Joletta walked into the camp director’s office shortly after 10:00 in the morning, wondering what could be so important that she needed to miss recreation time. She had planned to play tennis with Tiffany and two other friends that morning. Maybe if she hurried, she would still have time. Hopefully, he wouldn’t need her for long.
Mr. Willard’s face looked worried as the girl walked in the door. He smiled and came to meet her. Putting his hand on her shoulder, he said, “Please have a seat Joletta. I need to tell you something.” He indicated a chair beside the window. The sun shone brightly through the light curtains as Joletta did as he asked. “I just talked with your mom on the phone.” He hesitated, and then continued. “I’m afraid I have some bad news.”
Joletta could hardly believe what he was telling her. It just couldn’t be true. “I don’t understand,” she said. “I talked to Mom just the other day. Everything was OK then.”
“Are you sure that they are all right?” Her mind was a whirlwind of thoughts. Where would they go now? What would happen to them? At least, her mom and Annie were OK, but it was hard to imagine having no home. Tears gently slipped down her cheeks as Mr. Willard kept a hand on her trembling shoulder.
She was still crying when Tiffany and her new friend Alex came into the room.
Mr. Willard hardly knew how to comfort the girl. This was only his second year as camp director, and he had not had to handle this sort of thing before. He was a young man with good intentions but not a lot of experience.
“Oh, Joletta, they just told us about the tornado!” Tiffany’s words tumbled out as she ran to her friend’s side. “Mom called and told me everything. Grandma’s in the hospital! Did you know that? She broke her leg in three places, but they said she’s going to be OK.”
“Are your mom and Annie all right? Mom told me it was terrible, and there were even people who were killed! Oh, Joletta, do you think your friend Tina and her family are OK too?”
“I don’t know,” Joletta said. She had not thought of this before, and the tears started flowing again. “Mr. Willard said he only had information about Mom and Annie and Grandma Susan.”
The director of the camp stood slightly away from the young people. Watching them, he felt sorry for both girls. Tiffany, always precocious and talkative, and Joletta, a quiet, sensitive girl, they made quite a pair. What an awful way to be ending what was, for the most part, a wonderful three weeks of camp.
Suddenly, he felt very tired. He had already been gone from home for the major part of the summer, and although his home was nowhere near the area hit by the bad storms, it made him wonder if everything was all right there. It would be good to get home to his own family when camp wrapped up in a few days.
The following Saturday, Bill picked up his daughter and Joletta. Joletta would be staying with them at least until the beginning of school, which would start the last week of the month. Sandi needed some time to decide what she and the girls would now be doing.
For the time being, she and Annie were staying with Jim. That presented its own set of problems because she did not want Jo to get the idea that they were co-habituating. She was done with that type of relationship forever.
Jim wasn’t about to let them out of his sight any longer than necessary. Those long hours, when he didn’t know where Sandi and Annie were, or if they had even survived the terrible storm, had been the most excruciatingly painful hours of his life!
“Your mom said to tell you how sorry she was that she couldn’t come to pick you up, Joletta.” Bill was putting the last of the girl’s things into the trunk of the Lincoln. “Your mom’s car was badly damaged in the storm. I think she will have to get another one after the insurance is all straightened out. She said to tell you she would be with Grandma Susan today. Your mom’s been helping to take care of her.”
“Mom called me last night and told me. Where’s Annie? I thought she would be with you.” Joletta’s voice was full of concern.
“Mary has her, Sweetie. You’ll see her when we get home. Try not to worry. Your mom and Jim will be there later this evening. Wild horses couldn’t keep them away.”
As they rode through the beautiful wooded mountains, the girls talked quietly in the back seat about all their adventures of the past few weeks. They talked about the changes that would take place in their lives in the coming year. Both would be starting their first year of senior high.
Joletta wondered aloud where her family would be and what they would do now.
“Oh, Jo! I wish you could just come and live with us forever!”
Bill, listening from the driver’s seat, wished there was some way to protect them from the hurts that life would hand them through the years. He wished he could just stop time and keep them little girls. In her young life, Joletta had already experienced far too many heartaches. He smiled to himself, wondering how Jo’s family had managed to move into the hearts of every one of his family members! Moved right into their hearts to stay.