Touching Stars (29 page)

“What?” she demanded.

“I don’t know. I’ll talk to him again. But I think he’s feeling trapped by their relationship. Maybe things have come to a head.”

She had a feeling he wasn’t telling her everything, but she was glad to leave it in his hands. “I’m glad I asked.”

“So am I.” Then he leaned over. She felt the brush of skin rougher than hers and smelled a spicy, masculine soap. He kissed her cheek, completely catching her off guard.

“What was that for?” she asked when he straightened. She was afraid her cheeks were turning pink.

“For remembering I’m Jared’s father.”

Eric couldn’t get near his son until it was almost time for the evening campfire. Travis had divided the group so that one half of the campers spent the morning setting up tents and stowing their gear while the other half worked at the dig. Jared was much too busy pounding tent stakes and working out compromises on placement to have a conversation with anyone. At lunch he was busy helping the second group of counselors figure out what to do with their tents and gear, and after lunch he corralled his campers for the walk over to the site.

Eric knew that once Jared started supervising their excavation unit, he wouldn’t be able to take a long enough break for a heart-to-heart. The counselors had been trained to watch the campers closely so no artifacts were destroyed by impatience or carelessness.

The air was beginning to cool when he drove back to the Allen farm and parked. His presence at the campfires was expected now, since his youngest son was one of the stars. He pitched in with the setup and cleanup, and although Noah resented his help, he knew Gayle was grateful.

When the meal was almost over, he finally saw his chance to talk to his son. Jared’s campers had joined several other groups that were scraping plates and cleaning trash off the tables, and other counselors were supervising.

Eric made his way over and rested his hand on Jared’s shoulder. “Looking forward to sleeping under the stars tonight?”

“Yeah, it’ll be okay.”

“They keep you moving, don’t they?”

“I’ve had worse summer jobs.”

Eric had paid attention during dinner, and he had noted that Jared and Brandy seemed to be trying hard not to look at each other. “Want to take a short walk before the campfire? Just down to the river to stretch our legs?”

“Sure.” Jared checked his group to be sure everyone was busy; then he followed Eric.

The campsite was about an acre from the farmhouse, on the other side of a thin patch of woods. Travis had turned an old outbuilding into a primitive bath house, with a row of showers and a couple of toilets and sinks, divided down the middle by a concrete wall so there was a distinct his and hers. Portable toilets, one on each side, took up the slack during the week of camp. There was nothing fancy here. Travis wanted the kids to get the flavor of a real archaeology dig. There were lots of complaints about roughing it, but nobody really seemed to mind. Both the camp and the waiting list were always full a year ahead of time.

As they made their way across a field to the river, they chatted about the camp. Eric waited until they were out of earshot of anyone else before he got to the real point of their stroll. He didn’t know where to start, but he knew they weren’t going to have a lot of time.

He was afraid he knew what Jared’s problem was. He had been waiting for this opportunity since his conversation with Dillon on the way to their last swimming lesson, but he hadn’t been waiting eagerly. Dreading what he might find out, he edged carefully into his selected topic.

“Do you remember last week, when I was more or less telling you what to do about Brandy? I want to apologize. I was giving advice without knowing all the facts. I ought to know better. I hope you aren’t upset with me.”

“I didn’t think much about it.”

“The thing is,” Eric said, “I don’t really know how you feel about her. Maybe you’re so much in love, you just can’t wait to get married.”

Jared was silent.

“Or maybe you’re feeling a lot of pressure.”

“What do you mean?” Jared picked up a stone and threw it as far as he could into the river.

“Well, I don’t know. From friends, maybe. Or maybe Brandy’s pressuring you. You said she really wants to get married and have children.”

“Yeah, she does.” He threw another stone.

“Or maybe staying here just sounds easier and better than going away to school and being away from everybody you love. That can be hard.”

“It’s not that.”

“Do you want to tell me what it
is?
”

Jared was silent. Eric wished he could take a crash course in raising sons. He felt completely at sea.

He realized their time alone was going to end in a few minutes. He got down to the point. “Or maybe she’s pregnant,” he said, “and you don’t know what to do about it.”

Jared had picked up a third stone. He’d lifted his hand to throw that one, too, but now it dropped to his side. “What makes you think that?”

“I was your age once. And if I’d had a girlfriend as pretty and willing as yours, I would have found it impossible to resist having sex with her. I think you’re probably more responsible and mature than I was, but I’m not sure you’ve resisted, either.”

Jared didn’t look at him. “What did they do when you were my age? If that happened, I mean.”

“Before my generation, girls went into hiding, had their babies and gave them up. Or they found some back-alley doctor and hoped they survived. With abortion being legal, my generation had more options. But that doesn’t mean any of them were easy. I had friends whose lives were pretty shaken up by unplanned pregnancies. One girl had a baby and gave it up for adoption. She found her son a few years ago, and they became friends. But that’s not always the case.”

“Brandy wouldn’t consider an abortion.”

“That’s her right. And I know you wouldn’t push her.” Eric hesitated. “Is she pregnant, Jared?”

“I don’t know.”

Eric’s heart sank. “Okay. Do you know how to find out?”

“We tried a drugstore test today, but something went wrong. We’ll try again as soon as it makes sense. But we’re here for the week.”

Eric scrambled for a way to help. “No pressure, but I’ll arrange a little time off for you both when you’re ready. I can do that without revealing why.”

“That would be good. In a few days, when it will be more accurate.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Remember that time we went white-water rafting in North Carolina? Remember the hydraulic?”

