her church’s camp reservation, and Allie came to see me, hoping to talk me into honoring Dad’s commitment.”
“Oh, my,” Dorie said, a frown creasing her round face.
“You can see the difficulty.” Scott looked Pat straight in the eyes. “The cabins aren’t ready. The buildings need all kinds of cleaning. I frankly don’t see how we could get the place ready in a week, do you?” Somehow he knew he shouldn’t tell the Irishman that he’d already committed himself.
Pat took a slow sip of coffee from his mug without giving Scott any indication that he had even heard what Scott had been saying. Then he turned to look at Scott, and he said in a non-committal tone. “I reckon it could be done.”
“Sure it could,” Dorie jumped in eagerly. “All the bedding is clean and ready. Glory, I could make a list of things we need in the shake of a cat’s tail.”
“What do you think, Pat?” Scott asked in a deferential manner. They all knew that the decision rested with him. Dorie was wife enough not to push him, and Scott knew better than to pressure him.
Pat leaned back in his chair, his broad forehead creased in a thoughtful expression. “I reckon me and Dorie could handle things all right. I don’t hold with the idea of disappointing a bunch of young ’uns.”
Scott felt a heavy weight roll off of him. “I appreciate it, Patrick.” Now, he could leave the whole camping thing in good hands and tend to his own business.
Dorie beamed. “It’s funny how the good Lord works things out, isn’t it? You and Allie together again after all these years. Such a cute couple, you were.”
Scott said rather shortly, “Don’t try and play Cupid, Dorie. I doubt that we’ll even see much of each other.” He could have said that he had no intention of interacting with the church group. As far as Allie was concerned, he’d already told her how he felt about her strong religious convictions. He knew that she disapproved of his worldly lifestyle and anti-religious convictions. “We have nothing in common anymore.”
“It’s Jimmy’s death, isn’t it?” Dorie said gently. “Sure and I can see why your heart’s broken. T’was a horrible thing to have happened.” Then she touched his arm with her gentle hand, and said softly, “Your father grieved over the loss of his son, but it didn’t destroy his faith in God.”
“I’m not my father,” Scott said firmly.
Patrick nodded. “No, you’re not, more’s the pity, lad.”
He left their house, knowing it was true—you can’t go home again. Too many things change.
When Allie and Trudy arrived at the camp early in the morning a few days later, Allie couldn’t believe how different it looked from her first visit. There was a hint of expectancy all over the place. A grocery delivery truck was parked at a side kitchen door, some of the cabins were open and a load of wood had been dumped nearby, waiting to be distributed among the buildings.
Scott had called her, reporting that the O’Tooles had agreed to take charge and get the camp ready. He told her that an extra pair of hands or two would be appreciated, but he was emphatic about not needing an invasion of church people. “They’ll just be in the way,” he said ungraciously.
“Okay,” she responded without further comment, relieved that he hadn’t found some way to back out of their agreement. “If it’s all right with you, my friend, Trudy, and I will come up for a couple of days and see how we can help out.”
“Good. Dorie will appreciate the extra hands.”
“It’ll be nice to see the O’Tooles again. I remember them as a very nice couple who really enjoyed having all of us around.”
“Dorie remembers you, too,” he admitted but omitted in what context.
“Don’t you remember the picnic box Dorie fixed for us the day we decided to hike up to the top of Redridge?”
“I remember,” he answered flatly. “See you in a couple of days.”
Such enthusiasm, she thought as she hung up. He obviously didn’t intend to engage in any watercolor memories of “the way we were.” Fine. He could chill out all he wanted, she decided with a spurt of pride—or was it disappointment? All she cared about was making sure the kids had a wonderful outing. Anyway, she doubted that Scott would stick around for the whole time, unless making arrangements for selling the property kept him at the camp.
“I can hardly wait to meet this ogre,” Trudy confessed as they drove into the camp. “He sounds like a real loser.”
“Oh, Scott’s not really all that bad,” Allie said quickly, surprised that she was so ready to defend him. “I told you what happened to his brother. Scott’s carrying around a heavy load of guilt, and I suspect his mother isn’t helping much.”
“Uh-huh.” Trudy’s tone was noncommittal. She’d lost a young husband in a car accident when a drunk driver plowed into them one evening after church services. Instead of blaming God and giving up, Trudy had used her anger to help in the campaign against drinking and driving.
“Don’t rock the boat, Trudy,” Allie warned as she stopped the car in front of the old house. “Scott agreed to let us have our camp, and that’s all that matters. Don’t be attacking him. We really don’t know what happened and what kind of wounds need healing under that crisp veneer of his.”
Trudy studied her friend’s flushed face, and let out a slow whistle. “Are you still carrying something around for this fellow?”
“Of course not,” Allie said quickly. Maybe too quickly, she told herself, wondering why the question made her feel defensive. Why was she letting Trudy bait her? “We haven’t seen each other for years. And the last time we were together we were just teenagers.”
“Some first loves are deep enough to last a lifetime,” Trudy warned.
“I wouldn’t think a little hand-holding, and one adolescent kiss in the moonlight could be called a deep first love.”
“But you haven’t forgotten him.”
“No, I suppose I haven’t. But at the time, I was naive enough to believe that Scott and I were soul mates. I guess that’s why I felt differently about him from all of the other fellows I’d dated at that time.”
“Okay, a word of warning from an older and wiser woman—”
“You’re a year older than I am,” laughed Allie.
“Right. Heed your elders. Don’t tear yourself up because the young boy who kissed you in the moonlight is now a man who has turned against himself and God. Just remember, Allie, life has a way of giving us lessons that we need, and Scott Davidson may be in for more than his share.”
“It’s so sad that he’s lost his dad and his brother. The place must be filled with painful memories for him,” Allie lamented as they got out of the car and walked up the steps of the house. In spite of herself, she felt a faint flicker of apprehension as they waited for him to answer their knock.
No sign of life at the windows. Allie tried to deny a wave of disappointment when it was obvious that he wasn’t
