Chapter 18
Eighteen
Emma blew across the top of the mug of coffee.
Getting across the lake and back to the cabin was a blur.
She didn’t remember falling asleep. But when she did, she found what she had searched for.
Peace. Her dreams had swept her back to the best moments with her sister, wrapping her in a warm and forgiving embrace. She awoke exhausted and resolved.
Most of all, she was grateful for the caring friends who brought her a warm beverage in bed. “Thank you.”
“You don’t owe me a shred of gratitude,” Jennifer replied from her perch on her own bunk across the room, her legs tucked underneath her. “I’m sorry I left you out there. My ankle is feeling much better. I should have toughed it out. I could have managed.”
Emma shook her head. “Please, don’t regret that. I’m glad you two were out of the way and safe.” She glanced at Christine, sitting on the ground with her back resting on the bunk. “You had a near miss. I had no idea the depths of Margaux’s malicious behavior.”
“I hate to think what she would have done if you hadn’t twisted your ankle on accident,” Christine said over her shoulder.
Jennifer shuddered. “What did you find in the time capsule? Evidence of her crime? Was she reckless enough to leave something to implicate herself?”
“Like you both guessed, it had disposable cameras,” Emma said.
“Nothing implicated her, but truth didn’t matter.
In her mind, she’d been caught. She was scared and jumpy.
Her behavior was increasingly erratic.” Margaux’s calm husband chilled Emma’s blood more.
He justified his every action with a casual cruelty she never imagined a human being could possess.
“She was always off,” Christine said. “I know you don’t want to hear it. But we weren’t just being mean girls back then. She gave me an icky feeling.”
“And you were right in the end,” Emma said.
“Liz’s big heart killed her,” Jennifer murmured.
Emma scrunched her nose and quickly lifted her coffee cup to hide her expression.
Love was her sister’s hallmark. Caring about others didn’t cause her downfall.
She had been a teen trying to reach out a hand when older, better positioned people ignored a problem.
“I hate to frame her death like that. I found a scrap of paper with Sorry written on it. I couldn’t remember the details of that night and tortured myself over what I had blocked out. ”
“Oh, I wish you’d said something. I had been there that night.
” Jennifer said. “I came into the bunk to ask for something. She was writing. I interrupted her. She told me about your fight and that she knew she needed to give you space. She didn’t want you to be mad.
I guess she didn’t finish the note after I left. If I’d known, I would have told you.”
Emma’s thoughts swirled, tears stinging her eyes again.
She had lost so much because of fear. She knew one thing for certain.
For the rest of her life, she wanted faith and forgiveness.
On that note, she pulled together what she could grasp.
“I can’t help but feel a deep pang of sadness for Margaux.
She was a victim, too. Wealthy families are just as capable of child neglect as those that are struggling.
In a different home, with people caring for her, how different would her life have been?
Maybe she can find healing behind bars.”
“You’re talking like you forgive her,” Jennifer said warily.
“I do,” Emma said softly. “I don’t expect either of you to understand or accept it. But for my sake and my sister’s, I forgive so I can…”
“Move on?” Christine added.
Emma sniffed and nodded. The years she had spent in Chicago hadn’t been a waste. But she knew in her soul that they had been destined to lead her here, to this moment, when she was ready. Forgiving herself would be harder, for the years of blame that caused her to block out precious memories.
“You’re so sincere. You believe what you’re saying,” Jennifer continued, her voice full of wonder.
“Lyndes aren’t liars,” Emma replied softly.
“How?” Jennifer asked.
The single word held pain and hope. Emma didn’t want to force herself into her friend’s situation.
Whatever happened at home wasn’t her business.
If she could encourage the woman to open her heart like the Lord wanted, she’d have done her part.
“I have to first forgive myself for what I missed or didn’t want to see.
For blocking out everything from my childhood, the good and the bad, in a misguided attempt to heal. ”
Concealing the scrap of paper ended up hurting Emma more than anything else. The lies she’d convinced herself were the truth crushed and restrained her. Honesty and vulnerability healed.
Emma gave herself a shake. “I don’t forget, and I want justice for Owen and Liz. I’ll be in the courtroom every day. I want both Margaux and her husband held accountable. I want them behind bars. And I pray they can find Him in lockup.”
Jennifer returned Emma’s small smile. “Thank you.”
Emma nodded and took another sip from her cooling coffee.
Silence stretched between the trio, a companionable pause providing comfort.
From her perch, she studied her surroundings, letting the memories flood her.
The time she and Liz tried to choreograph a kick line for the talent show, and Emma slammed her shin into a bunk.
The buzz of conversation and chatter every night at lights out.
The time a note from Daniel slipped out of one of her books, and the girls confiscated it and teased her about her obvious crush.
The emotions tied into each moment no longer choked her.
“I feel like in all of this chaos and grieving, I haven’t even started to mourn what we’re losing here as this place closes up for good,” Christine said.
“We have a lot of memories here. For so many years, Camp Promise was as good as its name. Offering to always be here whenever we needed it. My parents invested money so I’d have a place to come back to.
