Chapter 2
Chapter Two
It was hard to focus on celebrating with his family when he knew that Kelsey was just twenty feet away.
His parents and grandparents were thrilled to see him because ever since his move to North Carolina, his visits were typically only two to three times a year.
Knowing the visit would last ten days was causing a lot of excitement—which was weird to him because he didn’t feel like it was that big of a deal.
They had all of his favorite snacks waiting for him in the cabin and a champagne toast at the start of the vacation; they also took what felt like a hundred pictures. It was such a blessing to have this time with everyone and he knew this was where his attention needed to be, no matter what.
“Should we invite Kelsey and her mom to dinner?” his mother asked. “Do you think they already have plans?”
Jayce didn’t want to seem too eager, so he shrugged. “Maybe we can plan that for tomorrow. We don’t want to intrude on their trip. Kelsey mentioned this trip was for her mom’s birthday, but she didn’t say what day it actually was.”
“They were always such a nice family,” his grandmother chimed in. “It was a terrible thing when her parents divorced.”
He remembered the summer after it happened. Kelsey was devastated, but her mother had insisted that they stick to their annual vacation plans. That was the summer they were twelve and she spent a lot of time being sad, and he spent a lot of time doing goofy things to try to cheer her up.
“People get divorced all the time,” he reasoned.
“And it seemed like they moved on and were okay after a little while.” The following summer had been a complete one-eighty.
Kelsey had returned looking like the girl he always knew, but suddenly he took notice of her as more than a friend.
He’d been completely smitten and did everything he could to spend as much time with her as possible.
After going home to Long Island—which was six hours away from Rochester—they would text and call each other all the time.
They liked to say they were dating, but he knew she still went out with other boys and he dated other girls. But the summers were theirs.
“It’s weird because we didn’t see anyone go into the cabin before Kelsey got here,” his mother told him. “I saw housekeeping come out, but nobody else went in.”
“Mom, you know it’s possible that she went in while no one was looking, right? You weren’t standing out on the porch with no distractions,” Jayce said with a laugh.
“Maybe.”
“Okay, so what are our plans for the rest of the day? Where are we having dinner—here at the lodge, or are we going into town?”
“Oh, we have to eat dinner at the lodge,” his grandfather said. “That’s tradition! You know that. We always spend the first night having a big dinner up in the main dining room and then we have dessert near the fire.” He sighed happily. “Tradition.”
“So…nothing’s changed here either,” he mumbled.
“What’s that, Jayce? Did you say something?” his father asked.
“What? Um…just saying how nothing’s changed!
” Another small laugh. “I kind of feel like a kid again. Although I hope I still fit on the sleeper sofa. I’m a bit taller now than I was at sixteen.
” That really hadn’t occurred to him until just that moment.
“Maybe I should see about a room up at the lodge…”
“Nooo,” his mother whined. “We always stay here together!”
“Mom, be reasonable. I’m not a child anymore and it’s a lot to ask of me to sleep in a bed that’s too small for me for ten days. Plus, all the other relatives who are joining us are either staying in another cabin or up at the lodge.”
Dammit, why didn’t I think of this sooner?
“We can check it out after dinner, Jayce.”
“But then it will be too late. I’ll just call the front desk and see if they have anything available. I can’t imagine them being booked solid.” And before anyone could argue, he whipped out his phone and looked up the number.
“You could just use the cabin’s phone,” his grandmother pointed out. “It has a direct line to the front desk.”
“Thanks, Gram. That would be much easier.” He walked over to where the phone was hanging on the wall. “I didn’t think anyone used phones like this anymore.”
“It’s part of the charm!”
Rather than comment, Jayce simply pushed the button for the front desk.
“Lakeview Harbor Resort, this is Dotty. How may I help you?”
“Hey, Dotty. This is Jayce Nash. I’m staying in cabin fourteen with my family, but I was curious if you had any other rooms or cabins available.”
She gasped softly. “Oh no! Is something wrong with the cabin? Should I send the maintenance team over?”
“No, no, that’s not necessary. There are five of us in the cabin and it was fine when I was a kid, but it’s a little tight now.”
“Ah, okay. Whew! Let me see what we have…hmm…we have availability here in the lodge, but cabin number fifteen is also vacant. I can have someone come down there and bring you the key if you’d prefer.”
