the downstairs living quarters where Charlie and Gina spent a lot of their time. He figured tonight was one of them.
“So, Charlie’s been alone at the cabin this whole time?”
“Not if she had errands to run.”
“And now you’ll be alone.”
“We can handle ourselves, but we appreciate your chivalry.”
“Chivalry has nothing to do with it.” He turned down the camp road, upset when he saw Charlie’s car. “She shouldn’t be here alone. Not with the threats and arson last year. Anything could happen to her.” He spoke more to himself than to Gina.
“Westleigh is locked up. The camp is safe, and Drew isn’t far away if we need him.”
Owen was thankful for the dark sky so she couldn’t see how deep the worry ran. In his life, no one was ever safe from evil. Bad people lurked everywhere, which was why he kept Liv close.
He parked his truck in the visitor lot. “Stay here, Liv. I’ll be right back.”
“I want to say hi to Charlie.”
“You saw her an hour ago.”
“I can walk myself to the cabin. No need to get out. Thanks for the ice cream.” Gina reached for the door and shot out of the truck.
The interior light filled the cab. While Liv covered her eyes, he called back to her. “Stay put. I’ll be right back.”
He hopped out and followed Gina in the light from the truck’s high beams. “Gina,” he called after her.
“Really. I’m fine.” She had her hand on the door to the cabin before he could get to her.
He waited outside the cabin and scratched the back of his neck. “You ladies okay in there?” he called through the thin walls.
“Go back out there,” he heard Charlie say.
“Shh. Enough already. You and I need to talk,” Gina said in a hushed whisper.
Knowing they were safe, he tucked the little pride he had left in his back pocket and walked backwards to the truck. “Have a good night, ladies.” Without waiting for a reply, he jogged to his truck and headed home.
“Thank you for bringing me bowling, Owen. And for ice cream. I had the best time.”
His sister’s happiness was worth more to him than a night of misconceptions and embarrassing matchmaking attempts.
Even if he couldn’t have the woman he wanted, at least he had Liv.
CHAPTER TEN
It had been two weeks since the bowling double date failure and not a word from Owen. Charlie had received daily texts from Olivia, who kept her up to date on the regulars at the Black Fly diner and the specials she wanted her mom to add, and how often she slept at her brother’s house.
Charlie wasn’t sure what concerned her the most: an eleven year old girl left to either entertain herself or work at a diner all day, or a mother who would leave her young daughter alone at night. No wonder Owen was at his sister’s beck and call.
A few nights ago, Olivia texted saying her mother hadn’t returned home yet, and it was almost eleven o’clock. Charlie called Olivia and asked her for her address so she could pick her up, but car lights had come down the driveway. She stayed on the phone until Olivia could confirm who it was.
When she saw it was Owen, Olivia had hung up. Olivia texted in the morning while she was bored at Owen’s work site. Another place not suitable for a little girl. It wasn’t her place to pry but the more she learned about Olivia’s life, the more she worried.
“Hey,” she greeted Gina when she returned from her nightly shower. “Has Olivia texted you today?”
“No, but she’s only sent me a few messages the past week. Why?”
They’d talked about her texts, but Charlie hadn’t expressed her worries to Gina. She’d realized early on how much Owen valued his privacy. He’d be annoyed and embarrassed to learn his sister had been texting Charlie about their mother.
Granted, Olivia didn’t say much regarding her feelings or how her mother treated her. She kept her texts to the facts.
My mom’s working and I’m bored.
My mom is at the diner and I’m home alone.
Owen brought
me to McDonald’s tonight.
My mom is at the diner and I’m stuck clearing and wiping tables.
I’m sleeping over Owen’s tonight.
Charlie didn’t push for more details and instead changed the subject to recipes and their favorite movies. Her fingers itched to call Owen, to check on him, to see how she could help. If she believed he’d appreciate her concern, she would’ve contacted him.
Gina hung up her towel and slipped a sweatshirt over her T-shirt. It didn’t matter the July night was a humid and balmy seventy degrees. Even around her friends, she kept her scars hidden.
