by Gail Sattler
Gone Camping ©1999 by Barbour Publishing, Inc.
At Arm’s Length ©1999 by Barbour Publishing, Inc.
On the Road Again ©2000 by Barbour Publishing, Inc.
My Name Is Mike ©2000 by Barbour Publishing, Inc.
Cover image © GetttyOne
Print ISBN 978-1-58660-963-4
eBook Editions:
Adobe Digital Edition (.epub) 978-1-62029-971-5
Kindle and MobiPocket Edition (.prc) 978-1-62029-970-8
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission of the publisher.
All Scripture quotations are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.
Published by Barbour Publishing, Inc., P.O. Box 719, Uhrichsville, Ohio 44683, www.barbourbooks.com.
Our mission is to publish and distribute inspirational products offering exceptional value and biblical encouragement to the masses.
Printed in the United States of America.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Gone Camping
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Epilogue
At Arm’s Length
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
On the Road Again
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
My Name is Mike
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Epilogue
GAIL SATTLER lives in Vancouver, B.C., where you don’t have to shovel rain, with her husband, three sons, two dogs, six lizards, and countless fish, many of whom have names. She writes inspirational romance because she loves happily-ever-afters and believes God has a place in those happy endings. Gail was voted as the #1 Favorite Heartsong Author in 1999, 2000, and 2001 and has now been retired to the Heartsong Authors Hall of Fame. She has many books out with Barbour Publishing, in novels, novellas, and works of non-fiction. Gail invites readers to visit her website at http://www.gailsattler.com.
Gone
Camping
Chapter 1
Roberta ignored the pounding at the front door as she blew her nose.
Molly’s muffled voice accompanied more pounding. “Robbie, Robbie! I know you’re home. Please, let me in!”
Roberta glanced at the clock and wondered why Molly wasn’t at work. Despite her red-rimmed eyes and blotchy face, Roberta opened the door. Immediately, Molly threw her arms around her.
“Oh, Robbie!” she moaned, “I just heard what happened! You didn’t answer your phone, so I came over as fast as I could.”
Just when she thought she had herself under control, Roberta started to sob again. “Today I discovered for myself that the rumors were true.” Tears streamed down her cheeks. She made no effort to wipe them.
Molly hugged her tighter. “How did you find out?”
After a few more stifled sobs, Roberta managed to continue. “I went to work early to surprise Mike, but I was the one who got the surprise. Mike and Suzie were in the corner of the stockroom … and they were …” Roberta gulped, trying to sniffle back more tears while fighting for the right words. “I didn’t even say anything. I turned and ran. Like a fool I hid in the washroom and bawled my eyes out. Mike stormed in, and the whole office heard his rampage. Then this was waiting for me on my desk.” She thrust the crumpled piece of company letterhead at her friend.
Molly stared at it, mouthing the words as she read.
Dear Miss Garland,
This letter is to inform you that effective immediately, your services are no longer required.
Enclosed is your final check. Your vacation pay, other monies owed to you, and letter of recommendation for your years of service will be forwarded by post.
Good luck in future endeavors.
Regards,
Michael Flannigan, Sr.
President
Molly slowly handed her back the letter. “So. The wedding’s off, and his dad fired you …”
All Roberta could do was nod as the tears threatened to break through again. As a Christian, she valued trust above all else in a relationship. Not only did Mike obviously not feel the same, but he had betrayed her in the worst way.
“When I arrived to pick you up for lunch and Suzie said you no longer worked there, I thought it was a joke, except no one was smiling. Then I asked what Mike thought about it, and she just laughed.” Molly clasped her hands in front of her. “Oh, Robbie, I don’t know what to say. But if it makes you feel better, the receptionist told me Mike didn’t deserve you anyway.”
“Thanks,” Roberta sniffled. Not that it helped.
“You don’t have to put up with that treatment, you know.” Molly crossed her arms. “They can’t fire you. You can take them to court.”
Roberta shook her head. “What for? To get my job back? I loved my job, but how could I ever face those people again? And how could I work beside Mike or his father?” Roberta sniffed again, lowering her voice. “Or Suzie. I’ll get another job. On my way out, Michael Senior said he would give me a considerable severance package. Life goes on.”
“I know!” Molly raised one finger in the air and broke out into a wide smile. “You need to get away from all this. A change of scenery. You need a vacation!”
Roberta wiped her eyes with her sleeve. “I’m unemployed. I can’t afford a vacation. While I don’t think I’ll go looking for another job tomorrow, I doubt I’m going to be taking a wild vacation.”
