Published: 15 Sep 2022

From Previous Chapter:

Charles couldn’t wait until his dad came to his room. He missed him those past three days and he wanted to just be with him again. Matthew was the same way. Billy also enjoyed resuming the talks with his foster dad and now that he was back living at The Cove, he wanted to make sure he wasn’t ever leaving again.

The boys were all happy they were together again, and that they would be leaving on their trip Monday morning. Knowing that, the Covers all slept well that Friday night.

Mr. Ken woke up refreshed from sleeping in his own bed. He used his en suite bathroom, then dressed in his usual nylon running shorts, t-shirt and Crocs and went out to get his morning newspaper. He could tell it was going to be a hot and humid day just by the way the air felt and the sun was beating down on him that early in the morning.

The man went inside and after getting his first cup of coffee, he took out 27 breakfast tacos and placed them into the convection oven and began heating them. He set the timer for 45 minutes, figuring everyone would be down by then and the tacos should be heated through by the time they all arrived.

The boys didn’t disappoint him. They showed up just before the timer went off and they could smell their breakfast being heated. They thanked their ‘dad’ for doing that for them, and as they all waited for the timer to ‘ding’, they each got their drink of choice.

When Mr. Levi arrived, Mark helped him get his first cup of coffee, and by then the timer on the convection oven had gone off, so the boy got his dad three of Momma’s breakfast tacos. Mark then went and took care of Chief, getting her fresh iced water and kibble, before sitting down to his own breakfast tacos.

Just then Mr. Chris arrived with a baggie of his own breakfast tacos and a cup of coffee. He told everyone, “Good morning”, and that he would get their trip finalized before he left for the day. The boys thanked him for coming in, and then the Covers went back to eating their breakfast.

While they ate, Robert asked where Mr. Wayne was. His dad told him, and the boys, he gave the Estate Master Saturday and Sunday off to get ready for the trip. He added that the man had been with them the past three days, and that he would be with them the next nine days and he needed time for himself.

‘Dad’ Ken then explained to the boys that was why he was hiring another part-time employee. He explained to them that Mr. Wayne needed personal time to take care of laundry, pay his bills and have some alone time, and that the part-time employee would allow him to take time off to do just that.

As the boys ate, they asked their ‘dad’ about the new hire and what they were like. The boys’ ‘dad’ told them that the man was a retired military officer in his early 60s, was a widower, and had applied for the position because he just needed something to do to keep him occupied.

The boys asked their ‘dad’ why he didn’t hire someone who was younger. Mr. Ken told them he was looking for someone who was readily available at a moment’s notice, was educated and met a few more of the requirements he set out. He told the boys Mr. Diamond was doing a background check on the man, and when they came back from their trip, the man would hopefully be on board.

“Oh, yes, Mr. Wayne and Mr. Chris,” spoke up Mr. Levi, “they were talking about him earlier this week. They said he was very well educated and qualified for the position. They said that all five of the applicants that Mr. Ken interviewed, were all equally qualified for the position, even the two women.”

The boys were all surprised their ‘dad’ had interviewed women for the job. But Robert was especially surprised his dad did that, after all the trouble he had with Mildred Johnston. He also thought his dad wouldn’t ever hire a woman to work after that incident. He decided he would talk to his dad later, because he knew the Nook wasn’t the right place to discuss that.

As the Covers talked, Mr. Harper arrived with the supplies and to change Levi’s dressings, so the two went up to the bedroom to do just that. But just before they went upstairs, Levi told his son to get ready for his soccer game and he would drive him over there when he was finished. Mark smiled at his dad and said he would be ready.

After the interruption, the boys continued and they told their ‘dad’ about the ramps being dismantled and about the new cypher lock put on the garage side door. The man was satisfied the ramps would soon be gone, but was even more pleased that Mr. Chris had the new lock installed and was looking forward to seeing it after he finished his breakfast.

Since Mr. Chris was still there working on the Cover’s trip, Mr. Ken asked the Estate Manager to come up to the garage to explain the new cypher lock to him, and have him program his fingerprint into the lock. Billy, Robert and Charles looked on as the two men inspected the new cypher lock and programmed The Cove’s owner’s fingerprint into the mechanism.

