Showdown at Lizard Rock by Sandra Chastain

red socks and underwear that first day on the rock.
    “You can tell that in the dark, can you?”
    Kaylyn didn’t answer. She opened the supply cabinet to begin assembling the games and craft materials for the afternoon activities session. Discussing King Vandergriff was making her uncomfortable.
    Sandi walked over to the bulletin board. “Say, Katie, have you thought about asking King to the Founders’ Day Picnic?”
    “Me? Invite King Vandergriff to the picnic? What earthly reason would I have for doing that?”
    “I don’t know. It just occurred to me that he might enjoy getting to know some of the townspeople.”
    “Introduce him to Pretty Springs … Great Jehoshaphat! Wait a minute. Maybe that isn’t such a bad idea, Sandi. If I could involve him on a personal basis, he’d get to meet Minnie, Luther, and the others. He’d see what his Golf and Tennis Club would destroy. I’ll bet my last penny that he’s never been to a town picnic.”
    “Well, that isn’t exactly what I had in mind,” Sandi said dryly. “Have you considered the possibility that he might like to go to the dance with you?”
    “With me? Why?”
    “Come on, Kaylyn. Sometimes I think you fell off a turnip truck. It’s possible that the man’s interested in
you
—not the fine citizens of Pretty Springs. Besides, if you take him to the dance, Minnie will win two dollars.”
    “What? Why will Minnie win two dollars if I invite King to the Founders’ Day Dance?”
    “The nursing-home residents have decided thatyou and his highness are perfect for each other. They all sat down and put money in the pot. Then they mapped out the course of the romance, and each of them drew events. Minnie got the dance, and the dance paid two dollars.”
    “Oh, lordy, they’re betting on our having a romance? What other events have they planned for me?”
    “Well,” Sandi admitted, “I missed the end of the session, so I don’t know everything, but you know how romantic this group is.”
    Kaylyn knew about the nursing-home residents, all right. She’d lived in the nursing home itself for the first year, then in her own small trailer parked behind the home for the last three. The residents were like her family. And they weren’t above helping her with her latest project. She was still worried about the stray cat that the residents had managed to conceal from the management for over a year.
    Kaylyn quickly gave Sandi the instructions for the afternoon crafts session. She was going to be late getting back to the springs. She had cooked the day’s soup while Sandi exercised the patients in the springs that morning, but she knew that Tom Brolin would be there with the men before she arrived.
    “By the way,” Sandi called out as Kaylyn got into the van, “if you should happen to see Mac, you could tell him about the Founders’ Day Picnic too.”
    “You wouldn’t be looking for a date, would you?”
    Sandi blushed. “Of course not. I just thought that maybe he’d volunteer his men to help us get all these busybodies to the barbecue.”
    “Good idea,” Kaylyn said. “They might even agree to help set up everything.”
    All the way back to the springs she turned the idea over in her mind. First she’d get King to the picnic. If her plan to involve him with the nursing-home residents didn’t work, at least she would drum up support for her cause by making the citizens aware of the man who was destroying the springs. Maybe public opinion could do what she hadn’t been able to.
    And if she could get the construction workers to … A solution to the manpower shortage began to take shape. If she could recruit enough men to set up the events, the stage, and the bleachers, then the fire and police departments need not be pulled from their regular duties. If the construction workers joined in, then maybe … just maybe …
    “Well, what do you think, fellas?” Kaylyn asked. “Will you do it?”
    Harold, who had become a regular member of her