Counting On It (Hearts for Ransom Book 1) (8 page)

After some awkward words being exchanged and people getting on and off the bus, they were soon headed toward the campsites.

“Where should we pitch our tents?” Paul Findley asked Emily.

“You three can use sites seventy-nine, eighty, and eighty-one—one tent per site.” Surely she wouldn’t have to help these guys set up their tents too. Where was Aaron, anyway? He could have at least been there to greet them.

She turned to the photographer and reporter. “Are you camping, or commuting?”

“I’m camping,” the pretty, blonde woman with the camera told her, “but Samuel is commuting.” She held out her free hand. “I’m Kristine Carlson.”

“Emily Scott,” she said as they shook. “Would you like site eighty-four? It’s empty. You’ll be close enough to the group to see what’s going on, but far enough for a little privacy.”

Kristine smiled. “That’ll be perfect.” She turned to the reporter. “Samuel, will you help me set up my tent real quick?”

After he agreed and they had headed back to their vehicle to retrieve it, Mason’s “little brother” Spencer touched her arm.

“Is Mason’s and my campsite close to yours, babe?” the buff, blonde boy asked her. Babe? A teenager was calling her babe?

“She stays in the motorhome over there,” Mason answered curtly, indicating the campground host site. “And Spencer, you need to apologize to Miss Scott for talking to her like that.”

“Like what?” he asked, apparently clueless.

“It’s not respectful for you to call her anything other than Miss Scott. Now please apologize.”

Logan nearly snorted. “Love ‘em and Leave ‘em” Wright was telling the young man how to respect women? Heck, those two had probably been paired up just fine. More than likely, within a few days they’d be exchanging pointers.

“Mr. Taylor, if you want, I can sleep outside. It won’t bother me.” Trevor’s voice was so low that Logan could barely hear him.

Logan wished more than anything that he had his camper. He’d give this boy, who was used to doing without, a couple of weeks to remember. “Call me Logan.” He tried to catch Trevor’s eyes, but his gaze remained fixed on the ground in front of him. “We’ll be fine in the tent. It’s plenty big enough for the both of us.” His voice was gruff.

Emily, having overheard their exchange, was touched. She was certain that not every one of Logan’s teammates would respond as he had. In fact, she’d put money down that a couple of them would have jumped at the chance to keep the tents to themselves.

Abby, silently trailing along, whispered loudly, “I hope Luke doesn’t have a bad temper. I’m afraid he could make mincemeat out of Brody.”

“Brody’s a grown man. He can take care of himself. They all can…What are we still doing here anyway, Abby? We were here to greet them like Aaron told us to. Now it’s up to the guys. Let’s go to the camper.”

Abby looked around at the paired up males walking to the campsites and, to Emily’s surprise, didn’t argue. She turned and headed for the motor home. Fast.

In fact, Emily could barely keep up with her. “Where’s the fire?” They were practically jogging. “Will you slow down?”

It wasn’t until they were inside that Emily saw the tears running down her friend’s face.

“What’s wrong? Did one of the boys say something to you? I didn’t hear—”

“No.” Abby grabbed a tissue from the box next to the couch. “It’s just that some of those boys—did you see the one with Logan? He looks like he hasn’t had a decent meal in God knows how long. And if Seth—Bo’s little brother—hasn’t been beaten, I haven’t been a mental health therapist for three years.”

Emily silently sank to the couch beside Abby. “Do you really think that’s true?” The thought of anybody, but especially a child, going hungry or being abused made her feel sick.

“Em, you’re a nurse. You’ve seen enough of it.” Abby looked at her accusingly. “You know it just as well as I do.”

Abby was right. It was just that Emily didn’t
want
to know. Of course, these boys didn’t come from perfect homes or they wouldn’t be there. But to think that some of them were abused or neglected, and there really wasn’t anything she could do about it, was just too hard to handle.

Somebody knocked on the door.

Abby quickly dried her eyes as Emily walked over and opened the door. Pastor Rhinehart stood on the bottom step.

“I’m sorry to bother you, Miss Scott, but we need to put the cold food away, and I just realized I have no idea where the kitchen is.”

“It’s set up in the back of the recreation building—over by the playground. I left a door key to the kitchen on the stove so you can lock it once you’re finished. The other people here probably wouldn’t bother your supplies, but Aaron didn’t want to take any unnecessary chances. There are three coin-operated washers and dryers located in the main part of the building. They’re accessible to anybody camping here.” She just couldn’t bring herself to offer her assistance at the moment and didn’t think she was shirking her duties by not doing so.

