Bonnie

Sunlight flickered and danced through the pine boughs, and birds sang squeaky melodies as Bonnie walked along the gravel path to the cafeteria building. The long thin grass was still wet from the night’s rain, and everything smelled of wet pine and fresh dirt. She took a deep breath in and immediately felt like she was where she was supposed to be.

The path to the cafeteria flat and easy to walk, but with a view of the Rocky Mountains that took her breath away. The mountains were so much bigger and grander than she had imagined. It was so different from New Jersey that it felt like she’d stepped through a magic mirror and into a world of myth. A friendly little squirrel chattered at her from the top of a bright green pine tree as she walked past. She was fairly certain if she burst into song, the squirrel would sing the melody with her just like in a princess movie.

She turned a corner to find the large building that housed the cafeteria and kitchen. The big wooden structure stood at the heart of the camp with all the gravel paths leading toward the center where food and fun could be found. From here, she could see a barn, a garage, and several smaller structures she assumed were the bunks for campers.

None of the children of the camp were up and about yet, but Dylan was. She could see him in the open garage.

He was under the hood of her ancient station wagon, his hands deep in the engine. The car, and the handsome man working on it were in a large open garage filled with all sorts of shiny tools. She wondered just how many cars broke down around here to justify a garage like that. It was huge and definitely nicer than the mechanic she took her car to at home.

The garage wasn’t on her path to the cafeteria building, and she couldn’t see a way to walk over there without making it very clear that she was looking for him. She liked him, but she didn’t want to appear desperate. Besides, she didn’t want to be late for her first day on the job. Still, she couldn’t help but glance over as she walked.

Dylan had on ripped jeans that hugged the curves of his body and looked like they were made just for him. His light blue t-shirt already dirty with grease and a long cloth hung from his pocket. The angle of his body gave her the perfect view of his very muscular ass as he leaned over to work on her engine.

Heat fluttered in her low belly. She wasn’t usually a car girl but seeing a handsome man working on her car was something to be enjoyed. She did her best not to stare but still managed to nearly trip at least three times as she walked because she wasn’t watching her feet.

All too soon, she found herself on the front porch of the cafeteria. The wood was still damp from the rain as she climbed the three steps up to the two big heavy doors and stepped inside.

The eating area was better lit now that it was full of sunshine, but it still held the warmth and friendship from the night before. All the tables were set out with extra napkins, and she knew the children would be ready to eat soon.

“Hello?” she called out, unsure if she should head to the kitchen to find a guide. For a second, she thought about going and asking Dylan, if only for the chance to speak to him again.

“Oh, you’re early!” A voice echoed through the empty space. Bonnie searched until a face popped out from behind one of the swinging kitchen doors. She had long dark hair pulled up into a ponytail and a friendly smile.

“Hi.” Bonnie waved and walked over to the door. The young woman came out and shook her hand.

“Hi, I’m Elena,” the woman told her. “I’m one of the volunteers here. You must be Bonnie. Mia asked me to show you around. Come on into the kitchen.”

Elena held open the swinging kitchen door for Bonnie to enter. The kitchen was already bustling with life. Two chefs were hard at work chopping and stirring and bustling around the brightly lit kitchen. Everything was stainless steel and sunshine.

“You’ll be working back here in the kitchen,” Elena explained, leading toward the back of the large space. “The dishwasher broke, and since it’s an industrial one, they won’t have the part in until tomorrow. We’ll need you to hand wash these.”

She turned and motioned to a large stainless steel sink. There were only a couple of dishes and pots, but Bonnie had a feeling that it was going to get full quickly once the campers started eating.

“I can do that,” Bonnie said cheerfully. If washing dishes got her a place to sleep and food to eat, she was happy to do it. It was better than any alternative she had right now.

“When you’re not washing, if you want to help Chef out, she’ll love you forever,” Elena replied. “Come on over and meet her.”