After their divorce, I never returned. I should have.
I’ve missed this place and the good people I’ve known here. ”
The mystery investor revealed. Emma was glad the money hadn’t been an attempt to clear someone’s guilty conscience.
And Emma agreed. The camp and the owners had been a real ministry in her life.
She’d grown and changed and become a woman here.
She hated that other generations wouldn’t get the same experience.
But even more, she was sad to think about all the good that kids like Daniel missed out on because of the girls-only set-up.
“Are you ready to face everyone today at Owen’s service?” Jennifer asked.
“I’ll be fine,” Emma vowed.
And she kept the phrase in her mind like a mantra as she showered and changed. Walking arm in arm with her friends, she held tight to them as she nodded at passersby gathered at the mess hall.
Through the words, Emma sat still. She was numb to what was happening around her as a fantastic thought took hold, growing on the fertile soil of her conversation with Jennifer and Christine at the cabin.
She waited patiently until the end of the memorial, remaining in her seat on the bench as the campers paid their respects to the Thomases and filed out of the room.
When only a handful of people remained, she rose and crossed the room. Jennifer and Christine quickly fell into step beside her.
“It was beautiful,” Jennifer told Mrs. Thomas as she reached for the woman’s hands and squeezed.
“Absolutely,” Christine chimed in, smiling kindly at Mr. Thomas.
“I don’t know how to find the words,” Lucille said, staring straight at Emma. “But we had to honor Owen and Liz.”
Emma bit her lower lip. She didn’t want to lie and heap praise upon the Thomases for speeches she hadn’t heard. A newcomer saved her from an immediate response. She didn’t need to turn to know he’d arrived. Her body relaxed at his nearness.
“Sheriff, thank you for coming and for all of your help,” Mr. Thomas said.
“I’m sorry we didn’t solve the crime earlier. We could have saved everyone from so much grief,” Daniel said.
Emma glanced at him then. Sincerity was etched across his face. He was a good man. Anyone would leap over every obstacle to be at his side. She wouldn’t be any different.
“I had an idea I wanted to run by you both. Maybe a way for all of us to heal and to help others,” Emma said.
“Sure, we’ll take any suggestions,” Lucille said.
“Let me join you here. Let me help renovate this camp. And let’s open it for kids who are struggling,” Emma said.
“Oh, honey, you’re so sweet to offer. That’s a lot of work and money,” Lucille said.
“Good news, she has an investor lined up,” Jennifer said, looping her arm through Emma’s.
“I do?” Emma turned to her friend, gaping.
“Absolutely. Let’s do some good work together,” Jennifer said.
“Maybe I need to get a little perspective. After Liz’s death, I’d been a passenger in a car involved in a terrible accident.
I was lost. Working here that next summer saved me from myself.
I’ve always been so grateful. And I don’t know how much Christine shared. ”
Christine pointedly looked at the ground.
“I need to strike my own path and what better way to do that then by helping others,” Jennifer said.
Emma beamed at her friend and rubbed her arm.
“Girls, oh my goodness.” Lucille swiped at her lashes. “Would you? Really?”
Jennifer nodded.
“Yes,” Emma replied. “I want to do this to honor Owen and Liz while continuing my work with at-risk teens. I’d want to turn the program into a co-ed camp.”
“I don’t know if we’re up for it,” Mr. Thomas relented. “Retirement is appealing.”
Lucille rolled her eyes. “Oh, he’s kidding. We’d be bored. But are you absolutely positive?”
“I am,” Emma said, unlooping her arm from her friends to step closer to Daniel.
“Could you come home?” Daniel asked, saying the quiet part out loud.
Emma turned to him, and her heart pounded.
The smile in his eyes wasn’t reflected in the hard set of his jaw. She knew to trust the window to his soul.
“I couldn’t before,” Emma said, the corners of her mouth tugging up. “But now I see how much I lost. I want to rebuild something new in the community I love. This is the time.”
He interlaced their fingers and squeezed. “Emma, I l—”
“Love you,” she said, breathless.
He frowned, furrowing his brow deeply. “Hey, don’t steal my lines.”
“Or what? You’ll arrest me, Sheriff?” she asked, lifting the corner of her mouth.
“Might be the best way to keep an eye on you,” he murmured.
She grinned broadly. “I like being a little unpredictable.”
And to prove her point, lifted on tiptoe, pressing her lips to his.
She kissed him, instilling the past, present, and future into the intimate embrace.
She loved him, and she’d waste no more time.
She’d healed her broken heart and gave him her whole soul.
He tightened his hold on her waist. She knew he returned her affection completely. She was blessed.
Thank you for reading Summer Camp Cold Case.
If you loved the small town, Wisconsin setting and the mystery elements, you should check out my second chance romance, The Ghost of Loon Lake.
Can an estranged couple fall back in love amidst the ghost of their past?
Or will present day haunts besiege their hopes for a future together?
And if you’re looking for more Christian romance, be sure to read my Home to Harmony series. A completed four-book, faith-filled, feel-good romance collection that begins with Her Hometown Dream. Keep reading for the first chapter.