When I returned to my room, Ronnie was propped up in my bed looking refreshed, but frustrated, as he tried to get service on his BlackBerry.
“How do you sleep in this bed? It’s so uncomfortable, and it sags in the middle.”
“I’m so beat at the end of the day, I basically pass out.”
“After you shower, let’s go into town for dinner. I saw a place that looked like it could pass for fine dining.”
“I know the restaurant you’re talking about.” I didn’t mention we’d had reservations there the night he stood me up. “But I can’t leave.”
“What do you mean?” Ronnie asked. “I get that you can’t take the trip with me, but I can’t take you out for two hours?” He stood reaching for the doorknob.
“Where are you going?”
“To tell Jack that I’m takingmy wifeout for dinner.”
“You do that, and I’ll call your managing partner the next time you miss a family meal because of work obligations.”
Ronnie had that look of astonishment on his face that appeared when he didn’t get his way.
“Today is about you spending time with Zelda and Hazel. I made special arrangements for you to have a dinner date with them at the Pizza Joint in town, but they must be back for the evening Flagpole.”
His eyes unfocused, which meant he was figuring out his next move. He looked at his phone and then at me.
“I thought you’d leave with me, and the truth is, I have a bunch of deadlines I have to meet. My team is waiting on word from me and, well . . .”
I knew where this was going. “Well, what?”
“I think that it makes sense for me to leave right now. This way I can drive home before it gets late and get some work done tonight.”
I wasn’t surprised. Honestly, I was relieved. He didn’t belong in my camp world. He didn’t fit in with my friends. Thank goodness I hadn’t mentioned the dinner plans to Zelda or Hazel. When I thought about the stink he’d made over his kids abandoning him for the summer and the makeup sex we were supposedly going to have, I was smacked in the face by his hypocrisy.
I shrugged. “That makes sense.”
“You’re okay with me leaving?” He sounded surprised.
I was sure he expected me to have a hissy fit and try to make him feel guilty. But I was having mixed feelings about having sex with him. It was better that he decided to leave. “I’ll walk you to the car.”
“No need. I know you’re busy.” He pecked me on the cheek and picked up his overnight bag.
When the door closed, I realized he hadn’t told me what he wanted to speak about the night he stood me up and I had forgotten to ask. I plopped on the bed and exhaled a huge sigh of relief.
Abby knocked on my door. “Can I come in?”
“Sure.”
“Your husband left?”
“Yeah.”
Before I could explain why, Abby said, “Too bad he couldn’t take Barry with him.”
25Second Base
Getting the campers tucked in after they’d spent the day with their parents was a formidable task. The girls who weren’t homesick became homesick. Plus, I noticed some of the counselors were weepy. If they lost it, I’d lose all control. I had to nip that before they led the campers into a crying orgy. I gave reassuring hugs and promises of lots more fun events that they wouldn’t want to miss, and that was to pacify the counselors. Then I spoke with each camper, letting them tell me one interesting thing that happened during the day. Once everyone was refocused, the temperament in the cabins calmed down.
I was especially worried about Leah, the worst homesickness case that Mindy said she’d ever seen, but her parents had told her if she stopped crying, they’d buy her a dog when she got home. The bigger issue that night was Chloe. She seemed fine during the day, hanging out with her mother and grandmother, but when I went to place my hand on her back, she was trembling and sobbing into her pillow. I knelt down beside her and she latched on to me, bawling into my neck. I picked her up and carried her outside. We sat down on the porch steps, and I let her cry into my shoulder. I rubbed her back, trying to soothe her. When she calmed down, she told me how awful things had been since her parents divorced.
“It’s all my fault,” she said, rubbing her eyes.
