13. Chapter 13
Chapter thirteen
“Your mother was very brave last night.”
“Wes?”
Wes opened his eyes to find Cassandra standing over him in the dark room. “Another freak accident?”
“No. I’m cold and really uncomfortable.”
He raised up onto his elbow. “Are we feeling a little less stubborn now?”
“Can I please share the bed with you?”
He dropped back down to the pillow. “Mi cama. Su cama.”
She was holding the pillow as she walked around the end of the bed and slipped in next to him.
The bed bounced a few times until she got comfortable, then it stilled.
Wes was now in a situation he never, in a million years, thought he’d be in again, and he wondered if she could hear how loudly his heart was beating.
Sleep didn’t come to him until long after Cassandra’s breathing had slowed and become regular.
When the movement of the bed woke him, the sun was up, and Cassandra was heading for the bathroom.
The light in the room was gray from the overcast sky, and the rain was still coming down.
Wes rolled onto his back. They’d made it through the night.
He was up and dressed when Cassandra came out of the bathroom with damp, tousled hair. The woman could look good in the middle of a hurricane.
She raised an eyebrow. “What?”
“Nothing. Did you look in your room?”
“I’m a little afraid to.”
Wes walked past her to the bathroom, then opened the door to her room. He closed it and turned around, running into Cassandra standing right behind him.
“Jeez.”
“Sorry.” She took a step back. “Is it that bad in there?”
“Yeah.”
“So, what now? Are we roomies for the rest of the week?”
“I, um…I’ll call the camp administration office and have them send their maintenance guys out to take a look.”
“Would these be the same guys who didn’t notice that the roof was ready to fail the second it rained for more than a few minutes?”
“I imagine so.”
“Can we sue them or something?”
“Not if we want to keep coming back here every year.”
“The roof fell on me.”
“Twenty-two years, Cassandra.”
“Can we at least ask them to replace my phone?”
He smiled. “I’ll suggest it.”
“Thank you.”
A knock on the door brought them both to attention, and when they realized it was someone at her door, Cassandra whispered, “Bailey.” She went to the door. “You should stay here.”
She opened it, and Wes followed her outside. She glanced back at him, then smiled at Bailey, whose mouth was hanging open.
“Oh my gosh, Mom.”
“Honey, it’s not. We didn’t.”
“This is so humiliating.” She turned to see if anyone else was witnessing her mother and the principal coming out of the same cabin.
“Bailey.”
Wes walked past Cassandra, and Bailey moved out of his way. He went to the door and opened it. “This is why your mother stayed in my room last night.”
Bailey peered into the room and sucked in a breath. “What happened?” She turned to Cassandra. “Did that land on you?”
“I was in bed, but somehow I didn’t get a scratch.”
Bailey hugged her. “I’m sorry that I thought…”
“It’s okay. I would’ve come to the same conclusion if I had caught you coming out of some boys’ room.”
“Gross, Mom.”
Wes closed the door. “Just to keep the rumor mill under control, we should probably keep the extent of this mess between the three of us.”
“What if your side falls down?”
“Then I guess we’ll be sharing a tent with Coach Porter.”
Bailey laughed. “That’s gross, too.”
“I have to agree.”
The hood of Bailey’s pullover sweatshirt was over her hair, but she’d still gotten wet on the walk from her cabin.
Cassandra adjusted the hood. “Why did you walk over here? You’re soaked.”
“I wanted to walk to breakfast with you.”
“Honey, that’s sweet. Let me get my jacket.”
She went inside, leaving Wes and Bailey standing on the porch. He cleared his throat. “Just so you know…”
“I don’t want to know.”
“Your mother was very brave last night.”
“Oh.”
“She was very pissed, too.”
Bailey laughed. “I’m sure she was.”
Cassandra came through the door. “You’re sure I was what?”
“Brave.”
Cassandra raised her eyebrows and looked at Wes. “Says who?”
Bailey took her arm. “Mr. B says that you handled the situation calmly.”
“No, he didn’t.”
“Okay, he said you were pissed. But he also said the brave thing.”
Cassandra glanced at Wes. “Are you coming, roomie?”
“Mom, don’t call him that.”
“I’ll be along. I want to call the camp office first.”
While Cassandra and Bailey made a run for the mess hall, Wes took out his cell phone and called the camp's administrative office.
After being transferred a few times, he tried to impress upon the head of maintenance how severe the problem was.
The man promised to send someone out later in the afternoon if the rain stopped.
Currently, it felt like that was never going to happen.
