“For the Good Times”
Listen to this story, “Coming Home”
Good times must end all too soon, it always seemed. The grownups had given orders for everyone to have their things packed and in the lobby by nine o’clock sharp. Then came breakfast in the large and luxurious dining room. Dr. Hancock himself had made the arrangements. Julie mechanically avoided both Victor and Allen, although she now had no reason to avoid Allen because he had withdrawn. However, when breakfast was over and the group stood outside the hotel where they thanked Dr. Hancock for his generous hospitality, Allen appeared before Julie.
“May I take your things?” he offered with a smile.
“Well,” answered Julie, “the Morgans have invited me to ride back with them.”
“Oh, I see,” said Allen in a tone of voice a small boy might have used when Mommy informed him that Santa had not left the coveted train set he had ordered for Christmas. Biting his lip, he tossed his head carelessly and said, “Then let me carry your things to Victor’s car.” And he picked up Julie’s bags and made his word good.
It was a long and increasingly hot ride back to Riverdale. The Morgans had had some engine trouble on the way down, and now their bus would not average over 50 miles per hour. About halfway home, little Nathan and Teddy and Debbie, three of the younger Morgan children, wanted to go swimming.
“But, Mommy,” they cried, “we didn’t get to go swimming at the beach before we left!”
“Some kids went swimming early this morning,” Victor told them. “Where were you?”
“Let’s stop at the next town and go in at a pool,” they begged, ignoring Victor.
So at each successive small town between Beach City and Riverdale, they stopped at the city plunge and inquired about the price. Luckily for Julie, there weren’t many towns. And, at each place, the pools weren’t open until one o’clock in the afternoon. But Janet and Victor and their mother insisted Julie come home with them to have ice cream when they got back to Riverdale, then they would take her home.
It was a fearful Julie who walked into her yard three hours after the rest of the group had arrived at Riverdale. Grandpa and Momma sat on the patio. Julie’s mother scolded, “You’re three hours late.”
Feeling the daggers, Julie took her bags from Victor, who followed her and headed toward the house. It was only Mrs. Morgan’s apologies to Mrs. Scott that softened the blow a bit for Julie.
When the Morgans had left, Grandpa informed Julie that Allen had called three times and wanted Julie to call him back. Julie, not eager for more of Momma’s scolding, ran into the house to call Allen.
His voice was stiff and businesslike. “I just wondered if you still wanted me to come over this afternoon and fix your bicycle.”
Julie’s heart pounded. She and Allen had planned on putting her freshly painted bike back together that afternoon. But because of what had happened at the beach, she sort of took it for granted that he wouldn’t want to come over. “Well, sure,” she drawled.
“Well, I just thought that maybe, that, well, you might rather have Victor do it since—”
“You silly boy,” she interrupted. “You know I’d rather have you do it. Come on over. I’ll see you in half an hour.”
“Sure thing.” His voice was warmer now. “‘Bye.”
Just as she hung up, Mrs. Scott came into the house. “What’s the idea,” she demanded, “coming home with that carload of people?”
“But, Momma, they asked me—”
“I don’t care,” Lora went on. “I expected you to come home with Macintoshes. They got here hours ago. Did it ever occur to you we get worried about you?”
“But you knew I was with Morgans.”
“Yes, and you shouldn’t have come home with them and crowded them ’cause they have so many kids.”
“But they wouldn’t have asked me if—”
“That’s not the point! You should have come home with Macintoshes.”
Julie said no more. Experience had taught it did no good to argue with Momma. And sometimes it wasn’t good at all. She would just have to wait until her mother cooled off.
In the heat of the argument, Julie had forgotten about Allen coming over. When he appeared in the driveway, Julie just crossed her fingers that Momma wouldn’t get mad all the more. And Momma didn’t.
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