His Healing by Perfect Love

Chapter Twelve

Georgia absolutely loved the water and she absolutely loved kids! It was one reason why her day was going so perfectly. She inhaled deeply as the fresh scent of the lake, moss and pebbles made her think of home when she looked out at the long stretch of sparkling water.

"Georgy can you put these on us?"

She looked down to see orange life jackets dangling from Tristan and Max's arms. They were only two out of the ten campers that she and Sophie brought out for a day of canoeing and other water fun.

"Sure guys." She kneeled to their level and helped put their arms in the little life vests. "Are you boys excited to get on the canoes?"

"Yeah!!" Tristan looked at her from out of soft brown eyes. "But are you coming with us?" He was seven and afraid of the dark, roaches and everything that moved, besides people. She wanted to scoop them up in her arms, but she giggled instead. "Of course, knuckle heads. You can't go out there alone."

Tristan grinned so wide that she saw his missing teeth. "Goody! Because you take good care of us."

Max piped up beside him, his sandy blonde hair blowing gently in the wind. "Yeah she takes care of all of us so good, that I don't even miss my mommy that much." He leaned in and smacked a kiss on her cheek. "That's for being the kindest camp consoler I know in all my life!"

Georgia smiled at his mispronunciation. "It's camp counsellor, sweetie." She buckled their vests and placed a kiss on both their cheeks. "And that's for being such good kids."

They both grinned again like it was Christmas morning and tucked their small palms in her hand as they walked down to the shore to meet the others. Their childish chatter warmed her heart and made her laugh all the way. Who knew she would become the best thing in these children's lives, next to candy, in such a short space of time? By the time they reached Sophie, some of the kids were already out on the water with some of the other chaperones who volunteered for the outdoor activity.

"Finally!" Sophie greeted them. "Come on! They're racing. We've got to catch up with them." She was dressed in a pair of shorts and a black wet suit top and her long hair swished behind her back as she ran to the boat. Georgia snickered at her excitement. They helped Tristan and Max into the red canoe waiting for them and pushed off into the water with a jog.

They were paddling with great effort now trying to push the boat swiftly across the clear water. They had worked up quite a sweat and, using her forearm she wiped away the beads of moisture dripping down her face. Sophie was at the front and she was at the back paddling, the boys in the middle pointing at a school of fish swimming in the water toward their boat. Some ways in front of them, Brandon waved at her and smiled from a canoe with three little girls. She waved back. He was cute with his baby face and pale blue eyes and he was a hilarious guy. Had she been younger and the days simpler she just might've dated him because he was certainly very attractive. But there was the catch, life wasn't always so simple was it? Her heart wanted the forbidden, someone she couldn't have. It longed for the arms of a man who looked a lot like the little boy in the photograph Julie was showing her yesterday. But that boy couldn't be him, could it? She had been freaked when she saw the picture and Julie had rushed off before she told her the boy's name. But what were the odds that she could run into his family at a summer camp right? It was very slim, so she put the wistful thought out of her head when she went to sleep that night.

Plus, in the few weeks they'd known each other, Alex never talked about his family. She didn't even know if he had a family since he never talked about himself. Come to think about it, she did most of the talking about herself and her life, while he merely listened. And what a good listener he was. She'd spilt her guts out about her dreams of being a wedding designer and how many kids she wanted to have sometime in the future, and he had encouraged her, told her she could be anything that she put her "pretty" mind to.