Published: 1 Sep 2022

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The three boys joined in the group hug and Billy thanked his ‘brothers’ for coming to him when he was ‘hurting’ just then. He told them that he just learned that Kaden had been arrested, and it dawned on him that someone who he thought was a friend almost got him killed.

‘Dad’ Ken asked the three boys to head back to their rooms, and to not let what happened to their ‘brother’ disturb their sleep, and to try to put this entire incident behind them.

‘Dad’ Ken then hugged Bill some more and told the teen that he would always be there for him, and that all he needed to do was just ask. Billy thanked him for everything he’s done for him, and that he knew seeing Doctor Doug next week was going to be a good session.

Mr. Ken was reading his Sunday newspaper when the boys began filtering into the Kitchen Nook. Charles had hoped they could have gone out for breakfast, but his dad told him that Mr. Levi had his dressing change scheduled for 10 a.m., and that just wouldn’t work for them today.

The boy’s dad told him there were breakfast tacos in the convection oven for him and his ‘brothers’, so they should take three, get their drink and enjoy.

Mark got his dad three tacos and a cup of coffee and brought some milk over for him to add to his hot drink. The man told his host that Billy had told him about Momma’s breakfast tacos and he was looking forward to tasting them for himself.

As the group ate, ‘dad’ Ken told the boys that after Mr. Levi had his dressings changed, and the man was ready to go, he was taking him out to look at hardwood flooring and paint samples. He added that they would then head over to visit with his wife and show them to her.

Mark wanted to know if he could go with them. The boy’s dad told his son that they would be gone a long time, and he would be bored and it would be best if he stayed here. The man told Mark that they had to talk about paint colors and flooring and his mom would understand his not coming today.

Mark said he understood and then he turned and asked Billy if he would catch for him for a little while before they went up for their showers. Robert spoke up and offered to catch for him if Billy wouldn’t. Billy started to argue with Robert as to why wouldn’t he. Mr. Ken put a stop to it after the two got into it for a few moments.

Harper Young arrived on time and he and Mr. Golderson went up to the man’s bedroom to do the wound care. Mr. Ken used that time to get ready for the day. The boys cleaned up the Kitchen Nook and then Mark and Billy went out to the pitcher’s rubber and home plate and Mark threw some pitches. Matthew and Kyle went out to watch.

Mr. Ken and Mr. Levi departed The Cove about 11:30 to stop by the big box stores to get some flooring and paint samples. They also stopped at a few dedicated flooring and paint stores for more samples to take to Miriam for her approval.

The Cover’s friends arrived at eleven, as they did during the summer. Billy asked his ‘brothers’ if he and his friends could take the WaveRunners out first, as he wanted to see how his insides could handle the PWC. Robert told him their ‘dad’ might get mad, but Billy said he wasn’t going to speed, he just wanted to go out and go slow.

Billy and his friends were back in about forty minutes and Billy did what he said he was going to do. He told Robert that even though he went slowly, the lake was still a bit rough, and he could tell his insides were still sore and he was glad he didn’t go any faster. The older teen added that the go-karts were much smoother than the WaveRunner was out on the lake.

Mark and the other boys played on the water toys and Russel did tow them on the towing tube and they had a great time until it was time to cook the burgers and dogs.

Mr. Ken and Mr. Levi were back by five after a long day of gathering samples and then visiting Miriam and getting her input to what she envisioned for any changes to the master bedroom suite and the paint colors for the two bedrooms upstairs.

The Covers had to wait until Harper came to change Levi’s dressings before they went out for dinner. They went over to the Four Corner’s Diner for dinner, and afterward they played miniature golf. Mark begged his dad to play, even though he had his arm in a sling. The boy told him it was for fun and he needed to have some, too. Lo and behold, the man won a Free Game on the Eighteenth Hole, even with his arm in a sling. The boys couldn’t believe it.

