CHAPTER ONE

Saturday Greg Manart decided to go into Montrose for breakfast. It was a beautiful summer day, and he did not want to eat alone in his house. He entered the Rose cafe and noticed there was a new waitress he hadn’t seen before. When she came to take his order he said,

“You must be new. I thought I knew everyone here by now.”

She looked at him for a second then said, “Yes, I just started last week.” Then she added, “I just work weekends. I go to college in Barton.” Greg gave her his order, then watched her as she walked back to the counter to place his order. She must be a non-traditional student. She looked to be in her late twenties or early thirties. She was young looking, but she also had the look and air of maturity about her. With a session in a hair/beauty salon and someone like Penney or Lynn to dress her, he thought she would be somewhere between beautiful and pretty. If she was going to college in Barton, he wondered why she was working out here. He’d become curious so he caught Sam’s eye. After disengaging himself from another old customer, Sam wandered over to Greg’s booth.

“I see you met our new waitress,” said Sam. “She’s just come back to finish her education.”

“Not in your cafe?” said Greg with a twinkle in his eye.

“Oh, I don’t know,” said Sam, “you can get quite an education, if you keep your eyes open here.” Then he added, “She recently got divorced and she is coming back to the University to finish the education that was interrupted by her marriage. From what she told me and others, she quit graduate school to work and put her husband through college. Then after he graduated and got a job, suddenly she wasn’t good enough for him. So she divorced him and came back to the University to try to finish her education. She’s a niece of an old acquaintance and she needed a job. She’s looking for a scholarship or a grant or a loan so she can stay in school this next year.”

“What’s her field of study?” asked Greg, suddenly becoming interested. He did have connections at the University, and here was a kindred spirit. She had gotten a raw deal in her marriage. Finances had not been a problem with him. Apparently it was with her.

“It is something in science. You’ll have to ask her. If you think you can help her I’ll tell her to talk to you,” said Sam, then he added, “She’s a really nice young woman, and really deserves to be helped. She also has a lot of spunk. Incidentally her uncle is not in any position to give her much help and he’s her only living relative.”

“I’d like to talk to her,” said Greg. “I’m not sure yet what I can do, but there should be something.”

Sam left and shortly afterward talked to the waitress. She continued working and in a little while brought Greg his breakfast.

“Sam said I should talk to you,” she said. “I’ll come back when you finish your breakfast and I finish serving my tables.” Then she left to continue working.

Greg had been finished a few minutes when the waitress came and cleared away his dishes, poured him some more coffee and then came back and sat down.

“Sam said you might have some ideas where I can get the money to stay in school,” she said gazing intently at Greg with a slightly hopeful look in her eye.

“First I need some information,” said Greg. “Sam didn’t tell me your name, and he said he didn’t know your field of study, except that it was something in science.”

“My name is Kara Toltec, I’m twenty-nine and I’m divorced,” said the waitress, and Greg began to laugh. Kara looked at him strangely.

“I’m sorry Kara,” said Greg apologetically, “it was just the way you recited it.” Then Kara laughed too.

“My field basically is physics, and I would like to get into nuclear physics. I have been temporarily accepted into graduate school pending the receipt of my transcripts from the university where I started my program. I’m told you’re an artist and writer,” said Kara questioningly as if wondering how much help Greg could be under those circumstances.

“Just to keep the record straight,” said Greg with a smile on his face, half knowing what her chain of thought probably was, “I have a Ph.D. in nuclear physics and one in nuclear bio-chemistry.”

Kara’s mouth dropped open, then recovering her composure said,

“I didn’t know you were also a scientist.”

“It is not that widely known around here, although it is known at the university,” said Greg. “Dr. Jeremy Lee is a good friend.”

“I have heard of Dr. Lee, but I have never met him,” said Kara.

“Well the important question is, what is your financial situation, so we know what we are dealing with, and what we have to do,” said Greg. Kara looked at him rather wide-eyed.

“You sound like you are definitely planning to help me. Not just give me advice.” Greg laughed, then turned serious again.

“I am,” he said, “I just don’t yet know how.”

