Robin nodded, and Alice went into the hall with the full intent of finding Freddie and talking to him. Instead, her feet led her into the bedroom, where Briar was now infuriatingly not missing anymore.
‘What’s wrong?’ Briar asked immediately, and Alice knew she must have looked truly terrible based on her reaction.
‘It’s Robin again,’ she said, sighing. ‘Where did you go during breakfast?’
‘My mom’s,’ Briar said, and Alice was annoyed because she had no idea how to tell if Briar was lying anymore. ‘The cable company thinks me saying she’s died is some sort of ploy to get on a cheaper plan, so I had to make some calls and request another copy of her death certificate.’
‘You could’ve woken me up before you left,’ Alice said.
‘I thought you would’ve been happy to get the extra sleep.’
Alice huffed. ‘Yeah, it did me a lot of good when the first thing I encountered this morning was Freddie telling me that Robin had gotten into a fight at breakfast.’
‘A fight?’ Briar asked. ‘I didn’t think he had it in him.’
‘That’s not the point.’ Alice squeezed her eyes shut, unable to look at Briar. ‘He says no one wants him here. And honestly? I understand the feeling.’
And then she whirled around and went to go find Freddie.
Chapter 10
Briar
It was raining, again. The sky was an angry grey, spewing the kind of rain that fell in all directions, soaking anyone who ventured out into its downpour. The forecast for the next few days didn’t leave much hope for the end of the session, and the campers were once again playing board games in the mess hall. Briar sighed for what felt like the hundredth time that morning, catching Freddie’s eye as he strolled by.
‘Up for another round of bingo?’ she asked, and he shuddered.
‘Absolutely not,’ he said. ‘That should only be used as a last resort.’
Briar nodded. ‘Then what? We can’t keep them inside all day without an activity.’
Freddie shrugged. ‘Musical chairs?’
‘We played that two days ago.’
‘Dodgeball?’
‘Did it.’
‘Bowling?’
‘With what pins?’
‘Movie?’
‘It’s a VHS system and we only haveChitty Chitty Bang Bang. It’ll give them nightmares.’
‘Quiet reading time?’ Briar glared at him, and Freddie threw his arms up. ‘It’s never rained this much in one session. I’m tapped out.’
Briar groaned, letting her head fall onto the table in front of her. Once upon a time, she’d been the fun counselor, the one coming up with games and entertaining the campers with wild stories. She had connected with her kids, known all their favorite colors, what animals they liked, made friendship bracelets for them. As a co-director, she didn’t even get that. She was either stuck in the office with Alice breathing down her neck or disciplining rowdy kids. Or, even worse, she was at her mom’s house, going through the painstaking process of fixing it up.
She wasn’t sure she felt the same pull she once had to this place. It would always be her mother’s camp, and maybe that was the problem. Briar hated that she kept failing her. It was what she’d been feeling every day of the session. Failure after failure. She wasn’t sure she could take any more.
As she scanned the room hoping for a miracle activity to appear, her eyes caught on Robin and Timothy in the corner working on a puzzle. Briar watched as Timothy helped his younger brother find the right pieces, presenting options for Robin to try until they found the piece that fit. Each time it worked, Robin’s eyes would light up, a satisfied smile appearing on his face. It made Briar miss the twins.
She knew she owed them a call, but she was avoiding her dad. She didn’t want to think about selling the camp yet, but she also knew she had to. It was what was right for her family, and this session had certainly proved that she couldn’t run it on her own. Even with Alice’s help, it had gone completely to shit.
‘Er, Briar?’
