The Summer Place

by Pamela Hearon

  Neil grinned. “Because now that you and Summer aren’t at each other’s throats, Howie’s hiding places are about the only excitement we have left.”

  * * *

  “SO WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE thing this week?”

  Summer had made a hasty change into her fairy princess costume while the girls readied for bed. Now they all sat in a circle, primed for the vote that would grant one of them their very own wand. But first, Summer wanted to know what activities to keep for week two and which to discard.

  “The bats.”

  “The bats.”

  “The bats.”

  Shannon, Braelyn and Kaelyn had become inseparable in almost everything.

  “The storm.” Elise’s answer to Summer’s question came as a surprise until she added, “I mean, I didn’t like the part about Mr. Kenny’s camper getting messed up. But being in the shelter with all of us together was exciting.”

  “Yeah, that was fun,” Amanda agreed. “And I liked the bats, too...and the dance.”

  “I liked the dance.” Lucy giggled.

  Word around the camp was that Carlos had written Lucy a love note after being her dance partner. She’d actually seemed upbeat today, so maybe a camp romance would give everybody a reprieve from the girl’s whining for a while. Until the romance ended, which summer camp romances were destined to do.

  Not wanting to let her brain settle on that thought, Summer moved on to M&M.

  The child pursed her lips in thought before she answered. “I liked sort of learning to swim best.”

  While it was true Rick already had Daniel swimming, Summer was convinced that peer pressure from the boys played a greater role in his success than teaching style. M&M hadn’t conquered her fear of the water yet, but she got a little braver every day. “I’m proud of the progress you’ve made,” Summer said. “You’ll be swimming before the week’s out.”

  She couldn’t help but notice the hopeful timbre of M&M’s answering sigh.

  The dance received one more vote and the bats got two before Summer asked the second part of her question. “What was your least favorite thing?”

  The skunk and going to bed garnered all of the votes except one—Becca missed her dog.

  Not much there she could change.

  Summer pulled the new fairy princess wand from her pocket and held it up proudly. Her dad had become quite a craftsman during his retirement. The small piece of green granite thrown away by the grave marker company had been a booger to cut, but somehow he’d managed to do it and to polish the pieces into lovely little stars that topped a metallic gold dowel rod.

  “As promised, somebody’s going to earn her wand tonight,” she said. The girls exchanged quick looks that melted into grins and a couple of snickers.

  Summer picked up on the unspoken message. The winner had been predetermined. Which girl impressed them enough to bring about such a response? She hoped intimidation didn’t have a hand in this, but most likely, the winner’s name would let her confirm or deny that.

  Tara handed out the pencils and small slips of paper. Summer watched the girls scribble their choices. There was no thought. No hesitation for anyone that she could see.

  Tara had all the slips back and went to count them. Within a couple of minutes, she reappeared, a wide smile spread across her face.

  “And the new fairy princess is...” She laughed and shook her head in disbelief. “Mr. Rick!”

  * * *

  RICK SAT AT THE PICNIC TABLE beneath the pavilion, waiting for the other counselors to finish with the kids. Who was he kidding? He was waiting for Summer. Tonight began week two of camp, and his outlook had pivoted a hundred and eighty degrees since a week ago. Camp Sunny Daze was precisely where he wanted to be right now.

  An unexpected noise put him on alert, and he swiveled in his seat to locate the source.

  He could make out the ten pajama-clad girls heading down the path toward him, Summer and Tara in the rear. Hell-pee-roo! What was Summer thinking? Letting the girls come out of the dorm after lights-out was a disturbing breach in protocol.

  But if he’d learned anything this week about Summer, it was to not jump to conclusions. She generally had a good excuse when she broke the rules—at least, good by her reasoning. They had T-shirts over their pajama tops, so they were quite properly covered. Since he seemed to be their destination, he held his tongue as the giggling mass of girls gathered around him.

  Summer’s mischievous smile gave him no indication of what was in store.

  Amanda stepped from the middle of the group and cleared her throat. “Mr. Rick, this week during our bedtime chats, we’ve talked about how a true fairy princess finds out what makes her special.”

