Chapter 23
23
Natalie
The chatter around me bothered me less than the first time I walked into Serenity Salon. Not that I wanted to admit to Daisy that she was right about setting a regular appointment with Chelsea to have my hair cut and styled. I would never hear the end of it.
“How’s the summer camp coming?” Chelsea asked as she washed my hair.
“So good,” I admitted. “I’m so impressed with all the work we’ve been able to do so far.”
“This town is special, isn’t it?”
I nodded. “It really is. I still can’t believe people not only donated so much but also gave up their time to help bring the building to life.”
“Haley and I are coming again for the second week. Only for a day, but it looked like you have a full week of volunteers again.”
“I do. It’s blowing my mind. But I’ll need them. We’re going to be putting up a fence around the pool and making things look nice. Planting around the office and decorating the building. I haven’t been able to get in there much, and I want it to be a fun place for kids but also a nice place for adults.”
“You’ll figure out that balance. I’m working on it myself with Derek and I moving in together. Of course, with Dozer, I don’t have nice things anyway,” Chelsea said with a laugh. She wrapped a towel around my hair and pointed to her chair.
I sat up and moved across the salon to the chair next to Daisy, where a very pregnant Haley was at work on Daisy’s new cut.
“Tell Haley she’s glowing,” Daisy said when I sat down.
I looked at Haley in the mirror and smiled. “You are. You look very happy.”
Haley scowled. “I feel like I’m a million pounds and giving birth to an elephant.”
“You are not going to be pregnant for twenty-two months,” Chelsea said in a tone that told me Haley had been complaining a lot.
“I don’t know. It seems like it,” Haley said.
“Please talk some sense into her,” Chelsea said to Daisy, meeting her gaze in the mirror.
Daisy chuckled. “I’m not sure what I can say. I’ve never been pregnant, so I don’t know what she feels like.”
“Same,” I said when Chelsea looked at me.
“Even if you were, no one had an elephant baby,” Haley said.
“You are so dramatic,” Chelsea said, laughing at Haley.
Haley scowled. “Just wait until Derek decides he wants more kids and you are pregnant forever.”
Chelsea’s eyes got wide, and she stopped what she was doing. “We haven’t talked about more kids.”
Haley, realizing she hit Chelsea’s panic button, came over. She took Chelsea’s hands and breathed with her. “I was joking. You guys will talk about kids together. You have to decide if you want them.”
“Did you and Knox talk about it?” Daisy asked.
Haley nodded. “We did. We weren’t planning to get pregnant so soon, but we both wanted kids.”
“I’ve always wanted kids,” I said. “Ever since I was little. My sisters are a lot older than me, and I thought it would be fun to have a sibling to play with.”
“Me, too,” Daisy said. “I have twin brothers, and I spent my entire childhood watching them play hockey. I didn’t do any activities because they took up so much time. I always wished I’d had a sister so I had someone to play with.”
“That’s so sad,” Haley said, dabbing at her eyes. “I didn’t have siblings at all. Oh my God, I have to do this again. I can’t have a kid who doesn’t have any siblings. It’s not fair to them. I was so lonely growing up, and?—”
“Breathe, Haley,” Chelsea said loudly. “Your kid will be fine. Everyone is different. Haley and Chelsea just said they had siblings and were lonely. I didn’t, but I had a cousin who was like my sister. You were an only child and were independent because of your parents. You and Knox are not going to be like your parents. And your kid will grow up with a town full of people who want to know him or her.”
Haley nodded with Chelsea.
I smiled at them in the mirror, then caught Daisy’s gaze. She smiled back. We always talked about having kids at the same time and raising them like cousins.
“You’re right. You’re right,” Haley said. “God, these hormones. I don’t love it.”
Haley moved back behind Daisy and returned to her task.
Chelsea started on my hair, combing through it and pinning up one large section so she could begin.
“You don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl yet?” Daisy asked once things were back on track.
Haley shook her head, a smile on her face. “Knox wanted to be surprised. We talked about it a lot, but he said he doesn’t care. The most important thing is knowing our baby is okay, or knowing what to do if there is a problem. So far, everything is going really well.”
“I don’t know if I could do that,” I admitted. “I think I would want to know.”
“Are you and Omar talking about kids?” Chelsea asked.
I shook my head, narrowly missing a catastrophe when Chelsea was about to cut my hair.
“Don’t move,” Chelsea said, eyes wide. “Okay, no kids yet. But things are still going well?”
“Yeah,” I said, keeping my head still. “He’s nothing like I first thought he would be.”
Chelsea laughed. “Oh, I so feel that. I hated Derek before we met. Thought he was such a jerk. I’m glad I was wrong.”
“We are all glad you were wrong. But he was kind of a jerk before you two got together,” Haley said. “Those notes he left on your door?”
