Page 91 of The Shell Collector
“Oh, well that’s totally different.” Amanda looked over at Hailey, who seemed to agree. “I love surprises.”
“I need something from the store, though. Could we…all three of us…getyouto run to the store? We have something else we need to do out here while you’re gone.”
“I see. Running me out of my own house?” She looked over at Hailey and Jesse, who were practically bouncing with excitement. “You sure you can handle these two?”
“Absolutely.”
“Can y’all take care of Paul while I’m gone?” Amanda reached for her purse.
“Absolutely,” Hailey said, so mature for her age.
“I’ll help,” Jesse added.
“Okay, okay,” Amanda said, pretending to concede. “I’ll play along.”
Paul scanned the room, then clicked his fingers. “I need a pen and paper.”
“Junk drawer, by the refrigerator,” Amanda said, pointing toward the kitchen.
He opened the drawer and took out a pen and a tiny rectangular hot-pink notepad. “Um, couldn’t spare something bigger than this to write on?”
“How long is your list?”
“Not long. I’ll make it work.” He turned around to write, then folded the sheet into a postage stamp size. “Don’t open that until you’re in the store.”
“Why?”
“So it’ll be a surprise for you too. Do I have to tell you everything?”
“Apparently.” Amanda lifted her keys from the hook next to the back door. “I’ll be back in a jiff.” She lifted a finger toward Jesse. “You be good for him, okay?”
Once Amanda had shut the door behind her, Paul grabbed Hailey and Jesse each by a hand and ran toward the front window, ducking down to peer over the windowsill. “Let’s make sure she’s gone, and then we’ll get started. But we’ll have to work fast.”
He watched as she got into her car and pulled away from the front of the house onto the street.
“Move out,” Paul said. “To my truck.” Paul lifted a big bag over the bed of the truck, then handed an extension cord and white Christmas lights to Hailey and Jesse to carry.
He made quick work of putting up the tent. Not one you sleep in but more the party kind with netting to keep out the mosquitoes. Then he plugged in the extension cord and ran it over to drape twinkle lights around the edge.
In his truck, he also had nine blocks. He carried them over about six feet from the tent and put them in a circle. “You two, go collect twigs and place them inside the blocks here.” He propped a couple of large branches in the middle to get them started.
“Are we having a campfire?”
“We are!”
Jesse’s mouth dropped open. “I’ve wanted to do that my whole life!”
The kids were so excited you’d have thought Paul had put Santa inside the tent too.
“She’s back! She’s back!” Hailey yelled as she ran from the front gate, where she’d been posted on lookout.
“We’re ready.” He gathered them and they all three sat inside the tent. It was starting to get dark, so the twinkle lights were beginning to really show up.
“Would you look at this!” Amanda came around the corner and stopped short of the tent. “This is beautiful. Look at how busy you were while I was gone. Wow!”
“Do you like it, Mommy?” Jesse danced at her side.
“I do. I think you’re going to really like what Paul had me pick up too.”