In the Study that night, Mr. Ken told the boys he would take Mr. Levi over to his home tomorrow to meet with the contractor to start getting the home repaired. He reminded the boys that on Tuesday he would interview five people for the part-time position he advertised. He told them that after dinner he, Robert and the twins would then head down to Bandera County for the trial.

The man reviewed who had appointments that week, including Mr. Golderson with his doctor on Thursday, and that Mr. Chris would have to help with the driving.

‘Dad’ Ken said that the amusement park trip was all set and all he needed to do was give the air charter company a one-day notice and they would be off to visit his four parks. The man reminded his ‘sons’ to tell their friends they could be gone really fast.

Mark spoke up just then and asked, “Mr. Ken … when you go visit your amusement parks … will I … will I get to go too?”

“Yes, Mark … as long as you are living with me you are going, and seeing that your house will take about three weeks to be repaired, you will probably be staying with us until then. I have asked your dad to go with us, but he has to talk to his doctor. In the meantime, I am going to ask Mr. Dan to go along with us,” answered the foster dad.

Mark looked around at his ‘brothers’ and he had a big smile on his face that wasn’t missed by his dad and Mr. Ken.

That night Mr. Ken talked to all the boys with Billy being the last one. The teen told the man about his taking the WaveRunner out and how his insides were still sore. He explained he did go slowly, as his friends went fast as they rode around him, and now he knew that his riding bumpy rides at the amusement parks would not be on his agenda.

Mr. Ken ruffled the teen’s hair and thanked Bill for being up front and honest about what he learned. The man explained that the doctor told him it could take six to eight weeks before his insides are fully healed, and even then, he still needed to be careful about being hit anywhere on his body that could reinjure the parts where those men did a number on him.

Momma Maria was ready for the Covers that Monday morning when they came down for breakfast. She had scrambled eggs, sausage, fried potato cakes, toast and different jellies for everyone that morning. They all had a good meal to put into their stomachs.

Levi Golderson commented that he’d only been there less than a week and was already putting on weight, and was loving every minute of it. Momma smiled back at the man.

Harper Young, like clockwork, arrived right at ten, and he and Mr. Golderson went up to the bedroom and changed the dressings. Mr. Ken went back to his private retreat and got ready for the day. Mark and Billy went outside and the boys pitched some before they went up for their showers and got ready for their own day.

When he was all cleaned up and ready for the day, Mr. Ken gathered up his two trusty employees. He told them to review the applicants for the part-time job he advertised for and pick the five best ones, and then schedule them for half-hour interviews at the Lakeside Hotel starting at 11:30 tomorrow.

Their employer told the men that today he would drive Levi over to his home to sign the contracts with the contractor who will repair the damage from the home invasion, and then he would take him over to visit Miriam.

He told Wayne about the boys’ appointments that week and he asked Chris to take Levi to his doctor’s appointment that Thursday, and if the man got his driving privileges back, he asked him to take the man over to his house to get his car.

Mr. Ken then made a phone call. The men listened in as their boss talked to Lieutenant Fischer. They heard him ask him if there were any results in their investigation concerning the Panic Button in the Goldersons’ home and, if there was, could Levi get a copy of that report. When the phone call was just about over. Mr. Ken then asked Dan over for dinner that evening.

Mr. Ken then reviewed with Chris the plans for their upcoming trip and that he was going to ask Dan to accompany them as the third adult in the group. He said that he wasn’t sure if Levi was going, and it would be best to have that third adult in the group. He added that with Mark, there were now eight boys, and he would still need to have the three teens in the one room by themselves, so for him to call and get one more room.

It was then Levi came to the Study. He asked Ken when they would be leaving for his home. Mr. Ken looked at the time and said they probably should leave now. The two men said they’d see the other men later and headed to the garage to take the F-150, to drive over to the Goldersons’ home, and then to visit with Miriam.

Mark was enjoying his stay at The Cove. He had the wonderful Cove Skate Park to skate on and a number of boys who could help him hone his skills with the tricks he was learning. He also loved having a large group of boys to play with on the water toys. What the best part of living there, he felt, was riding the water tube and being dumped into the water.

