Rick’s new path made me excited for him but even more confused about my own. Mine wasn’t as…concrete.
“I think we have time to grab some lunch before we pick up the groups from swimming,” Rick said, interrupting my thoughts.
I broke my gaze from the building and focused on him. A natural smile spread across my face when I noticed how happy and proud he was. And I had inspired it. I nodded and held out my hand to him.
The next two weeks seemed to go by in a flash. Once everyone, including myself, got a handle on the daily regime, time seemed to go like ice at a lemonade stand—regretfully quickly. I was subconsciously dreading every day that went by. The closer we got to the middle of the summer, the closer it was to the end of it.
With every passing day, the small voice in my head warning me that I would soon need to make some decisions, was getting louder and harder to ignore—not to mention the lingering ball in my stomach that I didn’t want to admit existed.
I was blissfully happy. Rick and I had snuck a few moments together between classes and spent most evenings together. Some mornings he’d surprise me by finding me on the beach right before sunrise, but he knew enough to let me have most mornings to myself. It was heartening, the kind of subtle attention he’d pay to the things that he knew mattered to me.
On Friday afternoon, I had just finished hanging my older class’s artwork in the gym. Molly had helped me find some wooden clips and string to hang along the walls of the large, multipurpose room. Earlier in the week, in an effort to boost my campers’ motivations, I’d initiated a contest. There would be a winner between each of my three age groups and a universal winner, where one would be picked from all three. It was always more exiting when you got all the campers involved in the same competition.
And it was making a difference, I noted, as I stepped back to admire their work.
“Not bad—for a bribery,” Sarah said, coming out from the gym office.
I spun my head dramatically with my jaw dropped. “It wasn’t a bribery,” I said, only half defensive.
“What’s the grand prize?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.
I looked away. “A twenty-five-dollar gift certificate to the camp gift shop,” I mumbled.
Sarah grinned widely. “I’m kidding. It was a terrific idea. One that we should probably do more often, especially for the sports classes.” Sarah looked around more closely at the art. “Hey this is good stuff, Ame.”
I glanced over at her by the middle classes’ art corner. “Thanks, but they’re not mine.”
“No, but you’re the one who inspired and guided them,” she acknowledged as she slowly made her way along the wall. “What are these?” She pointed to my oldest group’s paintings.
“Oh, that’s a spot I found by the west pier.”
“I can tell, but they’re all different. And nothing I’d seen before.”
“I know.” I had picked a perfectly empty, serene spot, where they’d be no distraction and very little scenery. “The project was for the kids to draw the scenery just as it was—the beach, the sky, the pier—and then add something, anything that they wanted that pier to lead to.” I asked them if that short pier could lead to any place or anything they wanted, what would it be? I hadn’t expected the kind of creativity I got from my ten year olds.
A little blue house surrounded by flowers, where there were “no adults allowed,” Kayla had made clear in her heading. A pier that continued until you’d seen the whole world and then would lead you back where you started. One that led to an enormous apple tree and each time an apple fell, you made a wish. Miguel drew the beach just as it was, because it was, he thought, perfect and shouldn’t be changed. Some were better than others, but all manifested who they were and hopefully gave them some idea of what they wanted out of life.
“Amy, this is brilliant work.”
“I know. These kids are amazing. What they come up with…”
“No. What they realize they can do, all this imagination that directly relates to the beauty and nature of life—it’s all stimulated by you.” She stared at me as if I wasn’t seeing what she was seeing.
I gazed at the paintings, suddenly feeling uncomfortable with the compliments.
I felt Sarah watch for a moment as I took in each piece that hung from that group. “Whatever your quest for finding yourself is, Amy, we’re happy it led you here.”
“Thank you.”
CHAPTER 21
Saturday morning, I opened the door to my apartment, ready to meet Rick at the beach. I grabbed my keys, threw on my raincoat, and sprung open the door. My eyes flew open, and tears started to well up when I saw who stood on the other side.
“Dad?” I threw my arms around him.
“So, you did miss me?” he joked as he returned my hug.
I stepped back to look at him. My dad was average height. Didn’t tower over me but I still had to look up at him. His hair was showing fewer black stands and more of the silver, as I called it. His skin was darker than mine, but he and Marci traveled a lot, so I didn’t remember how much of it was natural.
