The Broken Soldier She Fell For (Book 2 of Something Series)

Chapter 3

I looked up when a van rolled along the winding driveway and cocked my head. I was helping one of our younger children fix his bike and was done with it. "Ok, Sammy," I said and signed, turning my attention back to the ten-year-old boy that was beside me. "Try it now."

Sammy nodded his head and picked up his bike. He was going to get on when he caught me scowling at him. 'What?' he signed.

"What are you missing?" I asked, and he looked at me, confused. I touched my head, and his eyes brightened in realization because he forgot his helmet.

'Oh,' he mouthed, and I snorted. He grabbed his helmet and placed it on his head. He looked at me expectantly, and I chuckled and nodded my head, telling him that he was free to go.

"Go find Katie. I think she is in the Mess Hall. Do not ride in there again, please. Ok? It is not a track... yet." I winked at him, and he grinned and nodded his head.

'Ok,' he said. 'Thank you.' He waved goodbye and started to ride his bike towards the Mess Hall, where his counselor waited for him.

I shook my head and placed the tools back into the toolbox. I grabbed the toolbox and the folder before making my way towards the front house where the van sat.

A female was looking desperate as she tried to get the ramp lowered. She looked to be on the verge of tears, and I couldn't help but pity her.

"Need help?" I called, and she jumped up and looked at me with wide eyes. I smiled, trying to calm her nerves, and she gave me a hesitant smile back. "I have a toolbox." I held the toolbox up for her to see.

The female nodded, her eyes filling with relief. "Please," she said. "We are running a little late, and I can't get my cousin out."

I waved the hand that wasn't holding the toolbox dismissively. "It's not a problem," I said. "My mom isn't here yet, and my dad is... somewhere."

She furrowed her brows in confusion. "What do you mean?" she asked.

I smiled and set the toolbox down beside the van. "I'm Emily Castille," I said. "My parents run the whole camp."

"A bratty kid then?" a male asked from the van. "What are you doing here working with us "freaks?" Shouldn't you be out partying?"

I rolled my eyes and gestured towards the lift. "Do you want me to look at this and see if I can't fix it? It's not a problem, and I can get it done in a jiffy."

"Please," the female said, and I nodded my head and started to work on it. "I'm Rose, and the person in the van is Kanen. He has to meet his advisor at the Mess Hall, but I don't know where that is, and I don't know his advisor."

"I'm his advisor, actually," I said. I fixed the lift and watched as it goes up and down. "Here, it should work now."

"Great, I am stuck with some pretty princess," the voice in the van said. "Hurry up, Rose. I want to see my "advisor.""

I rolled my eyes before looking around to make sure that there were no kids around. My mom was fine with cussing as long as there weren't any kids around. Most of the time, I thought I was in the clear, but a kid sometimes magically appear when I was about to cuss. "Great, I am stuck with a shithead," I said, looking back at the van. "I don't know if I want to see another one of them."

Rose looked at me in awe, her blue eyes filled with laughter. "Did you just call my cousin a shithead?" she asked.

I nodded and looked around to make sure there still weren't any kids around. "If we are going to cuss," I said softly, "then we got to make sure there are no kids around. They think it is funny to tell my mother what word I had said."

"Why?"

"She makes me run around the whole camp. The kids like to watch and cheer me on while I run." I shrugged and grimaced, my lips flicking upward in an amused smile. "I have no idea why."

"It's because you make goofy faces and complain the whole way," someone said from behind me, touching me on my shoulder.

Rose screeched and backed away from the van. Her eyes were wide as she looked at the culprit to see my dad fighting back a smile.

"Da-ad," I warned, and he pulled me closer and kissed my forehead in response. I moved away from him and glared, trying hard not to smile at the male before me. I folded my arms across my chest and narrowed my eyes at the male. "I hope you washed your body and your mouth out with soap."

"I did," he said. He cocked his head and tapped his chin while he thought about something, and I had a feeling that it was going to be sexual. "Well, I didn't wash my mouth out with soap. I did, however, us-"

"If it is something sexual, please don't say it." I covered my ears and closed my eyes, earning a laugh from him. "That is my mom you are doing stuff with, Mister."

"What is going on now? Rose, get that damn ramp down. What are you? Useless? I thought that was supposed to be me."