“You too,” Paige said thickly, fighting back tears herself. “I missed you. Thanks for coming all this way.”
“You know I’d go any distance for you.” Her mom cupped her face briefly, her palm warm against Paige’s cheek. “You’re looking well. Camp life must agree with you.”
She smiled, thinking of Conleth. “Yeah, it does.”
Her smile quickly faded as she took in her mom’s appearance. With the camp’s internet connection too flaky to allow video calls, it was the first time she’d seen her since the start of summer. She’d lost weight, and her makeup couldn’t conceal the dark rings under her eyes.
“Are you okay?” Paige asked, though she already knew the answer—both the one her mom would give, and the truth. “You look tired.”
“Oh, don’t worry about me,” her mom said vaguely. She looked around, voice going bright and brittle. “My, just look atthis place! It’s so…remote. And that forest looks awfully wild. How do you take the children hiking without getting lost?”
“Mom. Don’t try to change the subject.”
Her mom adjusted her cardigan, wrapping it a little tighter around her too-thin frame. “I’ve been…a little down, lately. The apartment seems so empty without you and Archie. I suppose I’m not used to having so much time alone with my thoughts.”
Paige knew all too well what her mom actually meant by ‘a little down.’ Guilt stabbed through her. “You should have told me.”
“I didn’t want you to worry. There was nothing you could have done, anyway.” Her mom patted her arm. “I’m fine now, truly. All I really needed was to see you and Archie again.”
“But you’re only here for a day.” Suddenly, the end of summer couldn’t come soon enough. “When you go back, you’ll be alone again.”
“It’s not that long until you and Archie come back home. I’ll befine, Paige.” A warning note entered her mom’s voice. “Let’s not talk about it any further while I’m here. We don’t want anything getting back to Archie.”
It wasn’t the time to explain that Archie already knew about her depressive episodes, and had for years. Paige still hadn’t figured out how to dropthatbombshell without sending her mom into a guilt spiral. She felt bad enough about it herself.
“Okay,” she said. She took her mom’s hand. “Come on. There’s someone I want you to meet.”
“Wherearethey?” Estelle said in frustration. She bounced on her toes, trying vainly to see past the family groups crowding thearea. “They should have been here by now. Beth, can you sense them yet?”
Beth closed her eyes for a moment, then shook her head. “No, but there’s a lot of people around. I’m probably just missing them in all the crowds.”
She was trying to sound optimistic, but Conleth could tell she was starting to get worried. He was, as well. Most of the other campers were already happily showing their parents around, yet his own pack still waited forlornly outside the junior boys’ cabin.
He forced a reassuring smile. “There’s no need to panic. Plenty of people are still arriving. I’m sure your families will be here soon.”
“Maybe one of the buses broke down.” Nancy sounded more hopeful than dismayed by this prospect. “Or there’s a tree across the road.”
“Yoo-hoo!” trilled a high, feminine voice. A petite woman with Nancy’s exuberant brown curls waved frantically, a foil-covered platter balanced on her other hand. “Nancy! Nancy, over here!”
Nancy’s face fell.
The woman—who could only be Nancy’s mother—bustled over, followed by a somewhat larger man. At least, Conleth assumed it was a man. It was somewhat hard to tell, given that said individual was entirely obscured from the waist upward by a precarious stack of cake boxes.
“Oh, my sweet baby, you must have been worried sick!” Juggling the plate, Nancy’s mother swept her into a warm, one-armed hug. “The journey was a nightmare, just an utter nightmare. So many awful truck drivers, I just don’t knowwhythey have to honk their horns so much. I had to pull over six times, and your father—well, no matter. We’re here now!”
“Hi, Mom,” Nancy said gloomily. “Hi, Dad.”
“Hi, pumpkin,” said the ambulatory pile of Tupperware.
“Auntie Lucy made your favorite lemon bars!” Nancy’s mother thrust the plate into her daughter’s hands. “And I whipped up a triple batch of scotcheroos so you’ll have enough to share with all your friends. And Cousin Sal—Auntie Jane’s Sal, I mean, not the other one—made some simplywonderfulkringle, and I’m afraid I just couldnotdissuade Auntie Cathy from attempting to send an entire strawberry pretzel dessert—oh dear. Itoldyou to be careful with that one, Hubert.”
“Sorry, honey,” said Nancy’s father, still mostly concealed by baked goods.
“Oh, and I brought all the things you accidentally left behind!” Nancy’s mother delved into an enormous canvas shoulder bag. “I don’t knowhowthey ended up back in your closet, I’m sure I put them in your trunk when we packed. Let’s see, I’ve got your earmuffs, and that adorable padded parka Great-Uncle George embroidered for you, and your water wings, and your elbow pads?—”
“Mooooooooom.” Nancy looked like she was about to melt with embarrassment. “Please stop.”
Conleth was beginning to understand why Nancy had been less than enthusiastic about the entire concept of Parents’ Day.