When the men were finished, and Mr. Chris headed back to his office, Robert asked his dad if he could talk to him. Mr. Ken told his son to follow him to the Study and they could talk there. The other two teens began to follow along, but Robert told them he needed to talk to his dad alone.

When the two Covers were in the Study, Robert asked his dad if he could close the door. Once that was done, Robert asked his dad, point blank, about his interviewing women for the part-time job, and told his dad that he thought he told him he wouldn’t ever hire a woman to work with the boys.

“Robert … son … in today’s world of equal opportunity and rights, political correctness and litigation, at the drop of a hat, I needed to make sure I interviewed men and women for the position I advertised for. That is just in case one of them cries ‘foul’, if and when they don’t get the job.

“I know what happened between you and Ms. Johnston and that was unfortunate. I never knew she was such a control freak, but you need to know that she grew up in a totally different era and apparently never accepted the new norms of today’s society.

“Son … we did talk about you having to know about women and that sometime in your life … you may have to work with or for them. And having another woman working around here … it won’t be the end of the world. What will happen if I get married? Huh?

“Son … you know I am not dating, but one day … one day I might decide to do just that, and … and I could be married in the near future. Son … if I do hire another woman you will just have to accept my decision and help me integrate her into The Cove and with the other boys.

“That might not be what you wanted to hear, but … but I have to do what I feel is best for The Cove and you and the rest of the boys. I’m hiring a part-time employee because, unlike Mr. Chris who has basically a forty-hour work week, Mr. Wayne is spending way too much time here, upwards of sixty hours, and he does not have enough time for himself. … Son … come here,” finished the teen’s dad with open arms.

The two hugged and when they separated, Robert thanked his dad for talking to him and explaining everything to him. The teen told his dad that he would be on board, and he would support him if he ever hired another woman.

Robert also told his dad that he wasn’t getting any younger, and that if he was thinking about getting married, and having kids of his own, he needed to start looking. Mr. Ken bopped his son on the back of his head, hugged him one more time and then the two broke up their meeting.

After Mr. Harper finished changing Levi’s dressings, Ken asked Levi to talk to him in his Study. But Mr. Golderson told his host he needed to take his son to his soccer game and then the two of them would be going over to visit with Miriam. The man asked if they could talk after they returned later that afternoon. Mr. Ken said it wasn’t all that important and later that afternoon would work out fine.

Mr. Ken went outside to see how the boys were coming along with the ramps. He was surprised they had gotten as far along as they had. He asked his ‘sons’ to have their friends continue to separate the parts and pieces into piles, and when they came back from their trip, he’d figure out what he was going to do with it all.

When the Covers’ friends arrived that Saturday, the boys told their friends that they would be leaving on Monday and that they wouldn’t be back until the seventeenth, and then on the eighteenth they would be going out to buy their back-to-school clothes and they would have to wait for their phone calls before they could come over.

When Eric arrived, he and Robert got the zero-turn mower and weed trimmer out and began cutting the large field. They knew it needed to be done, and if they waited until they returned, it would be too overgrown and more difficult to cut then.

The boys worked on the ramps for about two hours and were just about finished. Some of them wanted to continue and finish up the project, but others said they had tomorrow and it was time to eat and have some fun. The second group won over the first.

The boys saw Mr. Chris leaving and they asked him to eat with them, but he begged off, saying he was ready to leave for the weekend. He had finished coordinating with the air charter company for all the flights, including Dan’s return and Levi’s going as well as all the hotel rooms and transportation at all the amusement parks.

Mr. Chris coordinated with the same hotels Mr. Ken had stayed at before, and they were pleased he had chosen them again. Mr. Chris also mentioned to them, Mr. Ken’s request during his last visit for an additional room for his older teens and asked if they would allow him to have one again.

Mr. Chris offered them a security deposit to take care of any damage the boys may do, but since they hadn’t done that the last time, he didn’t expect that they would do it this time or ever. The hotels all understood who Mr. Thomas was and with his being a multiple return business client they didn’t want to lose this or any future business, now knowing he owned the local amusement park, so they readily booked the fourth room for him.