The new Cover also got into challenging the boys on the four games Kyle had Mr. Ken buy for the Pavilion. He wasn’t all that good at any of them, but he enjoyed all the different things he got to do there at The Cove.

Mr. Ken and Mr. Levi returned home around 3:30. Mark was happy to see his dad and he asked how his mom was doing. The boy also asked about the home and how long it was going to take to fix everything before they moved home. Dad Levi told Mark it would be about at least three weeks, if not a bit longer.

Just before five, the soccer team began to arrive. Mark was ready for them and they all got into warm up drills, before their coach talked to them about Saturday’s game. After telling them what he wanted them to work on, he asked Mark if his friends would help them out by playing against them as they did last week.

The hour practice went by faster than the boys and girls could believe. Because they had the full-sized field, and someone to practice against, they were more enthusiastic and worked harder to play together and learn their plays.

The boys were surprised when Mr. Dan arrived just before dinner, and were even more shocked when they learned he was there for dinner. Of course, Momma knew he was coming and because of the added guest they ate in the Dining Room that night.

During dinner, the boys asked Mr. Dan how he’d been and why he hadn’t been stopping by as he used to. The man told them that as a lieutenant, he now had many more responsibilities and paperwork and he didn’t have all the free time he used to have. He did tell them that he missed stopping by and enjoying all of the amenities at The Cove.

Harper arrived at seven to change Levi’s dressings, so the two went upstairs to the bedroom to perform the wound care for the night.

After dinner, they all gravitated to the Study, but tonight there were more people than chairs, so they moved their meeting to the open and comfortable Great Room. Levi joined them there after he and Harper were finished changing the dressings.

‘Dad’ Ken reminded the boys he would be interviewing applicants for the part-time job tomorrow, so he won’t be around the house most of the day and then he, Robert and the twins will be heading off to Bandera County after dinner.

The man told them that Mr. Wayne would be holding down the fort while he was gone and that Mr. Levi would still be there. He also covered who had doctor appointments and that Mr. Levi had one and that Mr. Chris would be drafted to drive Mr. Levi to his doctor appointment.

Levi spoke up and told the boys he hoped to have his driving privileges back then, and then he could take himself and Mark over to see his wife and check on the progress of the repairs at the house.

Mr. Ken then told the boys that when they go on their trip, Mr. Dan had agreed to go with them. Upon hearing that, the boys went ballistic. Kyle was the most stoked at hearing Mr. Dan was going, so he went over to him and gave him a big hug.

Dan told the boys he was only going to be with them for four days, but he was looking forward to having some fun, and seeing at least two of Mr. Ken’s four amusement parks. The boys were a bit disappointed he wouldn’t be there for the full nine days, but they were happy he would be with them, anyway.

After the meeting, the boys went up to their rooms and the adults went to the Study. There, Dan had an envelope for Levi. When Mr. Golderson opened it, he was surprised to see a copy of the preliminary police report on their investigation on the Panic Button in the upstairs Safe Room in his home. Dan told him it wasn’t an official report, but it gave some indications of where their investigation was going.

Levi thanked him for giving that to him. He asked, when the official report was completed, if he would be able to obtain a copy. Dan told him to have his lawyer file the proper paperwork and then they could go from there. Levi had a big smile on his face. He then thanked Ken for helping make this possible. All Ken did was smile back at his guest.

Later that evening, when the two men were alone, Levi told Ken that he would like to be with his son on the trip, but he felt that nine days away would be too long for him to be away from his wife and the construction going on at the house. Mr. Ken asked him if he would consider coming out when Dan left and finish up the trip with them.

Levi asked him how he could do that. Ken told him he’d have him fly out and meet him, as he had to fly Dan back, so it wouldn’t be any trouble. Mr. Ken told him all he needed to do was have Chris plan it with the air charter company. Levi was concerned about the cost, but Ken told him not to be, as he had it all covered and that it was all about the boys. Levi smiled at hearing that.

