“What?” Paige exclaimed, honestly shocked. “No, of course not. Why would you even ask that?”
Beth’s green eyes were huge and worried. “I know this whole Parents’ Day thing is some plan of Uncle Conleth’s, ma’am. And I know the two of you aren’t really mated. Not properly, with the mate bond and everything. If you were, Uncle Conleth wouldn’t be running around like he’s preparing for an audit. I thought—I thought maybe you still weren’t sure how you felt about him.”
“It’s nothing like that,” Paige reassured her. “It’s true that we aren’t, uh, fully mated yet. But that doesn’t mean anything’s wrong. We just need to figure out some practical stuff before taking that final step, that’s all.”
Beth looked fractionally happier. “So Uncle Conleth didn’t set up Parents’ Day in order to have a chance to impress your mom?”
“No, honey. I did want her to meet him, but that wasn’t the main reason.”
“Then what was?”
“That doesn’t matter now,” Paige said, thinking of her mom’s less-than-enthusiastic response to Thunder Mountain. “The point is, I wasn’t testing Conleth. And I’m not about to suddenly break up with him. You don’t need to worry about that.”
Beth let out her breath in relief. “Good. Can I go find Archie now, ma’am? I owe him an apology.”
“Of course.” Something occurred to her. “But first, can you use your power to locate my mom? I can’t find her anywhere.”
Beth straightened with pride at being asked to help. “Yes, ma’am. My talent is pretty strong. As long as she’s within the campground, I can find her.” She turned her head, eyes going vague. “She’s…huh. That’s strange.”
Surely her mom couldn’t have left the camp. “What is?”
Beth refocused on her, brow creasing. “She’s in the laundry room, ma’am.”
“The laundry room?” Paige couldn’t think what her mom could be doing there. “Is Archie with her?”
“No, ma’am,” Beth said, sounding just as puzzled. “She’s by herself. Maybe she got lost?”
“Maybe,” Paige said dubiously. She got to her feet. “You go find the others. I’ll catch up with you later.”
The laundry room occupied one of several plain, functional units set some distance away from the other buildings. Prominent signs clearly statedStaff only - Campers keep out.With everyone busy with Parents’ Day, the whole area was deserted.
Without Beth’s guidance, Paige would never have even thought to look here. She pushed the door open, squinting into the shadowy interior. “Mom?”
After the bright summer sunlight, it took her eyes a moment to adjust to the dimness. Industrial-sized washers and dryers lined the walls, currently switched off and dormant. A rack held baskets labeled with cabin names; some empty, others filledwith neatly folded clothes. The air smelled strongly of laundry soap, with a faint hint of sweaty socks.
For a moment, Paige thought Beth must have been mistaken. Then she heard a faint, swallowed sob, coming from a shadowed corner behind one of the washers.
“Mom?” Paige fumbled along the wall for the light switch. Incandescent bulbs flickered on overhead. “Is that you?”
“Oh!” Her mom quickly stood up, though she kept her face turned away. Her voice took on a bright, brittle note that Paige knew all too well. “There you are, Paige. I was looking for you.”
“Behind a washing machine?” Paige came in, leaving the door cracked open behind her to let in some fresh air. “Mom, what are you doing in here? Why aren’t you with Archie?”
“Oh, you know.” Her mom made a vague gesture, smiling apologetically. Her fingers trembled. “I just needed a moment to myself. It’s so busy out there. So many…people.”
Paige’s heart skipped a beat. She could see the signs—the dilated pupils, the ragged breaths. She couldn’t imaginewhy, but her mom was teetering on the edge of a full-blown panic attack.
“Mom.” Paige took her hands, gripping them tight. “It’s okay. We can stay here as long as you need. Breathe with me.”
Her mom’s eyes locked onto hers as though seizing hold of a life preserver. Paige kept her breathing slow and steady, never looking away.
Slowly, the shudders shaking her mom’s shoulders eased. With a wobbly smile, she pulled her hands away. “I’m all right now. We should get back to Archie. I don’t want him to worry.”
“In a minute.” Paige guided her mom to sit on an upturned crate. “You said you’d been having a tough time this summer, but I didn’t realize things were this bad.”
She hadn’t seen her mom fall apart so publicly since Archie had been tiny. She’d thought taking her brother away for thesummer would give her mom time to rest and nurture her mental health. Instead, Mom seemed to be sinking faster than ever.
“I shouldn’t have left you on your own for so long,” she said, repressing a selfish, sinking feeling of disappointment. No matter how much she wanted to spend the rest of the summer at camp with Conleth and the kids, her mom had to come first. “I’ll tell the camp director there’s a family emergency, and I need to go home early. He’ll understand.”
