Chapter 9
Nine
Emma stared at the screen door, willing Daniel to stride inside again. Dinner service had ended a while ago. The other tables had cleared out. But Emma was in no rush to leave the mess hall, and neither were her bunkmates.
“I can’t believe this might be gone soon,” Margaux said, her voice soft and wistful.
Jennifer and Christine nodded sadly.
“I don’t think any change is imminent,” Emma said.
As far as she knew, the Thomases owned the property outright.
They weren’t in danger of losing their land to a developer.
This wasn’t a made-for-TV holiday romance movie.
They could make a smart choice about how to sell.
Her heart broke for the family all over again.
“I know, but we won’t ever get to be back here again. It’s just the same as it was back then,” Margaux continued. “Like a time warp.”
“Maybe that’s part of the problem?” Jennifer asked. “We’re middle-aged now. Not to speak poorly of the dead or anything, but if Owen had been serious about taking over the business, shouldn’t the camp be up to date? Functional? It’s barely habitable.”
Could’ve, would’ve, should’ve. Emma agreed that Owen must not have ever been truly committed to assuming control, relying on his aging parents to do all the work well past the age they should have retired. But Emma knew how much he cared about this place.
His investigation into the truth about her sister must have monopolized him as the camp fell into disrepair.
Hadn’t Mrs. Thomas said that he’d been the reason for the camp reunion this weekend?
He wanted to bring everyone back. Why? Had he been about to confront the villain?
Then would he have gotten on with the rest of his life and taken over the camp?
With his death came the swift end of any possibilities for the camp’s second act.
“It’s bittersweet to be here, especially now,” Christine added. “During some of my darkest moments growing up, I counted down to summer, this camp shone like a beacon to guide me across the troubled water at home.”
Emma nodded. She hadn’t asked anyone else what they felt about coming together again.
She was glad to know she wasn’t alone in her conflicting emotions.
What else lingered under Christine’s words?
She’d always been so positive and cheerful.
Did she have a tough home life she’d escaped for a few months in Wisconsin?
Emma was starting to appreciate how little she knew anyone.
“We’ve been given one last chance to experience everything we loved about this place,” Jennifer said. “What a blessing to know that so we can be sure to soak up and enjoy every moment.”
“Is it a blessing though?” Margaux asked.
“To know the end is near? I think I prefer ignorance. I have it in the back of my mind that I’ll never be here again.
I keep trying to hold on so tight to each sound and smell, the exact temperature of the breeze through the screens in our bunk.
But I might as well be holding sand in my fist. Everything slips away no matter how hard I try to cling to it.
” She shook her head. “I always liked the first day back. Before most campers arrived for the season, the camp was so peaceful. I timed my arrival this weekend for that same feeling.”
Emma nibbled her lip. It was strange that Margaux said first day and not yesterday. They’d all arrived at various points only a day ago. Maybe the passage of time—with everything that had happened—played tricks on Margaux, too. Emma couldn’t believe how much occurred in twenty-four hours.
“Let’s not focus on what we’re losing,” Christine chimed in. “Let’s reminisce about the good times. The great memories. Our favorite places.”
“Remember our first year all together in fourth grade?” Jennifer asked. “The swim test?”
Margaux turned beet red.
Jennifer and Christine chuckled.
Emma smiled, aiming to strike a chord between the embarrassing moment for Margaux, when she had cannon balled into the lake off the dock after a dare only to lose the bottom half of her tankini, and the memory of how Liz dove into the murky water and retrieved the piece of clothing within minutes.
Sometimes Jennifer and Christine laughed with Margaux and other times at her.
Emma wanted harmony between them all. Liz had been the peacemaking mediator, the glue of the group. Emma had to emulate her sister.
“I love the freshwater smell out there,” Emma said. “I’m drawn to ponds and streams. I’ll stand on the edge and breath in deep, trying to inhale all the good memories of swimming on the rare hot days and hanging out on the dock at sunset.”
“We should go there,” Margaux said. “Take a canoe out to the little island.”
“I don’t know,” Emma replied. “The dock has to be worse for wear. The canoes probably have holes, and the island might not be traversable any longer.”
“Come on, let’s go on one last adventure. A trip down memory lane,” Christine chimed in. “Short of hypnosis, this might be the only way to travel back to the past.”
