Page 5 of His Curvy Distraction

“You scared me. What’s wrong?”

“Are you going to hit me with that?” Amelia asked, a smirk telling me she was not worried.

“I was trying to see what we have for activities. I was thinking of a new game I could teach the kids at summer camp. Something that doesn’t take up a lot of space since we’re limited outside.”

“That’s what I want to talk to you about. I have a new property for you. A huge one. Where you could do anything you want.”

My heart raced as she spoke. I could feel her excitement pulsing through me. “What are you talking about?”

“The meeting I had earlier? A local couple is moving and wants to donate their campground. To us for use as a summer camp.”

“Are you serious?” A campground? That would be a ton of space.

“Yes!” Amelia squealed. “It’s perfect. You can do everything you’ve ever dreamed about doing. You can expand. You can take more kids. There’s so much that can be done.”

“Wow. That’s…” My mind raced with the possibilities. A campground would mean so many options. So many kids we could take. More than I ever thought possible. We could play games and be outside and spread out and?—

“Natalie!”

I shook my head, realizing Amelia was talking to me. “Sorry.” My cheeks warmed. Amelia knew me well, and she was used to my awkwardness, but I still hated when I went off into my world.

“You don’t have to apologize to me, Natalie. I know you’re thinking about all the things you can do. But before you get ahead of yourself, it’s not perfect.”

“Nothing’s perfect.”

“True, but this place is probably even less perfect. It’s five acres, but that’s about the only good thing about it from what Harry said. It will need some work to get it into shape for camp, but I think it’s possible.”

“I don’t have the money to do a lot of upgrades.” My anxiety ramped up, making the dreams I let filter in slip away just as quickly as I conjured them up.

“Don’t worry about that yet. Omar is going to look at the budget and see what the town can afford.”

“Omar?” I squeaked. Oh, no. It was bad enough that the man was my boss’s boss and could fire me whenever he felt like it, but after the way I manhandled him just a few weeks earlier, there was no way he was going to be on my side for the summer camp.

“I took Harry to meet with Omar earlier. Omar agreed that it’s a great option for summer camp, and he’s going to come up with a budget for us. Something the town will support since the camp will be under the community center umbrella. It wouldn’t be on you to come up with the budget.”

“Okay. But if there’s that much work, do you think I can actually do it?”

Amelia grabbed my hands and held them together, hers on the outside of mine. She waited until I looked up at her. “Honey, listen, it’s a lot. I know it’s a lot. But I know you are only thinking about the kids. It’s worth it for the kids. It’s worth it to go to Omar and hear what he has to say. And if he doesn’t have enough of a budget for us, we will figure out the rest.”

“How will we do that?”

“Fundraisers, community events. We can have some of our repair nights out there, too. You know people will help out.”

“I don’t want charity, Amelia.”

“It’s not charity, Natalie. It’s why we live in a place like MacKellar Cove. We all look out for each other. We are all here for each other. You know this.”

“I guess, but I don’t like taking from others.”

“Let’s talk to Omar first, and we’ll go from there. But for now, let’s just enjoy that you don’t have to worry about creating games you can play in small areas. You’re going to have five acres to use, Natalie. Including a pool.”

“A pool?”

Amelia nodded, her smile growing.

“Okay. I will stay open-minded. It might be worth it to have everyone help out.”

“Yes, it will. You’re providing a service for the town, Natalie. People appreciate that.”

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