Chapter Twenty-Six

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Drew and I spent all morning at our campsite. He’d brought eggs, bacon, and hash browns to cook over the fire for breakfast and once we’d eaten, we snuck back into our tent for an hour or two.

“Did you have something planned or can I pick what we do next?” I asked from where we were sprawled out on top of the sleeping bag. Even though it had been cool overnight, the sun had come out with a vengeance and the sun mixed with our exertion had made the tent pretty warm.

Drew’s face was dotted with perspiration and he just smiled as he pushed some hair off of my own sweaty face. “My only plan was to be with you.”

I pressed my lips to his and savored a languid kiss before pushing up and pulling my jeans on. Drew looked at me quizzically, likely confused because I wasn’t putting my shorts on instead, and I smiled as I tossed him his own jeans.

“Let’s go horseback riding. I want to show you something.”

After we were dressed and the turkey sandwiches he’d brought us were eaten, we broke down our little camp. Drew was able to secure the folding chairs, tent, and everything else to the back of the ATV but left the bear box behind, explaining that it would stay for others who’d use our little campsite.

Drew drove the quad faster than he had the night before since we could actually see where we were going. Even though I could have held on to the rack for support, I kept my arms wrapped around his waist instead. In just a few short days I wouldn’t have the ability to touch him every day and I felt like I had to get my fill while I could.

We unloaded the camping supplies at the facility management building and left the ATV parked with the other four near the maintenance shed. It was lunchtime when we walked through the campus so we weren’t stopped when we dropped our backpacks off at both cabins.

Ted greeted us when we walked into the stables. “If you two want to ride, you’ve picked a good time. I don’t have any campers up here for another two hours.”

Two of the stable hands helped us get the Ranger and a mare named Sunbeam saddled up. I climbed on top of Sunbeam and waited as Drew did the same to Ranger. The two of us walked them out of the pasture and down to the trails that led into the wooded area. Ranger and Sunbeam got along well and allowed us to ride next to each other.

“Are we going somewhere in particular?”

I nodded my head and pointed to a small path that led us off-trail. “There’s a creek that Kira and I used to come to. I want to show you.”

His only response was a nod and he had Ranger fall back so Sunbeam and I could go down the narrow path first. It widened up after about ten minutes and Ranger immediately came back into position next to Sunbeam.

Neither of us spoke again until we made it to the creek. Both horses drank from the water and we tied them up together once they were done. Like I had just weeks before, I took off my shoes, rolled up my jeans, and stepped into the creek.

Unlike the last time I’d been there, however, I didn’t feel sad. I felt hopeful. I turned to find Drew on the bank, removing his own shoes while keeping those brilliantly blueish eyes focused on me.

“How’s the water?”

I grinned and kicked some of it in his direction. “Perfect.”

“Look at the tadpoles,” he said as he joined me in the shallow water. “They’re probably about halfway through their transformation.”

We spent about twenty minutes in the water while Drew regaled me with his wildlife knowledge. For someone who grew up in such a large city, he definitely knew a lot about the most random things.

“Careful, it’s deeper over there,” I told him as we walked upstream a little. My warning came too late, though, because the change in the surface depth surprised Drew, causing him to trip. He fell right into the knee deep water, soaking his clothes and looking stunned.

Naturally, after realizing he was okay, I doubled over and laughed. I was still laughing when he stood up and tried to wring the excess water out of his shirt. I was still laughing when he stalked over to me with a smirk on his face. That laughter cut off when I realized his intent.

I turned to run about two seconds too late because Drew wrapped an arm around my waist and held my dry body against his wet one. I squirmed against him, trying to break free of his hold, but he just laughed and started pulling me back to the deeper part of the creek. When he went down that time, it was intentional and he took me with him.

“Drew!” I shrieked as the water soaked my jeans and most of my shirt. “You can’t punish me because you’re a klutz!”

He grinned and pressed a kiss to my lips. “You’re being punished for laughing, Shay.”

It was my turn to kiss him and I forgot about the fact that we were in the creek water. Hell, I was ready to strip out of my wet clothes and ride him but one of the horses nickering brought me out of my cloud of lust.

We both trudged out of the creek and I attempted to sluice as much water off of me as possible. Drew seemed to have come to terms with his wet clothes because he just picked up a rock and expertly threw it in the creek. It skipped three times before disappearing into the water.