“Thank you.” He started to leave but then turned around to face her. “I know you probably think my method of pairing the men and boys was rather unorthodox. I prayed first, though, and I believe only good will come from this.”

“I hope so,” Emily told him. Then, as he walked away, she softly repeated, “I hope so.”

“Because it will be uncomfortable in our tent if we don’t keep it neat.” Jesse was explaining why Austin with an Attitude needed to put his things away in an orderly fashion.

“We just sleep in it at night. I don’t see the big deal.” Austin sneered at Jesse.

Jesse’s smile faltered just a little as he firmly responded. “It’s a big deal because we are human beings and don’t live in pig pens. Now, I’ve asked you enough. Get yourself in there and straighten that mess up.”

Wow. Who knew Stringbean had it in him?

Muttering some colorful language, Austin did as he was told.

Logan and Trevor had already put the boy’s meager possessions in their tent. It looked like the young man only had a couple of pairs of jeans, a few ragged looking shirts, and underwear. The church evidently provided him with a care package consisting of a bar of soap, generic shampoo, and can of deodorant. What Logan would give for a store and his credit card right then!

“Any chicks around here?” the teenage legend in his own mind, Spencer, asked Mason. The two of them had just joined the small group, who had congregated at the picnic tables in front of site seventy-four, to witness the Jesse-Austin show.

Mason just glared at the boy.

“Come and sit with us,” Bo invited Seth, who had placed himself as far away from the rest of them as he could.

Without a word, the red-headed boy obediently stood up and meekly walked over and sat down on the bench in front of Bo, who had parked himself on the table. Logan and Bo exchanged glances, a question in Bo’s eyes. Logan nodded. He thought the boy was used to either doing what he was told or suffering the consequences in a very painful way.

“How old are you, Seth?” Bo gently asked.

The boy’s voice was shaking as he answered. “I’m twelve, sir.”

“I told you, Seth. You can call me Bo.” Bo was obviously trying to reassure Seth that he was in no danger with him. “My real name is Bogard, but my friends call me Bo. I’d really like it if you and I can be friends.”

Seth, visibly shaking, looked over his shoulder at Bo. “Yes sir, Bo.”

If Logan could have gotten his hands on the person responsible for this twelve-year-old’s demeanor, he’d be sorely tempted to beat him to within an inch of his life. While he was at it, he’d like to talk to Trevor’s parents. They might just have financial problems, though, and couldn’t give him what he needed through no fault of their own.

The photographer had been snapping pictures of Paul Findley and Kaleb putting their tent up. That wouldn’t do Haynes any good, but it might help the grocery store owner. Besides, Logan was already tired of worrying about his expression.

“What about the piece with Miss Scott? Anybody got dibs on her?” Spencer was addressing Mason again.

“I assume you mean Miss Michaels.” Logan knew that tone of voice. Mason was holding his temper in check by a thread. “How old are you, Spencer?”

“I’m thirteen. Older women dig me, though.” He was way too smooth for a teenager.

“Well, Spencer,” Mason continued, “it is not respectful to refer to any female as a piece. I also don’t want to hear you refer to, or call, any woman anything except their names while you’re with me. So, stop it with the women talk. Got it?”

Spencer lazily saluted Mason. “Whatever you say.” He smirked at Mason. “But it won’t be my fault when one of them comes after me.”

Personally, Logan wouldn’t have minded hearing a response from either Emily or Abby. From his own past experience, he was pretty sure it wouldn’t be pleasant.

“Getting acquainted?” Pastor Rhinehart and Kent, flanked by the other two men and their charges, stood in front of them.

“I like Colton,” Andy, the “duh” boy, announced.

Colton looked flabbergasted. They had barely spoken two words to each other since sitting down.

“Brody and I are going to be friends,” Luke told his pastor. “Ain’t we Brody?”

Brody grinned at him and nodded. Maybe the giant of a kid was a teddy bear.

Austin stood up, defiance in his posture. “Jesse’s stupid, and he’s too bossy. I don’t like him. I want somebody else.”

“Too bad.”
Where
had this Jesse come from? “You’re stuck with me for the next two weeks, and you’re going to have to learn to live with it. I’m here to teach you how to be a man and, by toadstools, I’m gonna do it. So sit down and shut up.”

Logan waited to see what the pastor would say. When he smiled at Jesse with a look of satisfaction on his face, Logan began to wonder if maybe Pastor Rhinehart wasn’t as clueless as he first appeared.

“Let’s all go for a walk.” The pastor’s suggestion caused Logan to immediately rethink his position in regards to the man’s intelligence.

