The name rang a bell in Gabriel’s mind. Stanley Schumacher was a local developer who wanted to turn Orion into a tourist town with a condo development, a new campground, and a resort hotel. He had grown up locally and wanted to see Orion reach the tourist levels of a place like Traverse City or even Mackinac Island. Orion didn’t have the size or appeal of those places, but Schumacher seemed to think he could get it there.
“He’s offered to buy the camp,” Laurel continued. “It’s a generous offer.”
Gabriel felt blindsided. “When did this happen?” he asked.
“We first talked about it a month ago,” Don said. He looked guilty for not telling Gabriel. “I’m sorry we didn’t tell you. We needed to think about it first.”
“And what do you think?” Gabriel asked, struggling to keep his cool.
“It’s a good offer,” Don said. “It’s more money than the property is worth. We know because we talked to our lawyer. We don’t want to take it, because Stan doesn’t want the camp to stay a camp. He wants to level the cabins and use the land to build a luxury campground and conference center.”
Gabriel swore under his breath, earning disapproving looks from both of his parents. “Sorry,” he said. “Are you going to take the offer?”
“We don’t know,” Laurel said, more gently than Don.
“We don’t want to, but we might have to. Like you said, our finances don’t look good. The camp is becoming a burden. We don’t want to end on a bad note, and be forced to sell for less than it’s worth.”
“I don’t want that either,” Gabriel said, “and I don’t want the camp to be turned into a luxury campground.”
“Neither do we,” Don insisted, “but we’re running out of options.” He sighed. “Your mother and I are both thinking of retiring in the next year. We’re not old, but this is hard work, and we would rather enjoy this last stage of our lives than be tied to work we no longer love. Last year was difficult, and it made us think long and hard about what we want out of life. We want to enjoy however long we have left.”
Gabriel felt a lump in his throat. He didn’t like talking about his dad’s cancer. He was glad his dad had recovered, but he worried daily that the cancer would come back. The odds of that happening were low, but they weren’t zero. There was always a chance of the cancer reappearing.
“I don’t want you to stay here if you don’t like it,” he said.
He couldn’t imagine how hard this decision had to be for them. He wasn’t a parent, and he wasn’t middle-aged. He just saw things from his perspective, and he tried to see it from theirs. They had given their lives to this camp, rarely asking anything in return.
“Is there another solution, instead of just selling to Stan?”
“If there is, we haven’t seen it yet,” Laurel said.
“We need money, we don’t have to do what we want with the camp,” Don added, “and we would need someone to take over. You’ve done more than enough for the camp already, and we wouldn’t ask you to take over. Your siblings don’t want it, either, so we wouldn’t ask that of them.”
“Thank you for telling me,” Gabriel said. “Maybe we can think of a solution that doesn’t involve selling to Stan.”
That night, he went to Drew’s house. They saw each other every night at one of their houses, but hadn’t spent the night yet. Gabriel wanted to, and he was getting tired of pretending that they weren’t seeing each other.
He was also ready to have sex. They hadn’t made love yet, because most nights they were too tired to do more than kiss and talk and touch, but tonight he wanted to go all the way. He felt that he needed to go all the way.
Drew greeted him at the door. He was able to leave the camp earlier in the evening than Gabriel; Gabriel couldn’t leave until after 10:00 p.m. on most nights, after meeting with the rest of the senior staff.
“You look exhausted,” Drew said after kissing Gabriel. “Long day?”
“Very long day,” Gabriel said. They went to the kitchen, and Drew poured Gabriel a cup of coffee, which he gratefully took and drank. He was exhausted, and drank coffee like he needed it to survive.
“Want to talk about it?”
Gabriel needed to share what was on his mind. They went to the living room’s large couch and sat. Gabriel put his feet in Drew’s lap, apologized if they smelled, and drank his coffee.
He told Drew about the issues with the finances at the camp, and the offer his parents had received for Stan Schumacher to buy the land.
“He would tear down the camp and replace it with a luxury campground and conference center. The hockey camp would be gone.” He shook his head. “Orion’s Belt is an institution of this town. I can’t imagine what it would be like here without it. It’s my parents’ legacy.”
“Is there anything I can do?” Drew asked.
Gabriel shook his head. “Just listening is helpful.”
Drew took Gabriel’s mug from him now that he had finished his coffee. “I’m not sure if this would be wanted, but I could make another donation. If the camp needs money, I could give it.”