Eric did. Jared had been a young teenager, ready for adventure. But when their raft had gotten stuck in a whirlpool, spinning madly in circles so that all they could do was grip the ropes lacing the sides and hope that eventually someone would get them out, Eric had questioned his own sanity. He had been terrified Jared would fall overboard and even more terrified that if he did, he wouldn’t be able to find him in the water.

“The hydraulic spat us out,” Eric said. “One moment I thought we were both going overboard, the next the raft was floating downstream.”

“I don’t think that’s going to happen this time.”

“You don’t know. And remember what the guide told us? Even if you had fallen in, you would have been pulled down, but the hydraulic would have tossed you out in plenty of time. It happens a lot, and nobody’s come close to drowning there.” He paused. “If the worst is true and Brandy is pregnant, your mom and I will help you both figure out what’s best for everybody. It won’t be easy, but you’ll have help.”

“I don’t want Mom to know. She has enough on her plate, and she’s been worried about me and Brandy ever since we hooked up.”

“Yeah, okay.” Eric wondered how he was going to keep this from Gayle. He hoped he could get the kids over to the house as soon as possible and get an answer. “But we’ll have to tell her if it’s true, okay?”

“It’ll be pretty obvious.”

“We’ll have to tell her
way
before it gets to that point, and obviously Brandy’s parents will have to know. But don’t borrow trouble, okay? And don’t forget I’m here to help.”

Jared finally looked at him. “I’m glad you know.”

Gayle hoped that Eric found a way to talk to Jared, but he deserved the chance to do this his own way, at his own speed. Still, even though she was trying not to pry, she had noticed that Brandy and Jared were carefully ignoring each other. She hoped Jared had just made it clear once and for all that he was leaving for New England in the fall. He had worked so hard for his scholarship, and she couldn’t bear to think he might give it up.

“How about driving over to the site for a look? Before everyone descends for the campfire.”

She turned to find Travis right behind her. “I didn’t know you were there.”

“You were a million miles away.”

“Well, maybe not so many.” She dried her hands on a dish towel. “I’d love to go over and see what you’ve done. Noah promised he’ll take the leftovers to the camp fridge, so I’m done here.”

“Great, but we’d better get going. They’ll be on their way soon.”

They chatted in the car. The campers were planning a Thursday morning hike up the trail behind the site to get a view from above. She planned to supply sandwich fixings so they could take their lunches, and now they discussed whether to add canned soft drinks to supplement bottled water. They settled on juice drinks instead.

“One of the reasons I chose to study archaeology is the surprise factor,” Travis said, pulling up to the area they had designated for parking. “You never really know what’s there when you dig. You can perform gradiometric surveys, research the historical record, dig shovel test pits, use metal detectors, but in the end, whatever’s there is hidden until the moment you unearth it.”

He parked and got out, and she did, too. “Have you found a surprise?” she asked.

“More of one than I wanted. Come on, I’ll show you.” He put out his hand to help her hop over a narrow ditch. “Watch where you step. All the units are covered with plastic, but the light’s tricky this time of evening.”

She walked beside him and felt herself relaxing for the first time all day. She liked catering the meals for the camp, mostly because she knew it was a help to Travis and it gave them some time together. But running the inn and dealing with family problems was a full load. She was looking forward to camp ending.

He stopped and pointed out what each group was doing. “You know we isolated this area as the place the trash pit had probably been located.”

“And the metal detectors confirmed it.”

“You’ve been listening and get an A. Okay, it looks like we were right. You’ve seen the things the campers are finding.”

Every time she arrived at the site, Gayle was given an artifact tour. There was enough interesting material to keep the campers fascinated. Archaeology wasn’t treasure hunting, but even though they were required to go slowly and document every part of the dig with notes, photographs and drawings, whenever someone found even the most insignificant item, everyone felt as if they’d struck gold.

“Enough to keep them busy,” she said. “Nails, cartridge casings…” She tried to remember what else she’d been shown. “A shoe eyelet, an Indian-head penny…”

“Bones are a favorite. The Duncans must have had a serious flock of chickens.”

“So what’s the surprise?”

“Come over here.” He motioned her to the pit closest to the river and pulled back the sheet of black plastic that covered it. He squatted on the ground and pointed. “See this?”

She came around and squatted beside him, peering down. “Rocks?”

“I think it’s a stone wall. Or possibly the foundation of a fireplace.”

“So this area was more than a hole where they dumped garbage.”

“I shouldn’t be surprised, I guess. No farmer with any sense digs a pit if he has something he can fill in already.”

He got to his feet and pulled the plastic back over the top.

“So what do you think it was?”

“Something interesting, and now I’m not sure we should have gotten into this. I think the river has moved since Miranda Duncan and Robby lived here and we’re closer to the site of the second cabin, where the Duncans’ farmworkers lived, than I had estimated.”

“Eb and Cora?”

“Probably. The Duncans never had slaves. But Eb, Cora and Ralph aren’t just characters in a play. They’re documented. In fact, Eb sued a local farmer in the 1870s, and I have a copy of the court case.”

“What for?”

“He claims the man stole his cow. Apparently he was right. Eb got it back, and the neighbor paid a fine.”

“You think this might be where their house was?”

“I’ve been able to talk to two great-granddaughters. I gather they were little more than babies when Miranda died, and their parents lived in or close to town, as did Robby and his wife. After Miranda’s death there was no good reason to come out here. And by the time my father bought the land, the only thing standing was the larger of the two houses.”

“It’s amazing how fast we lose sight of the past.”