Chelsea laughed. “Whenever he gets on my nerves, I remind him about those. He stops complaining real quick. It’s pretty much a lifetime apology.”
“Oh, you’re mean,” Haley said.
Chelsea shook her head. “Nah. He knows I’m just messing with him. We’re good.”
“Have you set a date yet?” I asked her. Derek proposed not long ago at a party in Chelsea’s backyard.
“We’re thinking about early summer,” Chelsea said.
“Whoa, that’s fast,” I blurted.
Chelsea laughed. “Yeah, it is. But it’s easier for us to do something when Jude isn’t in school. He’ll be at your camp, but we’re thinking about a long weekend away for a short honeymoon and then a family trip sometime later. My parents want Jude to stay with them when we’re gone, but I need someone to watch Dozer. There’s no way my parents could handle him.”
“I’ll do it,” Daisy said, waving at Chelsea. “I love that dog.”
“I couldn’t ask you to do that,” Chelsea said.
“Oh, please? I really would love to. He’s such a sweetheart, and I love dogs. Another thing we never had growing up. Because of the hockey tournaments, we were on the road all the time, and my parents said we couldn’t have a dog,” Daisy explained.
“Have you ever had a dog?” Chelsea asked, her face betraying her worry.
“Nope, but I love them. I can stay at your house, if that’s okay, so he’s comfortable. Natalie will help me, right?” Daisy met my gaze in the mirror.
I shrugged. “Sure. We had a dog when I was in high school. I like dogs.”
“He needs to be walked a lot. Twice a day at least,” Chelsea said.
“Chelsea, I promise you, I will do everything you ask me to do. I will take really good care of him.” Daisy smiled, pleading her case without more words.
Chelsea sighed and shrugged. “Okay. Thank you. But if you change your mind, let me know. Dr. Harris offers boarding if we have to do that.”
“Nope, I will take care of Dozer. I’ll come over before then so he can get to know me.” Daisy focused on the mirror in front of her again so Haley could finish her cut.
Chelsea smiled, but there was stress around her eyes. She focused on my hair, staying silent while the shop around us stayed busy.
When Haley turned on the dryer to style Daisy’s hair, I nodded to get Chelsea’s attention. “She’ll be great. She adores Dozer and will take really good care of him.”
Chelsea nodded. “I know. I’m anxious about leaving him. I was trying to talk Derek into going somewhere we could all go so we didn’t have to leave Dozer behind. He’s been through a lot, and it hasn’t even been a year since I’ve had him. I don’t want him to think I’ve abandoned him.”
“He’ll be so happy when you guys come home. Maybe we can meet up with Jude and your parents so they can see each other,” I suggested.
Chelsea’s eyes brightened. “That’s a good thought. I’m so ridiculous, worrying about my dog.”
“No, you’re not,” I assured her. “Dogs are a part of the family. You love him. There’s nothing wrong with that. Plus, you know your parents will take excellent care of Jude, so Dozer is the concern.”
Chelsea nodded. “It’ll be fine, though. Thank you.”
I smiled, happy I could ease her worries.
Chelsea grabbed her hairdryer to finish my hair when I felt my phone buzzing in my pocket. I ignored it, letting her start, but it rang again right away.
I held up a finger for Chelsea to stop and dug out my phone.
The hairdryer stopped.
“The pavers. Hang on. They’re painting lines at the camp today. They must want to confirm something.”
Chelsea nodded and stepped away so I could answer.
“Hello, this is Natalie.”
“Hey, Natalie, this is Chuck with Total Paving. Uh, sorry to bother you, but we just got here, and there’s a problem.”
“What’s going on, Chuck? I thought you guys were good to paint today.”
“We are, and we can. But the camper thing you have?”
“Yeah?”
“Uh, a tree fell on it.”
“What?” I screeched.
Every machine in the salon turned off, the dryers, the shampoo, everything. Silence echoed in my ear.
“Yeah, I kind of figured you didn’t know yet.”
“Uh, no, I didn’t know a tree fell on my office. Dammit.”
The collective gasp around me reminded me I wasn’t alone.
“Sorry, Natalie. Do you still want us to paint lines? We can hold off if you want to come out here and look at it before we get started.”
“Yeah,” I said, tugging at the cape Chelsea had around my neck. “I’ll be right there.”
Chelsea stepped forward and unsnapped the cape as I hung up the phone. “Are you okay?”
I shook my head, a mirthless laugh escaping. “No. I… Crap. Omar said the trees looked like they were going to fall and told me not to put the camper where I did. I thought it was fine.”
“You couldn’t have known,” Haley said.
“He knew,” I spat.
“What can we do?” Chelsea asked.
“Nothing.” I drew a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I need to go look at this and see if it can be saved. I’m sorry I’m rushing out. Let me pay you before I go.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Chelsea said.
