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Xander shook his hand. “Yes, I’m Alex.”
“We have a ton of work to do. I hope your carpentry skills are good. The winter took a toll on a few things. It looks like the roof in the cafeteria is sagging. Also, the porch at the Arts lodge needs some TLC. The Director’s office has a couple of floorboards that are in pretty bad condition. Someone could fall right through if they aren’t replaced.” Jesse said.
“Are we the only ones here?”
“No, there will be plenty of people tomorrow. Right now it’s just you, me and the camp director, Paul. But I guess we can get started on some of the smaller items on the list. I see you have some wood there.” Jesse pointed to the bed of the pickup truck.
“Yes, it was donated by my cousin’s father-in-law. I could probably fix the floor in the office today. It’s something that shouldn’t be too complicated.”
Xander opened his truck bed and pulled out his tool box as well as a couple of power saws. He followed the signs to the director’s office and opened the door. Paul Thoreau, the camp director, was sitting at his desk.
He greeted Xander. “Hey, Alex, glad you could join us. Watch those floorboards to the right of the door. I almost fell through them when I opened up this morning.” Xander bent down to exam them. They were sagging downward and rotted. He pushed on them and heard a crack.
“I could probably just cut these out and replace the two boards. Shouldn’t be an issue. I brought some wood with me.”
“Can you handle it by yourself or you need me to help you?”
“I think I got it, but you might not like the noise from the saw.”
“I have to go inspect a couple of the other buildings, so that will give you a chance to take care of this while I am gone.”
He exited the building, and Xander hunted for an outlet. He found one behind a small table underneath a bulletin board encased in glass. When he rose from plugging in the saw, he noticed the board held a collage of pictures from the previous year’s camp session. He perused the photos until his eyes fixed on one picture; it was her. He moved to take a closer look.
Ava was wearing a white bikini and standing on the dock waving to whoever was holding the camera. She was all smiles, happy and gorgeous. The white bikini was offset by her tan. He ran his fingers around the edge of the bulletin board until he found the latch, opened it and removed the picture then stood by the window to get a better look.
He ran his thumb over the picture as if she would feel him stroking her if he continued. He placed the picture in the inside pocket of his jacket and buttoned it. Then he set to work on replacing the floor boards. By the end of the day, he had finished several small projects and worked on the cafeteria roof with Jesse.
They went into town to eat at a small diner that served great burgers and came back to get ready for the next day. As Xander lay in his bunk, he looked at the picture he had pulled from his jacket. He ended up falling asleep with the picture against his aching heart.
The next two weeks were spent repairing, painting, cleaning, organizing and stocking the camp for the children. The first group would be here in a week. When Xander was repairing the leg of the desk in Paul’s office, he noticed the schedule that was left open. He scanned the names and spotted Ava’s. She would be here in less than five days. She was going to be an assistant in the art lodge. He knew what he wanted to do.
He went to the lodge and found the paint supplies. The walls of the lodge had many paintings from the children over the years. He chose an empty spot at eye level, and he began to paint. Few people knew about his artistic skill. He had cultivated it more when he had moved into Janelle’s garage apartment, where no one could see him or the results.
He wanted to leave Ava something. She might not realize it had been him, but at least he would feel comfort that he had created it for her. When he was finished, he stood back and looked at his handy work. Paul entered the lodge just as he was putting away the supplies.
“Alex, I didn’t know you could paint. That is really nice. Too bad you can’t stay and teach the kids.”
Xander said nothing but smiled at Paul. He was leaving today. He went back to his cabin, packed his clothing and made sure that the picture of her was safely in his pocket. He only had one picture of her, and he wanted another. Packing the car, he headed for home.
That evening, Xander sat with his feet on his small coffee table reading his emails. His parents, and sisters, had all sent him several, all exclaiming they were unhappy that he had not been able to join them in Lake George for the Memorial Day weekend. He had gone once before during the past four years, but the constant badgering from his father ended that; there was no way he was going to subject himself to it again.
Another reason he avoided the lake house was the pain it caused him to be there. The last trip, he was haunted by Ava’s memory. That was the first place they had gone alone together. He remembered how she marveled at the grand patio and backyard. It was the first place they had made love.
He closed his eyes and wondered what the look on her face would be when she saw the rose. Would she notice that he had woven his initials and her birthday into the design? Why was he doing this to himself? It would be so easy just to go back to the city and tell her how much he loved her, that he had made a mistake doing what he did.
He closed the laptop and picked up his sketch pad. Leafing through he found a blank page and began to draw. From memory, he drew her in her graduation gown and cap. When he was finished, he held up his handy work in the light. It was a good likeness of her. Her hair had grown longer since they were together. Now it was to her mid-back and fell in soft waves. He wanted to touch her hair, wind it around his hand while she…He started to grow aroused and shook the memory from his head.
He went to his dresser and felt around in the drawer for his old iPod. It was another one of the small creature comforts he allowed himself. He scrolled to a playlist he had created. Of course, it was labeled “Ava.” It contained songs like At Last, In Your Eyes, After the Fall, All I Want Is You (which was one of his favorites, and he could play constantly).
In fact, he had several U2 songs that reminded him of Ava. They all made him miss her even more, but he continued to play them over and over. He stuck the earbuds in his ears and selected a different U2 song — Stay. Then he hit the repeat button and listened.
Janelle found him with his head tilted back on the couch softly singing. She touched his shoulder and gently tugged on the earbuds. His head shot up from the couch.
“Dammit, Janelle, you scared the shit out of me!”
“I’ve been knocking for the last few minutes so don’t get mad at me.”
He turned off the iPod. “What do you need?”