  Ah, a lecture on fairy princess-ship.

  She looked at Becca, who glanced down at her palm and said, “Then she uses whatever it is that makes her special to help other people.”

  Becca poked Elise with her elbow, prompting her. Elise took the cue. “A true fairy princess listens to her pretty heart.”

  The speeches moved on down the line with each of the girls saying an obviously rehearsed part.

  “And her pretty heart tells her what makes her special.”

  “Tonight we voted on who from the camp should get the first fairy princess wand.”

  “We decided that you listen to your pretty heart.”

  “The special thing you do to help other people is you save people’s lives.”

  Oh, hell.

  “You saved Mr. Kenny, Mr. Chance and Ms. Kyndal.”

  But not my best friend.

  “And we know you were a soldier and probably saved lots more.”

  Damn! Rick pressed his lips together, keeping the tortuous emotion hidden.

  M&M stepped forward from the end of the line and held out a star-tipped stick. “We know you’re not a girl, but you are like a true fairy princess, and we want you to have the first wand.”

  A battering ram hit his gut. He didn’t deserve this...didn’t deserve any of the medals tucked away in his mom’s cedar chest. Dunk was the one who deserved the medals...the wand.

  He hesitated, looking down the line of girls. Reverence...eagerness...excitement. Their sweet faces were filled with emotions, and the sight touched his heart. Undeserved or not, he couldn’t refuse their gift.

  “Thank you very much.” Smiling, he took the wand and waved it over their heads. “This is one of the most meaningful things I’ve ever received. I’ll keep it with me all the time.”

  He slipped it into his pocket, but the stick protruded awkwardly. He pulled it out and contemplated it for a moment.

  Reaching in his shirt, he pulled out the dog tags ever-present around his neck. “These are my dog tags from when I was an active-duty marine. I don’t ever take them off, either.” He grasped the back of his T-shirt, pulling it over his head, and pointed to the dog tags tattooed over his heart. “These are the dog tags of my best friend, Lt. Duncan Ballard. He died in Afghanistan.”

  He scanned the wide eyes of the group. “Would it be okay with y’all if I wore the star on the chain with my dog tags instead of keeping it on the stick? Maybe some of the magic will absorb into my pretty heart...that’s where Dunk continues to live, so maybe he’ll feel it.”

  All the heads nodded vigorously, including Summer’s.

  Amanda stepped up to give him a hug, but she paused and pointed to the words tattooed under the dog tags. “What’s that say, Mr. Rick?”

  “Semper fi. That’s short for Semper fidelis.” He found Summer’s eyes, and locked his gaze with hers. “It means ‘always faithful.’”

  He watched a shadow pass over Summer’s face. Was she doubting whether or not he could be faithful? Obviously, there was still more about him she needed to get to know.

  All the girls fell into line and gave him a hug one by one.

  Summer was last. “Thank you. That was beautiful.”

  As she turned away to follow the girls to the bunkhouse, he looked back down a
t the polished granite star. He imagined Summer’s look of admiration reflecting back at him.

  What a treasure!

  It wasn’t just a magic wand. He’d been given the key to Summer’s heart.

  * * *

  “WE WERE BEGINNING TO THINK you gals had fallen asleep,” Neil said when Summer and Tara finally showed up at the staff meeting.

  “You can thank Tara,” Summer answered. “If it wasn’t for her resourcefulness, and her magical CD, we’d still be trying to quiet them down.”

  After the presentation of the wand, the girls had been pretty keyed up. Tara had come up with the brilliant idea of putting a relaxation CD in the player and turning it up loud enough to be heard all over the room. The gentle sound of rain with Native American flute music in the background had calmed the girls to sleep.

  Summer took the seat next to Rick, who shuffled the papers in front of him. He glanced up to give her a smile before turning his attention back to the activity sheets. Even the quick look spiked her temperature.

  Tara slid onto the opposite bench. “This job makes good use of my teacher training. Next time the kids get too rowdy in class, I’ll put that same CD on and give them nap time.”

