Love Returned

by Mildred Colvin

  “You’ll do great.” Megan reassured her.

  Boys, along with their families, began drifting in. Megan and the other leaders greeted them and by seven o’clock, all the tables were full.

  Joe brushed against Megan’s shoulder and whispered. “What did I tell you? A record turnout if I ever saw one.”

  Megan shifted away and nodded. “You were right. Now if we can get them all to sign up, we’ll have a busy year.”

  Scott and Randy sat at the Webelos table. How had she missed them coming in? She gave them a wave and smile.

  “Someone you know?” Joe whispered again.

  “Yes.” Megan didn’t explain. Joe had asked her out when they first met and been friendly ever since even though she turned him down. Not that she had anything against Joe. He was a nice guy. Good-looking, too.

  Megan couldn’t fault Joe, but she didn’t date. Period. She hadn’t since Jason walked out of her life almost ten years ago. Shelly said her refusal to date was self-imposed punishment. Megan maintained the right man had not come along yet. When and if he ever did, then she would consider a relationship.

  After the video on Scouting ended, Cubmaster Tim Walker held a question and answer time then sign up began. As interested parents brought the enrollment forms to the head tables, Megan helped fill them out.

  Scott waited in Megan’s line. He flashed a smile as he stepped up to the table and handed her the enrollment form. “You might want to check this out and see if I’ve done it right.”

  Megan glanced over it and nodded. “Looks good. You even took the carbon out so the backside information isn’t all over the front page. I’m impressed.”

  “That I can follow instructions or that I listened in the first place?”

  “Both.” Megan smiled.

  He handed her a check made out for the correct amount. “That includes a book, so do I get to take it now?”

  “Yes, you do.” Megan handed a Webelos handbook to Scott.

  “Randy and Derek seem to think we need to get some ice cream before we go home. They want to know if you’d like to join us.” Scott waited for her response.

  “When put that way, how could I refuse? Derek would never forgive me if I did.” Megan smiled as Scott’s eyes brighten. Maybe the idea was partly his. No sooner did the thought enter her mind than she turned from it. After all, she didn’t date.

  “Good, then I’ll join the boys looking at the displays. Derek wants me to see a doodle or something he helped make last year.”

  Megan laughed. “A den doodle. Yes, you need to look at that. I’ll try not to be any longer than I have to.”

  “That’s fine.” Scott turned to leave and a man and woman stepped forward to take his place.

  When no more parents waited in line, Megan stood and stretched. Joe glanced up from the stack of forms he’d gathered. “I’ll give these to Tim so he can sign and send them off then I think we need to celebrate. I saw Derek. Is his mom with him?”

  “No, she’s working tonight.” Megan tried to read Joe’s expression, but he seemed preoccupied with sorting his applications. This was not the first time he’d mentioned Shelly. Did he hope she’d take Derek so Megan could celebrate alone with Joe and his son, Cody? Surely by now he knew she wouldn’t.

  He looked up. “I don’t know the results yet, but our sign-up looks good.”

  “Great!” Megan smiled. “We need some new blood. Did you get any interested parents?”

  “Yeah, a couple who might fill out the application. How about you?”

  “No one seemed interested.”

  “Megan, you’ve got to push. We’ll have to split the Webelos again this year, and we both need co-leaders.” Joe grinned then. “How about that celebration? I’ve got Cody and you’ve got Derek. We could stop someplace for a hamburger if you’d like. Cody and I didn’t have time for dinner.”

  Megan saw Scott making his way around tables and through chairs sitting haphazardly around them. A feeling she thought she’d forgotten sprang to life at the sight. How could one man set her pulse racing while another continually bid for her attention and drew a blank?

  She turned to Joe. “I’m sorry. I’ll have to take a rain check. Derek has become fast friends with Randy Landis, and I’ve already agreed to let him go for ice cream with Randy and his dad. Of course, I’ll have to take him.”

  Joe shrugged. “Well then, we’ll make it another time.”

  Scott stopped across the table from her. “You ready to go?”

  “Sure am.” If she could only get her heart to settle down so she could walk out the door without skipping.