“No, not a wild vacation. After work tomorrow I’m going camping with Gwen and her twin brother for a week. Do you want to come? Their tent-trailer has three double beds in it, but I’m sure Garrett won’t want to spend the night under the same roof as us girls anyway. It’ll be fun.”
Roberta shook her head. “No, I’m not going to tag along with you and your friends.”
“Don’t be silly. You’re my friend, so naturally you’re their friend too. You remember them, don’t you?”
Roberta remained silent as she thought for a minute. Certainly she would have remembered friends of Molly’s that were twins. “Sorry, I don’t think so.”
“We were planning on meeting Garrett at the campground.”
“Why in the world would you want him along? Is there something going on between you two that I don’t know about? Does your friend mind her brother coming?”
Molly shook her head. “No, nothing like that. It was Gwen’s suggestion. Maybe he has some time off work or something. He’s really good-looking and very nice, but not my type.”
Roberta backed up a step. “I don’t want to tag along. I think I’ll just stay at home, thanks.”
Molly snorted. “Not a chance, Robbie. In fact, I insist. Not only that, you can help us. If you took the camper tonight, then we’d be assured of a great spot for our week’s vacation. No reservations, first come, first served. So you can be the first one there!”
Roberta almost visualized the gears whirring in Molly’s head. She held her hands up, palms facing Molly, in an attempt to ward her off. “You can’t make me do that. You know I’ve never been camping in my life. Besides, if I went tonight, that would mean I would be out there all alone. No way!”
Molly made a calculated laughing sound. “You won’t be alone. Garrett will be there.”
Shaking her head furiously, Roberta didn’t drop her raised hands. “Oh, no. I’m not spending the night in the middle of nowhere with a strange man keeping watch over me. You’ve conned me too many times for me to get sucked in like that. Not this time. No way. I’m staying home.”
“He’s not strange. I’ve known him for years.”
Roberta noticed Molly’s lack of reference to everything else she mentioned. “No.”
Molly shrugged her shoulders. “How about if I spent the night with you?”
Roberta dropped her hands to her side. “What?”
“The campground at Rolly Lake is only a couple of hours’ drive from downtown Vancouver. Not in rush hour, of course. If I leave work early and beat the traffic, then I could be there in time for a late supper if you pick up the groceries. How about it?”
“No.”
“We can have a wienie roast, just you and me.”
“Really? Uh, I don’t know …”
“Hurry up.” Molly checked her watch. “I have to be back at work in a few minutes.”
“But I don’t think—”
“We’ll have a great time …”
“But I—”
“Going, going …”
Roberta raised her hands, then slapped them to her sides. “Oh, all right! I’ll go!”
“Great!” Molly shouted and clapped her hands. “I’ll tell you everything you need to know.” She reached into her purse and handed Roberta her key ring. “Here. Drive me to work.”
“What? Why?”
“So you can go get the camper. My car has a hitch. Yours doesn’t, does it?”
Roberta laughed for the first time that day. “Of course not.”
“Let’s go. I’ll tell you how to set it up on the way there. It’s important to do everything in the right order. Maybe you should write down some instructions while I drive.”
“How are you going to get home?”
“With Gwen. We can only have two cars parked on the spot, so the only two cars we can use are mine and hers.”
That answered that. Kind of. While Molly drove back to her office, Roberta tried desperately to write down Molly’s rush of instructions, a near impossibility in the moving vehicle.
“Sleeping bags are already in it. Bring your own pillow. See you about sundown. Bye!”
Roberta smiled hesitantly. As Molly raced out the car door and disappeared into the entrance of the office tower, Roberta couldn’t help but feel she was making a big mistake.
Roberta experimented with the brakes, testing the added weight of the full trailer behind her before she had to come to a stop in real traffic. She sucked in a deep breath and willed her hands to stop shaking. She could do this.
All the way down the highway, despite strict adherence to the posted speed limit, she couldn’t help but notice the long lineup of cars behind her. Every time another irritated driver whizzed past, she tightened her already iron grip on the steering wheel. When at last she arrived at the park entrance gate, she heaved a sigh of relief.
Slowly, she bumped down the gravel road to the designated camping area, where she used her best judgment to pick one of the many large sites still available. A sign instructed campers to pick a spot, and a park ranger would register it later.
One day she would get Molly back for this.
Stopping the car and trailer a little beyond the entrance to the site, Roberta mentally prepared to back in. With no one to help direct her, she desperately tried to remember Molly’s rapid-fire list of instructions during the twenty-minute drive back to work. All Roberta could remember were cautions to steer the opposite way when backing up. As well, Molly’s friend’s mother had warned her about something called “jackknifing.” She’d heard the term mentioned in reference to big highway trucks, but never knew what it meant.