  “I’m ready for nap time.” Neil didn’t try to cover his noisy yawn.

  “Okay, let’s make this fast before Neil falls asleep.” Rick used his authoritative tone. “Any concerns?”

  “Yeah.” Summer gave Neil an apologetic shrug. “I’m worried about Howie. He’s a bit of a smart mouth with Tara and me. We’ve both noticed it.”

  Tara nodded. “Yesterday morning, I heard him refer to me as ‘that Tara chick’ to Jimbo. But he did apologize when I called him on it.”

  “And today, he was very disrespectful to me,” Summer continued.

  Rick’s eyebrow quirked. “I’ll talk to him,” he answered.

  “I don’t want you to talk to him,” Summer shot back. This was the telling moment. Rick’s reaction to the wand had her hopes soaring, but this would give her a definite answer. “I want to be more proactive than that. His dad’s obviously got issues with women, and boys with dads like his are the ones who grow up to be abusive toward women.”

  Neil perked up enough to comment. “No argument there. What do you propose we do about it?”

  “I’m hoping we can break the cycle for him. Convince him girls are his equals.”

  Rick’s eyebrows drew together. “How do we do that in three weeks’ time?”

  “We start mixing the groups with both sexes.” Summer used her most confident tone. “Like this morning, instead of the girls cooking and the boys doing tae kwon do, we could’ve mixed the groups with five of each. That would make them think of themselves as one group instead of two.” She paused for a reaction. Neither of the guys seemed too off-put by her suggestion, so she went on. “The first week was all about respect. Now we’ll concentrate on accepting differences and developing unity. What do you think?”

  Neil shrugged. “Sounds okay to me.”

  “I think it’s brilliant,” Rick said.

  The compliment made bubbles rise in Summer’s stomach, and her heart danced. Rick got her! It wasn’t an act to get her into bed. He understood what she was about. The realization left her momentarily speechless.

  Tara’s head tilted in thought. “Almost everything in the schools is coed. I can’t think of any reason why it shouldn’t work here. But the girls get their wands as rewards. Will we give the boys wands, as well?”

  “What about stars hanging on chains, like Rick’s?” Summer’s insides were still melty, thinking about how he’d handled that situation.

  A yawn slipped from Neil as he tried to stifle it. “What are y’all talking about?”

  Rick pulled his dog tag chain out of his shirt and the wand from his pocket. “I’m going to have a hole drilled in it so I can wear it on the chain. Without the stick.”

  Neil squinted. “Cool.”

  Summer’s breathing came easier. She hadn’t been sure Neil would go along, but since he had, she could throw out her other idea. “I can ask my dad to make some more. We’ll give the kids a choice of either a wand or a star on a chain.”

  “Oh!” Tara applauded. “I like that.”

  “Me, too,” Rick agreed, and Neil mumbled a sleepy assent.

  “Okay, then...” Rick directed them to the week’s activities, pushing through each item so fast it became almost comical.

  Summer knew the reason for his fired-up agenda, but she wondered if the others suspected he had plans with her for later.

  And while she looked forward to their time alone to talk, she wasn’t so sure Rick would be thrilled with what she planned to say...what she’d thought about during her alone time in the fertility room.

  “So, I guess that’s it,” Rick was saying, and she hadn’t even heard the last item he’d brought up.

  Rick whisked the papers off the table. “Good night, everyone.” He was gone before they could get out their responses.

  Neil looked at the two women over the rim of his glasses. “Either of you ladies want to carry me?” Summer and Tara shook their heads, and he blew out a dramatic sigh. “I guess I’ll just stumble my way home, then.” He got up and tripped over his first step, seeming bent on proving his words. He caught his balance, though, and managed to make progress up the hill.

  “Do you want me to go on to bed, too?” Tara asked, and Summer heard in her tone that she was asking about Rick.

  Tara and Summer had gotten to know each other pretty well over the first part of the week with their nightly tête-à-têtes, and Summer looked forward to their chats. But then the storm had happened and her parents had come, so she and Tara had a lot of catching up to do. In the absence of Kate, Summer had come to think of Tara as a trusted girlfriend—and she needed some girl talk tonight.

