Chapter Text
Travis has never really been in love. From time to time he had had small relationships or even one-not-stands, but never the former or anything long-term. But now he had reached the point in his life where he didn't think he could find anyone now. It was simply a matter of impossibility. His brother Chris was always the romantic of the family. He and his Amelia had been the model couple and had a dream marriage to match. With kids, house, pets and all that nonsense. The eldest Hackett was happy for his younger brother. He enjoyed listening to him talk about his family. Sometimes, however, the sheriff wished he could have the same good fortune.
When Amelia died and Chris was alone with the children and the camp, Travis stepped in as a good uncle and did many things with Kaylee and Caleb, even though this was never asked of him. Chris became more and more withdrawn and even though the family tried hard, Chris sank into a deep hole and they could hardly save him. This happened in 2011.
It had been May 2014 when Travis arrived at Summer Camp, as he did almost every third day, to check on his brother when he first saw her. The woman had chin-length brown hair and wore a loose plaid shirt, which she paired with jeans. Nothing special anyone else would think, but somehow Travis couldn't look away from her. He was acting like one of those pubescent boys seeing a girl for the first time. Crazy was what it was.
When Travis was taken in by Chris, he briefly interrupted the conversation he was having with the young woman. "Excuse me for a minute. I'll be right back. Travis. It's good to see you again. To what do I owe the honor?" he inquired with a smile. Travis now walked closer to his brother and received a look of first curiosity and then kindness from the woman with his brother. "I was actually just going to check on you and tell you about Mom having us all over for lunch on Sunday, but I see you're busy right now," Travis explained, eyeing the young woman with an unreadable expression.
Chris smiled. "I haven't told you about that yet. This is Jade Martin. Jade? This is my brother Travis. Jade will be joining me as a permanent counselor at camp." the camp director clarified to the sheriff, who nodded to him before holding out his hand to Jade. "Pleased to meet you." "The pleasure is all mine," Jade said with a smile, making Travis' heart beat faster. Her voice was as sweet as honey and sounded beautiful to his ears. They both looked into each other's eyes for some time until Chris cleared his throat.
"You'd better go to my office, Travis. I'll just finish the tour with Jade and then I'll be with you," the younger said and after Travis' "okay" they both disappeared towards the cabins. Travis decided to follow his brother's words and went inside.
Excited and curious, Jade looked around. Every piece of information Chris gave her, the 31 year old soaked up like a nice cool glass of lemonade on a hot day. Not only was it incredibly beautiful here, it all seemed very relaxing, peaceful and in tune. Much better than the city she originally came from. You could tell with every word the man in front of her said that he ran this camp with passion. There was no denying that about him.
Jade was ready to start a new life here in North Kill. She came from a tough background. Her father was often traveling because of his job and never got to see much because of it. He usually forgot her and her older sister's birthdays, sometimes not checking in with the family for weeks or sleeping a lot when he got home. Her mother was worse. She was a doctor and therefore often had shift work. She demanded that her daughters also study and become doctors. When it didn't work out for the older one, Jade had to take the fall. But Jade had other plans. She always wanted to do leisure activities with children. Like working at a camp. That put a wedge between mother and daughter. Jade's older sister, however, was lucky. The two were 10 years apart and when you got right down to it they were only half sisters because they both had the same mother but different fathers. She became a lawyer and, as far as Jade knew, now lived with her family in Pennsylvania. Jade was fourteen when she left and hasn't had much contact with her since. Maybe phone calls once in a month, but that what then.
When Jade heard about Chris' job posting, she just knew it would be just the right thing. Far away from her mother.
The brunette enjoyed the rest of the tour very much. Listening to Chris' calm voice was like listening to a radio play. His occasional funny comments weren't bad either though. "Well then, I'll see you at the beginning of camp. Until then, I wish you the best of luck with your youth work and setting up your apartment. I can't make my brother wait that long, unfortunately. He'll end up feeling neglected.", Chris laughed a bit at the last joke and Jade nodded. "See you Chris.", she said goodbye with a smile and went to her car after Chris disappeared in the lodge. Thoughtfully, she got into the car and drove off.
Travis was surprised that their next encounter was a little more exciting. Two days had passed in which neither of them saw each other. This time it was an accident that Jade had made. She was really uncomfortable. Travis immediately realized what had happened. She was driving too fast, the rain had made the road slippery, the car had skidded and hit a small tree. Dutifully she had called the police, but that the sheriff personally came by surprised her very much.
"I didn't know that when you have a little accident here, the sheriff comes right over and scolds you," Jade said a little louder, laughing slightly to drown out the rain. She wore a rain jacket and black leggings combined with sneakers in contrast to their first meeting. "With you anyway, ma'am. I had the feeling from our first meeting that you were a speeder," he played and stood by her. The damage from the car was small, but the turn signal was destroyed and that although she had only hit a small tree.
"I was just in a hurry to get home in this weather, Sheriff Hackett. Surely you can understand that. Besides, I didn't knock anyone over or anything," the young woman tried to prove her innocence to the policeman. The latter, however, pointed to the tree. "The tree says otherwise." Both had to laugh a little.
"I can't let you go any further in that car. The best thing I can do is call the towing service. They'll take your car to the garage and everything should be fine in a day or two. If you don't mind, I'll drive you to your place," Travis said, taking out his radio. Jade smiled her thanks. "That would be very nice."
The ride was pleasantly quiet. When they arrived, Travis got off with them and escorted them upstairs. He felt it was his duty. "Do you still want to come inside and have a hot cup of chocolate or coffee? After all, we have to mourn the death of that little tree," Jade said with a giggle, offering him to come in. The sheriff had to chuckle slightly, too. "Of course. After all, he was so young..."
Together, the two still spent the whole evening. It was really nice. They talked a lot and got to know each other better. Around ten o'clock Travis left the apartment, but for both of them it was clear that they would see each other again.