The boys all thanked their ‘dad’ for having Mr. Dan going with them when he talked to them that night. They were happy to have someone they knew going along, and not the new person he was going to hire. ‘Dad’ Ken told them he wouldn’t have the new person begin working until after they pass a background check. The boys were happy to hear that.

During breakfast, ‘dad’ Ken told Robert, Kevin and Kyle that after they finished eating, they were to go up to their rooms and pack for their trip. He told them to plan for four days and to make sure they put their toiletries in plastic bags, so they didn’t leak onto their clothes. He told them to make sure they brought their swimsuits, so they could swim at night at the hotel. That put a smile on the boys’ faces.

Mark was amazed at how much went on at The Cove. He also noticed that Mr. Ken was always telling the boys about everyone’s appointments, or what was going to happen, or he was reminding them of something or other. He liked that. It made sure everyone knew what was going on, and even if they weren’t involved, they were aware it could affect them somehow.

Mark and his dad also began talking at night after Mr. Ken stopped at his bedroom. They talked about what Mark did during the day, and how things would change when he got back home. Mark knew his life would be drastically different when he moved back home, but he told his dad that he was learning so much being around all his new ‘brothers’, and their friends, that he would be better for it.

Harper arrived on time to do the wound care for Levi, and he told the man that after Thursday, he may only have to change the dressing once a day. The man was happy to hear that,

When Mr. Ken left to go over to the Lakeside Hotel to conduct the interviews for the part-time employee, Mr. Wayne took Levi over to visit with his wife, Miriam.

The Cover boys and their friends did their usual skating and swimming that day. Charles took Mark out on the sailboat, and since the teen wasn’t responsible for the barbeque that day they went out for a longer sail. Mark was thoroughly enjoying that. But the longer sail had its drawbacks, as the team was finishing up cooking when they returned, so Charles had to cook them hot dogs if they wanted to eat.

Mark and his soccer team practiced at five o’clock that Tuesday night. The other boys did scrimmage against the players to help them work on their skills and playing together as a team. Their coach was seeing the benefit of having the team go against the older, bigger boys.

After dinner, the boys weren’t happy that their ‘dad’ was leaving for a few days. They knew he wasn’t going too far away, but they still didn’t like it when he left. At least he was taking three of their ‘brothers’ with him this time.

Harper Young arrived a little late that evening, so Mr. Wayne went up to the Main Gate and had him entered into the database. He apologized for his lateness, but he told Mr. Wayne that his new patient asked a ton of questions and he was obliged to answer them.

Mr. Wayne told Harper that he was now in the database, and they would no longer have to call him to allow the med tech to enter the estate. The Estate Master told Harper all he had to do was prove who he was, and they would let him into the estate from now on. Harper thanked him for doing that for him. The two then went down to the house, so Levi could have his wound dressings changed.

When it was time for the med tech to leave, Billy asked him if he had another patient to go to. Harper asked the teen why he wanted to know. Billy honestly told him that if he didn’t, he wondered if he would show him and his ‘brothers’ some more of the things he could do on the skateboard up at the Skate Park.

The man looked at Mr. Wayne to see if that would be OK. The Estate Master told Harper that if he was finished with his patients for the night the boys would probably enjoy him showing them his moves, and maybe how to do some of them. Harper smiled and said he was clear for the rest of the night.

Billy rounded up Charles, Matthew and Mark and they took a golf cart up to the Pavilion while Mr. Wayne drove Harper and Mr. Levi up there. Billy got his skateboard out for the man to use and the man thanked him, then went over to the Park and began getting warmed up.

The boys watched how well Harper rode the skateboard and did all the tricks that he could do. Mr. Wayne took his skateboard out and did the tricks he could do, and the boys were given an awesome show.

Charles had forgotten how well Mr. Wayne could skate, and when he saw he and Harper go head-to-head out on the course he smiled. Even Billy was smiling ear-to-ear as he watched two very good skaters do different tricks using the different obstacles on the course.

Mark was amazed himself, seeing two very good skaters use the whole Cove Skate Park to show their stuff. Levi knew there were people out there who honed their skills on the skateboard, but he’d never met them before and now he was watching two of them show what they could do.

