Falling Into Place by Stephanie J. Scott

Author:Stephanie J. Scott
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Stephanie J. Scott
Published: 2021-04-12T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

AARON MANEUVERED AHEAD of Mia once they made it upstairs, and scanned the room for broken glass or fallen furniture. The interior of the lodge seemed to be fine, and he relaxed a little. But as soon as he stepped onto the porch, he nearly turned around and blocked Mia from seeing what was out there.

Mia gasped behind him, and when he did turn, she had both hands pressed to her mouth, eyes wide with shock.

Fallen tree limbs blocked the way to the lake, and green leaves carpeted the parking area. What looked like every trash barrel in the entire camp was buried under scattered branches, on their sides, and garbage was everywhere.

“Hopefully, the damage is just fallen branches,” he said to Mia. He couldn’t come up with much else. He didn’t want to tell her not to be upset. If this was his childhood camp with a bunch of happy memories, he’d feel pretty beat down, too. This camp was barely chugging along and now this. Another setback.

“Sounds like the tornado was spotted five miles out and touched down at a farm on Crestridge Road,” Poppy announced. “High winds caused more damage in town. And, well—” She nodded at the destruction in front of them. “Keep the kids indoors for now. The rest of us—let’s get moving.”

Aaron unbuttoned his cuffs and rolled up his sleeves as everyone scattered to begin cleaning up. Next time he came out here, he’d wear a T-shirt. “Where should we move the debris?” he asked Sonny.

“Trash first, dude,” Sonny told him. “Wood we can pile by the tree line over there.” The guy looked barely eighteen, but had no hesitation in his voice. They must really drill emergency management into these counselors. Like Mia, knowing her emergency protocol. “Wait till somebody brings out gloves, though, ’kay?”

Aaron nodded, and Sonny jogged over to talk to a few of the counselors. Unable to resist, Aaron righted a nearby trash can, making a face at the coating of wet leaves.

“What are you doing?” Mia glared at him, hands on her hips.

“I’m helping clean up. Sonny said—”

“I know what you’re doing, but why?” She blinked a bunch of times, like she couldn’t make sense of what she was seeing.

He straightened and made a point of taking in the view. “Look at this place. We need everybody out here working so it’s safe for the kids.”

She nodded a few times, looking everywhere but at him before she said, “You don’t have to stay. This is not what you signed up for. In fact, I understand if you think the camp is too far below your standards for the team. This camp is going to need more help than just a few appearances by Mr. Jokester Maynard, and O’Connor musing about Sportscenter.”

He started to smile at Mia’s spot-on assessment of the players, but her point was well taken. He’d made a stink earlier about the cabins and the sink hole. How he was going to sell this to Girardi

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