This isn’t good. I can’t keep avoiding these memories of him or I’ll make myself nuts. Natalie is right. I need to deal with them and clear a path to enjoy the rest of this week.
I fetch my bags from the porch and retrieve the clothes I need. As counselors, we’d taught the kids over and over that gear is king. You need to be dressed and equipped correctly for every activity for your own safety.
Which means I need to find the perfect outfit for a séance.
Fifteen minutes later, I’m back at the original dock in comfy shorts and a light sweatshirt. The wood that had inflicted multiple splinters every summer has been replaced with a non-wood composite. It’s sturdier, but it looks almost identical to the one it replaced—same height, color, length—and I suspect it’ll hold up far better than the old wood.
When I sit at the end of it, dangling my bare feet in the water, it’s exactly like the countless times I’d hung out down here with Natalie, Sawyer, and Ben.
I close my eyes and go ghost hunting, searching for the spirit of memories past.
Chapter 2
Eleven Years Ago
“Hey,”avoicecalled.
I didn’t recognize it, but it was a touch too deep and four days too early to be a camper.
I turned and spotted a guy standing on the bank near the start of the dock. A large duffel lay beside his feet, and he held his hand over his eyes like he was trying to see me better.
“Can I help you?” I withdrew my dangling feet from the water and stood.
“I hope so,” he called. “Do you work here?”
“Yeah. Do you?”
“If I haven’t been fired. I missed my flight, so I’m late.”
Ah, he was the missing counselor. We’d had new counselor orientation this morning, and Director Warren had mentioned a latecomer.
“Where did you fly in from?” I asked as I walked down the dock.
“Boston,” he said. “I flew into Roanoke, but there aren’t that many flights, so when I missed mine, I had to wait until today. What about you? You from around here?”
“Pretty much. I’m from Creekville, which is only a couple hours by car. What made you want to come here all the way from Boston? They don’t have summer camps in Massachusetts?”
“I’m staying close to home for college, so I wanted an ‘away from home’ experience. Plus, I need a summer job, and my cousin came to this camp. It always sounded pretty cool, so I applied.”
“Who’s your cousin?”
“Becca Lewis. She’s a couple years older than me.”
“I remember her.” She’d always been in the older camper group, so I never got to know her well, but I could picture her face. “You must be my age.”
“Eighteen.”
I nodded. “Just graduated from high school last week.”
“Two weeks ago for me.”
I’d reached the end of the dock. He was over six feet with dark, shaggy hair and dark eyes. His skin was pale enough to make me frown. He’d have to shellac himself in sunscreen the first couple of weeks until he built up some base color.
On the upside, he looked my age. Older boys made me nervous, but guys my age didn’t. Usually I made them nervous, honestly, probably because of my hair. It was long and curly and lightened to dark blonde in the summer, and all together, it made boys act kind of…dumb. Also, I had good boobs. Hmm. Could be that too.
“Did you check in at the office?” I asked.
“I poked my head in but there was no one there.”