The two men finally took a break and talked about their abilities and how they got as good as they were. They were surprised they both had the same sort of training through high school and college, but Harper quit college to join the Army to get money to finish up his college degree.

The boys talked to Harper Young and they even offered to get him a soda from the machine. But he asked if they had cold water instead. Matthew and Mark went into the storage room and brought back cold bottles of water for both Mr. Wayne and Mr. Harper.

Harper said that with the size of the soda machine they had, they could probably put some water in there. The boys asked him how they could do that. The man asked them if they had the key so they could open it up. So, Charles went over and got it.

When they opened up the machine, Harper told them that the machine was sized to hold about 25 cases of soda in nine selections, which was about 600 sodas, but it could also be made to hold bottles, too.

The medical technician told the Covers that while he was in the Army, he came across the same sort of machine in Afghanistan, and they converted it to hold water in two of the racks. He said it would reduce the soda selections down by the number of water racks they decided to create. The man added that it would be good to offer cold water to those who want that instead of sugary soda. He then asked them if they ever thought of offering diet sodas.

Harper thanked Mr. Wayne for the chance to use the Cove Skate Park again and then the boys for being such a great audience. He told Mr. Golderson he would see him tomorrow at ten, and then he asked for a ride down to his car, so he could head on home.

The Covers went out for ice cream after Mr. Young left The Cove. They only went over to Four Corners and Mr. Ken’s Kreamy Kone, but it was something different for the boys. They did bring Chief her treat, and tonight, Mr. Levi gave it to her.

Chief was perplexed that someone new had her treat for her, but she accepted it with all the gusto she always did and then ate it as quickly as she could. When she was finished, instead of giving the man a bunch of cold doggie kisses, she knew the man had his arm in a sling, so she held out her paw for him to shake. The man accepted it and the two shook. Chief then gave him some doggie kisses anyway, and barked a few happy barks at him. Everyone laughed, including Mr. Levi.

‘Dad’ Ken told the boys not to expect a phone call from him tonight, as it would be late when they arrived at the hotel, and they needed to get settled first and they had an early wakeup call.

Mr. Wayne stopped at the remaining boys’ bedrooms and talked to them that night. The boys all talked about Harper and his skating skills, and they thanked him for allowing the man to do that and for him joining him out there. They all said they liked the man.

The Cove was quiet that night.

Mr. Wayne had picked up the morning newspaper when he got up, and was reading it when the remaining Cover boys came down for breakfast. It was a quiet breakfast with four Covers missing that morning.

Mr. Wayne did tell Billy he would take him over to see Doctor Powers at ten thirty, for his appointment at eleven, and he would then take Mr. Levi over to visit with his wife after lunch. He reminded Billy and Mark that they both had Doctor Doug appointments on Thursday at ten and eleven, so they had to be up, showered, dressed, fed and ready to go at 9:30. He added that Mr. Chris was taking Mr. Levi to see his doctor that morning, so Charles and Matthew would be holding down the fort.

Harper Young rang the Foyer Doorbell at ten a.m. and Chief went running through the house as she wasn’t used to someone ringing it. Mr. Levi figured who it was, so he walked to the Foyer to see that it was Harper. Since it was, the two men went up to the bedroom to do the wound care.

Mark wanted Billy to go outside for a little while so he could pitch some, before they went up to get their showers. But Billy told Mark he needed to get ready to go to see Doctor Powers, so he couldn’t do that right now. The teen then went upstairs to get ready to go to his appointment. Mark followed.

Charles and Matthew also went up to get ready for the day. They couldn’t wait until their friends arrived, so they could tell them about Mr. Wayne and Mr. Harper going head-to-head on the Skate Park course last night.

The Covers’ friends were allowed to come over even though three Covers were gone. Robert had successfully argued with his dad that with Eric being there, there really weren’t three Covers gone. With that being the case, all of Robert, Kevin and Kyle’s friends were still allowed to come over, while they were down at Parker Parchsons’ trial with ‘dad’ Ken.

