Page 67 of Lady and the Camp
She did a little dance to her own internal music. “Good. Because you’ll love our next surprise.”
Dread hit me like ice. “There’s another surprise?”
Marcy winked at me. “If you knew everything, there’s no fun in that.” She yanked the front door open wider. “Hey,” she called out the screen door. “We’re in here!”
Not a minute later, three guys barreled in, loaded with coolers, pillows, and bags. Matteo, Robby, and Patrick—my two cousins and their BFF. Our childhood crew.
“Surprise!” Matteo, Marcy’s oldest brother said. “This is officially a party weekend.”
Chapter 22
Hudson
“Thisisthemostfun sleepover we’ve ever had,” Jillian announced. “We’re sleeping over at a real-life summer camp.”
Marcy flung a sock at Jillian. “You never went to camp as a kid?”
She unleashed a comforter from one of those plastic bags that vacuum-sucked out all the air. “I did science camp, but we stayed in dorms on a college campus.”
“I camped in a tent once,” Noah offered. “It stormed all night and raccoons dug through our garbage. Never did that again.”
My friends’ chatter and busy movement filled the front room of the tiny cabin. I had no idea they would show up today. I couldn’t be mad even for a second. I nearly shed happy tears in the office, but I was tired of crying. I wanted to have some fun.
Lucas caught me for a moment before I’d left the office, under the guise of helping him find the extra sheets and towels in the closet in the nurse’s room.
“I planned to ask you to dinner,” he said.
“I would have accepted your invitation to dinner.”
He smiled. “This is unexpected, but should be fun.”
He looked a little doubtful, but I was still excited, despite the whiplash effect. “Do we tell them?”
He let out the slightest breath. “I don’t know.”
“Yeah, I don’t either.”
He kissed me. A noise sounded in the hall and we split apart.
We didn’t decide anything. So, this would be fun.
At the cabin, we went with one air mattress since someone could sleep on the couch. Two beds with the bunk beds. Snacks and drinks appeared, bags were overturned and blankets tossed onto the floor as seating. It was like our old dorm days all over again.
“I was thinking about what you said the other day,” Marcy said as she chewed on licorice. “About theGolden Girls. That’s not a bad idea.” Marcy filled the others in on our conversation. “Jillian, I told Hudson the living together part was out because you’ll be moving in soon with your man.”
Jillian covered her cheeks with her hands. “It’s way too soon to predict that. I know he used to be my boyfriend, but this two-point-oh business is very new.”
Marcy made a rolling motion with her hands. “Look, it’s only a matter of time, and we don’t need to enter into a lease agreement if you’re immediately going to break it.”
Jillian looked offended for two seconds, but we all knew Marcy came with love and care in mind, so she quickly moved on. “So how are we like theGolden Girls?”
All eyes landed on me. “It seems like we’re all at a place where we’re changing or maybe not changing enough. I want to us to help each other through those changes. Intentionally. Like, set goals, make plans, and check in with each other.”
The others nodded. Jillian could barely contain herself. “You know I love a good plan. I found these cute notebooks. Here. Everybody take one.”
She passed out little spiral bound notebooks each with a different inspirational phrase on the cover. “How did you know we’d need notebooks?” I asked.
“I didn’t. I can’t resist buying them. I also have stickers.”
