A Father's Love

Chapter 32

  The next week flew by fast. So fast it felt like one long day. Luke made sure they had everything ready, Thursday evening, with bags packed by the door. Jess was the only one who knew the two were going camping, obviously, since he lived there and Shelby being excited and all. Luke had him promise not to say anything to anyone, just to tell them they would be back Sunday, promising a bonus in his pay if the boy kept his mouth shut and asked him not to burn the place down while they were gone.

"Why no Jess come too?" Shelby asked.

"Well, because I thought we could spend some bonding time just the two of us," Luke shrugged.

"It's cool, Scout. No one can pay me enough to sleep outside on the ground, anyway," Jess replied over on his cot.

"He's right, Shell. I tried taking him when Jess was around your age and he hated it. I never could get him out there again," he told her, adding, "some don't like to camp, and that's okay," when Shelby looked disappointed.

Early the next morning, after loading the truck, Luke and Shelby were off towards their camping spot. Luke planned a head of time, making sure Shelby could make up the schoolwork she would miss that day so that was all taken care of.

Still being early, the town's streets were empty, so it didn't take long to leave. The radio was mostly morning talk with a song thrown in here and there. Other than the radio, things were pretty quiet between the two. Luke made a "no electronics" rule the last time they went camping, so Shelby couldn't bring her Gameboy with her. She brought a book Shelby had checked out from the library at school when her class visited the other day, picking out a Little Critter book about camping with Little Critter's dad in light of their weekend. Being a short book, Shelby read through it a few times.

After an hour and a half long drive, Luke finally pulled up to their campsite and parked, starting their trip off with their usual hike. Somewhere along the trail, Shelby found a stick and brought it along, using it like a sword and hitting pinecones. When she started hitting the pinecones, Luke gave a few pointers since he had gone through a hockey phase as a kid, showing how she could hold the stick.

"Hey, would you like to give hockey a try?" he suggested afterwards, kneeled at her level.

Shelby shrugged. "I no know how to 'kay." She was meaning to say skate.

"That's fine. Maybe this winter, I can teach ya, and then next winter when you have more time to think on it, we can give it try. What do you say?"

"I wan' to play T-ball again," she told him.

"You can play both, or any sport you want. I'm just giving ya suggestions," he assured her.

"Can I play all of tem?"

Luke looked at her in surprise. "You want to play every sport?"

She shrugged.

"Including golf?"

Shelby thought on it and shrugged. "Sure." Even he wasn't really a fan of golf, if that was what the kid wanted to do.

"Okay, well, I'll look into it. See what I can find."

They continued on with their hike, getting back to their campsite around lunchtime, and set up the tent first. Luke set up the campfire while he had Shelby gather the wood. Afterwards, he made sandwiches.

For the rest of the afternoon, Luke and Shelby fished. Nothing was really biting, so the two just sat in silence, waiting. The wait time didn't really help Luke much, as his mind wandered away and thought about what occupied his mind every year around this time.