Page 57 of Hers to Kiss
Chapter 20
With a grunt, Pete yanked the rope, securing the knot to the last of the boats at the dock. He stood to full height and wiped the sweat off his brow. One more day and this group of kids would be gone.
Until the next weeklong camp session.
Pete sighed in relief. He wouldn’t be here next week. His father expected him to travel to Cornell, but he would be in Silicon Valley. He probably wouldn’t be back period, if he had his way.
In fact, he’d made up his mind to never come back. Keke had been right to stay away. This place gnawed at one’s soul until there was nothing left. He had to get out, or he’d never forgive himself.
Keke…
She had rejected him. The familiar experience stung far worse now that he’d held her in his arms and kissed her. The look in her eyes before their lips met. Her embarrassment afterwards. He had convinced himself it wasn’t just him; she had felt it too. That unspoken desire; the uniting of their—
Now he just sounded stupid. And so did his admission, as it played over and over in his head, followed by her insistent no. His mind had gone so far as to exaggerate Keke’s response to a laugh and a sneer. Soon, he’d probably hear words she didn’t speak, but he’d heard from her while growing up:
“Oh, Petey, you’re so silly.”
“Petey, why do you look like such a dork?”
“Petey, you’re still a hobbit?”
Pete closed his eyes and groaned. He’d misjudged their kiss. She was just showing him how to get the girl. Not any girl, but Lea. Certainly not herself.
He’d thrown back in her face that he was going to get girl after girl, but the truth was he didn’t want anyone but her. Maybe one day he’d find someone as amazing as her; it’s not every day you’d find a girl willing to teach you how to kiss—but he doubted it. For all her faults, Keke was one of a kind.
“There you are,” Bertie said. “I’ve been looking all over for you.”
“You know Dad has me running around like an errand boy.”
“What are you doing out here?”
“Retying the boats to the dock.”
Bertie looked around at the canoes. “Retying the boats? What on earth for? Were they not tied up in the first place?”
They’d been out on the water about an hour or so ago. While the kids were eating lunch, Titus had come into the cafeteria and ordered Pete up and back to the dock, claiming one of the boats looked loose. All the boats were secure. “No. He’s punishing me for giving him a hard time about Cornell.”
Bertie sighed. She laid a hand on his back. “Peter…about that. Well, actually, there’s something I gotta tell you.”
“I’ve made up my mind, Bertie. No one’s going to change it.”
“It’s Mom, Peter.” Bertie’s face contorted like she was in pain. Her eyes watered. “We have to go to the hospital.”
* * *
Pete had been numb ever since his sister told him their mother was in the hospital. They’d run back to the office, Bertie telling him along the way that Mom had been sick for a couple of years—which he knew; they’d thought it was lupus—but in the last few months, doctors had agreed she had an aggressive form of cancer. It was the reason she was rarely at camp. She was seeing the doctor and getting tested.
Now they were on the highway, stuck in traffic behind an accident, and Pete grew ever more fidgety.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” Bertie said quietly. “I should’ve. Mom didn’t want you to worry about her. And I…”
“There’s no excuse for it,” Pete said, hurt. “She’s my mother, too.” He looked out the window at the row of cars sitting idle in the lanes beside them. Of course there would be traffic when they had to be somewhere. “Now Mom’s in the hospital, and…” Tears welled up. He wouldn’t think the worst. His emotions were still too raw from Keke’s rejection to take more pain—especially not this kind.
“You’re right, there’s no excuse.”
His head snapped to her. “When would you have told me? After she died?”
Bertie winced. She shook her head.
