Family Ties — читать онлайн бесплатно полностью

I’m very sorry for your loss, though.”

“Thank you. We’ll feel Jeremiah’s absence for a long time, I think.”

“Do you have plans to find a replacement?” I asked. “Well, no one can replace Gunny, but you know what I mean.”

She nodded. “We were talking about it last night. Doug thinks I should…”

We spent several minutes on her plans for the camp and how to run it without Gunny to do the maintenance.

“I’ll decide on something,” she said eventually. “I need to weigh all the options.”

Christy cleared her throat and gave me a significant look.

“Trip and I might be able to help,” I said to Susan.

Christy nodded encouragement.

“Well, we normally work on houses nonstop in the summer, but we can make some time to work here instead.” I looked down at Christy. “What do you think?”

“I think it’s a great idea,” she said, as though it hadn’t been hers in the

first place. “You’ll have to talk to Trip, but…” She grinned up at me. “I’m sure Wren can convince him.”

I snorted a laugh. “Wren could convince Jerry Falwell to come to camp.

“Please don’t,” Susan said immediately. Then, “Let me think about it. I like the idea, but let’s talk more in a few months.”

“Sounds good to me,” I said.

“The next generation of campers,” Mom said as she and Susan shared a look.

“Seems only fitting,” Susan agreed.

Christy beamed up at me.

Susan and my parents chatted about the weather and mundane things for the rest of the drive, but my mind was already racing. Christy and I had just made our third major decision as a couple, and this one had serious implications, far beyond what she realized.

The flight to Knoxville was bumpy and tense, and the winds at Island Home were so unpredictable that I wasn’t happy with my first approach and decided to go around. Better safe than sorry. I worried that Christy would be nervous or panicky, but she was a trooper.

I ran through our options as we turned back into the pattern. We had more than enough fuel reserve to go around a second or third time, or to divert to another airport, but the weather was only going to get worse the longer we stayed airborne.

I taxied to the Comanche’s regular parking spot and shut down the engine. My skin prickled and I felt vaguely edgy without the engine’s vibration, but we were down safe.