CHAPTER ONE
The first fallen leaves were swirling in the road as Ramona and Grant drove to Ten Pines Camp.
"Thanks for coming with me," Ramona said, sipping coffee in the passenger seat, "I'm sure you can find better ways to spend your day off."
"No, I'm excited about it," he said.
Ramona had promised Molly Baker, the Ten Pines head councilor, that she would help with cleaning up the damage the forest fire had inflicted on the camp. She was happy to help, but she had another motivation as well. She thought that she had detected a little spark of interest from her, and she wanted to know if it was real, or if she had imagined it.
Isabel was gone for the winter, Aaron was mad at her, maybe for good, and Grant-well, she wasn't sure where she stood with him, so she was pleased he had accepted her invitation to go out to the camp with her.
She found Molly attractive, with her curly red hair and sprinkling of freckles. Unfortunately, as soon as the camp repairs were completed, she'd be leaving for the winter, so if anything was going to happen between them, it would have to happen soon.
Grant drove past the camp road, turned around and found it on the second pass. When they arrived at the campgrounds, they were surprised to see that at least twenty other people were already there, working in teams of twos and threes, raking up the singed brush or cleaning up the debris of the burnt outbuildings. About a third were wearing t-shirts bearing the camp logo, but most were volunteers from the community.
As she stepped from the car, Ramona heard someone call her name.
A young man approached her, flashing a big, toothy grin. He looked vaguely familiar.
"You don't remember me, do you?" he asked her.
Ramona shook her head. "Sorry, no," she said.
"That's okay, you only saw me in the dark." He patted himself on the chest. "I'm Mike. From the state park? I'm the one who helped you the night you rescued the little girl."
Ramona stopped herself from telling him that she hadn't really rescued the girl; she'd been safely sleeping in the back of a car, but she realized that he felt a lot of pride in his role that night.
"Sure," she said with a smile, "I remember you, you were a great help."
He bobbed his head up and down, still sporting that big grin. "Yeah, well, I talked to Molly and I think I'm going to work here next year."
"That's great, Mike."
"Yeah. But I wanted to ask you. I'm thinking about what to do after I graduated, and I was wondering, is there, like some special school you go to if you want to be a ranger?"
"No, you can go to community college and get an associates degree in forestry or law enforcement. I got both."
"Cool. Well, I'm gonna think about it. Thanks."
"Looks like you made quite an impression," Grant said as Mike walked away.
"I guess so," Ramona said. Good thing the kid didn't hear Lt. Bebb reaming me out that night, she thought.
They found Molly instructing the crew that was piling debris in a dumpster. Her eyes seemed to light up when she saw Ramona, and she rushed to her, putting her hands on her shoulders and kissing her cheek. Ramona thought her lips lingered just a little too long to be mere friendliness.
Ramona introduced Molly to Grant, and the two of them shook hands.
"How can we help?" Grant asked.
"You good and strong?" Molly asked.
Grant nodded. "I lift boxes all day."
"Good. We could use another strong man to help haul those bigger pieces of lumber from the outhouse that collapsed."
"I'm on it," he said. Molly pointed out to him the other members of the outhouse crew, and he went to joint them.
"Is he your boyfriend?" Molly asked Ramona. She was still smiling, but Ramona could see frown lines on her forehead.
"No, just a really good friend," she responded. The tension drained from Molly's face.
"Come on," she said, "You can give me a hand in the laundry. I have washed all the bedding, and I mean, about twenty loads of sheets and blankets and pillowcases. Now we have to fold them and store them away."
"What about the mattresses and pillows?" Ramona asked as they walked to the laundry.
"Insurance will pay for new."
The laundry was in a yellow clapboard building, set off a short distance from the ring of cabins that comprised the main part of the camp. When they entered, Ramona saw a long table in the middle of the room, piled high with tangled linens. More were piled in a cart at the far end.
Molly picked up a pillowcase and held it to her face. "Still smells a little smoky," she said, dropping it back on the pile.
"Everything still smells a little smoky to me," Ramona replied.
"Well, my god, you were right in it!"
Ramona blushed. She picked up a pillowcase and folded it. Molly put her hand on her shoulder.
"You really don't see it, do you?" she asked. "Ramona, you're a heroine, an inspiration."
"I just try to do the best I can," Ramona said, shaking her head. Molly leaned closer and pulled gently on Ramona's shoulder until they were facing each other.
"Well, I'd say that your best is pretty good," she said. The two of them looked into each others eyes, only inches apart. Ramona was still unsure that she was reading Molly's intentions correctly, so she hesitated, and after a few seconds, Molly turned away.
"Well, we best get to work," she said. She stepped around the table and the two of them began folding the pillowcases, making small talk as they worked.
Molly told Ramona the history of Ten Pines camp; that her grandfather had founded it with a GI loan after serving in the Pacific in World War Two, her father had managed it for more than forty years, and she had taken it over when he had finally retired a few years ago.
"I grew up here," she said, "At least in the summers. It's not really like a job, it's like bringing guests into my home."
"What do you do the rest of the year?"
"I have an apartment and business down in Savannah."
"What sort of business?"
"You'll probably laugh...a new age spiritual book store. Plus, we sell candles, incense, tarot cards, stuff like that. I do tarot readings, I should do yours sometime. I mean, I don't know what sort of belief system you have..."
"I'm kind of a pagan, I guess."
"Of course you are," Molly said, grinning, "A worshipper of nature."
"So, what happens to the bookstore while you are up here?"
Molly hesitated. "It's sort of complicated..."
"What isn't?"
"I have a partner, Well, an ex-partner partner."
"Yeah, that sounds complicated."
"My girlfriend at the time and I started the store. And, well, we kind of fell apart as a couple, but remained friends and business partners."
Ramona could not help but smile when she heard Molly say "girlfriend." Her instincts had been right.
"I saw that," Molly said.
"Saw what?"
"That's little grin when I mentioned having a girlfriend. I have very good gaydar."
Ramona chuckled. "A lot of people assume that I am a lesbian because I'm a ranger."
Molly leaned across the table. "And are you?"
Ramona shook her head. "I don't like to define myself," she said, "But if I had to, I would call myself a polyamorous bisexual."