Elena brought Bonnie over to a large woman in what Bonnie guessed was her late sixties. She stirred the biggest pot of oatmeal Bonnie had ever seen with ease. The woman had her silver hair piled up in a giant braid wrapping around her head. As the woman turned to greet them, she gave Bonnie a giant, friendly grin.

“Chef, this is Bonnie,” Elena announced.

The woman stopped stirring and beamed another smile. “It’s so nice to meet you, Bonnie. Just call me Chef, that’s what I have everyone call me,” she told her. “We’ve got oatmeal and pancakes for the kids this morning, soup and sandwiches for lunch, and spaghetti for dinner.”

Bonnie did the mental math of dishes in her head. She was going to be doing a lot of washing.

“Now, we do some special orders,” Chef continued. “Coming here is a big transition for most of these kids, so we try to make things as gentle as possible, especially the first few days. Kids can request grilled cheese sandwiches or hot-dogs, which are right here.”

Chef pulled open a stainless steel fridge handle to show row upon row of cheese blocks and hot-dogs. In neat containers on a separate shelf were different kinds of fruit and veggies. Each was neatly labeled and ready for hungry children.

“They’re also allowed to have as many fruits and veggies as they’d like,” Chef told her. “Most kids like the meals here, but like I said, this camp is a big change for a lot of them, and we’d rather they eat something than force them to try something new and cause a meltdown.”

Bonnie nodded. “I’ve worked with special needs kids. One of the first things to go for many of them when they get stressed is the ability to try new foods,” Bonnie replied. “For kids with sensory issues, it’s really hard to try new things, and even familiar foods can be hard when changing environments and schedules.”

Chef beamed another megawatt grin at her. “You sound just like Mia,” she said with a laugh. She picked up her oatmeal spoon and began stirring again. “If you have any questions, just let me or my staff know.”

“Thank you, Chef,” Bonnie replied.

“If you’ll come with me, I have some paperwork for you to fill out,” Elena said, tapping her on the shoulder. “You should be able to fill it out before breakfast starts, and the dishes roll in.”

Bonnie nodded and followed Elena off to a back office. It was neat and clean with pictures of kids lining the walls. Bonnie assumed it was Chef’s office. Laid out on the desk was a small stack of papers and a pen all ready for her to fill out and sign.

“Oh, I’m supposed to tell you that you’re not to interact with the kids,” Elena said as Bonnie sat down and began to read over the forms. She shrugged apologetically. “It’s a legal thing.”

Bonnie waved her hand through the air. “I totally get it. You need a background check to work with kids.”

Elena looked surprised. “Yeah. How’d you know that?”

“I work with kids. I was a special needs teacher before I came here,” Bonnie replied with a smile before focusing back on the papers in front of her. She could feel Elena watching her and looked up to see a thoughtful look cross the other woman’s face.

“Interesting,” Elena murmured. “Anyway, go ahead and fill these out and I’ll get them filed, scanned, and submitted. I’ll be back in just a few minutes.”

“Okay,” Bonnie replied with a smile. She worked on filling out her name and birth dates on the form for a few minutes. When she got to her last job, she paused. She was almost afraid to put information down in case it would lead her past back to her. She paused, her pen hovering over the blank spaces.

She looked up and out the window in the small office. From here, she could see her car in the garage as well as the man working on it. He had a dark smear of grease across his cheek as he walked around to try and start the engine.

It was sexy as hell.

“I wonder if he’s single,” she murmured to herself. Bonnie shook her head. Even if he was, it didn’t matter. She couldn’t stay here for long. It wasn’t safe for her to stay in one spot for too long. They were looking for her. She was the way to get to her brother. She was his weakness. They would hurt her in order to get to him to not testify.

She shivered and looked at the blank spaces. She left some of them blank that weren’t critical to her history. It would be complete enough, she reasoned. For references, she just put in her old boss. He knew her story and would keep her background safe.

She couldn’t get involved here. As much as she enjoyed watching the muscular man with grease on his cheek work on her car, it wasn’t safe to get attached. She had to keep herself separate from these people, no matter how kind they were.

She sighed and forced her eyes back to her paper. This was how her life was now.