Mr. Chris had briefed his employer on everything he had set up, including the limos at all stops, the air charter flights for everyone, including Dan and Levi, baggage handling, hotel rooms and he also called the amusement parks to tell them to have the FFF (Fast-Faster-Fastest) Passes ready for them. Mr. Ken laughed at the last item knowing his operations managers would acquiesce to that request as soon as he arrived.

The boys cleaned up after they ate, then they quickly went out to swim. The ones who could drive the watercraft took them out, splashing one another and getting cooled off in the process. The boys who knew how to sail took the sailboats out, and they enjoyed the cool breezes as they quickly moved along the lake waters.

The rest of the boys played on the water toys, as they waited for Russell to take them out on the towing tube. The RockIt got a good workout that afternoon, as the boys each took turns letting go and being thrown up into the air and splashing down into the cool cove waters.

When they returned from seeing Miriam, Mark joined this ‘brothers’ and their friends out in the cove, while Levi searched out Mr. Ken so he and the man could talk. He found him sitting behind his desk in the Study.

“You wanted to talk with me?” asked Levi, as he knocked on the Study doorframe.

Mr. Ken asked Levi into the Study and had him take a seat. He, in-turn, came from behind his desk and sat opposite him. He told him he wanted to know what, if anything, the dad had planned for his son as his birthday was that Monday and they would be leaving for their trip then. Levi told Ken he had totally forgotten about his son’s birthday with everything that had happened.

Levi told his host that he and his wife had planned to buy Mark a .22 LR caliber pistol for his tenth birthday. He told Ken the boy had picked out the gun he wanted, and they would have gone out and purchased it together, but now they would have to wait until they were all back together, again.

Ken asked Levi if he had any problem with him buying his son a present. Levi thanked his host for the thought, but he added that he was already doing so much for his son, with the soccer field, the skateboard equipment and now the trip, that he really didn’t need to do anything else for his son.

Ken said he felt bad that they’d be on their trip, and the boy wouldn’t have anything to open on his birthday. Levi said he’d talk to Mark later and explain to him about his gun, and that he’d get it as soon as they were all living together back at their home.

Ken then asked Levi to talk to him about his thoughts about his teaching Mark how to shoot at such an early age and why. Mr. Ken told Levi how he didn’t think it was wise to get kids interested in guns, so that they wouldn’t gravitate towards them when they got older.

Levi told Ken that he and his wife, and their close friends, thought that teaching their children how to safely handle and use guns, when they were young, would take away their fascination for them and give them an appreciation for what they can do when used for the right reason.

Levi told his host that they go once a month to the shooting range to practice their skills and allow their children, ten and older, to continue to hone their own skills using the firearms they had in their own households. Levi added that when Mark got his .22 LR caliber handgun, they would slowly begin to orient him to it and teach him the proper way to shoot and take care of it.

Ken Thomas told Levi that only he and Robert actually had guns there at The Cove, but they didn’t go out and shoot very often. He said it might be very expensive to outfit all of the boys with their own firearm, though.

Levi smiled at what his host said and mentioned, that with what the man spent on his boys, that buying a few small caliber handguns would be worth it to let them know how to use a gun safely and appreciate what harm and damage one could do, if not used for self-defense.

The two men continued to talk, at length, about the benefits of teaching boys, or children in general, early about gun safety, how to shoot, and that they were to only be used for self-defense. Levi told Ken about the three guns he had in his own home, and about the time he allowed Billy to shoot them, and how the teenager was very attentive and appreciative of the opportunity to learn.

The Covers went out to dinner that evening, as they usually did over the weekends. That night they went out to Mr. Gatti’s, where they had the games in the back, and where the boys could play after they ate all the pizza, pasta and salad they could eat. And since Mr. Wayne wasn’t there, ‘dad’ Ken had to ‘buy’.

It had been a while since the Covers went to Mr. Gatti’s to eat and Mr. Ken noticed the pricing menu had changed. He asked Levi if he wanted to play any of the games or ride the few amusements they had in the back. The man said he probably wouldn’t, so Mr. Ken did some quick math in his head and bought 8 Eat and Play Combos and one Buffet.

