Rain On Me
Chapter 3
I spent a week with Dad in between the end of my school year and the beginning of camp. One week of diner food and fishing was enough for me. As much as I loved him, I was anxious to get out to my bright spot in the woods and get into camp mode. Emmett joined me for the week before camp kick-off—his own motives for getting there early were hormonally driven. He had spent much of the past few months questioning me about Rosalie. It was cute seeing him get all flustered over a girl.
Alice arrived mid-way through the week, and was instantly smitten with the new hire who had arrived shortly after. Enrolment wasn't what I'd hoped for, but I still needed another guy to help Emmett with the boys' cabin. Jasper was a good fit. He was studying forestry, and he was the oldest of six children back home in Texas so he was used to amusing kids. He was looking for work locally since he wasn't going home for the summer. He was also a total goof-ball, so I knew he would keep the kids in good spirits. In all the years I'd known Alice, she had always gone for the dark, rebel type; a good contrast to her own angelic appearance. Seeing her go ga-ga over a dorky, family-oriented guy was hilarious.
"He had me with 'hello, darlin''," she swooned. "And those eyes! Have you ever seen such beautiful eyes? Jasper Whitlock is my future husband. I know it. And I'm going to enjoy making every one of our own six children."
"Try to keep the gawking to after hours, okay, Al? I don't want the kids watching you live out your new fantasy." I sent her off to play so that I could get some work done. I could feel a cold coming on, and wanted to get to bed early to keep it from settling in. After finishing the first two weeks' menu outline, I shut down the computer, heading for the kitchen to make a tea to take back to my room in the staff cabin. My cell rang as I added the milk, and the caller ID surprised me.
"Hi, Bella. This is Edward… Edward Cullen. I worked for you in the spring. My dad knows your dad—"
I snickered softly, taking my tea back to my office instead of heading to my cabin. "I know who you are, Edward. Hello. How are you?"
"I'm well, thank you… sort of. How are you?"
His manners made me smile. "Very well, thank you. Though I do think I'm coming down with a bit of a cold."
"Oh."
"What can I do for you?" I was over the shock, and curious to know what his call was about.
"Well, I was wondering if your job offer was still open. I know it's late… Has camp started already? I wasn't expecting… I mean, I would have called you earlier, if I'd known I would need a job. If you don't have anything, I understand."
I had never really expected to hear from him. Having him call at the last minute to ask for a job sent up a red flag. "It is late. Camp is about to start. The staff is already here, preparing—"
"I understand. It was worth a shot. Thanks anyway—"
"When could you get here?"
He paused. "Tomorrow?"
"See you then."
"Seriously? Wow! You're a lifesaver! I'll see you tomorrow then. Thanks."
There was something in his voice that made me think I was doing the right thing, bringing him back. I just hoped I wasn't making life more difficult for myself.
x - x - x
When he didn't show up the following day, I bent over in front of Emmett and asked him to kick me. "I don't have the energy to do it myself. I should have had my foot embedded in my ass since yesterday. I should have known. It was probably a joke or some social experiment to see if the gullible camp owner would take him in."
Emmett gazed at me as I ranted. "I'm sorry, Bella. I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Edward. Remember that kid who worked with us—"
"Spring break, yeah I remember Edward. What about him? I thought he didn't want a summer job."
I related his desperate sounding phone call, and then whined about being too sick to deal with his immature shit before hauling my un-kicked, gullible ass off to bed. I'd have to be up early to help Charlotte in the kitchen since I'd already told her to expect Edward. I had a crappy sleep, and was not in my usual perky mood to greet our campers the next morning.
My team took over, much to my delight, leaving me to only deal with the few anxious parents who wanted reassurances that their babies would survive my camp.
We had every registered camper checked in, and the last parents were getting in their car when a vibrant yellow Porsche pulled up.
"Woah," Emmett muttered. "Is that a Porsche?"
"Uh-huh," Alice and Rosalie both muttered, mouths gaping.
"Dude, that is one yeller ride."
