Page 17 of Camp Bliss
My brain starts whirring. Working on fences? All day? With Greta?
I stare at the black liquid in my mug, feeling something equally dark swamping my lungs.
Brows low, I shake my head.
“You can’t.”
Oh, shit. I just said that out loud.
“Excuse me?” Greta’s mouth hangs open. “Ican’t?What? Do you think I’m not good enough? Not strong enough?”
“No, that’s not—”
But her eyes are like death rays. “Sexist much?”
“No. Of course not. Forget I said that—”
She snorts as if to say,Not likely.
Greta sneers at me for a long moment, and how can I blame her. I don’t have a decent explanation for why I said something so stupid.
Not one I care to share, anyway.
“Look—” she snaps, but then she drops her gaze to the floor, her death ray glare shutting down. She braces her fingertips against her forehead like someone with a headache. Greta stays frozen like that, looking trapped and uncertain.
I frown. She’s given me a lot of looks the last two months. Most of them I could live without. But this look of defeat is new.
And I don’t like it.
“What is it?”
Greta licks her lips, her lowered gaze scanning the porch floorboards like the answer just rolled off her lap.
Then she drops her hand with a smack on her thigh. “Look, I’m supposed to tell you that Josh strained his back.” She speaks the words in a rush, her lips a washed-out pink that makes her look fragile. “But that’s not it.”
Our eyes lock, and I almost flinch. Hers are the color of frosted green glass. With sunlight pouring through.
This close, it’s like staring into an eclipse.
“W-What is it then?”
Those eyes flash with annoyance. “Don’t act like you haven’t noticed.”
I don’t love the attitude, but she’s right. I have noticed.
“Okay, yeah. I’ve sensed something’s off. What is it?”
Her sigh is measured. For a few long seconds, she doesn’t move. But the look on her face? That’s real worry. My shoulders lock.
“Josh has been struggling.” She clamps her mouth shut, and when I say nothing, impatience flashes in her eyes. “With depression.”
I jerk back, and the question’s out before I can stop it. “Since when?”
He’s said nothing to me.
Other than that Amazon was killing him, but doesn’t everyone who works for them say that?
Greta huffs like I’ve implied it’s her fault.Have I?
