Page 3 of Puppy Pride (Pride Camp 2025)

Chapter Three

Jai

I stared at my cell phone for an extra-long time.

That voice. I’d never met the man, so I didn’t understand why his voice sounded so familiar.

Still, I searched my memory. Not anyone I’d known growing up in Mission City. Although I didn’t know his age, he was obviously older than me. So that knocked off university unless he was a mature student—but I’d known everyone in my analytics program.

Not the accounting firm. I’d been the only person of color there—which still, six years on, rankled.

Obviously not from the time I’d spent at the camp in Nova Scotia.

Demetrius Fulton was just too…distinctive. Noticeable.

And yet…

I pushed the elusive memory out of my mind.

I’d returned to my office to send a quick update email to Alessandra to let her know all the campers had arrived.

We had five who were male-identifying, four female, and one nonbinary.

I worried they’d be in a cabin by themselves, but Chris said they were fine in the female dormitory.

None of the parents had fussed about it. As far as I could tell, every parent who had enrolled their child into our program was…accepting. Which made sense.

And the campers were more teenagers than kids. The ages ranged from twelve to fourteen.

In a few weeks, we had an older cohort coming. And then possibly expanding to add a camp for kids whose siblings were LGBTQ. They needed special time as well.

Alessandra’s responding email caught my notice. She, along with Smith, would join us for lunch.

Which was now upon us.

I grabbed my baseball cap and headed out. I’d worn a button-down shirt and chinos for the arrival of the campers with their parents. Now I wore blue jeans, a T-shirt, and the ball cap. The afternoon promised to be hot, and I might change again, into khaki shorts.

Upon entering the great room, where one corner was set aside for eating, I did a quick headcount.

Keegan wasn’t here.

Neither was Cody.

Makenna was encouraging the teens to grab trays and head over to the buffet while Grey headed my way.

I nodded a greeting.

He returned the gesture. “Cody’s getting Keegan. We didn’t want him sleeping too long, but Cody will decide what’s the best course of action.”

“Clearly Keegan’s nervous.” We were well beyond the hearing range of the other kids .

“He is. So’s Paisley. She keeps pulling at her hair. Her mom warned Cody about that.”

And it had been on her intake form. As a child, she’d pulled out so much hair she’d had a bald spot.

“You’ll all keep an eye on her?”

“Yep. We’re going to focus on distraction. She’s expressed an interest in art, and we’ve got lots of that planned.”

Cody’s studies included art-therapy classes, and he hoped to put that experience to good use.

“Oh, there they are.” Grey focused on the new arrivals.

Keegan’s hands were deep in his pockets, and he was staring at the floor.

Still, anything that got him out of his dorm room could be considered a win.

He was so petite compared to Cody who was clearly trying not to overwhelm him.

The guy was just big…something I hoped would seem more comforting than intimidating.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. To Grey, I said, “Let me know if you need anything.”

He nodded. “You bet.” And then he was off.

I retrieved my phone. Alessandra had texted that they’d arrived, so I headed out to greet them.

Alessandra and Smith MacLean were a study in contrasts. She was short, petite, and had a riot of long, black, curly hair.

He was tall, broad, and with fine blond hair.

Alessandra spotted me and waved.

I hustled over. “So glad you’re here.”

She grinned. “Hopefully not because there’s a problem already.”

“No, of course not. All the campers are here and settling in. As far as I can tell, Makenna and Grey have everything under control.”

“And Cody?” Smith adjusted his sunglasses, making me aware I wasn’t wearing mine .

“Helping Keegan.”

Alessandra nodded. “I think he’ll need extra TLC.” She had access to the files as well, given her counseling background, and she was considered an unpaid consultant.

Smith didn’t have that privilege.

We tried to keep exposure to the confidential files to a minimum. The only offsite person who could access them was Dr. Kennedy Dixon—and that was so if Cody needed backup, she could familiarize herself. I doubted he’d need to speak to his mentor…but the option existed.

“Would you like to come and meet the kids?” I winced. “Campers. I have to stop thinking of them as kids .”

“Because they’re closer in age to you than you are to me.” Smith grinned.

Alessandra poked him in the ribs. “Not quite.” She squinted. “Oh God, they are.” She pivoted to her husband. “Does that make you old or them super young?”

“Or just plop me in the middle.” I spoke up, hoping to try to avoid a fight. They’d never argued before, but I hadn’t spent much time in their presence.

Smith laughed. “We’ve left Tarah alone with Wesley.”

Alessandra glared. “Nice try. My friend is perfectly capable of caring for my child. I’m allowed to leave him alone once in a while.”