“Have you heard from Owen?” Which could explain the radio silence as well. The two of them could be having an affair, and Gina could be keeping quiet so Charlie’s feelings wouldn’t get hurt.
Not that she had feelings for Owen.
Nope. He was off limits now.
“Not today. Again, why?”
Not today. So, they had texted. This was what she wanted, she reminded herself. “I worry about Olivia home by herself all summer.”
“Owen and I talked about the same thing a few days ago.” Ouch. Which meant there were secret conversations. “He’s bringing her by in the morning.”
“To hang out with our campers? Is Brooke okay with that?”
“Actually, it was her idea.”
Another pang of jealousy twisted in her chest. Not only were Gina and Owen having secret conversations, but Brooke was involved as well. And they were making plans with Olivia.
And not Charlie.
“Since this weekend is about low income, single-parent campers, we figured Olivia would fit right in. We don’t know her mother’s economic status and didn’t feel comfortable asking Owen about it, so we only mentioned the single parent thing.”
“And he was okay with it?”
“Not at first. I could tell he’s been stressed lately not having as much time with Liv. His current worksite has been a disaster.”
“Wow. Sounds like you and Owen have been hitting it off quite well. You guys plan your next date yet?” Charlie hoped the cracking in her voice didn’t ring as loudly in the cabin as it did in her ears.
“We were trying to set up a time for Liv to make her fairy house. I suggested she join the camp this week since they’re one of the projects. The timing worked out perfectly when one of our registered campers came down with pneumonia earlier this week. Brooke called the next two girls on the waiting list, but it was too short of notice for them to come. The stars all aligned for Liv, I guess.”
Liv, Liv, Liv. Now she sounded like Owen. The two were perfect for each other.
Charlie set her jealousy aside and focused on her best friend. No, jealousy was too harsh a word. It’s what she wanted for Gina, really, it was. Envy didn’t sound as bad. She envied what Gina had and was truly happy for her.
With Owen, Charlie didn’t have to worry about her friend being mistreated or ridiculed for her scars. He seemed to have some scars of his own, even if they weren’t visible to the human eye.
“That’s wonderful. I’m sure she’s super excited to come. She’s never been to a camp before.”
“Yeah. Owen mentioned her not having any girlfriends. Hopefully she can make some connections.”
Owen said. She knew Gina wasn’t trying to rub her new relationship in her face. In fact, it was the opposite. By her staying quiet about all her conversations, it showed she was being sensitive to Charlie’s feelings.
Again, not that she had any.
“Which brings me back to my earlier question.” Charlie slid into her sleeping bag and fluffed up her pillow. “When’s the next date?”
“We haven’t... he hasn’t said anything about a date.” Gina climbed into her sleeping bag and reached across to the little side table between their beds and shut off the light. “We mostly talk about Liv.”
It was pretty much the same when she and Owen were talking as well. Charlie wanted to be relieved but her loyalty to her best friend won out.
“He seems to be the shy type. You should ask him out.”
“Me?” Gina laughed. “I don’t think so.”
“Why not? It’s obvious he likes you.”
“Obvious how? He’s making polite conversation about his sister. Hardly a romance.”
“That’s how it all starts. First, you’re friends, then your hands touch in passing, next it’s the frequent glances your way, the smile you didn’t know was on your lips when you see each other.” She curled into a tight ball in her sleeping bag. “The first kiss.”
The kiss she gave Owen a few weeks ago wasn’t a romantic one. At least, it wasn’t supposed to be. Charlie was a flirt. The kiss was one hundred platonic and meant absolutely nothing to her.
It couldn’t, because it would hurt Gina and the last thing she wanted to do was hurt anyone. She’d been raised with selfish love and refused to be a product of her upbringing. Other people before herself.
Always.
“If I didn’t know you any better, I’d say you were turning into a romantic in your old age.”
“Hardly.” She snorted. “I’ve been spending too much time with you. Besides, the romance gig is all for you. I’m trying to set a girlfriend up. This crap isn’t for me. I’m in it for the sex.”
“Uh huh.” Gina didn’t sound convinced.