“It’s beautiful out here, Shay.”

I joined him on the bank and picked up my own rock. When I threw it, it skipped once and sunk like a heavy weight. “It really is. Kira said that she and one of her friends, Laurie, found it when they got lost during her second year here.”

“Laurie.” Drew chuckled and shook his head, achieving another four skips with a new rock. “She and Kira were hellions together. September and Thalia kind of remind me of Kira and Laurie.”

I groaned and tossed a rock, still only getting a solitary skip. “September and Thalia are exhausting. I kind of remember Laurie but the memories are fuzzy.”

It was quiet between us as we continued throwing rocks. I managed to get to three skips after a while but Drew still had me beat at a whopping five jumps. About ten minutes passed before he broke the silence.

“How often did you two come out here?”

“Only twice. Our cabins didn’t do activities together too often and it’s obviously off the actual trail, so getting out here meant breaking the rules.” I glanced over at him with a smile. “The first time was only a few days after I’d first arrived and I was so homesick that Kira and I got away with deviating from the schedule a lot. May was willing to do anything to help me overcome it. The second time was during her last summer and she was…” I swallowed around the lump in my throat. “She was dying, so they let us have a whole day together near the end. We spent hours out here.”

“Shaylee.” Drew spoke softly and his face turned sad. “Kira and I were friends.”

I nodded my head. “I know. I’m glad you got a chance to know her before the cancer.”

Just talking about the cancer made my stomach feel sick. I dropped the rock in my hand and reached up to grab my necklace. Only… it wasn’t there.

“No, Shay. We were really-”

I barely heard him as I looked around frantically. “My necklace. It’s gone.”

His eyes widened slightly. “Are you sure?”

“Drew, it’s not here.” I looked down my shirt, in my bra, and all around us, just hoping to find the silver charm that had been around my neck for years. He sprang into action and went back to where we’d been sitting in the creek and fell to his knees. The water was clear enough that it was easy to see the bottom but both of us began to feel around, too.

“Where the hell could it be?” I mumbled, feeling panic gripping me. “I don’t remember the last time I touched it.”

“You had it when we were naked earlier,” Drew said as he slowly walked around the creek, his eyes searching the waterbed in front of him. “I remember looking right at it. We’ll find it. Shaylee.”

But we didn’t.

We searched for at least an hour. Both of us combed the water, retracing the steps we’d taken, and searched the bank where we’d been standing. We looked over where the horses were and still found nothing.

“It’s gone,” I choked out as we stood next to Ranger and Sunbeam. Drew’s face was blurry from the tears that were filling my eyes. “It’s gone.”

“I’m so sorry.” Strong arms came around me and I began to sob into his shirt. He sunk to the ground, taking me with him, and held me in his lap. His physical support didn’t wane in the silence and my sobs eventually turned to cries. When the cries were finally sniffles, I opened my eyes and stared out at the creek.

“I can’t believe it’s gone.” My voice was hoarse. “She gave it to me a week before she died. I rarely take it off and it’s just… gone.”

Drew’s lips pressed to my hair but he didn’t speak. There wasn’t anything he could have said to make it better and he knew it.

We were both quiet as we climbed back on the horses. Neither of us said anything during the walk back to camp. Drew handled talking to Ted and the stable hands and they all told us they’d get both horses settled.

With my hand firmly in his, Drew led me along the outskirts of the campus until we were at the staff bunks. A few people greeted us but I didn’t reply. I felt completely numb.

“I’m sorry, Shay,” Drew said softly once we were locked away in a vacant room. “I’m so sorry. I’ll go back and check out campsite and head back to the creek for a second look.”

After changing into dry clothes, we had laid together on the bed with my head on his chest. I released a long sigh and stared at the blank wall next to the door. “It’s like searching for a needle in a haystack. We’ll never see it again.”

“Maybe we can find out where your sister ordered it from and get you another?”

“It’s not the same,” I whispered as a tear slid down my cheek. I knew it sounded irrational but my sister had given me that necklace which meant she had touched it at one point. She had personally picked it out and handed it to me. A replacement wouldn’t be the same.