“You asked about my present financial situation,” said Kara. “I have a room here in town that is paid for the next three months. I have a beater of a car that at the moment is in good running condition. My tuition for the summer session is paid. I have a part-time job at the university during the week and this job on the weekend that is getting me by,” she added.

“When do you need money for next semester?” asked Greg. He actually knew the answer, but wanted to see how much of a realist this young woman was.

“I’ll need tuition money for next semester by September. Money for a place to stay, probably a week or two before that. Money for books and supplies I would need at least by the second week of September,” Kara replied tight-lipped.

“We have to have things put together within the next two months,” said Greg more to himself than to Kara. Kara looked at him quietly almost in disbelief that this man she didn’t really know, except for what she had heard, seemed to be taking her problem upon himself and apparently was going to work to find a solution.

“I have to think about this,” Greg said thoughtfully. “Then we’ll have to get together again to try to put together a plan. Meantime you’ll have to get me some figures. Tuition cost, fees, books and supplies, rent for an adequate place to live, and other necessary living expenses. They have to be realistic and include everything. And don’t say you’ll work to make living expenses. I want a total of all expenses, then we can figure out where the money for them is going to come from. Darn, I wish Christy Jorgenson was still with the University. She could get a lot of this information, and she would be realistic about it.” Then Greg added, “Can you put this information together as soon as you can, then give me a call and we’ll set up a time to meet.”

Kara quietly said she would work on that this week. Greg gave her his telephone number. Kara went back to work and Greg paid his bill and headed back for his house. Greg had a glimmering of an idea of how he might put together a package of help for Kara. He’d have to do some preliminary sounding out of some people before he could put together a definite plan. He would also have to figure out where he could meet with Kara after she got the information he asked her to get. He couldn’t just ask her to come out to his house unless he had someone else come out also. It was one thing to have friends like Lynn Tarrot, Penney McDermot, or Christy or even Claire Gordon, come out alone. It was something else to ask a chance acquaintance like Kara even if it was to set up a plan to help her finance her college expenses. He’d have to get someone like Lynn or Penney sold on his plan first and then, get them to come out for breakfast with Kara.

He thought it would be a great thing if the group would sponsor Kara. It would take a real selling job. Not that they couldn’t afford it. All of them were doing very well financially. He was willing to make the major contribution seeing as it was his idea. In fact, he could dedicate the money he would make off the painting to that project. They could set up a scholarship fund and let Mark Janes and Jim Carter invest it. They could all contribute a certain amount a month. Greg figured he could take care of the first semester’s expenses until they could build up the fund.

The more he thought of that idea the better he liked it. Now, to get the rest of them to agree to it. First he had to decide, whom he would start with. His first inclination was to call Lynn, but then he remembered Penney had put herself through college. She also had been instrumental in having her company set up a scholarship fund. In addition, Penney would be all in favor of helping another woman. Then he would work on Christy, because Christy could be very persuasive when she believed in something. Maybe if he could get them both together for breakfast tomorrow he could try to sell them both on the idea at the same time. It was worth a try, so he dialed Penney’s number. When Penney answered, Greg said,

“Hi, this is Greg, are you busy for breakfast tomorrow. I have an interesting idea for the group, I’d like to bounce off you first. We could either meet in town or you could come out here.”

“Well seeing as it is going to be a beautiful day tomorrow, and I don’t have any plans for breakfast, I’d be willing to come out to your place. Anyone else invited?” asked Penney.

“Well now that you have accepted, I was going to call Christy and see if I could talk her into coming out also. I have a reason for asking the two of you and I’ll explain the whole thing tomorrow,” explained Greg.

“Okay,” said Penney, “If you’re going to be secretive about it, I’ll see you tomorrow. I suppose about eight?’

“Eight would be fine,” said Greg. Luckily he caught Penney in a good as well as a curious mood so she was interested in finding out what he had on his mind. Hopefully he could intrigue Christy enough to join them. He put in call to Christy.

When she answered he said, “Hi Christy, this is Greg, are you in an adventuresome mood?”

“It depends upon what you have in mind, Greg,” Christy laughed.

