“I bet you didn’t expect that, eh?” Ian says.
“He’s still a jerk,” I say, scraping food into the bin.
“Who’s a jerk?” Ainslie asks, bringing more plates to scrape.
“My mom’s boyfriend.”
“Really? The guy who got up and sang?” She looks over to where Mom and Derek are talking with Ben. “I must be missing something. He seems nice.”
“Yeah, well…” I don’t have a good comeback. Anything I say right now is going to make me look like a jerk. “It’s kind of hard to explain.”
Once the dishes are cleared, we start moving the tables to the side of the dining hall so we can use the space for activities. I glance out the window. I’ve never seen it rain so hard. So much for showing Mom the high ropes course or my archery skills. We’re stuck inside. We play a few games. Some of the families leave early, but Mom and Derek stick it out to the bitter end.
“Max, thanks for letting me join your Mom today,” Derek says to me while Mom is giving Duncan a goodbye hug. He puts his hand on my shoulder. “She misses you guys.”
I shove my hands in my pockets so he doesn’t notice my clenched fists. What is wrong with him? Doesn’t he get that I just don’t like him?
“So I’ll see you soon,” Mom says, kissing me on the cheek. “Don’t look so glum. That was fun today, even if the weather wasn’t on our side.”
“I guess.”
I watch them make their way to his little sports car, trying not to slip or get totally drenched in the process. I should be happy that Duncan didn’t talk about going home, but seeing Mom and Derek together bums me out. I don’t bother watching them drive away.
“Weather getting to you?” Ben asks, joining me out on the verandah of the pavilion.
“Something like that,” I mutter.
“Listening to the rain beating on the roof is one of my favorite sounds,” Ben says, leaning against the railing. “But it’s getting to me too.” He changes the subject. “So did you have a good visit with your mom?”
I look away from the field and cross my arms. “Not really. She was too busy with—”
“Well, looks like you might get a longer visit,” Ben interrupts.
I turn around. Mom and Derek are running toward us. They’re covered in mud, and their clothes are soaked.
“Road gave out on us!” Derek says between breaths. “Right at the creek.”
Mom looks terrified. She’s shivering. “It was really scary,” she adds, sniffing back tears.
“Max, run to the infirmary and grab some blankets,” Ben says, then holds out his hand for Mom as she climbs the stairs. “Come on inside. Let’s get you guys warmed up.”
I tear down the stairs and dash across the field, sloshing through wet grass and dodging mud puddles. The rain is bucketing down. I’m completely soggy—sneakers and all—by the time I get to the infirmary.
“Whoa, that’s quite a mess you’re leaving on my floor there, mister,” the nurse says, putting down her book. “What’s the emergency?”
“I need blankets,” I say. “My mom and her…creek…road…” I’m talking so fast I’m not making sense. The nurse tells me to breathe. She eventually gets the story out of me and hands me a bag with blankets.
By the time I make it back to the pavilion, Mom and Derek aren’t there. “Where are they?” I ask.
“Changing out of their wet clothes,” Ainslie says. “Ben went to scrounge up something for them to wear. They’re both pretty shaken up.” She looks me up and down. “You don’t look so good yourself. You’re soaked!” She grabs a blanket from the bag I’m holding and wraps it around me.
“So the good news is,” Ben says to Mom and Derek, who are drinking big mugs of coffee, “Buddy down the road just looked at your car. He’s pretty sure he can get at it once the rain stops. The bad news is that the road won’t be open again until tomorrow. Looks like you guys are spending the night.”
Derek scrolls up and down on his phone. “I have to make some calls,” he says, standing up abruptly. “I was supposed to be back tonight.” He walks out of earshot.
“We have a single bed in the infirmary you can use,” Ben says to Mom. “And Derek could sleep in the boys’ cabin with Max. It’s the only one with an extra bunk.”
I almost choke on my hot chocolate.
“You okay there, bud?” Ben asks.
Mom raises her eyebrows.
“Ah, yup. Just not sure Derek will like our cabin. It’s a little um….well, you know…loud.”
“I’m sure he’ll be fine, Max. It’s not as if we have a whole lot of choices here.” Mom glances over at Derek leaning against the wall with one hand covering his ear.
“Okay, well, that settles it,” Ben says, standing up. “Max, I’ll get you to make a bed up for Derek. There are extra sheets over in the infirmary.”
Having to go back out into the rain for Derek sucks. When I walk past him, I overhear him saying, “Hopefully, I’ll be out of here first thing in the morning. I don’t want to stay any longer than I have to.”
I knew it! He’s only pretending he likes being at camp. Why can’t Mom see through him?
“I can’t believe he’s spending the night,” I say to Ian later as I’m making up Derek’s bunk. “You should have heard him on the phone. He’s so full of crap.”
“Well,” Ian says, grinning. “We could make it entertaining for us.”
“How?”
“Let’s short-sheet his bed, for starters.”
“What?”
“Don’t tell me you’ve never had that done to you! It’s the oldest gag ever. Here,” Ian says, grabbing the top sheet. “I’ll show you.” He spreads it out on the bed but instead of tucking it in normally, he folds the bottom half up and tucks in the sides. Then places the blanket over top, hiding the evidence. “See? So when he goes to crawl into bed, his legs will get stuck halfway. His knees will be up by his ears. There’s no way to get into bed. It’s too funny!”
Before I have time to think about our prank, Ben pokes his head through the door to check on us. “Are you good for pillows?” he asks.
“Ah, yeah. We’re good,” I say, trying not to sound like we’re hiding something.
“Sweet. Thanks for helping out. Catch you guys later.”