"It certainly is... yellow." I frowned, agreeing with Jasper's assessment. "Are we missing someone? Last minute registration?"
"Oh, no way!" Emmett chuckled when he saw the trunk popping open, and a lanky form getting out of the car. "Okay, well this tops the Volvo."
I closed my eyes, drawing in a deep, cleansing breath. If this was part of his game, arriving in a car that screamed he did not need the money from a summer job—a day late!—I was prepared to send him back home. I wasn't playing his game.
He spotted me walking over as he closed the trunk, bag in hand. He was barely out of the way when the car reversed, and sped away, leaving him standing there, red-faced. "I apologize for my father's bad manners. He's in a bear of a mood. Sorry I'm late. I'll explain later." He shifted his feet nervously. "If you'll let me?"
I was still stunned by the rapid turn of events. My mouth hung open and my arms flailed in the direction of the speeding car. "He almost hit you!"
"I've learned to just get out of his way when he drives like that," he grinned wryly.
I frowned, staring at the tire marks in the mud. "He might get stuck at the bottom of the hill."
"Good," Edward muttered. "Any chance you've got a camera set up down there? I'd love to see him lose it." He shouldered his duffle, as he smirked. "I'll just bring this along for now?"
I nodded absent-mindedly. "Yeah, let's get the kids inside before it rains."
Turning around, I saw they'd already been taken in. A small smile returned to me when the first few drops hit my skin. "I guess we should just worry about ourselves. Run!" The sky opened up, even as my words were formed. We dashed inside, breathless, dripping, and laughing. Everyone else found it amusing as well.
I shed my jacket, and hung it inside the door. "You can leave your bag in my office. Grab a shirt!"
"No need!" Edward grinned as he peeled off his outer layer to reveal his staff shirt.
I was feeling better by the minute. Though I was eager to know his excuse for arriving a whole day late, we had business to attend to.
"Well everyone, our last staff member is here. Meet Edward!"
The return campers let out a whoop, and he gave a two-fingered wave of acknowledgement before stuffing his hands in his pockets. He then moved off to the side.
Rose approached me after the initiation meeting ended. "Better keep an eye on that one. Someone's crushing hard."
I immediately spun around to seek out Emmett, and warn him again to stop ogling my friend. He was busy with a group of boys, and Rosalie was looking in the opposite direction. Edward...
"Hi, Edward!"
Rosalie tipped her chin in his direction as Jessica called out to him. I observed with her.
"Still remember my name?" She taunted as she pranced around in front of him.
"Sure. I remember everyone's name. Quiz me later." He sidestepped to move around her and away.
"Oh, I will!" She called out after him. Jessica and her friend pressed their heads together to giggle. "See what I mean? You shouldn't have bailed on spring break! He's sooooo hot!"
"See what I mean?" Rose repeated in a much more serious tone.
"Noted." My gaze shifted from the girls to Edward, who had joined Peter. "I'll have a talk with him, too. He should be aware of it." Add that to the growing list of things I needed to discuss with Edward.
Of course, the rain did not let up to allow us to do our first choice options for opening day. But being based in Washington, we always had alternative plans made. I preferred getting the orientation hike out of the way from the very beginning, but it wouldn't be safe to have novices out there in the mud.
Edward brought in a name game that was new to us. He agreed this time warranted one with a larger group. He ran through the rules of Name Roulette, but was stopped by Jessica.
"You promised I could quiz you."
"Hmm. The others will be bored—"
"You'll have an unfair advantage if we play first though," she pointed out.
"Right," he sighed, rubbing at the back of his neck. "Okay..." Peering at the group, he placed his hands on his hips. Then he spun, and called out the staff names as we took our bows in turn.
"Not fair. You know them!" Jessica whined.
Smugly and swiftly, Edward walked along the line and high-fived each return camper as he named them, ending with her. "And, of course... oh crud. What's your name again?"
Rosalie snickered under her breath as Jessica glared at him. Her mouth opened to whine.
"Relax, I'm messing with you. Are you satisfied, Jessica?"
"Not yet," she retorted with a saucy grin. Blech!
