Chapter 48

• SECRET PASSION
• “Keri, I’m going to need you every weekday this summer,” Vince Anderson said. “I’ve got to finish this book by the end of August, and Mark is just too much for me to handle…and of course, I’ll need you some nights as well. Do you think there’s any way you could just move into the room next to his and stay here with us for the summer? I can pay you pretty well for a full-time job, better than minimum wage, anyway.” He named a figure that surprised her…it was much more than she could make as a waitress or at any of the other summer jobs that the kids at school usually got.
• “I’ll check with my folks Mr. Anderson,” she said, “but I don’t think there will be a problem.” Her parents lived less than two blocks away in a very small and cramped house with her five brothers and sisters. Having her gone for the summer would ease the space problem and lower their grocery costs…not to mention the money it would add to her college fund. Frankly, Keri was looking forward to spending the summer here in Mr. Anderson’s beautiful and spacious home…and he certainly ate better than the Payne family did. She had never even seen dried beans or macaroni and cheese in his pantry.