IT'S A DIRTY JOB

"Karol. Karol! The movie is over. You fell asleep."

I woke to Janie tugging at my shoulder and realized I had fallen asleep, slumped onto the picnic table, sometime after Mike had escaped my clutches. "Oh, oh, okay. Where are the girls?"

"They're fine. They're with the Reynolds family up in front. Linda and I finished the bathrooms for you. This is ridiculous. No one should work these hours and do the whole campground alone. Tomorrow I'm talking with the Godfrey's about hiring a part-timer to help you," Janie promised.

"But, I need the hours, Janie. I'll never save enough for the trailer downpayment if I lose hours."

"I think a raise should be in there somewhere, Karol. This is too much for one person to do alone. I watch you struggle every day and you're wearing yourself out."

"I don't mind. The girls need a place of their own to call home. Mrs. Godfrey was good to hire me without references. I can't start making demands," I pleaded.

"You aren't making demands," Janie reminded me. "I am."

Oh, boy. If I lost this job our gooses were cooked. Janie was determined and once she set her mind on something, there was no talking her out of it. I disposed of the empty popcorn basket and soda pop can, then collected the girls from their new friends with my stomach in a knot, wondering how Janie's talk with the Godfreys would pan out.

Beanie hugged me and said, "You are the best Mommy ever. This was so much fun. Can I stay over with Emily and Sue tomorrow night? Their mommy said it was okay. Please? Pretty please?"

"Katie, what about you? Do you want to sleep over too?"

"Well, not really. They're little. But I will if you want me to stay with Beans."

"No. That's okay. You don't have to watch Beanie all the time. She'll be fine with the Reynolds, I'm sure."

"YAY!! It's my first-ever sleepover!" Beanie exploded.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Beanie, we have to go to the camp store for our s'mores. We'll talk more about this later."

"I forgot about s'mores," Katie said, giggling. "This is the best night, Mommy."

Janie and her wife, Linda, were counting out the cash drawer together when we arrived to pick up the s'mores ingredients. Linda was a beautiful older woman who had emigrated from Peru with her family as a child. She and Janie had been a couple for years before being a same-sex couple was considered cool. Linda's Catholic family had disowned her and Janie's family never paid much attention to her, so the Camp family was the only tribe they were truly a part of.

I just hoped that was enough to keep me from getting booted by the Godfrey's when Janie talked about my hours and pay with them.

"Janie, thank you so much for this entire evening. The girls are having the time of their lives thanks to you," I said, as she handed me the bags of marshmallows and chocolate bars.

We were turning to leave when a familiar voice called my name. "Karol? Hey! It's Matt from number three. Remember?"

"Oh, hi, Matt. Yes, of course, I remember. How are things going? You guys catch any fish?"

"With that speed boat? Nope. It makes too much of a racket and scares everything away. I like my old rowboat better. So, these are your girls?"

"Yep. Katie and Beanie, this is Matt. He and his friends are in one of the cabins I clean."

Katie hid behind my leg, but Beanie waltzed right up to Matt and shook his hand after tugging a wedgie out of her shorts.

"Nice to meet you, Beanie," he said, trying to keep from wiping his hand on his jeans.

"Mommy is looking for someone better than our Daddy. Are you going to marry her?" Beanie announced, making me want to melt into the floor.

"Oh, yeah?" Matt replied, his eyebrows arched and a grin crept over his face.

"Mhmm. We're gonna cook s'mores. You wanna come with us?"

"Oh, Beans, I'm sure Matt has better places to be. We'll just be going now. Uh, nice to see you again," I stuttered, feeling like an orphaned pet at the pound.

"I would love to come with you. S'mores are my favorite. I just stopped to pick up some beer for my friends. I'll grab some soda if you wait for me. What kind does everyone like?"

"Oh, you don't have to. Really," I protested weakly.

"Well, it's rude to ignore an invitation. What kind of soda?"

Katie surprised me by yelling, "Grape!"

"Grape it is, then. Wait for me and I'll walk you to your campsite."

Here I was, covered with grime from my work day, hosting a good-looking and available man, who wasn't scared off by my daughter's advertising blitz: MOMMY FOR SALE-- cheap. What I would have done for a shower right about then.

Janie, bless her heart, had left a pile of firewood next to the pit, with a box of matches. I sent the girls off on a hunt for tinder and kindling from the woods near the site. Katie brought back some dried leaves and small twigs. Beanie proudly showed me three nice, round rocks.

As I put all the s'mores ingredients out on the picnic table, Matt built a tee-pee fire frame and explained it to the girls. "You see how all the sticks make a little chimney at the top? That's where the smoke will go after the fire starts, then, the heat will catch all those little twigs and before you know it, we'll have s'mores cooked."

"Girls, can you find some long sticks for the marshmallows?" I asked, hoping Beanie wouldn't bring me more rocks.

When they tromped off into the woods searching for sticks, Matt smiled up at me from his post at the campfire. "This is a lot more fun than getting drunk and watching porn with my buddies. I mean, come on, we're out on a beautiful lake with fish practically begging to be caught and they want to stay inside watching shit they can watch anytime. What is wrong with people?"

"I don't know. I stopped trying to figure people out about three months ago."

"So, recently divorced, I take it?"

"Yeah, so recent the papers haven't even been signed. He couldn't wait to get on with his new life. The house got sold right out from under us. It was humiliating," I said too soon. Shit. I didn't know this man. Why did I think I had to explain myself?

"That sucks. I'm so sorry. I was married right out of high school," he admitted.

"How did that work out?"

"Well, I'm single, so not too well. She wasn't done partying and dating the football heroes, I guess."

"I'm sorry. Any kids?"

"Nope. Thankfully. It's gotta be hard taking care of the girls and working full-time. How do you do it all?"

"I fell into the right tribe, I guess. Camp Honey Pot is more like a family than a job. Everyone looks out for the girls and they watch out for me too. It was a stroke of luck for me to get hired here right after, well, after the, you know."

"I'm sure glad you are working here, or I'd never have met you," he said, looking up at me with those dreamy blue eyes.