Edward was oblivious to her suggestive flirting, or seemed to be, and carried on. "All right, everyone thank Jessica for making it easier for us all to remember a few of our new friends' names. Now let's put it to the test and you can quiz me again on everybody afterwards."
"He makes this too easy for us," Alice giggled beside me. "Thank you for bringing him back."
"Hey, you do know I wanted him to begin with. If he hadn't played hard-to-get, I wouldn't have hired Jasper."
Alice gasped. "Bite your tongue!"
x – x – x
Edward stayed behind to give Charlotte a hand moving some boxes of supplies around in the kitchen when the rest of us took the kids to their cabins to settle in. I asked him to stick around for a talk before I left them to their task. He was waiting in my office when I returned, texting. He quickly finished up, and pocketed his phone when I came in.
"Thanks for waiting," I said as I plopped into my chair across from him. There was a mug filled with a steaming brew on the desk. "What's this?"
"Oh, it's a tea thing I thought you could use. You mentioned a cold when I called you, so I brought the stuff with me in case there's an outbreak. I don't know what its healing powers are, but it always makes me feel better when I'm sick."
Once again, he'd managed to astound me. "You brought it with you—"
He nodded. "I didn't know if Charlotte would have all the stuff on hand. It's just ginger root, lemon, honey… you don't have to drink it if you don't want to."
"It sounds soothing. Thank you." It was also thoughtful, and unexpected. I had to take a moment to rethink the speech I'd had planned. I'd come off as a real bitch if I laid into him now. "So, what happened to arriving yesterday?" I still had to run my business—he needed to be reminded this wasn't something he could do if and when he felt like it.
He straightened up, cleared his throat and he folded his hands in his lap as he leaned forward. "Yesterday… well, do you want the full story, or the abridged version?"
I smirked at him. Smartass. "I'd say abridged because to be honest, I'm wiped out. But I'll leave it up to you."
"Abridged then—I was being screamed at. Most of the day. Sorry. I did get a pee break at one point, and I texted you that I'd be here late. I didn't get a reply, so I took my chances that you weren't too pissed off to still hire me. Thanks for not making me chase down my father when he peeled out. That may have been awkward."
Frowning, I pulled out my phone. "I didn't get a… oh. Dammit. Here it is." I scrolled through the rather lengthy message. "I see. Sorry for not replying—I went to bed early."
"Cold," he acknowledged with a nod.
"Yeah. Sorry if this comes off as intrusive. My head is too foggy to be anything but blunt at the moment. You called me for this job. Could your personal business not have been taken care of that same day?"
He slumped down, lowering his head. "I thought it had been. I thought I had done what I was told… Okay, I'm going to be blunt as well," he stated, looking up at me. "I was told to get a job, so I called you. As it turns out, this wasn't what my parents had in mind, so there were… words. It's kind of humiliating, and more than a little ridiculous that I'm so under their thumb that I have to fight over working at a summer camp. It's a coming of age thing that should have happened a year ago, but I'm lame that way. It's just easier to agree with them most times."
"So, they spent a full day screaming at you? Over this job?" I asked incredulously. I had expected a flippant excuse from him, not a confession like that. If I hadn't witnessed Dr Cullen's angry departure, I would be certain this was an act. It was still possible… stay professional about this…
"This, and my life in general," he explained. "I didn't know it would be the entire day, or I wouldn't have committed to coming yesterday. My dad got called into work. He told me I had to do some stuff for my mother, so I did. Then she told me that I had to wait for him to come home, so I did. By the time they figured out they weren't winning this one, he refused to drive me out here. It was kind of late…"
"You couldn't drive yourself? Once you won, I mean." So much for making this a professional discussion, I chastised myself for allowing my sarcasm to come out.
"Car's in the shop. It's being dropped off for me once they're done with it. I was at their mercy, getting here. I am sorry. So much for this being abridged."
Smartass attitude was scattered here and there, but his apology and explanations did seem sincere. "One thing I thought of, after we spoke on the phone—you said your family goes on vacation?"