“To have breakfast tomorrow at my place with Penney and me, to hear an interesting idea I have for the group. I wanted to bounce it off the two of you first to see what you thought.”

“Has Penney said yes already?”

“Yes she did, and we planned to have breakfast at eight.”

“Okay, I’m in,” said Christy, “See you at eight for breakfast tomorrow. You promise the weather will be beautiful and your gardens in full bloom?”

“Yes, and the idea intriguing,” said Greg. Greg was surprised that it came together so easily. He hoped the rest would go as smoothly. He’d better get his story together before tomorrow morning. Actually it was a plus that he could get to talk to the two of them together and in the relaxing atmosphere of his place. Besides after he made the pitch, if the reaction was favorable, Greg could then get some idea on the expenses Kara would be looking at, from Christy. Although Greg did not spend all the rest of the day working on the details of the plan he wanted to bounce off Penney and Christy, in actuality he was at least thinking about it practically all the rest of the day.

Sunday he was up early to a warm, beautiful summer morning. He spent some of the time gathering some bouquets of flowers from the garden. The rest he spent making preparations for the breakfast he intended to serve the two women. He wanted it just right. The top of the head idea, that began to form when he had talked to Kara Toltec on Saturday, had become a priority project in his mind. Now he had to make it a priority project for the rest of the group. But would they buy it? He really didn’t know. It was a gamble, but one he was more than willing to take. Penney arrived first.

“Well the day is beautiful, the setting is gorgeous, and I’m sure the food will be delicious. Just what intriguing idea have you come up with now?” asked Penny, but before Greg could answer she added, “I was going to say harebrained idea, but decided to give you the benefit of the doubt this time.”

“Thanks a lot, Penney,” said Greg, “I really appreciate you giving me the benefit of the doubt.” About this time Christy’s car pulled into the yard and they both waited to greet her at the door.

“Well you delivered the beautiful day and the gorgeous flowers, now to see about the intriguing idea,” said Christy as she greeted them.

“Well how about breakfast first, then we can get to the business at hand,” said Greg. The two women allowed that was a reasonable idea so they went out on the porch and sat down while Greg served them the breakfast he had prepared. They were finishing up when Penney turned to Greg and said.

“When did this intriguing idea raise its ugly head and grab you?” she asked looking at Greg speculatively.

Greg laughed and answered, “You’re not going to believe this but it first came into being yesterday morning.”

“Oh, Oh,” said Christy in a mock serious tone, “One of those morning aberrations. What was it triggered by?”

“I’ll have to tell you the whole story so you’ll understand where I am coming from,” said Greg. So he told them of hearing Kara Toltec’s story from first Sam and then from herself. He explained that she did not ask him for any help, that it was his own idea that she deserved to be helped. He said that the more he thought of the idea of trying to help her to finish her degree, the better he liked the idea. Now he wanted to see if the group might like to make a project out of it.

“Okay,” said Penney, “What is your plan to accomplish this, because I know you have at least the outlines of a plan. Lay it on us,” and they both looked at him in anticipation.

“Let me first say that I’m prepared to see that she gets through the first semester this Fall, but I really don’t want her to know that,” began Greg. “Then I thought we could set up a group scholarship fund for her and we would each put in so much a month into it. We might be able to get Mark Janes and Jim Carter to ride herd on the fund and make sure it’s invested wisely. I’ve asked Kara to get me realistic figures on all the expenses broken down by category. I asked her to include all expenses, and not to exclude the ones she thought she could handle by working. I told her that after we had the figures then we could determine how to handle them.”

“I applaud your thinking,” said Penney. “We wouldn’t want some quirk of circumstance to foul up the whole project. Let’s know everything that has to be planned for right from the beginning.” That statement by Penney gave Greg hope that maybe Penney was starting to buy in to the idea.

“I thought maybe through your contacts at the University, we could have a double check on those expenses,” said Greg.

“Do you think this Kara will come in on the high or low side of the estimate?” asked Christy.

“In spite of how badly she wants to get into college and finish her degree, I will bet she is going to come in at least slightly on the low side,” said Greg.

