Patrick and Dorie lowered their forks almost as one, and looked at him as if he’d suddenly started speaking a foreign language. “Are you thinking of buying it?” Patrick asked dryly.
“No, of course not.” Scott forced a laugh. He knew then that he should have kept his thoughts to himself.
“Land’s sake, why would we be wanting to sell our home?” Dorie asked.
“Because you could get the kind of price that would put money in the bank.”
“Money for what?” Dorie asked, frowning. “To buy another house? To live somewhere else not half as nice?”
Allie brushed her lips with a napkin to hide the smile on her face. Scott had stepped into the mud hole with both feet. Obviously, money was the wrong criteria to measure the O’Tooles’ wealth of happiness. Didn’t he realize that Pat and Dorie were living a life of peace, joy and contentment that a huge bank account could never replace? What saddened Allie was remembering that as a youth Scott had never talked about making big money as a goal in life, but the man sitting across the table from her had sadly settled on financial prosperity as the measure of his life. What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
To ease the tension, Allie said, “What do you say we get the kitchen cleared, and then persuade Patrick to get out his guitar? Trudy and I have been harmonizing on some good old country tunes. We thought we’d do a couple for ‘Skit Night’ if Patrick would help us practice.”
“I reckon I could strum a tune or two for a couple of pretty lasses,” Patrick conceded as a smile creased his craggy face.
Scott suddenly felt out of place, and wished he’d stayed at the house. He had nothing in common with these people anymore. He couldn’t see that they had matured at all.
As soon as he could, he got to his feet and he said, “Thanks for the wonderful dinner, Dorie. I’m sorry but I’d better run along. I’ve got some business calls coming in later.”
“Sure and you’re always welcome at our table, Scott,” Dorie said with a sincere smile. “I’m hoping we’ll be seeing more of you while you’re here. You’ll probably be helping out with the young ’uns, won’t you?”
“I’m afraid not,” he answered quickly. “I really had planned to have everything wound up by now and get back to my brokerage business. Because of the delay, I’ve had to put a computer in one of the bedrooms so I can work from here. I don’t expect to have any free time.”
“’Tis a shame you can’t take a little vacation for yourself,” Dorie said sadly. “Especially since this is the last time that there’ll be a Rainbow Camp.”
“The property will be put to good use,” Scott assured her. “There’s no doubt that I’ll get my price out of it.”
“So you’ve made up your mind to sell out, have ya?” Patrick pushed back his chair and stood up.
“Yes, I have,” Scott said firmly, looking the older man straight in the eyes.
“The Lord has made good use of that place for a good many years, and Sam was a good partner doing His work.”
“There’s a buyer all lined up to sign the papers,” Scott said flatly. “It’s a done deal.”
“Maybe not,” Patrick said. “Ever hear the saying, ‘Man proposes, and God disposes’?”
Scott gave a short laugh. He wasn’t going to argue. He’d made his plans, and he’d learned the hard way not to trust anything or anyone, but himself.
“Oh, you can’t leave now, Scott,” Trudy protested. “That hike back to the camp will finish me off for sure. If you hadn’t come along, I’d probably still be huffing and puffing to get here.”
“If Scott wants to leave, I’ll run you ladies back to camp,” Patrick volunteered, giving Scott a dismissing wave of his hand. “Go on, son, tend to your business.”
Allie surprised herself by jumping to Scott’s defense. “Time has a way of running over us sometimes. Maybe it’s a good idea if we all call it a night. Tomorrow is going to be another busy day.”
Dorie nodded. “I got a hundred things to do in the kitchen, but we’ll be ready for the children when they get here,” she said with the air of a coach urging her team to victory.
After a few minutes of conversation about what preparations still had to be made, Allie and Trudy said good-night. They gave Dorie a hug as they prepared to leave and Scott thanked her for the wonderful meal.
“We’ll take a rain check on the guitar playing,” Allie reassured Patrick, knowing in her heart that there wasn’t going to be any time for such idle happenings.
When Patrick saw the pickup parked out in front, he demanded, “Why are you driving Sam’s old Ford when you got that fancy rental car?”
“I was thinking about leaving it with you. I thought you might know someone who could make use of it. I hate to junk it.”
“Junk it!” He looked aghast. “You’re out of your blithering mind. Why there’s plenty of miles left in the old baby. Your dad and I spent many hours keeping it running. You’ll not be junking it, if I have anything to say about it.”
“Good,” said Scott, silently smiling as he turned away.
Chapter Four
The church bus was ready and waiting to load at nine o’clock Monday morning. Allie and Trudy had come back to town for the weekend, and had pulled together all the loose ends for the group’s stay at Rainbow Camp. Lily Twesbury and a middle-aged couple, Bob and Marie Tomlin, had all the supplies packed and ready to load on the bus.
As the youngsters began to arrive, Allie checked them off the list. “Stack your luggage over there so Barry can load it in the compartment.”
“These kids are taking enough stuff for a month,” Barry Nelson, the bus driver, complained. He shook his head as he surveyed the mountain stack of suitcases. A retired postman, he was the volunteer that drove the church bus whenever he was needed. He was a jovial fellow, claiming that after thirty years of “hoofing” it, he was always ready to take a ride. He wouldn’t put up with any horseplay on the bus, and even the most rambunctious kids settled down when he was in charge. He did double duty as bus driver and chaperon on youth outings.
Allie had checked off all but two names on her list of youngsters when she realized that Randy hadn’t showed up. Oh, no, she groaned inwardly. Was the belligerent boy going to be a no-show after all the work and effort she’d put into persuading him to come?
“What’s the matter?” Trudy asked, seeing a flicker of exasperation on Allie’s face.
“It’s Randy. We’re already fifteen minutes late leaving. I think he would have been here if he was going.” She handed the list to Trudy. “Mary Ellen is the only other one who isn’t here. Someone said she hurt her leg playing soccer on Saturday, so I doubt she’ll be able to come. I’m going to run in and call Randy’s foster parents and see what the story is.”
When Allie asked if Randy had changed his mind about going to camp, Mrs. Sloan, his