On the bright side, no one was around to laugh if she backed in wrong. However, at some point, someone would come by, and she was blocking the oneway gravel road.
Roberta craned her neck to examine the wide opening one last time, sucked in a deep breath, and shifted into reverse. After considerable manipulation, she managed to back up most of the way into the spot, but the trailer was crooked and too close to the picnic table. At least she hadn’t hit it.
Her second and third attempts were worse.
Roberta dropped her forehead to the steering wheel with a bump while she mentally kicked herself for letting Molly convince her to do this. She had arrived at the house when Gwen and Garrett’s mother was already late for an appointment. All the woman had time to do was throw her a massive set of keys, tell her how to release the pin lock, and quickly help her hook the trailer to the back of Molly’s car. Then she had driven off, leaving Roberta standing in the driveway.
Roberta pressed her forehead into the steering wheel and drew in a deep breath. After one more attempt, if the trailer was still crooked, she would give up and leave it where it was, even if it was on top of the fire pit.
“Hi there,” a pleasant baritone voice resounded from beside the door. “Need some help, Miss?”
Roberta rolled her head on the steering wheel and raised her eyes to see a tall man standing outside the open window, smiling at her. She raised her head to see him better. His green baseball cap bore the emblem of the Parks and Recreation Division. Together with a pair of large dark sunglasses, the overall effect shielded most of his face. Below the sunglasses, he had the nicest smile she had ever seen. A khaki-colored shirt bearing a crest with the same emblem as the hat accompanied baggy black shorts, which showed off strong hairy legs. Beat-up hiking boots with wool work socks sticking above the rim completed the picture of a rugged park ranger.
“At the risk of looking like a helpless female, I’ve never pulled a trailer before, much less backed one in. I appear to be doing something wrong.”
The ranger grinned, showing off some rather attractive dimples and a flashing white row of straight teeth. Sunlight glinted off the frames of the dark sunglasses, emphasizing the deep tone of his skin. For a split second, Roberta considered him very attractive and wished she could see his eyes. But then, her better judgment took over. After the way Mike treated her, it would be a long time before she would even look at a man again.
“You’ve never driven with a trailer before? I could never tell.” His smile widened.
Roberta scowled back.
He rested one hand on the mirror. “If you want, I could back it in for you.”
Roberta narrowed her eyes while she considered his suggestion. Molly had told her any of the park rangers would be able to help if Garrett was unavailable. However, even if Garrett were available, she would never know it. She had no idea what Garrett looked like, or what time he was due to arrive. She wasn’t sure what to do.
She tilted her head to study him further. This man was a park ranger, not a petty hoodlum about to steal Molly’s car. She
was obviously doing a poor job of trying to back the trailer in place. The offer of help from a ranger was too good to pass up.
She met his eyes and forced a smile. “Yes, please.” As she stepped out of the car, she couldn’t help but notice how tall the ranger was as he passed her on his way in.
The ranger bumped his knees against the steering wheel before reaching down to adjust the seat so he could position his legs comfortably. Roberta hadn’t considered Molly’s car that small, but when the ranger straightened, the top of his hat scraped the ceiling.
He shifted the car into gear and inched forward until the car and trailer were aligned properly. He then backed in smoothly, positioning the trailer perfectly with the first effort.
He stepped out and tipped his hat. “Will that be all, Miss?” he asked, smiling at her again.
Roberta dared not ask him to help unhitch it. Besides, she had her notes. “Thank you very much. I appreciate your help, but I think I can manage on my own from here.”
“Very well,” he replied. Holding the brim of his cap, he straightened it on his head. “See you after you’re settled so we can get you registered.” He smiled again and left.
Roberta checked her notes.
Her list said to block the tent-trailer, then support it and unhook it. She stared at the trailer, still attached to Molly’s car. That had sounded so simple while Molly barked out instructions. A few pieces of wood had surrounded the tires in the Gwen’s mother’s driveway, so she did the same.
Roberta stood back to admire the start of her project. Molly had mentioned something about legs under the trailer, so Roberta lowered herself gently in the gravel to her hands and knees and pulled down four spring-loaded contraptions, one tucked in each corner, and adjusted them until they touched the ground.
According to the list, the next step was to unhitch it, so she started turning the crank to raise the hooking thingie above the hitch. Nothing moved. She cranked and cranked until she started to sweat and stopped. Roberta swiped a sheen of moisture off her brow, needing to take a breather. When she stood back, she noticed a clip on top of the locking mechanism. Roberta narrowed her eyes and scowled at it. What a stupid place to put a safety latch.
