‘Watch it,’ Cook called out from behind her. Briar hadn’t even noticed him; all her focus had been on Alice. ‘Gentle with the buns.’
Briar was too irritated to smile. ‘What do I do with this caulk?’
‘Here, let me.’ Cook took the tube from her and crouched by the hole. ‘It’d be better if we had a new wood plank, but this’ll hold until we get the wee buggers out of our hairs.’
‘Are you talking about the kids or the racoons?’ Briar joked, the familiar lilt of Cook’s accent soothing her. She bent down next to him, watching as he expertly filled in the gap.
She remembered when she was younger, still too young to be a camper, and her mom would leave her in the kitchen with Cook for the day. She remembered watching his hands as he’d cut up vegetables.
It was the same now, only his hands were older, more worn, and when they moved there was a slight tremor.
She knew she needed to tell him about selling the camp. This was his home as much as hers, maybe even more so. But telling him seemed impossible. The whole domain he and her mother had built together was going to be gone, just like Susan. Maybe Cook could sense that she was on the brink of a breakdown, because he started talking again.
‘Ye know, yer mum’s first summer was pretty shite too. There was these nasty little bugs, cicadas, fecking everywhere. We had to put up nets over beds, in the doorways. I considered dressing in a fecking beekeeper getup to keep them out me mouth.’
Briar laughed, remembering her mom telling her the same story. In her version, she had woken up to tiny bug legs in her bed for months, which Briar believed was the cause of her own aversion to anything of the creepy-crawly variety.
‘The worst, though, was at the end of the summer, all them cicadas had procreated themselves to death, and their corpses were everywhere. Ye couldnae step outside without crunching them.’ Cook shuddered at the memory and Briar grinned, leaning into him and resting her head on his shoulder.
‘Thank you,’ she said. He patted her shoulder.
‘Dinnae mention it. Got a reputation to uphold,’ Cook said, winking. Then he grew serious. ‘I had been meaning to talk to ye.’
Briar braced for the worst, her good mood dissipating instantly. ‘What’s up?’
‘Well, as ye’ve probably noticed, I’m getting on in years,’ he said, gesturing to his wrinkled face. ‘I’d been telling yer mum I was too old to keep up with these kids. But the stubborn woman wouldnae let me retire.’ He paused, misty-eyed. ‘I think this will be my last summer. I’ve got a fair bit saved up and am planning to live out me dreams of sitting on a porch and smoking to my heart’s content.’
‘I’m gonna miss you,’ she said, even as she was overcome with relief. Selling the camp wouldn’t mean kicking Cook out of his home. So she didn’t need to tell him – not yet.
‘You cannae get rid of me that easily,’ Cook said. ‘I’ll expect ye to visit.’
Chapter 11
Briar
Briar heard a knock and turned to see Freddie standing in the door frame, a look of trepidation on his face.
‘Yes?’ she asked. ‘What’s gone wrong?’ She tried to keep her tone light, but she was pretty sure if there was anything else, she’d throw her hands up and cancel the rest of the summer. After spending the past two days fielding calls from concerned parents of Cabin 5 campers – during which none of them offered to collect their lice-ridden child – Briar was at the end of her rope.
‘Er,’ Freddie started, ‘could we sit?’
Briar nodded to the seat in front of her. ‘What’s up? You’re making me nervous.’
‘So, thing is,’ Freddie said, looking at his hands, ‘I’ve gotten some bad news.’
She suddenly became aware of her heart beating through her whole body, like she now did whenever anyone said anything even vaguely ominous. It was like she was expecting to hear her mother had died all over again, her body constantly pitching her back into that feeling of the floor falling out from under her.
‘The job I was meant to start in September says they can’t sponsor my work visa anymore,’ he explained.
‘Oh,’ Briar said, feeling guilty at the relief rushing through her system. ‘That sucks.’
‘Yeah,’ he said, his mouth a tight line. ‘Anyway, I was wondering if you could maybe hire me in the fall and sponsor me? I could do admin stuff, whatever you need.’
She blinked, wracking her brain for something to say. Hiring Freddie should’ve been easy, and she wanted to help him. He was one of the best counselors they’d ever had. This was just another item on thedon’t sell your mom’s legacy to the highest bidder, you idiotlist that she’d been keeping a running tally of.
‘Susan had emailed me about it being a possibility when I was still waiting to hear back,’ Freddie continued, anxiously running a hand through his hair. ‘Obviously, I understand if that’s not possible anymore.’ He fidgeted, looking more unsure of himself than Briar had ever seen him.
‘Um, can I get back to you?’ Briar asked, already running through her very short list of options, fleetingly wondering if she could call in a favor and get Freddie a job at the bar. ‘I just haven’t quite figured out the fall yet.’