  ~Five~

  Megan stared at Scott’s truck and visualized the two boys sandwiched in the middle. She called to Scott as he unlocked the driver’s side. “Let’s take my car. There are seatbelts for everyone in it.”

  Scott hesitated and grinned. “You mean you don’t want to get a ticket?”

  “Call me an old-maid schoolteacher if you must, but I’m a stickler for following the rules.” She tossed the last words over her shoulder as she stopped the two boys. “Come on, guys, we’re taking my car.”

  Scott didn’t comment further until Megan parked at a small cafe called “Rosey’s” near the edge of town. While the boys hopped from the car, he leaned close to her with a grin. “I’ll never call you an old-maid schoolteacher. That’s far from what I see.”

  Before she could react, he stepped out to join the boys. Megan let her blush cool in the darkness.

  “Just wait until you eat one of Rosey’s banana splits.” Derek rubbed his tummy. “They are scrumpdillyicious.”

  “Yum, I can’t wait.” Randy grinned.

  “Me, either.” Scott grinned at Megan. “How about you?”

  Megan laughed. “You better believe it.”

  They found a table in the back of the small cafe and placed their orders. Megan opted for a hot fudge sundae while each of the boys and Scott ordered banana splits.

  “So tell me a little about yourself.” Scott looked across the corner of the table at Megan. “Have you lived in Banner Hills all your life?”

  Megan shrugged. “Most of it. We moved when I was five so I went to school here from kindergarten. Then I moved to Columbia to the university.” She gave a short laugh. “To get away from home, I suppose.”

  “So you got your degree at Columbia?”

  She nodded. “Yes, and my masters. Not very adventurous, was I?”

  Scott grinned. “I wouldn’t say that. I consider each day at the university an adventure.

  Megan smiled. “I can only imagine. Life can be quite different, depending on the perspective, can’t it?”

  “That it can.”

  Megan loved listening to Scott talk about his job. She laughed when he told how one rainy day the students all came to class soaked and dripped on the floor. “I was afraid someone would slip on the wet floor, so I crawled around with a roll of paper towels cleaning it up between classes. That’s where I was when the music instructor walked in. On my knees grumbling. She thought I was praying.”

  “She?” Megan rolled her eyes. “Why is there always a love interest in stories?”

  Scott grinned. “Are you jealous?”

  “Hardly.” She filled her mouth with ice cream while he laughed. Then she changed the subject. “I’ve told you about my early life. Now what about yours? Where did you grow up?”

  “In Iowa, near Des Moines.” Scott dipped his spoon in his ice cream. “My parents still live there. They have a farm and my dad works too hard. But trying to get him to slow down is next to impossible.”

  “That’s interesting. I mean that you came from the country. I would never have guessed it.”

  “Why? ’Cause I can’t build a fire?” Scott quirked an eyebrow. “At least you know I’m not an arsonist.”

  Megan laughed. “That’s true. Why’d you decide to teach?”

  Scott shrugged. “I don’t know. I thought I’d like it, and I do. I’ve always lik
ed kids. Now I have a few students older than me.”

  “Oh, I’ll bet you do.” Megan knew she might be stepping in where she didn’t belong, but she found herself wanting to know about the woman Scott had loved. “Was your wife a teacher, too?”

  “No. She never worked outside the home.”

  “Can you tell me about her?”

  Scott looked down at his ice cream before raising his head to stare past Megan with a faraway look in his eyes. “She was beautiful with long, black hair and an olive complexion. She would put it up on the back of her head when we went out, but mostly she wore it in a ponytail or flowing down. She seemed happy to stay at home, cleaning the house and cooking.” The hint of a smile lifted his lips. “She liked to bake and make candy at Christmas. Holidays were always special times for her to fuss over.”

  He blinked and made eye contact with Megan. “Carol died before Randy’s second birthday. He doesn’t remember her, and I’ve forgotten so much.”

  “Oh, my.” Megan hadn’t realized. She glanced at Randy who seemed oblivious to their conversation as he and Derek competed to see who could get the biggest ice cream headache. She looked back at Scott. “How terrible. She must have been very young.”

