Chapter 33

CHAPTER 33

Z ephyr leafed through the outline document, his eyebrows rising. “You want us to hold a Parents’ Day?”

“Why not?” Conleth kept his tone carefully casual, as though it didn’t much matter to him one way or the other. “Most summer camps have them. The only reason we haven’t been able to hold one before is due to the number of campers with a non-shifter parent, and Lord Golden’s idiotic prejudices. That’s not an issue now.”

“I like it,” Leonie said, tapping a pen thoughtfully against her clipboard. “A lot of the campers would love a chance to show off for their parents. They could get involved with decorating the camp, and planning games and activities.”

“I can see benefits for both the children and the camp.” Zephyr closed Conleth’s proposal, setting the document to one side. “Good idea, Conleth. Let’s do it.”

“Excellent.” Conleth clapped his hands together. “How about next Saturday?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Leonie said. “Even you couldn’t organize anything at that short?—”

She stopped mid-sentence.

“Conleth,” Zephyr said, very calmly. “I was under the impression that you were suggesting this as something we do next year.”

He shrugged, uncomfortably aware of Leonie’s increasingly predatory stare at his jugular. “You both just agreed it was a good idea. Why wait?”

“Sometimes,” Leonie said meditatively, “I think about getting a shovel. I would find a quiet, isolated place, and dig a very deep hole. And then I would put you in it.”

Zephyr shook his head. “Conleth, how many parents are going to be able to drop everything and travel to camp at less than a week’s notice?”

“More than you might think.” He cleared his throat. “Especially if, hypothetically, they might have been given a little more notice than that.”

“I would bury you up to your neck,” Leonie mused. “Then, whenever I wanted you to stop talking, which is often, I would put a bucket over your head.”

“Despite what you might believe, I do check the emails the camp sends out,” Zephyr said, frowning. “I haven’t noticed any unauthorized announcements.”

“It is possible that there may have been some preliminary phone calls with parents to gauge general interest in such an event.” That had been a challenge, even with his speed powers. He’d had to secretly hire a couple of his former PAs to assist. “In general, initial feedback was highly positive. Especially when parents learned the camp is arranging all transport.”

“And how, exactly, is the camp paying for these transport arrangements?”

“A generous donation from an anonymous benefactor.” He pushed his proposal document closer to Zephyr. “Look, I’ll handle everything. All you have to do is agree.”

“And if you continued to speak, I would take the shovel, and I would bang on the bucket until you stopped,” Leone explained to no one in particular. “And when you begged me, ‘Please, Leonie, let me out of the hole, because I do not like it when you put the bucket on my head,’ I would reply, very gently and kindly, ‘No, Conleth, for I am your friend, and I am doing this for your own good.’ Then I would beat the bucket even harder. This is something I have considered in great detail. I think about it often.”

Zephyr leaned back in his chair, treating Conleth to a long, uncomfortably thoughtful look. “This is important to you, isn’t it?”

“Not just to me. I’ve never asked you for anything, Zephyr. I’m asking now.”

Zephyr heaved a distinctly exasperated sigh. “Technically, you aren’t asking. But yes. I’ll make the announcement at dinner this evening. Leonie, can you brief the counselors in advance?”

The head counselor looked like her private fantasy might now involve digging two holes, but she nodded. “I’ll make sure everyone is prepared.”

“Thank you,” Conleth said with heartfelt sincerity. Gathering up his laptop, he started to get to his feet. “I’ll handle?—”

“Oh no,” Leonie interrupted, pushing him back down. “We’re not done here, Conleth.”

He sank back into his chair. “Did you want to go over the plan in more detail?”

“No.” Turning on her heel, Leonie stalked out of the office. “Don’t move. I have to get a bucket.”

“Parents’ Day?” Paige’s mom said dubiously over the phone. “I don’t know, Paige. It’s awfully short notice.”

“Come on, Mom, you’re not working this weekend.” Paige knew that for a fact, having checked her mom’s shift schedule days ago. “And you don’t have to worry about how you’ll get here. The camp’s taking care of everything.”

