Page 7 of Butterflies and Hazel Eyes
“Great,” I said, happily handing her my card from my pocket. “I’ll pay for the first week, but I plan to stay a couple weeks more, if not a month. It will depend on if I get called away for work. Would it be okay to keep paying by the week? If I have to take off, you can keep the money for whatever time I’ve paid for but don’t use.”
“Why sure, honey,” she said sweetly. “You’re welcome to stay as long as you’d like. What do you do for a living?”
Having done this song and dance many times, I had learned to sugarcoat the hell out of my profession. I’m a hacker, and I’m excellent at what I do, but I can’t use that terminology. People instantly picture me in a hoodie, bent over my keyboard, and wreaking havoc on some unsuspecting business. “I’m a security patch technician,” I explained. “I patch leaks in computer servers.”
The woman rubbed her hands together, curiosity written across her sunbaked features. “Sounds exciting! I bet you have some great stories.”
Oh boy, do I ever. “I have a few,” I agreed. “How much is it for the week, then?”
“It’s one seventy-five for the week, which includes your tank dumping fee. If you stay more than eight weeks, you’ll have paid the seasonal rate, and I wouldn’t charge you anything for the rest of the season.”
“Really? Most campgrounds require you to pay up front if you want to stay for the season.”
She slid my card through the machine. “I’m not most places. I don’t take joy in screwing people out of hard-earned cash. Besides, you strike me as the kind of girl who could stand to be in one place for more than a day.”
I laughed, but the sound was sad rather than amused. “You’re not kidding. I haven’t had a break in years. I could use a few weeks of not moving anywhere in a vehicle unless it’s human powered.”
“My name is Laverne, by the way. It’s nice to meet you, Charity.”
Ahh yes, Laverne. I should have remembered that since my dad’s favorite show wasLaverne and Shirleywhen I was a kid.
Laverne pointed to the balcony, which was half filled with campers doing nothing but gazing at the lake. “If you’re going to take a break, this is the best place for it. We’ve got something for everyone. It’s rarely too hot, the water is a great place to be on a summer day, and the sights are out of this world,” she said, pointing at the ceiling. “I’m pointing up because there’s a telescope on the roof that anyone can use.”
“Wow, how awesome!” I exclaimed with my hand to my chest. “I was thinking last night when I arrived how beautiful the stars were. They didn’t twinkle in the sky. They danced. They were three dimensional and shimmered. With so little light pollution here, stargazing must be a popular pastime.”
Laverne leaned on the counter and nodded as she handed me my card. “They’re beautiful, and the northern lights will leave you breathless.”
I accepted my card and put it back in my pocket. “I’m dying to see the northern lights!” I said excitedly. “I travel all around this country but have yet to luck out.”
“The good news is you don’t need a telescope to see them here. If you stand on the dock by your campsite, the colors will encapsulate you. Soul changing is what it is, I’m telling you. I always keep my eye on the forecast for them. You’ll be the first to know the next time the prediction for them is high.”
I signed the paper receipt she’d handed me and tapped it with the pen. “I would appreciate it, Laverne. I think I’m going to like it here.”
“I hope you do! If you need anything, we’re open here at the store from six to nine every day but Sunday. We close at six p.m. on Sunday, but we have an emergency number to call.” She bent down and searched for something under the counter before popping back up. She handed me a magnet. “Those numbers will be all you need for your stay. If you have any problems with your site, let me know, and I’ll send our maintenance guy out to help.”
I nodded once and stuck the magnet in my back pocket. “Thanks, Laverne. I think I’ll go check out the lake and then shower before I head back to Butterfly Junction tonight.”
Her eyebrows rose to her hairline as if she suddenly had a juicy tidbit of information no one else had. “You’re working with Gulliver tonight?”
“I have to do my work at night when no one else is using the system. I suppose he will be there, but we won’t be working together,” I explained, and her brows fell in a disappointed plummet.
“I see—what a shame. Gulliver could stand to get out more. That boy spends too much time with butterflies.”
“There certainly are a lot of butterflies around his office, but at least it’s not bats or something equally creepy like spiders.”
She laughed hysterically as she brushed her hand at me. “You’re not kidding. Gulliver is a peculiar guy, but at least he’s not into bats or spiders. Don’t get me wrong, we love our Gulliver here. I just wish he’d stop working all the time and enjoy life a little bit.”
I grasped Mojo’s leash in my hand tightly as I started for the door. “You never know, Laverne. Stranger things have happened. Perhaps this will be the summer Gulliver decides to work less and enjoy the world around him just a little bit more.”
Her sly smile told me she understood that I intended to be the one to make that change in Gulliver. “You never know,” she agreed, waving as I left the store.
When the door closed behind me, I let a smile slide across my face. I’d been in Plentiful for eighteen hours and already met five people who went out of their way to be kind and welcoming to me. Truth be told, Gulliver Winsome was the only one on my mind.
CHAPTER 3
Laverne had been right when she said Plentiful Campground was the best place to relax. Tonight, while I waited for Gulliver to pick me up, I had gazed at the beauty of the lake spread out before me like a smorgasbord to my senses. As a woman who had traveled from coast to coast, I can assure you, the Lady of the Lake held more beauty than the whole of the United States. I’d never seen Lake Superior before, much less camped out on her shores, but she drew me in with a siren’s song the minute I laid eyes on her. While I ate dinner, I watched the eagles dance across the water in a modern-day ballet. The harmony of the waves lapping against the rocks reached my ears, and the scent of pine boughs tickled my nose. To say it was relaxing was an understatement. It was soul cleansing.
When Gulliver arrived to pick me up in his tricked-out cargo van complete with giant butterflies wrapped around the vehicle in bold colors of blue, gold, and orange, I couldn’t help but smile. It should have been embarrassing to ride in that butterfly-mobile, as I had started calling it, but he was so comfortable in the van you couldn’t help but ease back into the seat as well. He explained that he used it for his educational presentations he did for schools and nature reserves.