  “Yes, she was.” Scott took a bite of ice cream and swallowed. “We lost a baby girl the year before we got Randy. We didn’t know then Carol was already sick.”

  “I’m sorry, Scott. I didn’t mean to stir up old, painful memories.”

  Scott gave her his half-smile and shrugged. “As I said, it was a long time ago.” He glanced at Randy and back to her. “Almost eight years, and a lot has gone on since then. The memories are not painful, anymore. Actually, Carol is part of my past and hard as it may sound, that’s where she must stay if I’m to make the present worth living for Randy and myself.”

  Megan nodded. “I suppose you have a point.” She thought of Jason and the baby they had created together. Did she cling to her past so much she couldn’t live in the present?

  She could almost hear Shelly’s voice siding with Scott. Was this what Shelly meant when she said Megan punished herself every day for the sins of her past? Trying to analyze her life confused Megan. She concentrated on the ice cream in front of her. Maybe one day she’d take time to sort through all the jumbled memories and try to make sense of them. Only then could she truly give up her son and make a life for herself in the present.

  ~*~

  Megan stepped through the door the next evening with two bags of groceries just as the phone started ringing. Her heart picked up speed with thoughts of Scott. She dumped her load on the sofa and collapsed beside it before grabbing the receiver.

  “Megan, it’s Joe.”

  “Oh, hi.” Visions of Scott faded as she brought Joe’s image to mind. “What’s up?”

  “I thought you might want to know the official count is in. We each have ten boys.”

  “Wow!” Megan sat up. “That’s some kind of record, isn’t it?”

  Joe’s chuckle sounded his enthusiasm. “Around here it is. I told you we’d have a record sign-up, didn’t I?”

  “Yes, you did.” Megan frowned. “What about co-leaders?”

  “Yeah, you’ll need someone. Maybe we should get together tonight. We could discuss a game plan then.”

  “Oh, Joe, I can’t.” Megan grimaced, as she looked frantically around her living room. Surely there was some reason she couldn’t go out with Joe. Her gaze fell on the books she’d brought from school and her expression cleared. “I’ve got homework. I’m starting a new unit in social studies and have to make up some charts and other visual aids. I’m sorry.”

  “Hey, don’t worry about it. Maybe some other time.”

  Megan hung up with a sigh. If only Joe would keep their relationship within the bounds of Scouting.

  She picked up her groceries and headed toward the kitchen. Tonight she felt like cooking something special. Too bad there was no one to share with.

  Monday night rolled in with weather perfect for an outdoor Cub Scout meeting, exactly the way Megan liked. What she didn’t like was Randy’s absence. He still hadn’t shown up by the time she and Tammy, one of the mothers who’d agreed to stay, gathered the boys, led them to a section of lawn not far from the parking lot, and had them form a circle.

  She lifted a basketball. “The guy holding the ball has to tell something about himself. I’ll start. My name’s Megan, and I’m your den leader.”

  She tossed the ball across the circle, and one of the boys caught it. He grinned. “I’m Tyler, and I’ve got a Rottweiler named—”

  A motorcycle roared to a stop in the parking lot not far from them. Scott and Randy stepped from the huge machine. Tyler dropped the ball and ran to the new attraction with the other boys on his heels yelling, “Wow, look at that!”

  Scott set the props and took his helmet off. He turned toward Megan as she stood outside the circle of boys with her arms crossed, giving him her best schoolmarm look of disapproval.

  He grinned and ducked his head, watching her with a twinkle in his eyes. His half-grin and little boy oops-I’ve-been-caught expression caused more turmoil than she needed.

  She tore her gaze away and placed her hands on the nearest boy’s shoulder. “If you guys are finished admiring Mr. Landis’s motorcycle, maybe we can continue our meeting?”

  “Hi, Megan.” Randy’s grin held as much charm as his father’s, although in a different way. “I can call you Megan here, can’t I?”

  “Of course, you may.” Megan shooed the boys back to the yard where Tammy waited. “Let’s get started. We need to elect a denner and an assistant denner now everyone is here.”