“I’ll take care of it,” Daisy replied. “I’ll meet you out there in a few minutes.”
“You don’t have to do that,” I told her, grateful my hair was done besides drying and styling.
“I’ll meet you out there soon,” Daisy said firmly. “Go. See what it looks like.”
I nodded and thanked them, then left.
My heart raced the entire drive over there. It was only a few minutes, but I imagined the worst the entire time, trying to figure out a backup plan.
The easiest thing would be to put a table in the building for parents to sign kids in and out.
But without the camper, we didn’t have bathrooms.
Dammit.
I turned onto the newly paved driveway from the road and wanted to cry. It was stunning and exactly what I wanted, but then I saw the camper.
And I did start to cry.
I parked near the trucks and closed my eyes, hoping it was all a dream and when I opened them again, everything would be fine.
No such luck.
I wiped my tears and climbed out of my SUV. There were voices all around me, the painting crew getting ready to start their day. Chuck said they only needed one day, and I was sure they had other jobs to get to, and I was holding them up.
Chuck and two other men were out by the trailer. I made my way across the grass to where they were, my throat tightening with each step as I got closer and saw the damage more clearly.
“Wow,” I breathed when I reached them.
Chuck turned and nodded. “Sorry, Natalie.”
One of the other men came from the backside of the camper and walked right over to us. “Worst-case scenario,” he said, nodding to me. “The framework is snapped. It can be fixed, but it’ll be cheaper to buy something new than it will be to fix this thing.”
“Crap,” I said with a sigh.
“Johnny, this is Natalie. She’s the owner,” Chuck said in a stern tone.
“Shit, sorry,” Johnny said. “I didn’t mean?—”
“It’s okay,” I told him. “I would have found out eventually. Nothing you can do about it.”
“Sucks, though. Boss, you want us to get those chainsaws?” Johnny asked.
Chuck nodded. “Yeah.”
Johnny and the other guy walked back toward their trucks and Chuck turned to me.
“We’re going to get the tree cut up and off the camper. I know it doesn’t help much, but I figured we could at least help with that. No charge, of course.”
“Chuck.”
He shook his head. “My grandson got one of the spots here. My daughter was so happy. He didn’t get in last year, and they had to go down to A-Bay for summer camp. Having it here is huge for her and my son-in-law. If I had a camper to give you, I would. If I had anything I could give you, I would do it. Getting that tree out of the way isn’t much, but it’s what I can do right now.”
“Thank you, Chuck,” I said, my eyes filling with tears and my words coming out as a whisper.
He nodded and squeezed my shoulder as he walked past, giving me a few minutes alone by the camper.
I stared at it through my tears and wondered what I was going to do. The only money I had left was for the pool repair. It wasn’t enough to buy a new trailer, not for a decent price. Anything I would buy would probably look about the same as the smashed one I was standing in front of.
Voices approached, and I knew I had to move so Chuck’s guys could cut the tree down. My mind raced with options, but I couldn’t come up with one. I couldn’t run a camp without a bathroom. Without the camper, I didn’t have one.
“Natalie,” Omar said from right behind me.
“What are you doing here?”
“Daisy called me. Are you okay? I’m so sorry.”
I scoffed. “You can say I told you so.”
“What? Why would I do that?” Omar asked.
“Because you told me not to put the camper here. You were right. I should have listened to you. If I had, then I’d still be able to open up camp this summer.”
“You’re opening camp. Why would you not open it?”
“That’s my one and only bathroom, Omar,” I shouted, throwing my arms wide at the broken camper. “I can’t have a summer camp without giving the kids and staff a place to use the bathroom.”
He closed his eyes and let out a sigh. “I didn’t think about that. Nothing by the pool?”
“Nope. The pool has changing rooms, but no bathroom facilities.”
“Dammit,” he breathed.
“Exactly. Which means this is over. All this work. All these kids. All for nothing.”
“Natalie,” he said as I walked away.
“Chuck’s guys are going to cut the tree away. We need to give them space. And I need to figure out how I’m going to tell all the families that were planning to send their kids here that it’s not going to happen and they need to find another summer camp. Two months after every registration in the area opened. Dammit!”
“Natalie,” he said again.
“Omar, I can’t right now. I just… I need to figure this out.”
He stopped following me.
I stopped to tell Chuck to go ahead, then went to my SUV. Daisy pulled in just as I was about to get in and leave.
“How bad is it?” Daisy asked.
“Worst-case scenario. Camp is done. Before it even starts, it’s done. I need to get out of here. They’re painting lines, so you need to go, too. Although I don’t know what the hell good lines are going to do when there is no camp, but whatever. I’ll see you later.”
Daisy nodded, not arguing with me as I climbed in my SUV, slammed the door, and drove off.
With only my tears for company.