Love Walked In by Merrillee Whren

Author:Merrillee Whren
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Steeple Hill
Published: 2006-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Clay doused the last embers of the campfire with a bucket of water. A hissing noise accompanied the smoke that rose from the darkened embers. He shoveled dirt onto the coals to make sure they wouldn’t fire back to life.

That’s the way he wished he could bury the feelings he had for Beth. The campfire was dead and gone, but his affection for Max’s mom grew with every hour he spent in her presence. But her determination to avoid him seemed just as strong as his wish to be near her. Somehow his head had gotten the message, but his heart didn’t have a clue.

Still, the campout had brought Beth out of her shell, and he had enjoyed every minute of seeing her sing, gab and play volleyball with the others. She had helped Kim organize activities for the younger children so their parents could go hiking and canoeing. When the parents returned Beth had the children’s attention as she told them stories. She had him spellbound as well.

And then there was Max, who was just as bright—and stubborn—as his mother. Would Max make the right decisions for his future? Now that the weekend was over, would Max voluntarily join in the youth group’s activities, or would his participation hinge on not having his mother find out about the drunken party he’d attended? And how would Beth view things? She had let Max attend the campout, but would she encourage him to take part in the other activities when she had little use for church herself?

Clay wished he could gather all the church teens together and tell them to keep Max busy and out of trouble, but that wouldn’t work. Clay just had to pray that would happen. Not that churchgoing kids always did everything right, but from Clay’s observation, they helped one another stay on track most of the time. They cared about God and each other. Max could benefit from hanging out with them rather than with kids who drank and partied all the time. Throwing the final shovelful of dirt onto the fire pit, Clay sent up a prayer for Max.

With shovel in hand, Clay strolled across the meadow. Folks were packing up the last of their gear. The moon peeked over the mountain ridge visible between two tall pines silhouetted against the pale light. Clay stopped and took in the handiwork of God’s creation. Surely God, who could create such beauty, could help one confused teenage boy.

As Clay put the shovel in the church van he’d be driving back, Sam and several young men from the youth group approached, carrying the now-empty coolers.

“What do you want us to do with these?” Sam asked.

“Put them in here.” Clay opened the back of the van. “After you do that, I’d appreciate it if you’d get the grills, too.”

“Sure,” the boys chorused.

After the kids left, Sam turned to Clay. “I need a favor. I promised the kids that we’d stop for ice cream on the way home, but I can’t hang around to take them.

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