Their son was about twenty months old.

“You could’ve brought him. Just about everyone likes toddlers.

” The little tyke intimidated me, but that was because I had little exposure to young children.

No siblings and no cousins who came around anymore.

Few deep friendships, either. Except my best friend from school, Arnav.

Most of my life over the last six years had been consumed with camps, so forming bonds outside of that environment proved difficult.

Before that…? I didn’t like to think about it.

“You know, we might consider doing that. I want him to be exposed to more people.” Alessandra grinned. “We take him out, but not in an environment like this. He’s going through a clingy phase. Being with Tarah helps, but he needs more time around new people on his own terms.”

“He’ll always be welcome here. Now, are you interested in some roast chicken with green beans, mashed potatoes, and fresh-baked buns?”

“Given breakfast was six hours ago? You better believe it.” Alessandra grabbed Smith’s hand and directed him to follow her to the great hall.

I took a place beside him. “Things are going well.”

“I’m glad to hear it. The municipal forestry people are due to visit tomorrow. They just want to make certain the paths are clear and ready to be used.”

“Makenna and Grey hiked them yesterday.”

“True. Don’t mind Dean—he’s a stickler. He also probably wants to review campfire rules and all things forest.”

“He’s the guy…” I wracked my brain.

“Australian,” Smith supplied. “Super cute and very taken.”

“And not your type anyway.” Alessandra opened the door and gazed up at her husband.

“Right. Raven-haired beauties with dark-brown soulful eyes and the ability to put me in my place with just a glare are.” He smiled at me. “And Dean is also super married.”

“Oh?” None of this had come up in my conversation with the blond man who had stunning blue eyes and a knowledge of trees I could never rival.

What did I know? Don’t light a match. We’d had dry conditions for a while now—April’s showers long forgotten and June being just one long furnace of dry heat.

“To Adam, another great Mission City guy.” Smith removed his sunglasses as we stepped inside and then tucked them into the front of his cotton button-down shirt. It was actually open several buttons, and he wasn’t wearing a tie.

“Dean and Adam.” I didn’t know either of them.

Or I didn’t think I did. My time in Mission City ended more than a decade ago.

I’d gone to stay in Vancouver to attend the University of British Columbia.

Then I’d found a place to live in the city—with him —and I’d never come home for holidays.

Even though Mission City was just an hour east of Vancouver.

I hadn’t felt the need to revisit my unhappy childhood.

Then I shoved all thoughts of my ex deep down where I wouldn’t have to deal with that thought either.

So why did you come home? And when are you going to tell your parents?

My parents probably still believed I was back in Nova Scotia.

Or I assumed that was what they thought.

We hadn’t spoken in a very long time. I was the disappointment.

Even if my ex hadn’t shared everything , my parents still hadn’t approved of me.

No matter what I did, it wasn’t good enough.

Even studying finance to follow in the family tradition didn’t meet their approval.

I had been groomed to take over the management of their extensive holdings.

Instead I’d wound up as a camp counselor for queer teens on the other side of the country.

But you’re home now. You might run into them…

Not likely. They didn’t shop at the grocery store or pick up their prescriptions—they had staff for that.

“Jai?” Alessandra gazed up at me.

Not so far to look. I was closer in height to her than Smith.

“All good. Just reviewing some budget things in my mind.” Even as the words came out, I inwardly winced.

“If you need more money, you let me know.” Smith held my gaze with his compelling and oddly colored eyes.

Alessandra said they were azure.

I’d never seen anyone else with that eye color.

“We’re good. I think being fiscally prudent is a good thing, and I’m still sure the campers will want for nothing.”

“You’ll do your best, which is all we can ask.” Alessandra shot a glare at her husband. “Money doesn’t always solve every problem.”

“Says you.” He smirked.

“If you gave it all away, we wouldn’t have any for our son.” She arched an eyebrow.

“Kid has to make his own way in the world. I smell barbecue chicken.” He headed toward the buffet.

Alessandra laughed. “I’m the one who’s going to have to make sure Wesley doesn’t get spoiled.” She grinned. Then her expression sobered. “Two things.”

I nodded.

“Ask for money if you need it. He teeters between multi-millionaire and billionaire—and will never admit it—and I trust your discretion.”

“Absolutely.” I’d been aware they had money, and they didn’t flaunt it. Not that kind of wealth, though—that even dwarfed my family’s old money .

“Great. I want to meet the campers.”

“Wait.”

She cocked her head.

“You said, two things…”

“Oh right.” Her face lit. “For fuck’s sake, Jai, have fun.”