Page 126 of Slumming It

Her words stung, and I had to remind myself that my words had probably stungher, too. Again, I tried to smile. "It's not naïve to enjoy something good happening for a change."

She sighed. "Listen, I didn't want to say anything, but I learned something today thatreallymade we wonder."

"Wonder what?"

"Okay, you remember that big painting job, right?"

Obviously, she meant the one that had taken the rest of our family downstate for the next month or so. "Of course I remember. The last I heard, they're having a terrific time. Is that supposed to be a problem?"

"Not normally," she said. "But guess who owns that hotel."

"You mean the one they're painting?" I felt too impatient to give it much thought. "I dunno…some corporation?"

"Not justanycorporation." She crossed her arms. "The Sentry Brothers."

Wow.I should've guessed, but this was hardly a deal-breaker. "Yeah, so?"

"So you're not surprised?"

"Well, yeah…a little," I admitted. "But theydoown a ton of hotels, so the odds weren't terrible that they would own that one, too."

"Yeah, but the odds weren't terrific either. There's what? Thousands of hotels in Michigan alone?"

"Probably," I said. "It's not like I've counted."

"Well maybe you should have, because that whole painting job was a little strange."

If so, this was the first I'd heard of it. "How so?"

"For one thing, it included free rooms. When doesthathappen?"

This wasn't news, but I saw what she meant. Still, it wasn't completely without precedent. "Oh, I dunno," I said. "After that tornado damaged our house, our family got a similar deal atthisplace."

It was true.After our house had sustained some serious tornado damage, my dad had worked out an agreement with old Mister Dembrowski to stay here at the hotel for free in return for some carpentry and repairs.

But already, Vivian was saying, "Yeah, but that was twenty years ago."

Funny, it didn't seem like twenty years.

Even though Vivian and I had gotten to spend the summer with Aunt Betsy on Houghton Lake, my brothers still claimed they'd gotten the better deal in spite of the fact that all five of them – my parents and my three brothers – had been crammed into a single room with only one queen-sized bed.

To Vivian, I said, "Yeah, so?"

"So things were different back then. Mister Dembrowski was a friend of Gramp's. People aren't like that anymore."

Call me an optimist, but I didn't agree.

Twenty years ago, my brothers had spent all summer camping out in sleeping bags on the floor, but they still considered that particular summer one of the best of their lives.

Back then, the hotel's swimming pool had been full of laughing kids and crystal clear water, and my mom had the photos to prove it. Now, it contained a bunch of random plumbing parts and somebody's old bike.

Vivian and I would need to get the pool up and running again before next summer, but I didn't want to think about that now. I wanted to think about better things, like a great opportunity for my sister.

She was still talking. "And nowI'mgetting sent away, too."

Her words felt like an accusation, and I was trying really hard to not take it personally. "I'm not sending you away," I said. "It's a great opportunity."

"Right.You'renot sending me away, butheis. You don't find that odd?"