The two of us laid on the bed in silence. Drew’s fingers ran through my hair in a soothing rhythm and I listened to his heart beating under my ear. He didn’t say anything to make me feel ridiculous for mourning a necklace like other people might. Somehow he understood that losing that necklace felt like losing a part of my sister.

I fell asleep at some point and only woke up when Drew lightly shook me. My eyes fluttered open and it took a second for me to orient myself. I tipped my chin up and looked into his turquoise eyes.

“Hi.”

A small smile ghosted on his lips. “Hey, babe. I hate waking you up but we only have an hour before we have to be back and I thought we should eat while we could.”

“Only an hour.” I frowned when I realized that I’d wasted the last of our precious alone time by sleeping. He must have understood my frown because he just smiled and kissed my forehead.

“We still have the night after the campers leave together, Shay.”

“Good.” I pushed myself to a sitting position and sighed. “Sorry to put a damper on the rest of our day off.”

“There’s nothing to apologize for.” He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and offered me a soft smile. We didn’t say anything else as we stood up, put our shoes back on, and changed the barely-used linens on the bed.

Hand in hand, we headed down to the main floor and I couldn’t help smiling when I saw how busy it was. People were just taking their seats around the gigantic table and Howard spotted us when he appeared in the room.

“How was camping?”

Drew grinned at him and nodded before dropping an arm across my shoulders. “It was great. Thanks for helping me set it all up. I got everything put back where it goes.”

“Of course, my boy.” Howard gave Drew an affectionate pat on the back. “We’re not supposed to have favorites, you know, but you two kids have a special place in our hearts. May and I couldn’t be happier to see you two are finally together. After all, you’ve had stars in your eyes for this young lady for a long time.”

I rolled my eyes and leaned in when Howard pulled me to his side for a hug. “Eight weeks is hardly a long time.”

“Eight weeks?” Howard chuckled and shook his head as he released me. He opened his mouth to say more but someone called his name from the kitchen. After another quick squeeze on my shoulder, he disappeared and left Drew and me alone.

“What was with Howard?”

Drew smiled and laced our fingers together so he could lead me towards two vacant spots at the table. “He’s a romantic.”

I waited for him to say more but he didn’t and I was distracted when Hannah and Jordan sat near us. Both of them looked happy and I returned the grin she sent my way. The grin instantly fell when I reached up to touch my necklace out of habit and it wasn’t there.

The lasagna I was chewing suddenly tasted like clay and I felt a lump rising in my throat. Drew must have sensed my turmoil because his arm was around me quickly and he pulled me to his side.

“Oh, Shay.”

“I’m okay,” I whispered, swallowing back my tears. When I realized I was close to crying again, I scoffed. Kira would hate to see me crying over the necklace. She probably would have rolled her eyes and told me to get over it. Just thinking of my feisty sister caused a smile to bloom on my lips.

Drew looked at me curiously, probably wondering how he landed himself such a crazy girlfriend, and I just pressed a kiss to his shoulder.

“I’m really okay.”

After dinner was over, the four of us walked back towards the campus. We stopped so Hannah and Jordan could drop their phones off and chatted quietly about what we’d done during our downtime. The two of them had gone into town again and had a romantic dinner followed by the new Spiderman movie. I let Drew recap our night and just enjoyed leaning into him as we walked.

“Are you going to run tonight?” he asked when we neared the cabins and I shook my head.

“I’m drained. Our evening activity is basketball tonight and so I’ll probably crash with the girls.”

He nodded and increased his hold on me when we made it to the side door. “I’m sorry about your necklace, babe.”

“No, don’t.” I pressed my lips against his in a sweet kiss. “I loved spending time with you. Thank you for planning something so amazing.”

“It was my pleasure.” He gave me another kiss, one that was less sweet but full of promises, and we were both breathing heavily when he pulled back. “I love you, Shaylee.”

I nodded and tried to calm my racing heart. “I love you, too, Drew.”

The boys both smiled one more time and turned to head towards their own cabin. I followed Hannah inside our own and we both changed back into our counselor t-shirts.

Even though we’d both come from really great dates with our boyfriends, the mood was subdued in our cabin. In less than a week, we’d all go our separate ways and be back at home. Even with the plans Drew and I had made, I felt something nagging in the back of my mind that said nothing was as easy as it seemed.