“Hey, didn’t we bury a time capsule out there?” Jennifer asked.
Margaux gasped, covering her mouth with both hands.
“Did we?” Emma asked, studying Margaux’s odd reaction. “I forgot all about it. I’ve lost a lot of my memories.”
“Have you? Honestly?” Margaux asked, narrowing her gaze. “In my experience, that’s something you hear when people want you to back off.”
Jennifer scoffed. “Lyndes aren’t liars.”
Emma’s cheeks burned at the old taunt from childhood. Liz had said the words with authority, but the others had parroted them back in a sing-song way to tease.
“I wonder what we put in there,” Christine said. “Probably issues of Seventeen Magazine and Delia’s catalogues.”
Jennifer laughed. “What I wouldn’t give for a cute pair of cargo pants with a horizontal striped crop top.”
“You joke,” Christine said, rolling her eyes. “But I’d still wear everything in that catalogue.”
“I know you would,” Jennifer muttered. “I’d like one last hike out there.”
“We should do it,” Margaux said firmly. “Dig up the time capsule. Help us all find closure before saying goodbye for the last time.”
“Are you sure?” Emma asked. “What about your…situation?”
Margaux shot her a look devoid of any expression, like a blank faced mannequin at a failing department store. Had she forgotten the written threat against her?
“The note?” Emma supplied. “Will you be safe out in the wide open away from reliable phone lines?”
“Oh, yes. Of course. Sorry, the excitement of one last adventure made everything else slip my mind.” Margaux chuckled. “Let’s go. You are more important than a silly note. Whatever is inside might jog your memories.”
Emma wasn’t convinced that was a good thing.
But she didn’t care for waiting around either.
A killer stalked the campers. She’d take the pro-active option versus passively accepting her fate.
Maybe she would get her memories back, and the weight of them wouldn’t crush her. “Okay, I’ll ask Daniel to join us.”
“You don’t need to do that,” Margaux said. “He’s the sheriff. He’s got more important things to do then follow us around.”
“You are a public figure now,” Emma teased. “This is for the best. All of us together for one last adventure.” And Emma wanted him close.
Christine put her elbows on the table and leaned forward. “I think you like him.”
Emma flushed. Was she that obvious? Probably. But it also gave her cover for the truth, their investigation.
“Oohh,” Jennifer and Christine said in unison.
“Don’t let me get in the way of that,” Margaux added. “Sure, let’s bring him along.”
“Is that why you aren’t married or dating? Is Daniel the one who got away?” Christine asked.
Emma wasn’t sure how to answer. She’d have to admit a few things to herself first. “Catching up with an old friend has been nice. Unexpected. Maybe inconvenient given everything that’s been happening, but nice all the same.”
“There is never a good time for love. Your life gets spun up and twisted in a thousand different directions once you add another person into a central role,” Christine said. “But it’s worth it. And for the record, I called it.”
Jennifer rolled her eyes. “You can’t claim this set-up. There has to be an expiration date for pairing up a couple.”
Emma pressed cool fingers to her blazing cheeks. “You were matchmaking with me and Daniel?”
Christine shrugged. “I clearly wasn’t as overt as I thought I was.”
“Back in the day, we all thought you two were more than just friends,” Margaux said. “And now you get a second chance. You should take it. I would, if I could.”
Emma wouldn’t state all the reasons she and Daniel could never end up together.
His job. Her job. The distance. The women would balk and call those excuses.
They wouldn’t be wrong. Daniel was exactly the type of strong, moral man she’d dreamed of for a husband as a little girl.
Christine had been correct in her assessment of Emma’s feelings all those years ago.
If she protested too much, she’d accidentally reveal to the women she was up to something else by keeping him close.
It served her purpose to let the trio believe in her second chance at love.
And verbalizing all the reasons why they wouldn’t work out would only break her heart in the process.
Until she had her memories, she couldn’t give her whole heart to someone.
She’d shied away from romance for that very reason. “So, it’s settled?”
The women all flashed a thumbs up.
Emma should have been relieved. Instead, her stomach sank. She hated lies of any sort. But she’d go along with this one for the sake of uncovering the truth.
“Let’s head back to the bunk before it’s too dark to see anything,” Christine said.
Emma stood, glad for the reprieve from her personal life, and strode ahead of the group. She greedily gulped the fresh air.