  The boys ran back to the forgotten ball with Randy in the center of the group. Arriving on a motorcycle hadn’t hurt his reputation. Scott kept pace with her. She looked at him. “Out of ten parents, only Tammy agreed to help, but she wants to leave. If you’re staying, she can go.”

  He shrugged. “I thought it might be a good idea to see what goes on. Besides, I didn’t have anything else to do.”

  “Wonderful. Let’s get started.”

  With Scott’s help, Megan led her boys in the pledge of allegiance to the flag that flew outside the church. She explained they would be marching in a color guard later, then introduced the Webelos handbook and pointed out the athlete pin which would be the first they’d earn. After a quick election that would be repeated every so often to give each boy a chance to serve, the denner and assistant denner were chosen. “You’ll be my helpers and will need to stay a bit later than the other boys to make sure the area is in order. Being a denner is a responsible job, and I expect you to do your best.”

  Megan held her right arm straight up, two fingers extended to get the boys’ attention. When they grew quiet, she asked, “You guys ready to see if you’re in good physical shape?”

  Ten boys jumped in place, raising their hands to be first. Megan smiled at their enthusiasm. “In scouts we have a standard to test your physical strength and endurance. If you don’t meet the requirements at first, that’s okay. We’ll work with you. Let’s begin with sit-ups for one minute and see how many you can do. Get a partner.”

  They moved to pushups, standing long jump, and a fifty-yard dash before Megan called a halt. “We won’t do the six hundred-yard run until next week. You might want to practice this week by going jogging, but remember you don’t have to run if you can’t. Although I haven’t seen evidence any of you have a problem, you do have the option of walking.”

  She pulled papers from her satchel and handed them out. “This is a permission slip. Bring it back signed next Monday so you can go with us to the high school outdoor track where we’ll be doing our six hundred yard run.”

  “What if it’s raining?” Tyler asked.

  “Then we’ll have to try again the next week.” Megan motioned to the boys. “Come in close and repeat the Cub Scout Promise with me.”

  She lifted her right hand in the Cub Scout Sign, holding her firs
t two fingers up. “I, Megan, promise to do my best…”

  A thrill coursed through Megan as Scott’s baritone blended with the boys’ higher voices and never missed a word. He’d memorized the promise.

  “Let’s play a game of dodge ball while we wait for your parents to show up.” Megan turned to Scott while the boys played. “You’ve been great. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you staying. This is the largest den I’ve ever had. It’s like turning half my class at school loose without the restrictions of school.”

  Scott grinned. “You didn’t have any problem handling them. Of course, all those exercises probably wore them out.”

  “We can hope.” She narrowed her eyes. “You’re good with the boys. Have you given any more thought to signing up as a leader? We have a five-mile hike coming up on the twenty-fifth. I’ve got to have someone by then.”

  A couple of boys ran to the parking lot as their parents pulled in and stopped. Scott frowned. “I’ll admit I had fun tonight. I think this will be good for Randy. But making a commitment? I don’t know. I’ll think about it.”

  “I understand.” Pushing Scott would do no good. Besides, Megan wasn’t sure of her motivation. Did she want him to help because he worked so well with the boys? Or, did she want the opportunity to spend time with him? To get to know him, to enjoy the attraction she experienced each time she looked his way?

  When all the boys except Derek and Randy had gone, Scott walked Megan to her car and opened the door.

  “We meet again next Monday night, right?”

  Megan nodded. “Yes. Same place, same time.”

  “I’ll be here.”

  Megan smiled. “I’m not giving up on you. You’ll make an excellent leader. The boys already think you are the coolest parent around.”

  Scott laughed. “I suppose the roar of a motorcycle beats out Mom’s van any day of the week.”

  “You’d better believe it.”

  “Does that mean you’d like a ride?”

  Megan raised her eyebrows. Her heartbeat increased at the thought. When was the last time she rode a motorcycle? When her mom caught her riding behind a boy she didn’t approve of? She was only sixteen and hadn’t been on a motorcycle since.