Page 6 of Fortunate Miracles
I’m awakened during the night by voices calling out. Rolling off Nick, we both sit up, and I can hear the patter of rain hitting the tent. “Must be Seb and E,” I surmise. Nick grabs a knife, getting in front of me just in case.
“Summer, Nick, it’s E. Can I come in? Our tent is leaking,” he calls fromright outside.
Nick grunts, getting up and unzipping the door. I stand and turn on our lamps to find E standing there, soaked with his bag in hand. He steps in, dropping his bag just inside and re-zips the door. “Sorry about this. Our tent started leaking pretty quickly.”
“It’s okay, E. Where’s Seb?”
“In with Alex and Bay. Do you mind my sleeping here?”
“Of course not. Get into some dry clothes and we’ll get back to bed.” I sit down, turning my back to give him a semblance of privacy. Nick lies back down on the air mattress with an arm slung over his eyes. A few minutes of rustling later, E taps my shoulder. Turning around, he’s smiling down at me in dry shorts and a t-shirt. “Come on.” I pat the bed beside me.
E turns off the hanging lamp and lies on my right side. It quickly becomes clear that this will be a tight fit with the two big guys on either side. Nick pulls me back on top of him, which gives E enough room to lie down. He reaches behind us and turns the other lantern off. “Thanks, guys,” I hear E say before I drift back off to sleep.
Chapter 3
Summer
Sunday morning I wake up snuggled into E’s side with Nick gone. Stretching, I rub my eyes and sit up. E is still out cold, so I quietly get dressed and leave the tent. I find Nick sitting in his chair by the cold fire, sipping coffee with Alex. “Morning, guys.”
“Good morning, Summer. Is E still sleeping?”
“Yeah. I heard you had an unexpected visitor, too.” I grab hot water from the kettle and pour some into a mug for tea.
“Yes. He is still asleep on my side,” Alex smiles. “He seemed quite upset, but I assured him a little water would not harm him.”
Chuckling, I take a seat, sipping on my tea. “Maybe we should let them sleep in this morning instead of running?” I ask.
“I will remain too, if that is alright.” Alex comments, drinking his coffee while watching the lake. He looks more relaxed than I’ve ever seen him. Something I didn’t notice until this morning. This trip away from expectations and responsibilities has been good for him.
“Absolutely, Alex. Are you ready, Nick?” I ask, finishing my tea and standing up.
He nods, so we go for a run again, choosing a fresh trail. Nick looks rested now, so I think I’ll spend the night with Seb and E, assuming theirtent dries out.
After showers and breakfast, we help Seb and E hang their stuff on a makeshift clothesline in the sun after tying their tent open to air out. A few rocks allow the air mattress to sit in the sun as well.
Today we decide to check out the nearby town. A cute little main street greets us as we walk around, checking out the shops. I fall back to chat with Bay. “Doing okay?” I ask. Bay seems fine, but a sadness lingers in his eyes, mirroring the ache in my heart.
“I’m fine, Summer. Sad but okay.” He squeezes my hand and offers a small smile.
“Same. I’m really sorry it didn’t work out.” I bump my shoulder into his, and he does the same back. Smiling, I give him a side hug, and he offers me his elbow, so I wrap my hand around his arm. Yeah, we’re going to be okay.
Seb stops at a tourist shop, and I buy Zander a magnet for the fridge and a small painting from a local artist that depicts the campground we’re staying at. Seb gets a t-shirt for himself and a small bracelet for his mom. Beth and he have grown closer. They meet up once a week for lunch or coffee, and they text during the week. So far, it’s been without drama, and I’m happy Seb has his mom back in his life.
E and I sample food from a few local restaurants, and Alex finds two food trucks at a small park nearby for dinner. When we return to our campsite, I flop onto my chair by the fire pit. “Ugh, I ate too much food today,” I say, patting my food baby.
E chuckles at me, taking his seat. “Me too, but most of it was really good.”
Closer to sunset, we decide to get out on the boat to watch the sunset from there. Despite the hills surrounding us, the sunset is beautiful. Pale pink turns to fuchsia, then a fiery red fills the sky. Clouds floating by are awash in peach tones as far as the eye can see. I take a few pictures on my phone as we float in the middle of the lake. Bay brought a selfie stick with him, so I know we’ll have some great shots of all of us from our first camping trip. There areseveral other boats on the water enjoying the late evening as well. It surprises me that there’s been no rowdy or drunken groups. This place seems to be really well run.
When we get back, I go to charge my phone in the tent. As I close the flap behind me, I pull up short when I see a bunch of photos scattered over our air mattress. What the hell? Feeling spooked, I crouch down to gather them up. I see they are full-color pics of all of us printed on glossy photo paper, but more of me than anyone else. “Guys,” I call as I walk out of the tent. Walking over to the fire, I pass the pictures to Nick. “They were in our tent.”
Nick flips through them as the other guys come over to see. “Shit, it’s all of us,” Seb comments. They seem to be from the past few weeks around Mt. Pleasant. There are shots of each of the guys at work and of me at the plantation and outside Finn. Nick flips over each picture, but there’s nothing written on the back. He goes over to our tent to root around, but finds nothing else.
“Was this your father?” Alex asks.
Nick nods, then steps away to call Troy and fill him in on what happened.
“That’s a little disturbing that someone was in our tent,” I say, feeling a shudder run through me. I haven’t noticed anyone following us or anybody paying us attention. The guys haven’t mentioned anything either.