  “No way,” she answered. “I need you to keep me sane.”

  A few minutes later, when Summer had changed out of her costume, Tara was waiting with lemonade in hand and a plate with two oatmeal raisin cookies Summer’s mom had provided from the organic bakery in Paducah.

  “So what happened after the dance?” was Tara’s first question.

  “We went for a moonlight swim.” Summer closed her eyes, feeling again the heat generated by the kisses on the beach. “It was so romantic.” She caught herself and forced her eyes open.

  “Tonight was great, watching you two.” Tara grinned. “When the girls gave him the wand, there was something in his expression, and then I looked at you, and the look on your face seemed to mirror his. It was—” she seemed to search for the word, but settled for “—cool.”

  They sipped the lemonade, quiet for a moment, and then Tara waved her hand toward the bedroom. “It’s nice that you have your own cabin. Y’all can, um, have some privacy.”

  “Actually, that makes everything more difficult.”

  A crease appeared between Tara’s copper eyebrows. “Because...?”

  “Because even though it’s possible, it’s not the right thing to do. I don’t want these weeks to be about anything but the kids and keeping the camp going. And I have no doubt sex with Rick would shift my focus.”

  “That’s very noble of you.”

  “Pfft.” Summer shrugged off the compliment. “I’m not trying to be noble. I just know me. Sex with the right guy is capable of giving me tunnel vision for a while. You know how it is.”

  Tara’s eyes broke contact. “Actually, I don’t.”

  The wistfulness in her friend’s voice pushed an alert button in Summer’s brain. Things must not be too great in the lovemaking department. “Well, you and Louis have been together for a long time, but remember how it was in the beginning when you first started having sex?”

  “We’ve never had sex.” Tara took a small sip of her lemonade. “I’m still a virgin.”

  The announcement stopped the forward motion in Summer’s brain. “You’re still a virgin at twenty-three?” The question made it sound like th
ere was something wrong with virginity. She pulled her foot out of her mouth and tried again. “What I mean to say is, how’ve you held out so long?”

  Tara’s shrug suggested it was no huge deal, and maybe it wasn’t in her world, but it certainly was in Summer’s. She and all her friends had lost their virginity by the time they were seventeen.

  “When we were in high school,” Tara said, “our church sponsored one of those save-yourself-for-marriage campaigns. We signed cards, vowing chastity until marriage, and we’ve managed to stay true to that vow.” The young woman nibbled thoughtfully on a bite of cookie. “In some ways, it’s made things easier by taking away the choice. And it’s given us time to focus on building a strong bond without having the confusion of sex thrown in.”

  “But eight years.” Summer drew a long breath, the length of time seeming incomprehensible to her. “So how do you stand it?” It was possible Tara could give her some pointers about the celibacy thing. “I mean, do you have any tricks I could use to keep from thinking about...well, about it.”

  Tara laughed. “There’s no magic wand, if that’s what you mean—unless it would be the kind you buy at adult toy stores. And no, I don’t use one.” Her eyes squinted in contemplation as she washed down the last of her cookie. “Louis goes on a lot of mission trips, so he’s gone most of the time. I think that helps. When we’re together, it is definitely harder.”

  Summer raised her eyebrows. “That doesn’t help me much here. Rick and I are together a lot.”

  “I know, and the celibacy thing isn’t for everybody.” She looked Summer squarely in the eye. “If you and Rick sleep together, it’s okay with me. I don’t judge people about that kind of thing. What you do when the kids aren’t around is your business. Their parents have sex after the kids go to bed. I mean, that’s been going on since the beginning of time.” Tara looked around the cabin as she finished off her lemonade. “Back in the pioneer days, huge families lived in cabins very much like this one.”

  “Ack!” Summer banged her head on the back of the couch. “You’re messing up my rationalizations.”

  Tara laughed. “You just have to be discreet.” She wiped her mouth and tossed the napkin on her plate. “And with those sage words as my parting message, I need to get back to the girls.” She stood up to go, motioning for Summer to keep her seat. “I know the way out.”