with Inez Gogerty. She and her sister take turns cooking for us and staying the night if we need extra female chaperones. As long as there’s no open conflict between the boys, they all get to live in the same cabin.”
“Does that happen a lot? Fighting, I mean.”
“No. Not often. If it does, I take charge of the quarrelsome ones and assign the others to Aaron Barnes. He’s a college student who helps me out whenever I need him. I try not to call him too often, though. The more money I can save the taxpayers, the more kids I can afford to help.”
Megan arched her eyebrows. She didn’t doubt the man’s veracity. It was just that her grant was going to provide extra help, at no cost to Camp Refuge or the state of Arkansas, and yet he wasn’t willing to accept her with open arms. Figuratively speaking, of course.
“I want to help children, too, you know,” she said.
“I know you do. Why don’t you take your project and sell it to somebody who really needs it?”
“Like who?”
He shrugged his wide shoulders, reminding Megan of a high school football player Roxy had had a terrible crush on. Only, James Harris didn’t need any extra padding to make his frame formidable looking, did he?
Now stop that! Appalled at the way her thoughts kept straying to his physical attractiveness, Megan quickly reminded herself that appropriate Christian behavior did not include daydreaming about a man, let alone one she’d just met!
James drew her back into their conversation by asking, “How about handicapped children?”
“What? Oh…” She blinked rapidly to clear her head, happy to tell him more about her work. “Been there, done that. Actually, it was my undergraduate work with a special needs group that prompted me to do my thesis on using animals for emotional therapy. You may as well give it up, Harris. Your board of trustees is on my side, one hundred percent.”
“So I’ve gathered. Care to explain how you managed that? Those three idiotic old codgers haven’t agreed on anything in twenty years.”
“Thirty,” Megan said, watching the camp director’s face closely. “At least that’s what my college mentor told me when he suggested I propose my project to the other two.”
“Other two? Your mentor is on the board?”
“He sure is. Any more questions?”
“No, just give me a second to get my foot out of my mouth,” James said, ignoring Roxy’s giggling as he continued to address Megan. “I hope you don’t plan to tell the man I said he was an old codger.”
“I don’t intend to say one single derogatory thing about you or this camp. Not as long as you give me your full cooperation.”
“Blackmail?”
“Of course not,” Megan insisted with a wry look, intending it to be more telling than her denial. “We’re two intelligent adults who both want what’s best for some troubled kids. When I make my final report to the board, I’m sure they’ll be pleased at how well we’ve worked together.” She boldly thrust her hand toward him. “Shake on it, partner?”
Time crept by slower than an ant on an ice cube. There was clearly a dandy struggle going on in that good-looking head of his. When one corner of his mouth quirked with the hint of a smile, however, Megan knew she’d won.
Nodding, James grasped her outstretched hand and cupped his other hand over it. “Okay. Partners. As long as you don’t butt heads with me in front of the kids and undermine my authority, I’ll put up with you. Both of you. But one false move and you’re out of here. I don’t care if you have friends in high places all over Arkansas. Is that understood?”
“Uh-huh.”
Dumbfounded, she stared at their clasped hands. His touch was warm, comforting, gentle. Her skin was tingling worse than the first time they’d shared a handshake. Much worse. A shiver began at the nape of her neck and skittered along her spine, confirming the full extent of her reaction to James’s innocent touch.
This was more serious than her earlier tendencies to admire his looks. And a lot more scary. Emotions were her business. She recognized the signs all too well. Apparently, some of the uneasiness she’d attributed to simple nervousness when she’d first met him had had its roots elsewhere in her psyche.
Megan pulled her hand free. The effects of James’s touch lingered, making her pulse race. Worse yet, her impressionable sister was standing right there, watching the whole exchange and giving her the kind of look a parent gives a child who’s been caught raiding the cookie jar.
Embarrassed, Megan swallowed hard. This was not good. Not good at all. There was more at stake here than simply preserving her own peace of mind. Preaching to Roxy about virtuous behavior was not going to have any effect if she couldn’t set a good example, both in practice and in her heart of hearts.
Megan knew her actions were not going to be too hard to manage, especially if she relied on prayer for extra support. It was her errant thoughts that were going to give her fits. Thanks to meeting James Harris, wild notions were already spinning around in her head like dry leaves caught in a whirlwind.
The cabin Megan eventually chose was not among the ones James had hoped she’d pick. Naturally. He gritted his teeth. Leave it to her to fixate on a building that had stood empty for years. He’d been associated with Camp Refuge for nearly a decade, first as a part-timer, then as a counselor and finally as its director, and he couldn’t recall a time when anyone had occupied the small, outlying cabin. It certainly wasn’t appealing, yet the woman seemed unreasonably drawn to it.
“Are you sure?” he asked for the third time.
“Positive.” She led the way up onto the porch, looking down and frowning. “You’ll need to repair these steps. They feel wobbly. I hope the interior is in better shape.”
“I can’t promise a thing. We haven’t used this row of cabins for anything but storage for years. Why does it have to be this one? There are lots better choices closer to our main bunkhouses and dining hall.”
“Because I like this one,” Megan insisted. “It has a big enough yard for my horse pen. Plus, my rabbits will need plenty of shade. These trees will be perfect for that. Right, Roxy?”
The teenager shrugged. “Whatever.”
Frustrated, James stared at Megan. “Did you get up this morning determined to do everything the hard way? Or is it simply a talent of yours to be difficult?”
She laughed softly. “I have lots of special gifts, but I’ve never been told making trouble is one of them.”
“Well, let me be the first,” he said, turning the front-door key. “This lock is sticking, too. I’ll need to make a list of repairs. It’ll be a long one.”
“Don’t go to any fuss. I can take care of whatever needs to be done inside. Roxy can help me dust and sweep the place out. It’ll be fine.”
“I doubt that.”
Pushing open the door on creaking hinges, he stood back so the others could peek into the interior. As he’d suspected, the cabin
