Jack came out of the shower dripping; in minutes, he appeared in the living room in shorts, golf shirt, and sandals. Pretty informal.
Christie was tempted to say something. But here was someone who dressed every day in his blue uniform, every detail in place. If this was Jack relaxing, she’d take it.
“Kids back?”
“No. I’ll go and—”
A knock at the door.
“Company?” Jack said.
He opened the door. A man and a woman stood there.
“Hi,” the man—tall, strongly built—said. “We’re your neighbors. The Blairs. Cabin next door.” He stuck out his hand. “Tom.”
The woman, short and a bit mousy-looking, did the same with Christie. “Sharon. Hope we’re not bothering you or anything…”
Christie smiled. “No. Just getting ready for dinner.” Then, feeling the oddness of leaving the couple out on the small porch, she said, “Come on in.”
The couple came into the cabin.
“Nice,” Tom said. “Little different arrangement than ours. You like it?”
“Just fine,” Jack said.
Sharon—her dark hair cut into a bob, wearing a summery print dress—turned to Christie. “We’ve been here for almost a week. We love it. So, if you two have any questions, ask away.”
“It’s a great place,” Tom added. “A real getaway.”
“Looks nice so far,” Jack said.
“Kids?” Christie asked.
Tom grinned. “Oh, yeah—our two boys. Jim and Sam. The ‘maniacs,’ we call them. They’ve been running wild in this place, loving it. In fact, we just signed up for two more days. Money’s a bit tight, but hell, who knows when we’ll be able to come back.”
Those words seemed to make Sharon thoughtful.
“So different here. You know?”
“You mean, the lake… the mountains?” Christie said.
“The whole feel of the place. Everyone just enjoying themselves. Like a world we all thought we lost.”
She guessed that Jack was sizing them up.
That’s what he did, size people up.
What’s their story, their life?
She had told him it was a bad habit.
Maybe with this couple he could let his guard down. People used to have friends.
It would be nice to have some friends.
“Hey,” Tom said, as if trying to sound spontaneous, “why don’t we all sit together for dinner? Your first meal at the camp.”
Sharon added, “They have these big tables. Very homey!”
Christie looked at Jack. Never exactly Mr. Social.
Then the kids burst in through the door. Simon and Kate laughing, Simon racing ahead as Kate tried to catch him.
“Our two,” Christie said. “Simon, Kate. Hey, quick showers, guys. Then dinner.”
“I’m starving!” Simon said before vanishing into the other bedroom.
“So, see you at dinner?” Tom said, looking from Jack to Christie.
“Sure. It’ll be a pleasure,” she answered.
The couple smiled. This wasn’t something she’d ever do, Christie knew, not back home. Knock on someone’s door.
“Great. We’ll save you places.”
After they left, Jack walked to the window, pulled a curtain aside, and watched the Blairs make their way over to the Grand Lodge.
Then he came close to Christie.
“Meet the neighbors, hm?”
“Seemed nice.”
“Yeah. And I guess we can pick their brains about the place.”
Simon came out of the bathroom, his still-wet hair sticking up at odd angles.
Christie turned to him.
“Come here, mister.”
When the hair had been tamed by a brush, and Kate finally appeared wearing cargo shorts and a collared shirt, looking suddenly very much like her dad, they left the cottage for their first dinner in the Great Lodge.
18. Dinner
Jack took the bowl of food from Tom Blair, and scooped some onto his plate. Looking like a mixture of chili and refried beans, it didn’t look bad.
Simon weighed in with his verdict. “What is this stuff? It’s good!”
Jack took a taste. Not bad, but—
“Yeah,” Tom said, “the food’s really not all they crack it up to be in the brochure. But it’s got taste, and there’s plenty of it.”
“Tastes better than what we usually make do with,” Jack said. “Kate, what do you think?”
Kate kept spooning it in, as if trying to make up her mind. “It’s… okay.”
He turned back to their new Paterville neighbors. Jim and Sam Blair, older than Simon by a year or two, had already finished their plates.
Guess you get hungry up here…
“So, you’ve arranged to stay longer, hm?”
“Yep,” Tom said, looking around at the Great Lodge and all the full tables of people scarfing down the Paterville dinner. A small laugh. “Don’t think my family would let me leave. They… we like it here.”
Jack noticed a slight hesitation.
“You, though? Had enough of Paterville?”
Tom smiled. “No. It’s great.”
There was a loud, ear-piercing squeak from the loudspeakers.
Jack turned to see Ed Lowe standing at a podium.
“Hello… campers!”
Then, as if coached, the families answered Lowe:
“Hel-lo!”
“Hope you’ve had a great day at the camp today. Looks like even better weather tomorrow. Now, I don’t want you to keep you from that good camp food, but how about a Paterville welcome to our newcomers!”
“Hel-lo, newcomers!”
“Oh, you can do better than that!”
And they did.
Jack caught Christie looking at him, perhaps sensing his discomfort. Corny wasn’t quite the word for it.
Maybe vacations were supposed to be like this.
Jack grinned at Christie.
“And a quick reminder, tonight we have a bonfire down by the lakefront—and tomorrow is the big fireworks show!”
Lowe made a big wave at the tables, and a smile.
“Now back to your eats.”
Jack started to turn away—
When he saw Lowe’s assistant, Shana, come out from the side, holding papers. She looked at the crowd, no smiles from her.
Serious woman, Jack thought.
Tom leaned close from across the wooden table.
“Met Shana? She’s… something, hm?”
Jack kept watching Lowe and Shana. She handed Lowe the papers. He turned to her and then took a few steps away from the microphone, his back to the diners.
From the other side of the room, a burly man, tall with thick arms and an even thicker neck, came into the room carrying a heavy metal tray and brought it over to a serving area.
Jack turned back to Tom.
“Who’s that guy? Big fella.”
“That? He’s Dunphy. The cook. Or at least the main cook. Brings the food himself.”
Lowe noticed Dunphy and left Shana standing to the side while he walked over to the cook.
Jack was looking to see how things ran here, who was in charge. All the little gears that have to fall into place to make something like this work.
Finally, he turned back to the table.
He caught a look from Christie… probably thinking that he was ogling Lowe’s jill-of-all-trades.
Definitely some of that going on.
Jack smiled. Caught! Then went back to the meal. The stuff, whatever it was, got cold fast and now didn’t seem as appetizing.
Maybe I’ll be hungrier tomorrow, he thought. After a full day in the mountains.