Page 99 of Lady and the Camp
Not even for me.
She moved into my space, filling my senses with her pretty, pleasant presence. That soft scent she had. Her gentle curves.
She kissed me on the cheek. “Thank you for everything. I wish I could repay you. I don’t even know how.”
“Your last paycheck—where should I send it?”
I cursed at myself for asking such a practical question when my heart screamed to beg her to give us a fighting chance.
“Marcy’s address works.” She offered a shy smile. “I think she’s here now. Um, I’m gonna go.”
Don’t go.
But she had to. I had to. We both were meant to go separate directions.
Watching her walk out of camp might have been the toughest thing I’d ever done. But as hard as my heart took it, I sure wasn’t going to be the one to hold her back.
Chapter 33
Hudson
“Ithereforebringthisinaugural meeting of the Midwest Mavens to order. All in agreement?”
“Aye!” Marcy responded to Jillian on her laptop’s screen.
“Is this formality necessary?” Noah asked from another window on the video call. “Seems overkill.”
“Hudson wanted structure,” Jillian said. “I’ve been on a lot of committees and this is how meetings in a professional sphere work. Noah, would you like to take minutes?”
“No. This is my free time, not my job.”
Jillian huffed out a breath. “This isimportanttoHudson.”
Beside me, Marcy jabbed me lightly in our shared space on her couch. “Hudson, how about you go first since you have the most to catch us up on.”
I nodded. “Sure. Right.”
It had only been a mere twenty-four hours since I’d left Camp Junebug and…everything behind. I’d slept a good chunk of the following day in Marcy’s guest room on her shockingly comfortable futon. Who ever knew such a combo existed.
I hadn’t done much beyond letting Marcy feed me baked treats and honey and ginger tea, but I’d checked in with Kelly Q. Pierce and Agent Mulder this afternoon. With Kristoff violating his order to not leave the state, plus the breaking and entering at a children’s camp and the discovery of the hidden crypto account now under investigation, the attorney and agent sorted out how I fit into those details. By Kristoff’s own admission, caught on video, he’d stashed the crypto account key in my belongings without my awareness or consent.
Not that Kristoff’s most dedicated followers would care about that. My name may have been cleared in the fraud case, but my brand and reputation suffered major damage.
And despite all that, it didn’t feel right to just give up Beauty Butterfly. To let the trolls win. But I knew I needed a change. I just wasn’t sure yet what that meant.
“First,” I began to my Mavens. “I need to head back to L.A. and pack my stuff. Look for a subleaser for my apartment. Then…” What? Go where?
“My apartment is open for as long as you need,” Marcy said for the sake of the group.
She’d told me as much, but I’d been too frazzled from the previous days’ events to think through it further. “I called my parents and they want to see me before I go to California. My mom said I could stay with them. I’m sure she has a helpful friend with a new idea for a boring job I can settle into. Maybe that’s not such a bad idea. I could use some stability right now.”
“Yeah, but you don’t need to settle yet,” Noah said. “This is the perfect opportunity to focus on what you want to do. You don’t have a job right now, so you aren’t required to give two weeks’ notice or disappoint anyone by leaving a job you took out of obligation or desperation. Start with your skills and put together a resume. I’ll help you. Look for opportunities matching your skill set. Go from there.”
All sound advice. I had more than one offer of a place to stay that provided time to sort out details. Even if I cringed at the idea of moving in with my parents, I wasn’t out here on my own. They cared about me, even if they didn’t fully understand me.
Part of this idea with the Mavens was to establish tangible plans. I needed tangible. “I liked the marketing work I did for the camp. It felt meaningful. I used my social media knowledge but focused it on a worthwhile cause. I wouldn’t mind a marketing position for a non-profit.” It was a starting point at least. “You know, I hope the back-to-nature spirit at Camp Junebug remains. It would be a shame if the Trail Blazers swallowed them whole and they lost the organic aspect. If it meant so much to me, imagine how impactful it is for the campers. Even if Lucas leaves for Colorado, he cared enough about the camp to keep that small, simple camp experience going.”
My friends did not fill the silence. Not even Marcy who always had something to say.
