Maggie was looking over my shoulder. “Yup.”
I went to the office to check for messages and smiled when I saw a bright blue envelope in my cubby—my first ever camp letter!
Leave it to Claire to think of sending me mail. She was one of those people who knew everything but wasn’t a know-it-all—my go-to person when I needed guidance. I had called her to help me find a camp to send the girls to because she loved sleepaway camp. It was due to our research that I ended up at Woodlands.
We had met for lunch the day before I drove off to my summer adventure. She handed me a gift bag.
“I bought you something you might need while you’re away.”
“You didn’t have to do that.”
She smiled. “I thought it was one of those things that you may not have thought of and would be difficult to buy when you’re stuck at camp.”
I couldn’t imagine what it was. As I unwrapped the tissue paper, I felt my cheeks blush and laughed. It was a vibrator.
“Take it out of the box,” she said.
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
I pulled it out and saw my name written on the shaft in purple block letters.
“I didn’t want yours to get confused with anyone else’s.”
In my mail cubby, there was also a message from the mother of one of the Cubs.
At every meeting, it had been instilled in us that we provided a service, and a message from a parent needed to be answered ASAP. I dutifully took out the three-ring binder that contained the names of the counselors and campers, their photos, and information like allergies, parent names, and every possible number to reach them.
I sat down and opened the tab for cabin one. There was a photo of Chloe Martin. I dialed her mother.
“Hello, this is Lori Kramer from Camp Woodlands. I’ll be Chloe’s division leader this summer.”
“Oh good. I accidentally forgot to tell you something important about my daughter. Since her father and I split, Chloe’s been wetting her bed. When she’s home with me, she’s fine, but at her dad’s, well, that’s when it happens.”
My first thought was,Poor Chloe. Then I wondered who was responsible for cleaning up after her. “Can you send her up with extra sheets in case she continues to wet her bed . . . and maybe some extra underwear?”
“Good idea. I’ll throw in a mattress liner also. I know she’s excited about camp, but she’s probably nervous too. Hopefully, if she’s happy and comfortable, she’ll be able to control her bladder.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll take good care of Chloe.”
I made a few more calls to parents who had “accidentally” forgotten to tell me things about their kids. I hoped the counselors would be easier to deal with.
Walking through the gates of Girls Camp, I saw groups of young women sitting in front of the cabins they were assigned to. Thankfully, they had name badges. I put a smile on my face.
“Hey, Lori, come and join us.”
I remembered Amber because of her elaborate braids. “Hi, I’m excited to work with you,” I said, joining the group. I smiled at each expectant face and took a deep breath. “I thought the best way to get to know each other is to tell something interesting about ourselves. You know, something you wouldn’t write on your résumé. I’ll go first. My name is Lori and I’ve never been to sleepaway camp.”
“How can you be a division leader if you’ve never been to camp?” Carrie asked.
Before I could answer, a girl with striking dimples jumped in.
“Hi, I’m Genie and I was a camper here for six years and I can tell you from experience that there’s nothing to it. If you have half a brain and can count, you can do this job.”
I raised my hand. “I qualify. Genie, since you’re a veteran, tell us about your experience at Woodlands.”
“Sure. Like I said, I was a camper and one of my goals was to come back as a counselor and lose my virginity here. I mean,I got my first period at camp, so I’m looking at it as, you know, another rite of passage.”