The Covers’ friends knew why they were gone, but none of them talked about it. It was one of those situations that wasn’t openly talked about amongst the boys. They knew that when they returned, they would find out what the verdict was, and what would eventually happen to the twins, as Robert was already adopted.

With Billy gone to his doctor appointment, Charles, Matthew and Mark were the only ones at the Pavilion when their friends began to arrive. The Covers waited until the majority of their friends were there before they told them about the skating match they witnessed, the night before, between Mr. Wayne and Mr. Harper.

Matthew and Mark were the most animated in their telling, so Charles had to reign them in. The teen told their friends that Billy asked the medical technician if he would show them some more of what he did before. Then, when he was out there, Mr. Wayne got his skateboard out and he went out there with him.

Charles told the group that the two men put on a great show for them, and Mr. Harper showed them some things they could do, but he reminded them that it takes practice and more practice before they will get good at doing any of the tricks they try.

The boys were disappointed that they had already left when the two men were out on the Cove Skate Park. They asked if Mr. Harper would ever do that again. Charles told them that he gets there at 7 p.m. to change Mr. Levi’s dressings and sometimes he doesn’t have a patient afterwards, so he can do what he did last night.

The boys asked about when the man was there in the morning if he could show them then. But Charles said that he has to go to his patients after he leaves, so there was no chance he would do that again. Logan told Charles to use his quadcopter the next time and tape it for them. Charles said he didn’t even think to do that.

The boys skated, played the Pavilion games and swam throughout the day. Billy returned from his doctor appointment and his friends wanted to know what Doctor Powers had to say about his healing and his being able to go back to skating and doing other things.

Billy told Lonnie, Gabe and Jamie that Doctor Rick told him to continue to take it easy and not to be in a hurry to get back to doing what he used to do. Billy explained the doctor told him that if he did, and he fell or jarred his insides the wrong way, he could reinjure them, and it would take even longer for him to get back to doing what he liked to do.

Momma Maria made lunch for Wayne, Levi and Chris, knowing the boys would cook hamburgers and hot dogs at about two. The three men talked about what was going to happen the rest of the week, so they knew what to expect. Levi told the men he hoped his doctor would give him his driving privileges back tomorrow, and that would keep them from having to drive him around.

Before long, Mr. Wayne and Mr. Levi headed over to the Rehabilitation Center to visit with Miriam. Mr. Chris checked on the boys, knowing he really didn’t have to, as the boys were showing they were very responsible, but he wanted to let them know there was someone there if they needed him.

The boys continued to skate, swim and play on the water toys and when it was time, they burned the burgers and dogs, then went back to skating, swimming and having fun

The soccer team arrived as they normally did around five o’clock. The coach asked the older boys to play against his team, and he could see his team was getting better as they had someone to actually play against and it was honing them as a team.

Dinner was served in the Kitchen Nook that evening, since there were only six people in attendance. Momma fixed a simple meal of a side salad, meatloaf, mashed potatoes and creamed corn. And for dessert she had the simple Cinnamon & Sugar Churros for everyone.

The boys hugged Momma for fixing them a wonderful meal and tonight even Levi went over to the woman and he thanked her with his own hug. He told her she was such a wonderful meal preparer with so many awesome flavors in her foods. He told her when he finally has to leave, he will probably cry. Momma smiled and hugged him back.

The Covers met in the Study that evening but, as they did, Harper rang the Foyer Doorbell. Levi knew who it was, so he went to the door to answer it. The two men then went up to the bedroom to change the dressings.

While the wound care was being done upstairs, Mr. Ken called the Study to talk to the boys. He told them their ‘brothers’ were down in the hotel pool swimming and he wanted to call and talk to them. He told them what happened at the trial and that Kevin and Kyle couldn’t believe how much weight their dad had lost since they’d seen him last.