Mark was beyond belief he was getting the chance to eat at Mr. Gatti’s. His ‘big brother’ had told him all about the place, when he was living with him and his parents, and now he was getting the chance to see what the place was all about.

Once Mr. Ken had paid the bill, received the game cards and passed them out to the boys, he told them to get their plates and to find him and Mr. Levi in the dining room, so they could all eat together.

Levi saw what the man paid for the nine of them to eat out that night and figured if they went out to eat at the Four Corner’s Restaurant, and they all ordered steaks, the bill would have been three times what the man just paid. He couldn’t believe his host didn’t blink at paying the huge bill. But then, again, he remembered the man told him that he did it for the boys’ self-esteem and to make up for them not being with their true families.

Mark and his ‘brothers’ ate as much pizza and pasta as they dared and drank as much soda as their stomachs could handle, but the games in the back were calling them. But this time, ‘dad’ Ken bought them a package that included two rides on the amusements located in the back area where the games were also located.

The boys showed Mark the games they loved to play and Mark went at them with gusto. But it didn’t take the boys very long to go through their $12.50 worth of credit on the game card that came with the buffet package their ‘dad’ bought.

Robert went to his dad and asked him if they could get another game card. The teen’s dad smiled and told his son that he didn’t have that kind of money with him. Robert said there was an ATM machine or he could use his Black Credit Card to buy some more. Dad Ken knew he was defeated, so he went with his son and bought seven more game cards for the boys.

After purchasing the new game cards, Robert told the man he needed to use his own card and ride the amusements with them before they left. Mr. Ken told Levi he had fatherly obligations, and headed to the back of the business. Levi followed along to see what the boys liked about the place.

‘Dad’ Ken was challenged to play a few air hockey games and shoot against Matthew at the infra-red shooting range. The boys also had him ride the air bumper cars with them and since there were seven boys, he had to do them twice, using up both of his ride tickets.

Levi watched it all and he saw why the boys liked going there. The food was fairly good, but the allure of the games was what it was all about. He knew when his family was back together again, he would have to talk to his friends and ask them to try the place nearest them at least once, so the kids could enjoy the food and games.

The Covers did stop by DQ on their way home that night. They all got sundaes and enjoyed them as they talked about their game prowess and the trinkets they won, from the tickets they got, from the games they played.

When they returned to The Cove, Mr. Levi gave Chief her dish of soft serve ice cream, who then gave the man some cold doggie kisses for getting her favorite treat.

The Covers did stop in the Study to talk about what they would be doing tomorrow and, on their trip, beginning on Monday. Mr. Ken told the boys after breakfast tomorrow they had to start packing their bags, and their friends would just have to wait for them to come outside. He also reviewed how Mr. Dan would be with them until Friday when Mr. Levi would join them.

The boys asked questions and when everyone was satisfied, Mr. Ken sent the boys up to their rooms to relax before going to bed. ‘Dad’ Ken and Mr. Levi then went up to say goodnight to Mark, then ‘dad’ Ken continued on to talk to the rest of the boys, before going down to his own retreat to sleep for the night.

Another great day at The Cove was over and everyone slept well.

Sunday morning all the boys were ecstatic about going out to breakfast. When they all met in the Kitchen Nook, Mark saw his dad wasn’t ready to go and he asked his dad why he wasn’t going. Mr. Golderson told his son he had to wait for Mr. Harper to change his dressings, but he would catch up with the group as soon as he could.

The boys all headed out to the garage and loaded in the van and soon the Covers were headed over to the Four Corners Diner for breakfast. Mr. Ken had called ahead for a table for nine and that one person would be arriving late and the waitress needed to be attentive and take their order as soon as they sat down.

As they waited for the breakfasts to be brought to them, the boys asked their ‘dad’ about their upcoming trip. Mr. Ken told them that it would go pretty much as it did last June, but that Mr. Dan would be there for the first two parks and Mr. Levi would be there for the last two.

Mr. Ken then said, “Bill … I don’t want you riding anything that would jostle your insides. And boys … I don’t want to hear the rest of you trying to convince him to ride anything he knows could hurt him. He’s been there before and he knows which rides are rough and which ones are not. I don’t want to have to rush him to a hospital because he hurt himself, just because one of you wanted him to ride with you. I’m sure you all understand what I am saying. Need I say more?”

