Wildfire (Maple Hills, #2)(99)
It’s going to be weird being so far away from her while she’s at the wedding. I’m heading to JJ’s in San Jose for his official housewarming party and, as much as I wish she was coming with me, I’m excited to hang out with everyone.
Aurora has learned more in these last couple of months than my friends have learned in years and I feel better every day simply because I have her. Even if Dad does get better and stop the gambling—and hopefully the drinking too—it’s going to take time for me to work through the years of embarrassment.
And I’m grateful that I’m not going to be alone when I start that journey.
Chapter Thirty-Four
AURORA
There’s a sad atmosphere in the air as kids march past the window in the direction of the camp bus.
Orla runs departure day like a well-oiled machine with scheduled pickups to ensure everything is as organized as possible. It’s emotional to say goodbye to people you’ve been with for over two months; I would spend the last day in tears, usually clinging to Jenna when I was in the Hedgehogs . . . maybe the Brown Bears, Foxes and Raccoons too.
Thankfully, our kids seem to be more mature than little me and, although they’re sad, most of them are excited to see their families. This morning was a circus as we made sure everything had been packed into the right bags and suitcases ready to be collected. I’m happy to be kept busy because while they might be ready to go, I’m not ready to say goodbye to my gang who I’ve successfully kept alive and mostly free from injury.
If I think about the fact they’re not going to be around tonight I might start crying.
Freya and Sadia are cutting off the circulation to my legs as they both perch on my thighs, wiggling around to get a good view at Emilia’s cellphone screen as we wait for the Brown Bears turn to be collected.
Poppy is showing us Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament and the girls are enthralled. They both know Emilia’s girlfriend has a surprise for her, but they don’t know what and they’re super excited. Trusting two small children with a secret is like trusting the guys to be around when someone’s sick or there’s a blocked toilet—a terrible idea.
The rest of the campers are outside playing flag football with the guys, but Emilia and I are tired after working the nightshift with twenty overstimulated kids last night.
I’ve been excited for this reveal for weeks, since I was the one who organized it. I know how much Emilia has missed Poppy this summer and I’m certain there were points when she was playing her millionth game of tetherball, dealing with homesick kids and trying to work out if there’s an animal in the kids cabin, when she wished she’d gone to Europe too.
She’s been so supportive of me pursuing things with Russ, which made the whole sneaking around thing so much easier. Thankfully, she actually likes spending time with Xander. She’s even planning to invite him to visit us when we’re all back at college.
The sky is totally gray in London, despite the fact it’s August, which doesn’t set the greatest scene for Poppy’s news. Poppy sets the scene like we discussed and the smile is practically taking over her whole face as she announces the surprise. “You’re coming to London!”
“What!” Emilia shouts. “When?”
“Tomorrow!” Poppy shouts back.
Emilia looks like she’s going to burst into tears, so I usher the girls to their feet, taking them back outside to give Emilia and Poppy some privacy.
They sit beside me on the bench while we watch the football game. Russ is cheering on Billy, a more introverted kid who hated team sports nine weeks ago, as he scores a touchdown. He high fives him, praising him as the ones who I presume are also on Billy’s team jump on him.
Somebody make my ovaries shut up.
“Will you and Russ go to London?” Freya asks, plaiting the ends of my hair.
“No, sweetie. Russ is going to visit his friend JJ at his new house and I’m going to a place called Palm Springs because my dad is getting married.”
“So when will you see each other again?” Sadia is next to start messing with my hair.
Little girls are like monkeys when it comes to hair.
“We go to the same college, so we’re going to see each other when we’re back at school.” It isn’t a lie. Russ and I haven’t fully talked about what happens when we’re both back at UCMH. We still haven’t talked about what we are, which is pathetic at this point considering we’ve spent sixteen hours a day together for ten weeks. We just know that we’re both going to be there and we’re both not ready to say goodbye to this. “Why don’t you go ask him to tell you a secret?”
The girls sprint towards Russ, grabbing him as he tries to ref the game. He crouches to their height and they lean in whispering the message. He looks right at me through the space between them, smiling, and even though I can’t see, I just know I’d be able to see his dimples if I was close enough.
God, I was never supposed to be this obsessed.
I watch him whisper back and they giggle before running back to me. Sadia reaches me first. “He said he’s excited to see you at college and to ask you for one.”
“Hmm.” I tap my lips and pretend to think. “My secret is I have a really big crush on Russ.”
I expect them both to squeal and laugh and get excited, the way they do over basically everything. Freya’s hands go to her hips. “That isn’t a secret. Everyone knows that.”