But thoughts of Jackson plagued my mind once again, keeping me up most of a second night. So by Monday morning, I was practically a walking zombie.
Like all Mondays, the day started off with a counselor meeting at the camp, so for an hour, I was able to avoid all thoughts of Jackson. After the counselors and I talked through our activities for the current day and the next, I chugged a huge cup of coffee. Then I spent some time in the office making sure all of the intake forms for this week’s campers were ticked and tied. It took me twice as long as normal because I kept thinking back to Jackson on my doorstep.
Finally, I finished in the office and scarfed down a Snickers bar before joining a group of kids in the main lodge to make dream catchers to hang above their bunk beds. The kids always gave me energy, so I fed off them for the rest of the morning.
They were the reason I woke up with a smile most mornings. The kids were the reason I didn’t care that my job would never make me rich. I lived for my week-by-week summers until the season ended.
It had become a bit of a challenge for myself over the years to see how much fun I could pack into a kid’s single week at summer camp. It was my mission to make them fall in love with this little slice of Montana, with its tall trees and shimmering lakes, so that when they reflected on their childhood, the memories they made here were ones they’d never forget.
I hadn’t been here long enough yet, but one day, I hoped to greet parents who’d been to my camp and were sending their kids here to make the same kind of lasting memories.
So while Jackson’s late-night visit had upset me, I buried those feelings and let the kids’ smiles and laughter over craft hour give me a boost.
By ten thirty, I was starving and made my way to the kitchen. “Hi, Hazel,” I said with a smile.
“Morning.” She smiled back as she sipped her coffee. “So did Jackson ever track you down?”
My smile dropped. “He found me.”
Since she was practically a member of Jackson’s family, it shouldn’t surprise me that she knew he’d come over.
“I hope you don’t mind, but I told him where you lived.”
“Ah.” I went to the coffee pot and poured a refill in my mug.
Lark Cove was a small town, and after living here for a while, you learned where everyone else lived. I’d assumed that was how Jackson had known where to find me. A teensy part of me had hoped that maybe he’d actually remembered our night on the swings.
But no. He’d had to ask Hazel.
“What happened?” she asked.
“Nothing.” Other than he asked me out on a date, something that two weeks ago would have sent me into joyful hysterics but now had me twisted in knots.
“Nothing?”
“Nothing.” I nodded and went to the list she’d taped to one of the industrial refrigerators. “Is this the grocery list?”
“Yep. We’re running low on a few basics so it’s a bit longer than normal.”
“No problem. We’re under budget for the summer so we can get you all restocked.”
Hazel had started volunteering at the camp a few years ago. She’d traded her nights at the bar for days at my camp. She came in for four to five hours every weekday and prepped meals for the campers.
The time she spent here meant my counselors could stay focused on the kids rather than scrambling to make meals in between activities. And it meant that I wasn’t locked in the kitchen either. We all pitched in to make sure the kids were fed and happy, but without Hazel, things would be exponentially more stressful.
The fact that she’d insisted on not being paid had been nothing short of miraculous. Her volunteer status was one of the reasons I’d been able to scrimp and save on the church’s meager budget and keep the place open until the Kendrick Foundation had stepped in as new owners.
That, and I hadn’t taken a raise in over two years.
All Hazel had asked for when she’d started volunteering was that she could dictate the menu and that we let her bring Charlie along. I’d agreed immediately. So while Thea worked at the bar, Charlie came to camp with Hazel. The girl had become an honorary full-time camper these last couple of years. Along with her gran, she made my camp a better place.
“Are you going to stare at that list all day or tell me what happened with Jackson?”
“Stare at the list,” I said, not looking her way.
“Fine,” she muttered. “I’ll just ask him. Hey, Jackson.”
“Hi,” a deep voice rumbled.
My head whipped to the kitchen door just as Jackson strolled inside.
He hadn’t shaved this morning and the scruff on his jaw made the corners seem even sharper. His chin had a flat spot in the center. It wasn’t a dimple, not really even a dent, just a feature that made his face even manlier.
His appeal was annoying.
“Hey.” He smiled at me, then looked to Hazel. “Just thought I’d come in and say hello. Thought maybe I could take you for an early lunch at the diner before I need to open the bar. With Thea and Charlie gone to New York, I thought you might want company.”
“Please,” I mumbled, rolling my eyes.
Thea and Charlie had been gone a whole day, and Hazel was fine without them. Jackson wasn’t here for lunch. He hadn’t been to the camp in years, not since Hazel had first started volunteering.
He was here to pester me again.
“Lunch, huh?” Hazel wasn’t buying it either.
“That’s right.” He grinned. “Willa, you can come too if you’d like.”
“I’m not hungry.” I took the grocery list and rounded the large stainless-steel table in the middle of the kitchen, going right for the side door that led to my office. “I’ll get these supplies today, Hazel.”
“Thanks,” she said as I walked out.
I held my breath until I was safely in my office, then I plopped down behind my computer. My stomach rumbled. I needed another Snickers, but they were in the kitchen’s candy stash.
Dropping my head into my hand, I stared unblinking at my desk. Why? Why was he here again? Why couldn’t he just leave me alone to move on with a crush-free life?
“Knock, knock.” Hazel walked into the office.
I peered around her, expecting to see Jackson on her heels, but she was alone.
“He left. I told him I was too busy for lunch and using me as an excuse to see you was lame.”
I giggled. “Definitely lame.”
She sat in the chair across from my desk, staring at me without a word. The silence went on long enough it was getting strange, but then she winked. “Make him work for it.”
My eyebrows came together. “Work for it?”
“For you. Make him work to win you over.”
“Oh, no.” I waved my hands in the air, swatting that idea away. “I’m done with that. It’s too late.”
“Uh-oh.” She frowned. “What did he do?”
Hazel knew I’d always had a crush on Jackson. Everyone knew, except for the man himself.
While I’d managed to hide my feelings from Jackson, I hadn’t been so inconspicuous with the rest of Lark Cove. Apparently, my longing looks and sheepish waves were quite obvious. I did my best to hide those, but my traitorous cheeks always flushed when Jackson was near.
Hiding them wasn’t as easy, especially in a town where everyone seemed to be watching and wondering, Will today be the day Willa makes her approach? The answer was always no. I’d never been brave enough to risk that kind of rejection.
Not that it mattered anymore.
“He didn’t do anything,” I lied. “I’m just ready to move on. He’s not the man I thought he was, and I’m at the point in my life where it’s time to get serious about finding the right guy.”
Hazel’s frown deepened. “Is this about him kissing Thea? Because there was nothing to that. He was just trying to piss off Logan.”
“No.” I shook my head. “It’s not about that kiss.”
Though, I wish I hadn’t had to witness it firsthand.
Thea had invited me to Charlie’s sixth birthday, and it took a lot of nerve for me to even attend the party since it wasn’t long after Jackson had kissed me and forgotten. But I worked up the nerve to see him again because I didn’t want to miss Charlie’s special day.