The boys looked back and forth to one another to see if anyone had any questions. They all said they understood and Matthew spoke up and said he’d have him ride the train with him. All the boys laughed as they knew the boy loved riding the trains and that would definitely be a safe ride for their older ‘brother’.

‘Dad’ Ken said that was the type of ride Bill should look to ride, but he’d bet there were a few more rides the teen would find in the parks that would be safe as well. The boys then got to talking about which of the rides Billy could ride.

It was then that Mr. Levi sat down with the group and Mr. Ken called the waitress over to take the man’s breakfast order. He had told her when they were seated that he would have someone joining them and she needed to be ready to serve him, when he arrived.

“What did I miss?” jokingly asked Levi Golderson.

While Levi waited for his breakfast, the boys rehashed what they talked about and what he would see at the two parks he would be visiting with them. Mark listened closely as he was so looking forward to visiting all four amusement parks with his ‘brothers’, and having a vacation of a lifetime.

Some of the boys’ friends were waiting on them when they entered the estate. A few of the Covers wanted to get out of the van at the Main Gate, but ‘dad’ Ken told them they were all supposed to begin packing and they all had to ride down to the garage with their ‘dad’.

Mark rode with his dad and they went over to visit with Miriam. Mark wouldn’t get to visit with his mom for quite some time, and his dad wanted him to spend some quality time with his mom. They talked about everything Mark got to do at The Cove, and the trip that Mark was about to venture out on.

Miriam couldn’t be happier for her son. After hearing all those stories from their foster son, Billy, about The Cove, she was grateful her own son was having the opportunity to experience those same things. And now that her son was getting to go on one of those fabulous trips Mr. Ken takes his ‘boys’ on, she knew the boy would have memories that would last him long into when he had his own family.

The Covers and their friends did finish taking the old ramps apart. They swept the area where they were situated and they piled the wood neatly alongside the shed. The Parking Coral was now looking almost as good as the day it was built.

The boys went up to the Pavilion and they cooked the burgers and dogs. It was while they were eating that Mr. Ken and Mr. Levi came up to the Pavilion in the six-seater golf cart with the back seat folded down. When they arrived, Mr. Ken called Bill and Lonnie over. He had them carry a cake over to the serving counter.

“Boys … if I can have your attention. … Tomorrow is Mark’s tenth birthday. But since we will be on our last trip for the summer, I decided we would celebrate his birthday today. So … if you all would join in with me and sing Happy Birthday to Mark,” requested Mr. Ken.

Mark was brought up front and everyone sang Happy Birthday to him. There were no candles for him to blow out, but he did get to cut the cake and pass the cut pieces out to the boys. The boys all congratulated Mark on his birthday and they were all surprised when he told them he was getting a gun as his birthday gift.

Mr. Ken heard the muttering over the gun, so he asked for the boys’ attention, again. He explained to them what Levi told him about his belief in teaching young children gun safety and how to properly handle and shoot and that Mark was getting a .22 LR caliber handgun as his introduction into the world of firearms.

Mr. Levi then spoke up. He told the boys that it was his knowledge of how to use a gun, and shoot, that probably saved his and his wife’s life the night those men invaded his home. He told them that if he didn’t have that weapon in the house that night there was no telling what the outcome would have been. The man added that he wanted Mark to know how to use a firearm and not be afraid to use it to defend himself, like he had to do that horrific night to defend his family.

The boys were deep in thought after being reminded about the Goldersons’ home being invaded and that the man and his wife were actually shot. They also remembered that Mr. Golderson shot and killed one of the men, through a wall, and shot and injured one of the other men before the two men ran away.

The boys cleaned up the Pavilion really well, knowing they wouldn’t be back for at least ten days, or longer, before they headed out to play in the cove and get cooled off in the lake waters. They enjoyed the PWC’s, towing tube and water toys for the remainder of the afternoon.