“You’ll see. You and Owen are two peas in a pod.” She figured the more she said it out loud the easier it would be to let the fantasy of something happening between her and Owen dissipate into thin air.
CHARLIE GOT A RUSH out of signing in new campers and seeing their excited—and nervous—little faces. They’d done this routine eight times now and it still didn’t get old.
The past few weeks they’d catered to medical and dietary needs, and one weekend with children who had a family member deployed. This week would be different. None of the children had any glaring medical needs, and besides one lactose intolerant camper, no major special dietary needs.
There weren’t extra medical staff this week. Only the one volunteer nurse. Brooke struck gold there. The nurse at her school had offered to work at ten of the fifteen camps this summer. Filling in the other five hadn’t been too hard.
She also had connections gathering teenagers to volunteer as camp counselors. While her middle school students were too young to head a cabin, they came by during the day to help out. It was their older brothers and sisters who were cabin leaders.
Since Charlie spent most of her time in the kitchen, she didn’t have much of an opportunity to mingle with the teens, but the few she’d gotten to know were respectful and awesome with the littler kids.
They’d arrived right on time and were there to introduce themselves to their campers and lead them to their assigned cabins. This three-day camp only had forty children. Manageable enough where Charlie should be able to leave the kitchen for more than ten minutes before having to come back to prepare the next meal.
“Good morning. You look like you’re ready to have a good time,” she greeted a nervous girl. She couldn’t have been more than ten, if that. Her scrawny arms and legs could have been due to growing too fast, or possibly from being malnourished. Her cheeks were sunken, like her mother’s, who held her hand.
“I’m Charlie.” She stuck out her hand to the mother, who loosely held it. “And who might you be?” She returned her gaze to the little girl.
“I’m Arlyne,” she said behind the protection of a blue stuffed bear.
“It’s lovely to meet you, Arlyne. Does your bear have a name too?”
Her tangled mop of brown hair barely moved as she nodded. “His name is Rainbow Sprinkles.”
“Well, it’s the most perfect name for such a beautiful bear. Do you happen to like rainbow sprinkles? And ice cream?”
She nodded again. “I like vanilla.”
“Let me tell you a little secret.” Charlie lowered herself to her knees, not caring about the tiny rocks digging into her skin. “We’re having ice cream sunda
es tonight for dessert. If you want to help me set up, you can see the gigantic container of rainbow sprinkles I have in the kitchen. I’ll even let you have the first scoop. But you can’t tell anyone.” She placed a finger to her lips.
Arlyne’s eyes grew big and round as she nodded her head vigorously. “Okay.”
Charlie returned to her seat behind the registration table and skimmed down the list to find Arlyne’s name, pleased to see where she was placed. “You’re in the Aroostook Cabin. My friend Olivia is in there as well. She loves sprinkles too. If you’d like to bring her with you tonight to see them, you can ask her, okay?”
“I don’t have any friends here.”
“You’re going to make new friends, remember?” her mother said, putting two protective hands on her daughter’s shoulders. “Thank you for opening this camp to our children. Arlyne has never been... she’s never been away from home and never to a place like this.”
“Most of our campers are first timers. But we hope to see you again year after year so you can help others who are coming for the first time. Everyone here is super nice,” she said to Arlyne.
“I’ll introduce you to Sarah. She’s your cabin leader.” Charlie waved the teenager over who literally skipped to her table.
“Hey gorgeous.” Charlie loved Sarah’s bubbly personality. It was hard not to smile when she was around. To be young and carefree again; she reminded Charlie of herself. Or rather, how she imagined she would have been if her parents hadn’t been so crippling.
“Arlyne, this is Sarah. Sarah, Arlyne is a first-time camper.”
“Oh! First time campers are my favorite.” It was like the teenager was a female version of Buddy the Elf. “Can I help you carry your stuff? You’re going to love our cabin.”
“I told Arlyne she can help me set up for dessert tonight. Do you think you can remember to get her to the lodge a little bit before campfire time?”
A Thousand Sunsets (Band of Sisters) Page 9
