Page 39 of That Summer Feeling

I actually knew of the podcast. Itwasa big one.

“I will,” I assured Marge.

“Dee invited me to her wedding,” she told me with pride. “I guess I was there when she first got back together with her fiancé. They consider me a big part of their love story or something. I don’t really get it, but that’s okay. I’ll still go. I love an open bar. And Dee snagged a very handsome guy, lemme tell you. She got lucky. It’s rare to find a man like that anymore.”

“Lucky for me, I’m looking more at women these days,” I blurted out, which constituted me coming out for the first time, and I’d done it to Marge, my crotchety, brass-tacks teammate with bad knees and big opinions.

“Oh. That’s fine,” she told me. “Love who ya love. It’s sure not bothering me.”

“Thanks, Marge,” I said. “I will.”

I decided I’d probably never do that again, and everyone else could just mind their business when it came to my identity, which made it even better. Marge had no idea she’d won the prize of being my first official ally. No wonder a random podcaster had invited her to their wedding. Marge hadpresence. And she made big deals small, in a comforting way.

Tommy and Aja sprinted to our meeting spot, shocked to find that Marge and I had beaten them there by several minutes. We all showed one another what we’d found, pleased with the creative ways we’d fulfilled the list’s tasks. Sky and Julianne came in a few minutes after that. Julianne wassimultaneously so blown away to be the last pair to return and so confident in her findings that she said, “No time to review everything. Let’s turn it in. Trust me.”

Five of us ran to the referees, with Marge behind, walking at a comfortable clip. We were the first to submit materials, and all six of us held hands as the referees reviewed the items on our list. When they got to my cup of water, I explained my reasoning, and they nodded and checked the box.

With much gravitas, one of the referees said, “Congratulations, Blue Team. You’ve won today’s challenge.”

We erupted into screams that could surely be heard across the campgrounds. Except Marge, of course, who stood and grinned, then said, “Okay. I’m gonna go see what my husband’s doing. Nice work.”

Red Team came in moments later. While their materials got approved, I overheard my sister and Mason arguing.

“I told you we should’ve broken up the tasks,” Dara said.

“It’s too late now,” he said back.

In the end, Red Team got second place. Yellow Team came in third, with Green Team in last. When the referees read out the updated rankings, we learned that because of our win, we’d moved into second in the overall rankings. Red Team still held their overall lead, but it was close.

I felt so proud, not only of my team but of myself. We’d come up with a plan and executed it without hesitation. When I saw Stevie again, I hoped she would tell me she was proud too. Not that I needed it. I just wanted her to see that what I’d done was as much for me as it was for her.

Not only could I try new things, I could be good at them.

17

The wind picked up as the day went on, until it whipped so hard that I was swallowing my own hair. That was after I’d tied it back into a ponytail. Out of the corner of my eye, through the strands of brown that had become glued to my eye socket, I caught a glimpse of Stevie talking to Allison outside the mess hall, so I skipped the lunch I was no longer very hungry for and went to the water, where the Magnusson brothers tended to camp out.

“Gar! Let’s go out in a rowboat!” Mason yelled.

Despite my lack of feelings for him—and my abundance of feelings for his sister—my vision continued to plague me. I’d spent the first two days of camp allergic to any information about him. Now that I’d removed all the romantic pressure from the situation, I found myself genuinely intrigued. How could the universe thinkMasonwas the one for me?

For the second time in as many days, I found myself gettingready to spend time on the water with him. I ran to my cabin and threw on a sweatshirt over my tee. The wind had enough chill to it that I wanted something to keep me from shivering. When I came back outside, I found Mason once again arguing with my sister. This time they were bickering over whether we should go out on the water at all.

“It’s too windy,” Dara said, using heryou’re possibly the least intelligent person alivevoice. He had no way of knowing how rare it was for her to care about anyone enough to tell them they were making a bad decision.

“We’ll be fine,” Mason said to her. “Hand on my heart.” He did a little bow in her direction, to which she scowled heavily. “I promise to keep your sister safe.”

A scowl was a sign of affection from Dara. It meant she was watching. That she didn’t agree, but she at least saw you as worthy enough to pay attention to. Mason broke out into a wide grin, somehow understanding this about my sister.

In that moment, all the stars aligned. Birds flocked into the formation of an arrow. The little ache of satisfaction started pinging in my chest, like I’d set a timer the night Dara and I had made our bracelets and finally, twenty years later, it was going off.

My heart-promise vision wasn’t about Mason and me.

It was about Mason andDara.

They were both ambitious, competitive, and competent. Where Mason was goofy and naive, Dara was serious and insightful. He could bring a lightness to her steps. She could give him a healthy dose of support when he needed it most. They were each other’s perfect complements.

How did it take me this long to realize that I, the keeper of Dara’s heart promise, had to be the one to find a way to fulfill it for her? It had been clear for a long time that she’d never do it for herself. She needed her nudge from the universe, and in this case, I was the one who carried the wisdom of the cosmos inside me.