“What are you doing?” Vivian asked.
“Oh, hi.” Dillon attempted a smile. “I just got here.”
Vivian gave her a halfhearted greeting then pointed to her pickup and trailer. “You can’t just park in the middle of the road. Other campers are on their way.”
“I don’t plan to leave it there,” Dillon explained. “But Jordan was going to help me back into—”
“You don’t need him. I’ll help you. Just keep your eye on me.”
“But I—”
“Come on,” Vivian urged. “The Jacksons will be here any minute. I just got a text from Stephanie that they’re—”
“But where’s Jordan? He was going—”
“He’s busy, Dillon. Now are you going to back up your trailer or not?” She frowned. “To be part of this club, you have to be able to manage your own trailer. Is that too much for you?”
“No, no . . . I just don’t have much backing-up experience.”
“Then it’s time you got some. Hurry up before the Jacksons arrive. Now it looks like you should be parked in space #47 and that’s over there.” She pointed down the road.
“Jordan said space #34.” Dillon pointed to the camping spot next to Jordan.
“No, that’s wrong.” Vivian pulled out a paper and showed it to her.
Now Dillon pulled out her phone and showed her Jordan’s text. “Maybe I should call him to make sure.”
“No, that’s okay. We’ll just put you there for now and you can move it later. Hurry up before we get a traffic jam.”
So Dillon got into her pickup and silently prayed for heavenly help as she started the engine. It wasn’t just her pride at stake here—she didn’t want to be a roadblock or aggravate Vivian more. But she sure wished it was Jordan directing her. For all she knew, Vivian might back her straight into the lake.
Taking in a deep breath, Dillon stuck her head out the open window and called out to Vivian. “Okay. I’m ready.”
“Can you see me in your rearview mirror?” Vivian called back.
Dillon checked, then nodded.
“Okay then. Just follow my hand signals and turn the steering wheel when I tell you.” And now Vivian motioned her to back up then pointed sharply to the right.
“No, no!” Vivian shouted, holding her hands up to tell her to stop. “The other way.”
Dillon remembered how Grandpa had said it was all backward and so she attempted to turn the other way, but apparently that wasn’t working either.
“Pull forward again,” Vivian shouted. “We’ll start over.”
So Dillon pulled forward and tried again, but for the second time, it just wasn’t right. And Vivian’s expressions and comments were not helping a bit.
“What’s wrong with you?” Vivian finally demanded. She leaned into Dillon’s window with an exasperated look. “Can’t you follow simple directions?”
“It’s just that you keep yelling at me,” Dillon told her. “You say one way and then the other. I can’t figure you out.” She spotted Jordan jogging down the road toward her, waving eagerly. “Oh, there he is.” Dillon sighed. “Thanks, Vivian, I’ll let Jordan take it from here.”
Vivian rolled her eyes and stepped back. With hands folded in front of her, she watched as Jordan talked to Dillon. “I get the dyslexia thing. It’s not that unusual. But just keep your eyes on me,” he instructed. “I’ll point in the direction you should turn the steering wheel. Okay?”
“So I shouldn’t do the opposite?”
“Not this time.” As he stood there, locking eyes with her, pointing this way and that, she pretended she was a robot and he had the commands, trying to do exactly as he indicated. And to her utter surprise, he held up his hands for her to stop and announced she was parked. “Good job.”
“You’re kidding.” She got out to see, then grinned. “It looks perfect. Thanks.”
“And we’re neighbors.” He nodded to his trailer as Vivian approached. “So we can—”
“Speaking of campsite locations—” Vivian had a suspicious expression—“this camp spot is assigned to the Millers. The Mortenson spot is over—”
“I asked the Millers to switch spaces, and they agreed. They’re still lakeside and actually closer to the dock, which they wanted anyway.”
“Why, may I ask, does Dillon’s trailer need to be right here?” Vivian’s eyes narrowed.
“Because Janelle and the girls will be staying partly with her and partly with me. This seemed more convenient.”
“Oh.” Vivian shrugged. “Well, I guess that makes sense.”
Jordan turned back to Dillon. “Did that awning come in time?”
“It’s back there.” She nodded to her still-loaded pickup bed.
“Well, I’ll help you unhitch, then you can park the pickup right there.” He pointed to a space on the backside of her trailer.
“Doesn’t she know how to unhitch by herself?” Vivian asked.
“I’m sure she does.” Jordan, already cranking down the hitch, nodded to where a yellow pickup and trailer were approaching. “But that’s the Jacksons there, and we need to get out of their way pronto.”
Dillon unhooked the chains and did what she could to help, then hurried to park Jack right next to Rose just in time for the Jacksons to get past her. The couple smiled and waved and didn’t act the least bit impatient. Nothing like Vivian.
While Dillon went inside her trailer to pull it together, Jordan went to work on her awning, which went up surprisingly easily and looked adorable. “I love it,” Dillon exclaimed when she finally came out. “It’s perfect. Thanks so much for putting it up.” She glanced over to where Vivian was busy with her own campsite. “I hope this isn’t breaking any rules. I don’t want Vivian to get upset over you helping me.”
He laughed. “Don’t worry about her. She’ll settle down after a while. I’m going to finish setting up my trailer. The formal trailer tour runs until dinnertime. And prizes are awarded at tonight’s campfire, so you want to get Rose looking as good as possible.” He winked. “Thanks to you, I plan to be your biggest competition.”
“Yes, you and Vivian—and everyone else,” she said. “But it sounds like fun. And I can’t wait to see the inside of other people’s trailers.”
“I’ll warn you that some campers put treats in their trailers—I’m not sure it wins any votes, but I won’t say that it doesn’t.”
Dillon nodded. “Thanks for the heads-up. I got a bag of chocolate kisses with the twins in mind. I’ll set those out. Anything else I should know?”
“Well, some of them really stage their trailers. Some will set tables and everything. It’s like a show. And people like to take photos too. We’ve talked about doing our own calendar. So you want Rose to put her best foot forward.”
“Great. I’ll do that.”
With golden oldies music playing on her fully charged phone, Dillon set to work. If you could call it work. It felt more like play. It didn’t take long to get the interior set up. Everything inside was in its place—even the table was set with the flower arrangement she’d gathered from Grandma’s garden and placed in a mason jar on the table.