Wes put on a ball cap and his jacket, then jogged across the wet grass to the mess hall.
He was the last to arrive, and Cassandra and Lester had already gone through the buffet line.
Wes removed his hat and coat, then went to get some breakfast.
When he sat down, he took a long drink of his coffee. He was feeling the effects of an interrupted night of sleep.
Cassandra passed him the salt and pepper. “Did you get through to anyone?”
“I’m not sure they believed me when I told them how bad it is.”
“They’ll see when they come to look at it.”
Lester looked around Cassandra at Wes. “Sounds like a crazy night.”
“It was…surreal.”
“What’s the plan for this morning?”
Wes watched the students eating. “I’d say some competitive Taboo is in order.”
After breakfast, Wes instructed each cabin to select two players to compete, reminding them that the more familiar the two players were with each other, the better. When the kids insisted that Wes play with a partner, he looked at Lester.
“Not me, man. I’m terrible at this kind of thing.”
Cassandra cocked her head. “We don’t want to disappoint the kids.”
“Looks like it’s you and me, then.”
She nudged him. “Just like old times.”
“I’m sure the years have diminished our…connection.”
“I guess we’ll find out.”
They pushed three tables together to form one long table, and the team members sat across from each other. Each team had someone from another cabin watching to make sure none of the taboo words were used. Lester watched Cassandra and Wes.
The first two rounds were a little slow as the team members figured out how to work together.
Wes refrained from using their past to make the connection to the word.
But as the competition grew stronger, he gave in.
If their past gave them an edge, so be it.
When they got eight words before the timer went off, using references only the two of them knew, the kids at the table couldn’t quite believe it.
The girl next to them scowled. “Wow, guys. What just happened?”
Wes smiled at Cassandra, then looked at the girl. “We got lucky.”
“That wasn’t luck. That was…telepathy.”
Cassandra laughed. “I’m sure it won’t happen again.”
It did happen again, and when they got so far ahead that no one else had a chance to catch up, Wes stood. “I think Dr. Jordan and I should bow out and let you all finish this up.”
The kids all protested. “No. It’s really cool. Keep playing.”
“No. You finish without us, and the winner will be whoever is ahead after three more rounds.”
He moved to the back of the room, and Cassandra joined him. “Um…what was that?”
“I don’t know.”
“We still got it.”
“Apparently. Whatever it is.”
“Well, it was fun. Thank you for not holding back.”
“I couldn’t help myself.”
“You always were a bit competitive.”
“Nah.”
“The mud bowl?”
“Hmm. Other than that.”
“Do you still have the trophy?”
“Somewhere in a box.” She cocked her head. “Do you think I’d have it sitting out on my mantle? Or in a trophy case with all my other…oh wait. I don’t have any other trophies.”
“That’s why the mud bowl trophy is so important.”
“I think the scar on my thigh is enough to remind me of that day.”
“Yeah. Ouch.”
“I was damn near castrated.”
Cassandra laughed.
“It wasn’t funny.”
“I know. Not then. It’s a little funny now.”
“So, you’re going to look back on last night’s incident a few years from now and think it was funny?”
“No. Never. I nearly died.”
Wes held up his hands. “Death. Castration. I’d say that’s pretty even as far as traumatic incidents go.”
“Fortunately for you, you had an excellent nurse to get you back to optimal health.”
Wes took a deep breath. “I’m going to check the weather and make another call to the maintenance guys.”
“Okay.” He turned to leave, and she called after him. “Are you alright?”
“I’m peachy.” He went out the door, remembering, once outside, that he’d left his jacket and hat at the table. He ran across the grass to the cabin, getting soaked by the time he arrived.
He took off his shirt and grabbed a towel from the bathroom, then dried himself off. He was drying his hair when the door opened, and Cassandra came in with his jacket and hat.
She stopped walking and looked at the floor as she closed the door. “You left without your jacket.”
“Yeah, I noticed that.”
She looked up at him. “Damn, Wes.”
“What?”
“You’re all grown up.”
He picked up a T-shirt and put it on.
Cassandra took off her wet jacket and hung it by the door, then tousled her hair with her hands.
“Is that all you do to your hair?”
“Yes. It’s the perfect haircut.”
Or the perfect hair. “I’m sorry I keep…”
“Running away?”
“Is that what I’m doing?”
“It’s okay not to hate me.”
“I never hated you, Cass.”
“I’m sure that’s not true.”
“Maybe a little for a year or…seventeen.”
“Do you think you’ll ever be able to set that aside?”
He blew out a breath. “I’d sure as hell like to.”