Mark asked Russell if he would take him out on the Jet Ski one more time instead of on the towing tube. Russell told the boy he would, but he would be the last ride of the day. Mark couldn’t wait. And when the youngest Cover did get his ride, the rest of the boys were bummed out that they hadn’t thought of asking the lifeguard to do that with them, too.

While the boys were out having fun in the cove, Mr. Ken and Mr. Levi were talking about what would happen while Levi was waiting for his air charter flight to catch up with the rest of the Covers, on Friday, at Discovery Kingdom.

“Levi, Chris and Momma will be here during the week. Momma will cook breakfast and lunch for you, but you will be on your own for dinner. Chris will have to be here during the day as my construction crew will be coming in to reconfigure the girls’ bathroom into an expanded boys’ bathroom.

The men will be adding an extra shower head to each of the two shower stalls and at least one urinal to make that room boy friendly. The boys talked to me about how crowded it got with seven of them trying to take their showers at the same time, and they wanted to expand the shower room. But to do that would take space from one of the bedrooms and I wasn’t going to do that,” explained Mr. Ken.

“So, Mark … you’re telling me … he took his showers with all the other boys?” asked a disbelieving Levi.

“Well, in the beginning, I believe he used the girl’s bathroom and he may have taken his showers with Matthew. But I wasn’t there, so I can’t say for sure. But I do believe he did eventually join the rest of the boys in the bigger boys’ shower,” offered Ken Thomas.

“Oh, I’ll talk to him later about that. I don’t mind that he did that, but Miriam … she got really mad that she found Mark sleeping with Billy one morning, so I know she would not be too happy to learn he took his showers with a bunch of boys,” chuckled Levi.

“That might have to be one of those ‘secrets’, like you and the boys keep, so they aren’t embarrassed, that we keep from her, so that she doesn’t go off the deep end,” finished a chuckling Levi.

Mr. Ken told Levi that he would have a limo pick him up at 6:30 Friday morning and take him to the General Aviation services area at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport where he would jump on a private air charter jet that would fly him to meet them on Friday. The owner of The Cove told his guest that Mr. Chris would give him all the particulars about the flight, who he would meet, what to do and where to go at the airport.

Levi Golderson was taken aback over what the man was doing for him just so he could join him and his boys, but especially so he could be with his son, Mark, during a portion of their extended trip. He knew he would be forever grateful for what he was doing for his family during this tumultuous time in their lives.

Mr. Dan arrived around five o’clock that afternoon. He was staying in the other guest suite and would be going out to dinner with the Covers that night. He joined Ken and Levi in their discussion of the trip that was to begin tomorrow morning at o’dark thirty. Mr. Ken reminded Levi that he needed to be at The Cove at five o’clock for the soccer team to use the soccer field on Monday and Tuesday.

The Covers went to the Four Corner’s Restaurant for dinner that evening. Mr. Ken called ahead so they would have a table ready for them as there would be twelve people eating. Mr. Wayne, Ms. Judy and Eric were joining them.

When they all returned to The Cove, Mr. Wayne would be sleeping in Matthew’s room that night, so he would be there in the morning when the limos arrived to take them over to the airport. Eric would be staying in Robert’s room and Chief would be staying with Ms. Judy, as the resident pet had done in the past.

The boys were overly enthusiastic about the trip starting tomorrow morning. They continued to talk about which rides they wanted to ride when they got to each park and why. Charles said he was going to call Ron, the thirteen-year-old they met when they were at Crystal Lake back in June, to let him know they were going to be there, to see if he could join them.

‘Dad’ Ken had his son explain to him, again, who the teen was and how he got to join them. Charles explained they had an odd number when they rode one of the coasters and he rode with Mr. Wayne. The Cover continued to tell his dad that after that they got to talking and since he was there alone, he walked with them and when they got to the other rides, the ride operators remembered them from the previous day and they didn’t check all their FFF Passes, so Ron got to ride with them.

Mr. Ken laughed at the ingenuity of his ‘boys’ and said to invite Ron over to meet them for both days, if he could. The dad told Charles to ask their friend to meet them at the Operations and Employee building and that Charles should call him when he was heading over there. Charles thanked his dad for doing that.

