Читать книгу Journey To Forever - Carol Steward - Страница 9

Colin couldn’t help but wonder if his past had finally caught up with the media. He wanted out.

Out of the room and out of this commitment. Now, before Miss I-Know-You-Have-a-Secret Post plastered her suspicions across the front page of the paper. He inhaled slowly, carefully freezing his face in a confident smile.

She hadn’t actually rolled her eyes at the ideas posed during the discussion, but she had yawned more than once. Still, her smile seemed to brighten with his slip of the tongue. Maybe it was her eyes. Did eyes smile and taunt, like heartless children making fun of little boys when their lives fell apart?

Don’t be ridiculous, Colin. She’s just an intern, not a reporter.

Nothing had stopped him from helping others before. No one had ever questioned why he’d agreed to participate in any of the previous fund-raisers. He glanced back at Miss Post, feeling like her next meal. She had barely taken her eyes off him the entire meeting.

Journalists need to get a life of their own, he thought. Suddenly he had braces again and Molly with the big brown eyes and curly blond pigtails was staring at him, and he had the strongest urge to make a face, just like he had in fifth grade, when he decided girls were the worst invention God had ever made.

He looked back at Nicole, realizing how innocently right his thinking had been. God had created Eve as a helpmate, but she’d turned out to be a temptress, responsible for Adam’s fall. How many times would it take before he learned—beauty is only skin-deep?

When would the Lord introduce him to a woman whose heart led her life? One who didn’t care if he ended up in a homeless shelter, as long as they were together. Not that he ever planned to let his life get so far out of control, but still, every day the unexpected happened to those who least expected it. Did such a woman even exist?

Colin smiled and waited for Nicole to glance his way again. It was the closest he could manage to making faces. Especially at this woman. Her broken-down car and a little grime did little to disguise her graceful poise and flippant attitude. He could feel his expression moving toward an unflattering scowl when Colin heard his name.

“Personally, I don’t think we should take time for a contest to choose the events for a stunt. If the shelter is overcrowded now, surely we can come up with something Colin is willing to do. What if Colin walks across the state?” Mrs. Franklin asked in her shaky voice.

“Every organization sponsors walks.” Chapman’s smile disappeared as he leaned back in the leather chair and tossed out other stunt ideas, none of which impressed Colin.

“Pocketbooks are a lot thinner these days. And face it, Colin, the public expects more from you. The more outrageous the better.”

“I agree, but I’m not pushing a peanut across the state. If we only do a ten mile walk, the event will be out of the public’s mind in a matter of an hour or two,” Colin said adamantly. “The focus of this should be on the needs of the homeless. Many of them live in their cars, or sell them for money to put food on the table forcing them to take alternative methods of transportation. I like the border-to-border idea.”

Mr. Chapman’s assistant handed the publisher and each board member a packet on homeless families, suggesting everyone take time to peruse the statistics and send Mr. Chapman ideas. Colin felt memories return as he glanced at the pictures in the brochure. He felt perspiration on his forehead.

“Do you really think this is a good time for this?” Colin asked.

Ellis rubbed his hand over his clean-shaven chin. “Trust me,” Ellis said with emphasis, “this issue is a magnet right now. Anything you do in the name of this proposed shelter will draw attention.”

More ideas crossed the table before the meeting officially closed. Colin and Mr. Chapman walked back toward his office. “I’m sure we can come up with something creative,” Chapman stated.

Colin paused at the assistant’s desk, expecting to schedule another meeting. “This promotion is a great idea, and I’m glad to be part of it.” Colin could feel God’s hand taking control of the project even as they spoke. Even in the crevices of his memories, going through with this didn’t seem quite as frightening as it had an hour ago with Nicole Post staring him down like a head-hunting pitcher.

Chapman motioned Colin to his office. “Unless you have someplace else to be, why don’t we continue the discussion now?”

“Now is fine,” Colin said, knowing better than to tell his boss no. Unless he were meeting with the President of the United States, nothing had better be more important than hearing what his boss had to say.

“Let’s consider how to go about this. As you said, homeless people often sell everything, even their cars, to get by. What if you don’t use any motorized vehicle during the journey? What if you make the trip on a pogo stick, or a scooter?” Ellis jotted notes, then shook his head. “Wait. Are those the contraptions with those obnoxiously loud motors?”

“I believe so,” Colin said.

“That’s out then.” He scribbled a note, then looked at Colin again.

He could almost see Ellis’s brain working to come up with a preposterous mode of transportation to keep public interest. “I may as well get my neighbor’s son’s tricycle to make the trip.”

Mr. Chapman’s eyes lit. “Now you’re thinking!”

“I beg your pardon, Mr. Chapman. I was joking.”

“Call me Ellis. And I’m not. Look at the attention you’d get if every day of the journey you use a different mode of transportation. One day a nonmotorized scooter—I bought one of those for each of my grandchildren one Christmas.” He laughed, obviously recalling something about the holiday.

“My sister broke her wrist using hers.”

“Maybe we should reconsider. We don’t want any injuries.”

“I don’t think we have anything to worry about. She won’t be joining us, and I had no problem with mine.”

“Good. Another day you could take roller skates. We need something to really catch the eye.”

Colin scratched his chin. Ellis had a point. “I’m not trying to be difficult, but are we talking from the east to west borders of the state? I’m game for a few different methods of getting there, to a limit, but I don’t think anything except bicycles are allowed on I-70 through the majority of the mountains.”

“We’ll have to work with the Department of Transportation on that.” He pressed his intercom and asked his secretary to connect him with someone in that government agency. A few minutes later he finished a discussion with the man and turned back to Colin. “Colorado Department of Transportation won’t even consider it on I-70, but they felt we could work something out going south to north. Not all of it could be on the interstate, but there are several sections where foot traffic and bicycles are allowed. If we contact this guy once we have a plan, he’ll push the permission through.”

Colin was impressed. They discussed the personnel needs for the project, how quickly they could pull it all together, and how soon to start publicizing. A lightbulb flashed on. “How about naming it the ‘Back on Track Relay’?”

“Relay? Oh, I see, not a relay where the people change with each leg, but one where the ‘event’ itself would change. I love it!” Mr. Chapman slapped Colin on the back.

“I think this is going to be my best moneymaker yet,” Colin enthused.

“Why don’t we guarantee it? How about if I double the pledges if you finish the trip without any motorized vehicle in a week?”

Double? He held out his right hand. “Deal.”

“Not so quickly. We need to iron out a few more details.”

Colin pulled his hand slowly to his body. “Such as?”

“I’d like my own crew, from the paper, to report every step of the way.”

A watchdog, Colin thought. That shouldn’t have surprised him, either, but it did irritate him. He felt certain God would provide for this project, he couldn’t start doubting His plan already. “Don’t forget, we do have some issues to iron out with the Department of Transportation, and I’m sure that the larger the procession the more problems we’re going to run into getting clearance,” Colin said.

“I’ll keep it small. One or two people, max,” Ellis said with a smile. “In the meantime, you’d better start training again. Who knows how long it will take CDOT to approve the highway permissions. I know they’ll move as fast as they can, but we need to be ready when it comes through. And, as you know, it would be wise for you to spend some time at the shelter to get to know the full scope of the project.” Ellis walked around his desk and offered a hand.

Colin stood, sensing their meeting was over. “I’ll be sure to make arrangements to do that,” he said, confident that he wouldn’t learn anything about the situation that he didn’t already know by heart.