His first thought was how it might be nice to be up at the lodge for the sake of privacy, but then he thought of how nice and convenient it would be to stay right here where he could potentially spend more time with Kelsey.
“The cabin sounds perfect! Thank you, Dotty!”
For the next few minutes, he did the registration over the phone and when they were done, she promised someone would meet him within the next fifteen minutes.
“Done!” he said as he hung up the phone. “And I’ll be right across the path in number fifteen, so it will almost feel like we’re all still staying together.”
“I just hate that it didn’t work out.” His mother was a little famous for her guilt skills, but Jayce wasn’t going to be swayed. “What if we want to have a late-night game of Scrabble?”
“I’m literally going to be twenty feet away. I can still play the game and walk across the path to go to sleep, Mom.”
She sighed dramatically. “Fine. I guess we should enjoy the time we have together now before you leave…”
“To walk right across the path,” he interrupted.
“You can see my cabin from your window. Just turn your head and you can see it.” Pausing, he glanced around again.
“Besides, if they had updated these cabins, it probably wouldn’t be a problem!
A Murphy bed with a regular size mattress would have worked.
I have a feeling if we unfold that sofa bed, it might be the same mattress I slept on as a kid. ”
“You know he’s right,” his father agreed. “We’ve all complained about the lack of updates. It’s no wonder they’re closing at the end of the season.”
“So you knew about that too? Kelsey mentioned it to me while we were walking here.”
“Jayce, of course we know. We’ve been coming here every summer for almost thirty years. It’s why we decided to have your grandparents’ party here. It just felt like something we needed to do. After all, it’s the end of an era.”
“Do you know what they’re going to do with the property? Did they sell it to another resort company, or is it all going to be knocked down?”
“Last we heard, it was just closing. The couple who owns it didn’t want to see it destroyed, but no one else in the family wanted to take it on.
So sad,” his mother said wearily. “A family-owned business and no one in the family will save it.” She made a tsking sound.
“I can’t even imagine how heartbreaking it is for them. ”
“Some businesses aren’t for everyone, you know?” he suggested. “I mean…I have my firm, but if I ever have kids of my own, there’s no guarantee they’ll want to be electrical engineers.”
“It’s not the same, Jayce,” his father said.
“You can sell a firm or someone else can take it over. It’s a different kind of business.
A place like this resort is just…it’s special.
The sheer number of people who have vacationed here, made memories here, is probably too much to even imagine.
No offense to what you do, but when an engineering office closes, there aren’t going to be generations of families reminiscing about all the memories they made there. ”
“None taken and I get what you’re saying. Hell, it makes me sad thinking about it because…yeah. We have so many great memories of our time here. I made a lot of friends here. Friends I still keep in touch with.”
“And you met Kelsey here,” his mother reminded him. “There was a time when I thought the two of you were going to be more than childhood sweethearts. I thought you’d end up going to college together and eventually getting married.”
His eyes went wide. “Seriously?”
She nodded. “We all did.”
Looking around, everyone was nodding their heads. “Why didn’t you ever say anything?”
“What was the point? You were very adamant about going to Japan that summer and I asked you a few times about what Kelsey was going to think, but you just brushed it off like it wasn’t a big deal.
” She shrugged. “I never expected you to never come back here for another vacation, you know, until now.”
“Yeah, well…” His words were cut off by someone knocking at the door.
“I’ll bet that’s someone with my key.” When he opened the door, that’s exactly who was there.
Turning back to his family, he grabbed his suitcase.
“I’m going to go and unpack and settle in.
How about I meet you back here in an hour and then we’ll go for a walk down to the lake or just hang out until dinner? How does that sound?”
Everyone agreed it sounded great, and he practically sagged with relief when he joined the clerk out on the porch.
“Here’s your key, Mr. Nash. I’m Ken and if there’s anything you need, just let me know.”
“Hey, Ken. Thanks for meeting me down here.”
“I already inspected the cabin and it’s been freshly stocked. If you’ll just sign the receipt, we’ll be all set.”
It was almost comical to be physically signing a hotel registration form instead of doing it digitally, but he signed and smiled. “Thanks, Ken. I’m sure it will all be great.”