The dinner was typical for the Covers. And besides their talk about the trip, they talked about their day and what would happen after they came home. Charles asked about his getting braces. The teen’s dad said he would make an appointment with an orthodontist when they return and he would decide if he needed them.

‘Dad’ Ken also told the boys he would schedule all of them into the dentist for another checkup to make sure they didn’t get any cavities since their initial exam and they would go from there. He told Bill that they would discuss his wisdom teeth issue during that appointment. He then told Mark that if he was staying with him any longer than Labor Day he would be scheduled as well.

When the Covers returned to The Cove, Mr. Ken had the boys take Chief’s bed and supplies out to Ms. Judy’s car. The woman wanted to get back home, so she, and Chief, could get settled, as it was already getting late. The woman hugged her son, Eric, told him to be good, and she was soon gone.

Since there were way too many to be seated in the Study, they all headed down to the Great Room. Once there, the boys brought up the issue of maybe putting water bottles in the soda machine and possibly flavored water in there, as well.

Mr. Ken asked them where that idea came from and he learned that it came from Mr. Harper when he asked for cold water instead of a soda after he skated one evening. Mr. Wayne added that he always kept water in the refrigerator and moving them to the dispenser would open space in there for more cold storage.

‘Dad’ Ken told the boys to remind him when they returned and they would look at it then. The man then told the boys that while they were gone, his construction crew would be in to add an extra shower head to the shower stalls in the girls’ bathroom and at least one urinal. He also told them that since none of them asked for their bedrooms to be painted they wouldn’t be.

The boys began to speak up that they forgot and that it wasn’t brought up again in their after-dinner meetings. They asked if it was too late to get them painted. Their ‘dad’ told them the only thing he could do, at this late a date, was to have them painted the same color they were now.

‘Dad’ Ken told them he did not have a color palette to show them if they wanted to change the color, so it was either stick with what they had, or nothing at all. Robert asked if they could go one shade darker, so it wasn’t so light. The teen’s dad said if he did that, his son was stuck with that color until they painted again and that could be another six to eight years.

Robert asked if he could paint the rooms while they were in school. The teen’s dad thought about that and asked the other boys what they thought. The rest of the boys said they liked that idea. ‘Dad’ Ken then said he would think about that after they returned from their trip. That was the end of the discussion.

‘Dad’ Ken then sent the boys up to their rooms to finish packing for their trip. He told the boys he, Mr. Dan, and Mr. Wayne would check their bags to make sure they hadn’t forgotten anything. He told Mark they would make sure he had everything as well, since this was a nine-day trip and he needed to pack for ten and he needed to make sure he had enough underwear. Everyone laughed.

Mr. Ken told everyone that wake-up would be at 5:30 a.m. and the two limos would be outside at 6:30. He told them they needed to be up, showered, dressed, with their bags downstairs and ready to load into their rides. He explained to Mark he would have one breakfast taco ready for each of them as they would get a nice breakfast during the three-hour flight back east.

Mr. Ken asked the boys to be in bed no later than ten o’clock. He reminded them they could catch up on any sleep they missed on the plane, and they all had alarm clocks and for them not to hit the snooze button when they went off at 5:30. He asked older ‘brother’ Bill to make sure all of his ‘brothers’ were up at the appointed time. Bill said he’d drag them out of bed if they weren’t. The boys all laughed, but they also knew he would if they weren’t.

Levi told his host that he’d get up when everyone else did, as he wanted to see his son off on his big adventure. The man again thanked Mr. Ken for doing that for Mark, and that he didn’t know how he could ever repay him for doing what he had for him and his son.

Mr. Ken asked Levi to contact his investors and talk to them next week and get them ready to meet and talk about what they see if they come together and join forces in building the marina as their first project. Mr. Ken then reminded Levi about all the other projects he has in mind that they could continue with if their group works out.

Levi said he’d definitely have the time next week to do that, and he was looking forward to getting back into his job and making things begin to happen. Mr. Ken told him he also needed to talk to Bill Jackson about his security company and see what, if anything, could be done there. Levi thanked him for reminding him of that.

The Cove was busy that Sunday evening with everyone getting ready for their trip. But eventually everyone settled down and they did get to bed at a decent time. But 5:30 came faster than any of them wanted.

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

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