Love Always (NG4)

36 - Flavor

Rory's weekend with Sam had been amazing but saying goodbye was hard. She arrived at camp with red eyes, so she ducked into the girl's room before anyone saw her. As she stepped out her advisor appeared. She hadn't seen her since the training sessions.

"I heard you had a great week." Rory nodded. Her voice grew soft. "Are you okay?"

She tried to smile. "Fine. I just said goodbye to my boyfriend."

She frowned. "I know you gave up a lot to help these kids."

Rory nodded. "I have to set up."

She feared if she talked about it the tears would start. Memories of missing her mother rose to the surface. By the end of the morning, she was exhausted. Finn stayed by her side despite her encouragement to go play. She worried he wasn't receiving the full benefit of the camp.

The minute Dan approached him, Finn asked her to lunch, but Dan frowned.

"Finn, we're going to nana's house." He looked at Rory. "Are you alright?"

Her phone rang before she could respond. She held it up. "I have too."

She walked away and answered to hear Sam had reached his destination. "I'm glad. I'm going home to crash."

He said, "Okay. Love you."

"Love you too. Have fun."

She turned back to her craft table and Dan and Finn were still there. Dan asked, "Is everything okay?"

Just exhaustion. She smiled. "Yeah. Great. Finn, I'll see you on Wednesday."

After seeing Sam all weekend, she felt lonely when she hadn't before. Rory refused to complain because it was his dream job. Plus, he would make a lot of money from this project, almost what Cole made in a year. As the week creeped along, Rory went home each day hot, sweaty and exhausted, but loved it.

On Friday, Finn asked about having lunch with her. She wasn't interested in McDonald's again. "Where are you going?"

Dan said, "Home for PB&J, but I promised the National Zoo tomorrow."

Rory hadn't been since Liam was a baby, but she loved pandas. "I love the zoo."

Finn tugged on her arm. "Please come to the zoo."

Dan eyed her. "It will be a long day. An early start. The Metro."

She waved her hand. "You need father and son time."

"Pleeeease, pleeeease!"

Rory had her entire weekend ahead of her. The girls were coming over to hang in the hot tub, but she could be up early. Because Sam was filming, she had nothing else to fill the two days, except a read her book and wait for him to call.

She looked at Dan and said, "It's up to you."

His eyes looked brighter. "You are welcome to join us. We can meet at the station. Is eight too early?"

"Nope." She shook her head and smiled.

When Dan smiled back, she felt weird. Not bad, weird, but Rory wondered if she should have said no.

Later Rory sat in the hot tub with the temperature turned down, so the water was refreshing. It wasn't the same as swimming in the pool, but she snapped a selfie to send to Anna who couldn't swim every day because she worked.

Rory sighed. "I worked in this heat."

Chantal waved her hand. "Three hours. I work eight hours in an office. I hate temping."