I won’t interrupt your games long. I want to tell you a bit about the annual project the youth group will be doing this summer.” A tentative smile touched her lips as she looked hopefully from face to face for signs of interest. But she avoided his gaze. “High Country Hope Ministries has the opportunity to move one of their disadvantaged families into larger accommodations, enabling a family that’s been forced apart this past year to be reunited in a single dwelling.”
“Cool,” one boy chimed in, then popped a potato chip into his mouth.
“Yes, it is cool.” Delaney’s eyes now danced with excitement, the uncertainty replaced with an attractive glow. “And it’s even cooler because we can help make that happen. The new property needs sprucing up—cleaning, interior painting, yard work and minor repairs.”
Travis groaned and his girlfriend, Scottie, elbowed him.
Luke would be having a long talk with his son as soon as the opportunity presented itself.
“Their lease on the current property ends August thirty-first,” Delaney continued, ignoring Travis, “but if we can help them make that move to the new place before the first of August, their current landlord—who has other plans for the property—will see that not only is Hope Ministries’ deposit and August rent refunded, but they’ll receive a bonus for vacating a month early.”
“What will they do with the extra money?” Leave it to Anna, his resident penny-pincher, to ask that kind of question.
“The refunded rent will go toward paying winter heating bills for the family and others. And the bonus...” Delaney looked around the circle of faces. “Will go to your youth group.”
Kendrick sat up, suddenly interested. “We get the money?”
“For camp scholarships,” Delaney was quick to clarify. “Or something along those lines to be decided by the church. But even more important than the money, our reward will be helping this family—father, mother and five children—live under one roof again.”
“Five kids?” Travis leaned forward, pinning Delaney with a sharp look. “Don’t tell me this house is for the Masons. That oldest kid of theirs is a real jerk. It was good riddance when he went to live with his loser dad last year.”
Travis wasn’t exaggerating. The same age as fifteen-year-old Anna, the Mason boy had been nothing but trouble. And “loser” wasn’t an entirely inappropriate term for the kid’s father, although Travis shouldn’t have publicly called him that.
Lizzie Mason and her husband Benton were artsy types who’d settled here a few years ago. Working part-time jobs and selling their handcrafted wares, by their own choosing they’d not had an easy time of it and too often looked to others for assistance. Last summer Luke had an unpleasant run-in with Benton about delinquent rent on a commercial property and again the following autumn regarding Benton’s son. Then came the drunk driving episode that resulted in injuries that put Benton out of work and into physical therapy and alcohol rehab.
Delaney had committed the youth group to a project helping people like that? Rewarding people who’d made no effort to take responsibility for their lives? Not a good idea.
Delaney hesitated now, as if unsure how to respond to Travis’s question about the project family. “I believe...the name is Mason. The youngest is a twelve-year-old-girl.”
A few kids groaned.
Travis flopped back on the sofa, arms folded. “I’m not helping any Masons.”
A few kids laughed, but Scottie gave him a frosty look. “I think it’s a good project. Samantha is a nice little girl. She can’t help it that her father gets drunk.”
“I agree,” Sybil chimed in. “Cleaning and painting won’t take that much of our time. We’re supposed to help people in need, aren’t we? And don’t forget, the youth group gets the bonus money.”
Several others nodded agreement.
But this project seemed destined for failure. Surely there were other worthy projects to pick from. Off the top of his head, he could think of several.
“We can talk about it further when I have more detailed information to share.” Delaney gave Travis a look, as if expecting him to spout off again. “So I’ll let you return to your activities now.”
For a few silent minutes Delaney watched them settle back in to their board games, then headed to the kitchen. Grabbing the opportunity to speak with her in private, Luke joined her a few minutes later. When he rapped his knuckles on the door frame, she glanced up from the sink where she was rinsing dishes with a vengeance, then dried her hands on a dish towel, her eyes questioning.
Unexpectedly, his breath caught as the light glinted off the soft waves of golden hair. She’d pulled it off her forehead with a tiny green ceramic frog clip, and her peach-colored cotton top, adorned with embroidered butterflies, complemented her coloring and those beautiful hazel eyes.
“Is there something I can help you with, Luke? More snacks? Ice? Lemonade?”
“No, no. The food was great. Plentiful. Exactly what kids that age enjoy most.”
She nodded as if relieved. “Good.”
He leaned a shoulder against the refrigerator and studied her for a moment, not sure how to begin. “Actually, I want to apologize for Travis’s behavior this evening.”
Surprise flickered through her eyes.
“He’s usually a laid-back kid, easy to get along with. But something got into him tonight and we’ll be having a talk when my temper cools.”
She stared down at the floor for a moment, almost as if counting to ten, then back up at him. “Don’t be too hard on him. You were right about what you’d mentioned the other day. Some of the kids, especially the boys, are disappointed that the original summer intern bailed.”
“That’s no excuse for discouraging the others from participating in this evening’s planned activities. He basically shut down discussion.”
She raised a delicate brow. “I’m not sure that it was entirely Travis’s fault.”
As he’d suspected, she was taking the blame. “Don’t be too hard on yourself.”
Her eyes widened. “I’m not—”
He held up his hand to stay the apology forming on her lips. “Tonight’s behind us, tomorrow’s a clean slate. But I do believe more thought needs to be given to your choice of summer projects.”
A crease formed between her brows. “What do you mean?”
He shrugged. “You’re new to town. You don’t know the history behind the Masons. Benton’s an artist whose last drunk driving episode got him thrown out of the house. Lizzie’s trying to make a go of candle making and textile design, but why she insisted on staying here alone with four of the five children is beyond me. And now it sounds as if her husband and oldest son intend to come back to town, too. But Lizzie and Benton need to get their artsy heads out of the clouds, relocate and find real jobs.”
“It’s my understanding,” Delaney said quietly, “that she’s
