James was sent to fetch Davey who was playing next door with Robin. Bill came next. “Sorry to be so long, Mom,” he said. “Pete and I were swapping stamps, and I stopped at the playground on the way home to see how the ball game came out. Lincoln school beat Hawthorne, 5 to 2.”
The last part of his sentence was muffled in a face towel. Bill was almost twelve, and no longer had to be told about washing his face and combing his hair, although he sometimes had to be reminded, ever so tactfully, about his neck.
They waited for Daddy. Jane and Davey sat on the front steps where they could see far down the street. She read the comic page aloud to him, and her attention wandered.
“And then what, Janie? What happened next?” Janie pulled her thoughts back to the funny strip, but she watched for Daddy out of one eye. Would he never come? At last the familiar green car turned in at the driveway, and the cry went up, “Daddy’s here! Daddy’s here!”
Mom had tried to teach the children that they should wait until Daddy had his dinner and a look at the paper before they assailed him with their problems. “Give him a chance to catch his breath,” she used to say. “He has to listen to other people’s troubles all day, and by evening he’s really very tired.”
He didn’t look tired at all when he came in. He wanted to know how everyone had spent the day. He kissed Mom and rubbed flour on Janie’s cheek. He picked up Davey and James at once to show how strong he was, and he admired a boat that Bill was carving.
“Come to dinner,” called Mom, and they were all gathered around the table in a minute. Davey said “Grace.” He still needed practice with some of his prayers, and it gave him a feeling of importance to speak to God personally in the name of the family. There was a brisk clatter of knives and forks until they came to the dessert. By that time the rush of the day was left behind, and the quiet of the June evening seemed to find a place in the hearts of the lively Murray brood. Daddy was blowing smoke rings to amuse Mom, and Janie had almost forgotten that he had something up his sleeve, when he put out his cigarette and announced: “I have a plan for going to Oak Lake in case anyone is interested.”
It came as a complete surprise to the boys, and they all talked at once. “Please, children, please,” begged Mom. “One at a time.” Daddy continued: “The case I’ve been working on has been postponed until fall, and your mother and I think that we’ll be able to go to the cottage as usual.”
“What about you, Daddy? Will you be able to come with us?”
“I’ll come out for week-ends. I’ll have to stay in town during the week.”