He cringed at the mention of it. "Yeah, well… not me this year. I have a feeling I've seen the last of family vacations. You've got me for the whole summer. Aren't you fortunate?"
I chuckled, understanding his remark was meant to be a joke, not a cocky declaration. "You're the fortunate one! You get to spend the entire summer in rainy Washington! Yay!"
He started laughing along with me. "Such enthusiasm—it's great. Do you keep this up the whole summer?"
"I'm starting a trend," I quipped.
Edward's eyebrow rose. "A trend?"
Smiling widely, I reached for my tea. "It's a personal thing. Once upon a time, I received an anonymous message to smile. It's kind of stuck with me. If things get tough, I use it as my mantra. Yes, it usually keeps me going all summer long. How fortunate for you!" I teased him in return. "Ohhhh! This tea is really good. Soothing on the throat."
"Mm-hmm. There's more in a thermos in the kitchen. You get motivation from unknown sources, huh? Inspirational."
"It was. It was sweet, and perfectly timed." I set my mug down, preparing for business. We had gotten off track. "Okay, a couple more things I wanted to speak with you about… Your phone. I've seen you on it several times today. I'm not saying you have to be cut off from the outside world, but let's not make that a habit, all right?"
He nodded firmly. "It won't be, I swear. This job was last minute. I think everyone knows I'm not available for random bullshit now."
"Good. Thanks. Just one more thing, and then you can pick up on the random bullshit, if so desired." I offered him a friendly smile. "A situation was brought to my attention, and I wanted you to be aware of it, as well as our rules regarding relationships here. There is never to be a relationship beyond that of a mentor-slash-leader between our counsellors and campers."
His jaw dropped, and he frowned in shock. "I would never—"
"I'm not suggesting you have, or would. This is my own fault, because I allowed the two older campers on spring break to get a little closer to us than normal, simply because there was such an age difference between them and the other kids. It's time for us to pull back now that it's more balanced. We shouldn't show favouritism at all—"
"Jessica? Is that who we're talking about?"
So he was aware… "Yes."
"I'm not… I don't…" He stopped and blew out a long breath.
"Edward, it's not your fault. It's to be expected, really. You're fairly close in age. It would be stupid to think a sixteen year-old girl wouldn't develop a crush on you. It's good that we've caught it very early on, and we'll all keep an eye on it. You won't be left alone to deal with her. We should just take a step back, and not treat her any differently than the other kids. Hopefully that will dissuade her."
He nodded enthusiastically. "Good. Thanks. I uh… look, Bella, the last thing I want here is girl trouble. I'm here to work, period. You don't have to worry about anything inappropriate coming from me, because trust me; I do not need the problems that come along with it. Girls equal trouble for me. I'm off them. I'll step waaaaaay back. Believe me."
After he left, I sipped on my tea and contemplated the strange mix of emotions I was feeling. It was a huge relief that he didn't cop a smug attitude, knowing that he was affecting the young girls as he was. I believed that he didn't want the stud moniker slapped on him, and I trusted that he wouldn't cross any lines. The problem was, there was this feeling of disappointment that accompanied my relief. He was off girls.
Why would that concern me? He's just a kid… practically. But a thoughtful one. The tea was really nice. Soothing. As I did every time I was feeling sorry for myself, or just down in general, I pulled out the card that had been left in my locker one dreary day at Forks High a few months after Mom had died.
'Your smile is trending' was printed above a smiling sun face. Inside read, 'I smile every time I see you smile', followed by a written note by the anonymous gifter: 'You'll smile again. Brighter days are ahead.'
"I miss you, Mom," I said aloud, as I did every time I looked at the card. And then, as I did every time as well, I held it to my heart. And smiled.
A/N ~ He's back! So you can't hate on me for dragging it out. ;) Amazed that so many readers got to this with the wonkiness of the site this past week. I didn't even get my update notice for the last chapter. *shrugs* We'll see if it's any better now. Thanks for reading/reviewing/messaging. Very cool. Puts me in my happy place. xx ~ SR