A note of suspicion entered her mom’s voice. “You know I don’t take charity.”

“It’s not, I swear. The camp’s organizing transport for all the parents who don’t live locally. One of the founders is paying for it out of his own pocket.” The costs involved had seemed astronomical until Conleth had walked her through his personal finances. “Believe me, he can afford it.”

“Why would he pay for all the parents to come to camp?” Mom sounded bewildered. “Especially like this, with practically no warning?”

“It’s…kind of the way he does things.” She’d tried to argue with Conleth about springing his scheme on the poor staff like this, but he’d been adamant there was no point even asking until he’d confirmed enough parents were able to come. “Look, I know it’s last minute, but at least this means we’ll be able to see each other before the end of summer. I miss you.”

A moment of silence. “Will everyone else there be…?”

“Shifters?” Paige said, when her mom didn’t finish the sentence. “No, not all. A lot of the kids have a non-shifter parent. You won’t be the only one, I promise. Say you’ll come, Mom. I’d love to show you around.”

And see your reaction. Mom would be a lot more receptive to the idea of moving here if she already liked the area. And surely no one could fail to fall in love with Thunder Mountain.

“Please, Mom.” She played her trump card. “Most of Archie’s friends’ parents are coming. He’ll be disappointed if you aren’t there.”

A long, resigned sigh gusted from the phone speaker. “Well…all right. What are these transport arrangements, exactly?”

“I’ll send you all the details.” Some sixth sense made her look around, just in time to see Conleth step out of the office. “I’ve got to go, Mom. Love you.”

Putting her phone away, she hurried to meet her mate. “How did it go?”

Conleth was not looking quite as composed as he had earlier. Despite the summer heat, he was shivering, his lips faintly blue. “Better than I expected.”

She took in his bedraggled appearance; hair ruffled, clothes damp. “What on earth happened in there?”

“Leonie dumped an entire bucket of ice cubes down the back of my neck.”

“And you let her?”

“It seemed the wisest course of action.” Conleth shook out his shirt, dislodging a shower of melting ice. “Did your mother agree?”

“Yes, eventually.” She felt a bit guilty about how much pressure she’d had to exert. “She really wasn’t keen, though.”

“Then that’s all the hard parts done.” He fished a last few cubes out of one sleeve. “Now we just have to wait for Zephyr to make the announcement to the kids. At least they’re going to be enthusiastic.”

The campers’ reactions were…mixed.

“Our parents are coming?” Estelle sounded like Christmas had come early. “Here?!”

“Our parents are coming?” Nancy echoed in a very different tone. “Like…here?”

Surveying the distinct range of expressions around the table, Paige thought that more of the kids’ reactions were closer to Nancy’s than Estelle’s. In stark contrast to the general excited chatter filling the dining hall in the wake of Zephyr’s announcement, their own campers seemed markedly subdued. She’d expected a certain amount of apprehension from some of them—Hetta especially—but not this much.

“Yes, this weekend.” Conleth sounded somewhat taken aback by the distinct lack of enthusiasm. “I thought you’d all be pleased.”

“What’s wrong?” Paige asked the kids. “Aren’t you looking forward to seeing your parents earlier than expected?”

“I would be,” Finley said. “Only…it’s fire season. And both my parents are on the wildfire crew. It’s not the sort of job where you can take weekends off or schedule a personal day. They’re probably not going to be able to come.”

Rufus stared at the table, rocking a little in the way that Paige recognized meant he was trying to calm himself. His parents Rory and Edith were on the hotshot crew too, she remembered.

“I’ve already talked to the crew,” Conleth said confidently. “They’re working a big fire out of state at the moment, but your dad assured me they’ll have it under control within the next couple of days, Rufus. After that, they’ll be heading back to Thunder Mountain for some well-earned time off. I can’t make any promises, of course, but I’m sure they’ll do everything in their power to be here.”

Nancy fidgeted in her chair. “You haven’t contacted all our parents, right? Only, mine are like, super busy. They definitely wouldn’t be able to come, and they’d probably feel really guilty about it. Maybe it would be better not to call them at all.”