‘Dad’ Ken told the Covers that the DA’s opening arguments told the court that he was going to prove how Parker Parchsons had created this Man-Boy Club that paired men and boys for sex and made tens of thousands of dollars by doing so, and that he had used people’s homes that were up For Sale without their knowledge, and had also listed a number of other crimes.

‘Dad’ Ken told the Covers that in the Courtroom, there were a number of boys, along with their parents that Kevin knew from his Sunday meetings, and that some of the men that Kevin saw on those Sundays were also there. Mr. Ken speculated that the DA was showing Parker some of the people who were going to testify against him in the hopes Parker would accept the Plea Bargain he offered him.

‘Dad’ Ken told the boys that instead of individual phone calls that night, he wanted the boys to tell him what they did today. Each boy told him what they’d done, which wasn’t anything different than what they usually do.

Billy did tell him what Doctor Powers told him about not trying to get back to normal too fast. Then Charles told his dad how Mr. Wayne and Mr. Harper rode the skateboards up on the Cove Skate Park the previous night and gave them a great show.

Mr. Wayne then told his boss how Harper didn’t have another patient and Bill asked him if he would show them more of what he could do. Wayne then told the man how the two of them did their tricks and talked about how they learned to skate.

Levi had joined the group when the boys were done telling their ‘dad’ about their day, so he entered the conversation and said he was amazed how the two men seemed, he laughed, to be trying to show each other up. He said the boys were applauding and asking the men for more, and he was just enjoying the private show. The man then added that, to him, Harper appeared to be a down-to-earth type, easy going man and he enjoyed having him as his med tech.

After ‘dad’ Ken hung up, Mr. Wayne reviewed what was in store for tomorrow at The Cove. He told Billy and Mark they would have their appointments with Doctor Doug in the morning and he would be taking them and to be ready to go at 9:30. He then told Levi that Chris would be taking him to see his doctor.

The Estate Master added that Mr. Harper would not be there in the morning, but would be there tomorrow night. He also asked the boys to make sure they checked the supplies in the storage room, so that Momma and he could buy what is needed. He told them Robert usually did that, but with him gone someone else needed to pick up that slack.

Mark asked if they would ever change the soda machine over to add water bottles to vend. Mr. Wayne said he needed to talk to Mr. Ken about that before that could happen. Matthew then asked if they did that, if they could add flavored waters, too. Mr. Wayne said that now sounded like something that all the boys needed to have a say in.

It wasn’t the same with ‘dad’ Ken and three of their ‘brothers’ gone. This was the first time that had ever happened and the remaining boys were a bit perplexed over it. All the boys, except Mark, talked to Mr. Wayne about it when he came by their rooms that night.

Mark didn’t know what it was like to have Mr. Ken as their ‘only’ ‘dad’, so he couldn’t fully understand what his ‘brothers’ were feeling with the man gone. He heard them talk about it, but the concept just went over his head.

Mr. Wayne started at Mark’s room that night and when he left Levi stayed and he and his son talked. Levi was enjoying their talks. He was getting to know his son better and he felt he was building up a better rapport with the boy. Sure, they talked a lot about what was going on at The Cove, but that was giving them the basis to continue their talks when they finally moved back to their own home.

Mr. Wayne then went to the other boys’ bedrooms to talk to them. There they all lamented that with their ‘dad’ and ‘brothers’ gone, it felt ‘hollow’, or empty, at The Cove, and they couldn’t wait until everyone was back home. They all hoped that the trial wouldn’t drag on through the next week.

Matthew felt the absence more than Billy and Charles did. Mr. Wayne told him that as Billy, Robert and then Charles get older and go off to college there will always be change going on at The Cove, and he had to get used to it. The man hugged the boy and Matthew melted into him and didn’t want the hug to ever end.

Mr. Wayne did eventually get the young boy to release the hug, and then he ruffled the boy’s hair. He told him to sleep well, and he’d see him at breakfast in the morning.

The Cove was quiet that night and everyone slept well.

The saga of Three Finger Cove continues. Let Chowhound know you are reading his story: Chowhound at CastleRoland dot Net

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