“I ain’t goin’ on no walk with him.” Of course, the speaker wasAustin, still standing, referring to Jesse.

“Where are we going?” Fletch asked.

“I saw a trailhead over there.” Pastor Rhinehart gestured toward the side of the campground past Emily’s site. “We’ll choose one of the trails leading off and take it. Each of you boys needs to stay with your big brother so you can share the experience. Activities like this will help you grow closer to each other.”

The boys and men slowly stood up and placed themselves in something resembling a parade. Other than Austin walking a good four yards from Jesse, it was an organized group that was soon walking on the Oak Leaf Trail, a two-mile “moderate” path.

It wasn’t until they were a good ways into the woods that Logan noticed the shoes Trevor was wearing. There was a hole in the toe of one of them, and the laces were so ragged if they came out, he’d never be able to get them back through the grommets. The soles were probably so thin that Trevor may as well have been walking barefoot on the clumps of grass, rocks, and sticks on the trail.

“What size shoe do you wear?” Logan softly asked him.

Trevor looked at him with surprise in his eyes. “I don’t know. Why?”

Because he was somehow going to get this boy some new clothes and shoes. “I just wondered.” Maybe Emily could help him.

“Where do you go to school?” It was too late for them to turn around, so they may as well have a conversation.

“Ransom Middle School.” Trevor seemed mystified as to why Logan would ask.

“I went there when I was your age,” Logan told him. “I bet it hasn’t changed much. Do you still have those desks with the book racks underneath?”

Trevor actually smiled. “Yeah. Some of ‘em are so old, they were probably there when you were. Maybe my desk used to be yours.” That thought seemed to please him.

“Maybe.” Logan decided he liked this boy. “What’s your favorite subject?”

“Math and computers,” he replied without hesitation.

Logan smiled. “You’ll have to talk to Miss Scott, then. She and I went to school together, and I’m pretty sure those were her favorites, too.”

Trevor smiled shyly at Logan. “Is Miss Scott your girlfriend?”

“No.” The denial sprang to his lips so fast he hadn’t even thought about it. He could never feel like that about Emily Scott, and even if he did, she’d never in a million years even give him the time of day. Yet, when he’d kissed her, she had definitely kissed him back…at least until she realized what she was doing.

“Why not?” Logan had forgotten Trevor was there for a moment.

He supposed it wouldn’t hurt to share a little of himself with this young man. “We’re too different. I was poor when I was a kid, and she wasn’t. She was always a good girl, and I always got into trouble. We’ve always been too different from each other to even really be friends.”

“But you’re not poor now,” Trevor hesitantly ventured.

Logan wasn’t wealthy by any means, but poor? “No. I do just fine now.”

“Do you still get in trouble?”

Logan chuckled. “Just with my mouth. Sometimes I don’t know when to keep it shut.”

Trevor’s grin widened. “My grandma says I always stick my foot in my mouth, so I might as well chew on it while it’s in there.”

“You live with your grandma?” Logan gently asked.

His smile faltered. “My dad died and my mom left. Grandma came to the police station and got me, so I live with her and Grandpa now.”

Logan didn’t understand. Trevor had no business being kept at a police station. “Why did she have to pick you up there?”

Trevor’s smile was a thing of the past. “My teacher found out I was livin’ by myself and she called the police. I tried to fool ‘em and make ‘em think Mom was still there but just gone shoppin’ or something. Know what I mean?”

Logan silently nodded, his heart in his throat.

“They saw I didn’t have no electricity or runnin’ water, and they just didn’t believe me. If Grandma hadn’t come and got me, I’d have had to go to some special home for kids without families. I’m glad she got me.”

“I’m glad she did, too,” Logan told him. “How old were you, Trevor?”

“Nine.”

Logan had always thought he had grown up in a difficult situation—until now. Here was a boy abandoned by his own mother when he was a still a small child. He still tried to cover for her. Now he was living with his grandparents, who from the sound of things, loved him, but were obviously too financially strapped to provide everything he needed.

“Do your grandparents have jobs?” He hoped they were at least trying to support their grandson.

“Grandma worked at the bicycle factory until she got laid off. Now she cleans people’s houses.” There was pride in his voice. “She works real hard. She has to ‘cause Grandpa can’t walk anymore. He was in a car wreck, and his back was hurt bad. He tries to get jobs where he can sit in his wheelchair, but nobody will hire him.”

So they were doing their best. Something told Logan that, despite his reluctance to participate in this program, the boy walking next to him was going to forever change his life. Trevor had unearthed something deep inside of him, and he didn’t think he would ever be able to rebury it.