“Actually, your parents have already confirmed that they’ll be there,” Paige said, smiling at her. “They said they can’t wait to find out everything you’ve been doing at camp.”

“Oh,” Nancy said faintly. “Great.”

Hetta’s huge eyes held a heartbreaking mix of dismay and desperate longing. “Is my dad coming too?”

“Yes, sweetheart.” At least she knew the reason for that reaction. She squeezed Hetta’s hand, hoping the girl would recognize the covert reassurance in the gesture. “Don’t worry. Leonie’s organizing some games and competitions, but you can just watch with your dad if you feel, uh, too self-conscious to take part yourself.”

Conleth cleared his throat. “I’m afraid we haven’t yet been able to confirm that everyone’s families can attend, though. Ignatius, I’m sure a powerful dragon shifter like your uncle wouldn’t possibly be able to take time away from his responsibilities at such short notice. Unfortunately, the camp only has his contact details on record. Is there a way we could get in touch with your mother instead?”

“You mean, without my uncle knowing about it,” Ignatius said accurately. “Not really. Her talents are useful to the clan, so my uncle keeps her busy. If she took a day off, he’d want to know why.”

“I was afraid you’d say that.” Conleth grimaced, his mouth pulling to one side. “Ignatius, I hate to ask this, but--”

“Yeah, whatever,” Ignatius interrupted. He folded his arms, looking away. “Leave my family off the guest list. It’s not like I care.”

He was trying to affect an indifferent scowl, but it was obvious he very much did care. Paige had had some misgivings about this whole scheme right from the start. Now, they were increasing to King Kong proportions.

Too late to call it off. She’d just have to try to make sure the campers had a good time on the day, whether their families were there or not. And hope that her mom enjoyed the event too.

Archie tugged at her arm. “Paige? Can I talk to you for a sec? In private?”

“Sure.” She caught Conleth’s eye as she rose, jerking her head at the rest of the campers in a try-to-do something-about-this-would-you? kind of way. Leaving him to it, she followed her little brother to a quiet corner of the hall. “What’s up, Archie?”

He fidgeted with the hem of his t-shirt. “Is Mom gonna come to this Parents Day thing too?”

“Yes, she is.” That’s the whole point, she didn’t add. “Why are you looking so worried? I thought you’d be happy to see her.”

“I am! It’s just…” He twisted the toe of one sneaker against the worn floorboards, voice dropping to a mumble. “She’s gonna see I still can’t control my bear.”

“Oh.” She wanted to put her arms around him, but she knew he wouldn’t appreciate her hugging him in front of the whole camp. “Archie, you don’t need to worry about that.”

“Don’t treat me like a little kid!” Despite the flash of defiance, his lower lip wobbled. “I know she’s worried about me. I have to be better by the time summer finishes, or I’m gonna keep getting in trouble at school. And, and I haven’t even been doing the special lessons with Moira or anything.”

“Because they didn’t seem to be doing you any good. There’s no point keeping on doing something that isn’t helping. Look, it really doesn’t matter if you’re still struggling with your shifting by the time school starts. Conleth’s got some ideas on that front.”

“Right,” Archie muttered. He shoved his hands in his pockets, scowling at the floor. “Of course he does.”

Now definitely wasn’t the time to tell him about Conleth’s theory. Archie wouldn’t like the idea that the two of them might have something in common. “I know he’s still not your favorite person, but he’s doing everything he can to help us all. I wish you’d see that.”

His only response to this was a sullen whatever kind of shrug. She sighed, leaving that as a fight for another day.

“Look, I know something you can do,” she said, hoping that he’d perk up if she gave him a task. “When Mom gets here, can you make sure to show her how much you enjoy camp?”

“Huh?” Archie jerked his head up. “Why?”

“I just…really want her to have a good impression of this place.”

He squinted at her suspiciously. “Is this whole Parents Day thing another one of Conleth’s weird plans?”

“Kind of,” she admitted. “Though it was my idea, too. It’s complicated. Promise you’ll be on your best behavior, okay? It’s important.”

“Okay,” Archie said slowly. “I promise.”