stuff into the cabin, and see if the shower is working.”
“It’d better be. I’ve got enough rose-colored spots on me to pass for a case of measles.”
“Dorie’s invited us over to their house for supper.” Allie told her. “Their house is on the hillside across from the river. It’s about a half-mile walk up a dirt road as I remember.” Then she added with a smile, “Dorie said something about stuffed pork chops.”
“Stuffed pork chops?” Trudy patted her rather ample hips. “I really shouldn’t, but I’ve worked up an appetite with all this painting and cleaning.” She eyed Allie’s slim figure and sighed. “I bet you could eat twice as much as me, and never put on a pound.”
“I wasn’t raised around good cooking the way you were,” Allie said kindly. Trudy’s folks owned a successful family restaurant, and since she was around food all the time, it was no wonder she had trouble keeping her weight down. “Come on, let’s finish up here, and have a little time to put our feet up before dinner.”
When they checked the first cabin, they saw that Scott had been true to his word. Fresh bedding was in a neat pile at the foot of two of the beds, clean towels in the bathroom and an automatic coffeepot ready to be plugged in. An electric wall heater had been turned on low, but what surprised them both was wood laid for a fire in the fireplace, just waiting for the touch of a match.
“I love a log fire,” said Trudy as she plopped down on a rug, and lit the log kindling. When it was glowing, she stretched out full length in front of the fire, and closed her eyes. “I may have to change my mind about that guy.” She opened one eye and peered at Allie. “Maybe you should give him a little slack.”
“He’s got all the slack he needs,” Allie answered crisply as she got ready to take a shower.
“Hmm, sounds like there still may be a spark or two left between the two of you.”
Allie answered evenly, “Don’t try to play Cupid, Trudy. I don’t even know this changed Scott Davidson, and we have absolutely nothing in common anymore. After the church camp, we probably will never see each other again.” She gave a wry smile. “Of course, I may wring his neck long before then.”
“Uh-huh,” Trudy murmured. “You remember the old saying, don’t you? Where there’s smoke there’s fire. Something between you two is still burning, I’m thinking.”
“Well, think again,” Allie said curtly and went into the bathroom to take her shower. She was still fuming about the way Scott had lashed out at her. He was so blinded by his own selfish agenda that he couldn’t even appreciate Patrick’s feelings about the half-finished job Scott’s dad had left. Allie usually was able to keep a firm rein on her temper, but she was ready to hold a mirror up to Scott Davidson, and let him take a look at the self-centered person he’d become.
When they were ready to go to dinner at the O’Tooles’, Allie expected to drive the short distance, but Trudy said she’d better work off the pork chops before and after she ate them.
A lavender twilight was just settling in the canyon as heady pine-scented breezes still warm from the day’s sun sent pale green aspen leaves quivering over their heads. As they walked across a narrow bridge spanning the river, rushing waters rose and fell over polished stones, creating a melody of gurgling sounds. Glimmers of silver shone like liquid ribbons in flowing waters darkening to purple in the approaching night.
They had just started up a narrow road cut into the side of the hill, when they heard an engine coming up behind them. Moving quickly to one side, they looked over their shoulders just as Sam’s old pickup truck slowed down and stopped beside them.
“Want a lift?” Scott leaned over and opened the passenger door.
Before Allie could refuse, Trudy readily accepted, “Sure, thanks. The road’s steeper than I had expected. I didn’t know we were going to hike halfway up a mountain.” Laughing, she waved Allie into the seat first. “After you.”
A stubborn set to Trudy’s full lips warned Allie not to make a scene about who was going to sit in the middle next to Scott. Allie sent her a veiled look, thinking, “I’ll get even with you later,” as she climbed into the truck beside Scott.
The truck was an old one, and Trudy’s ample hips took up more than a third of the high, narrow seat. Allie did her best to keep from crowding Scott, but there was little she could do about the close quarters. As she sat beside him, she tried to ignore the effect of his body warmth, and the faint scent of spicy aftershave lotion that teased her nostrils. His hair was still moist from a recent shower, and she remembered how the dark strands had waved around his face when they’d gone swimming in a river pool. His profile was the same and yet different because his attractive masculine features were marred by unhappy lines in his forehead and around his mouth. He drove without looking at her, and she was uncomfortable in this forced intimacy.
Window lights were visible through the trees as he turned off the road and drove a short distance to a wide clearing in front of the house. Almost immediately the front door flew open, and Patrick’s rangy frame filled the doorway.
Scott was aware of Allie’s obvious relief as she got out of the car. When he’d offered a lift, he’d hoped that some of the earlier friction over the room painting might be set aside, but he’d felt her body stiffness as she tried to keep as much distance between them as the cab would allow. Undoubtedly the next two weeks would only increase the chasm that had already widened between them. Once the campers arrived, he planned to keep his distance from her and the others.
Accepting this dinner invitation had been spur of the moment. Even as he asked himself why on earth he’d let himself in for a whole evening with Allie, he knew the answer. He didn’t want to be alone in the house with memories of his dad and Jimmy. The sooner he was finished with Rainbow Camp the better, he decided as he took a deep breath, put a smile on his face and followed Allie and Trudy into the house.
Dorie had dinner ready, and she shooed them into the kitchen with a flutter of her apron. They sat at a round table, and bowed their heads as Pat said his favorite grace. “Father, God, be our guest, and may this food to us be blessed.”
The meal was beautifully simple and delicious: golden-brown stuffed pork chops, accompanied by fresh garden peas and a spinach salad. Rhubarb pie with wild strawberries was served with rich, amber coffee.
“It does my heart good to see you haven’t lost your appetite,” Dorie told Scott in a tone that suggested that there were other things about him that had been lost since she’d seen him last.
The O’Tooles were as hospitable as ever, but as the evening progressed, Scott realized that they were in the same place they’d been years ago when they first started working summers for his father. Contented with few luxuries, they still depended upon things they could grow, chickens and pigs they could raise and a goat they could milk. Patrick’s handyman work brought in what little income they had during the winter months, and he wondered how they would replace the modest income that the two of them earned helping his father with the camp. If they weren’t so shortsighted, they’d recognize that he was doing them a favor by selling off his dad’s land. Any new development in the area would raise the value of everyone’s property, and if the O’Tooles sold out at a huge profit, they could live more comfortably somewhere else.
Scott hadn’t intended to put his thoughts into words, but there was a lull in the table conversation that invited a change in topic. The women had been talking about church affairs, and the new minister that both Trudy and Allie liked.
