Free The Way Home by Irene Hannon

time.”
    â€œNow you sound like my grandmother.”
    â€œI’m sure she’s a very wise woman.”
    â€œShe is. And you’re both right. And I’ll get around to it one of these days.”
    â€œHmph. By the time you get around to it, there won’t be anything left to get,” she said pertly as she turned to go.
    Cal watched her exit. At thirty-four, he didn’t exactly consider himself over-the-hill. But he was well past the age when most of his friends and acquaintances had married. In fact, many of them had a couple of kids by now. Though he’d admitted it to no one, the notion of “settling down,” as his grandmother would say, held more and more appeal for him these days. It would be nice to have a wife and children to come home to at the end of the day. Trouble was, his day often didn’t end until well into the night, which wasn’t conducive to family life. At least, not the kind of family life he wanted.
    Which brought him back once again to the tough choice he was facing. Stay in the city to fight for justice and continue building his promising career, or make a radical lifestyle change and return to the mountains where his soul was most at peace. Considering his unsettled state, it wouldn’t be fair to pursue a romance. Besides, only a very special woman would understand why he was discontent with his life in the city, why he was drawn so strongly to the mountains, when in the eyes of the world he seemed to have itall—success, prestige, the potential for power. And he seriously doubted whether Amy Winter was that woman.
    Cal frowned. Why in the world had Amy popped into his mind again, and in such an odd context? It didn’t matter in the least if she understood his motivations. Their contact in the future would be limited, and purely of a professional nature.
    A week ago that scenario would have made him happy. But for some inexplicable reason, it now left him feeling vaguely depressed.
    Â 
    â€œThat should do it, Steve,” Amy said as she closed her notebook.
    The cameraman extinguished the light and took the Minicam off his shoulder as Amy turned back to Michael Sloan, the director of the youth center.
    â€œAll we need now is some B-roll footage as background,” she said. “Can we do a walk-through, see some of the activities in progress?”
    â€œSure.” He rose and led them down the hall to a small but well-equipped computer lab. Boys ranging in age from seven or eight to mid-teens were using every available piece of equipment under the supervision of an older man, who smiled at them when they entered.
    â€œThat’s John Williams, one of the volunteers,” the director told Amy. “As I mentioned earlier, our volunteers are the backbone of this place. They not only provide much-needed manpower, but act as great role models for the boys, many of whom are from broken homes without a father figure.”
    He introduced Amy to the volunteer, and with the man’s consent, she spoke with him for a few minutes on camera.
    They stopped in a few other rooms, where a variety of activities, from woodworking and drawing to rehearsal for a theater production, were in progress.
    â€œThe other big part of our program is sports,” Michael told her as he ushered them down the hall toward the gym. “We have athletic activities scheduled every night. Tonight it’s basketball, and we are incredibly fortunate to have a prominent local attorney as one of our coaches. He’s working with the young-teen team right now. He’s a bit camera-shy, but I’ll see what I can do to convince him to give you an interview.”
    Amy frowned. An attorney. Camera shy. Saint Vincent’s Boy’s Club. Her step faltered. Wasn’t Saint Vincent’s the charity Candace Bryce had referenced when she introduced Cal at the charity bachelor auction? Hadn’t she said something about him participating only because