“Figuring she might have a better chance that way of getting some help, you mean?” asked Penney.

“That is the way I read her. Actually I don’t think she is even figuring on any major help from what ever I come up with,” said Greg.

“But you are, if I read you right,” said Christy.

“I would like to insure that she could stay in school for the next three years,” answered Greg. “By that time she would have established herself enough so that she could practically be insured of research grants, etc. enough to let her finish.”

“What do you see each of us contributing each month, and do you see each of us putting in a somewhat larger amount up front to get it started,” asked Penney.

Greg gave them some tentative figures he had been playing with pending of course getting an estimate of the expenses. Neither seemed at all surprised at his figures.

“What are you planning to do if not everyone buys in to this project? Make up the shortfall yourself, or raise the anti?” asked Christy.

“The limit of each person’s contribution, I think, should be up to each person. I do intend to make up any shortfall,” said Greg. “However, it will be presented to Kara as if it is a joint group project.”

“A little self protection?” asked Christy then she quickly and contritely added. “I didn’t mean that, Greg. I’m sorry. I really know where you’re coming from and I love you for it.”

“Actually Christy, if Kara thought the money was just coming from me, she might hesitate to take it,” said Greg. “I don’t want that to happen. So I would prefer that it would appear a group project. Therefore the group scholarship idea.”

“What would we call it? The Eagle’s Aerie Scholarship Fund?” asked Penney.

“How about the Breakfast Club Scholarship fund? The idea started at breakfast and it was planned at breakfast. Maybe we could have a breakfast of the group to make it official,” said Greg. “What do you say? Would you go for the idea.”

“Count us in,” they chorused together.

“Now how do we convince the rest to go along?” said Christy. “Shall we each take some of the group and go one-on-one?”

“I think that would be a good idea,” said Penney. “That will make it look like several of us have already decided to do it. I’ll talk to Lynn tonight. If I can get her to agree, I’ll call you. Then we can say four of us have decided this is a great idea.”

“I like your thinking,” said Greg. “That will look like it has already got momentum. If we can cover enough of the group we might set up a breakfast here for next Saturday. Maybe I’ll have some hard and fast figures by then.”

“I’ll see if I can’t get you some figures before that time also,” said Christy. “You know,” she added. “This sounds like fun.”

“Yes,” added Penney, “Maybe we could have a dinner or a breakfast the following week to meet with Kara. By the way, were you going to try to meet with her this week to get her figures on expenses. I could come out for breakfast Friday morning if you thought a chaperone was necessary to have her come out here for breakfast.”

“I would really appreciate that,” said Greg. “I felt a little funny about asking her to come here alone. I could say you were one of the group who was interested in possibly helping her.”

“She’s no eighteen year old kid,” said Christy.

“But she doesn’t know me like you do.”

“Hey that’s a plus,” said Penney laughingly. They agreed to keep in touch with each other as to how the campaign was going. Christy had dubbed it a campaign. Then they would know whether to set up a breakfast for Saturday. They might also know how positive they could be with Kara on Friday. Greg was to let Penney know if the Friday breakfast with Kara was on.

CHAPTER TWO

The following week things started out well with some pleasant surprises. Lynn immediately said yes, she wanted in. Serena Tellou was very enthusiastic and asked if she couldn’t also come out on Friday for breakfast, to meet Kara. Andy Wirrens needed little convincing from Christy and even asked if he couldn’t join Greg in covering the Fall semester expenses. Celeste Drewman had talked to Margo Cellini at Leland State and happened to mention the project the group was taking on. Margo immediately said she would like to make a contribution to that fund.

Thursday, Greg received a check from Margo made out to the Breakfast Club Scholarship Fund. It was for about enough to cover the first semester’s expenses. Greg turned the check over to Mark Janes to start a bank account. Greg also gave Mark a check and Andy Wirrens, upon learning that an account had been started at the bank, dropped off a check for the fund. It was getting off to a great start, and they hadn’t even decided on the up-front contribution. By Thursday night, ten of the group had enthusiastically embraced the project. Joan and Jim Carter had each sent a check to Mark for double the tentative amount of the up-front contribution, made out to the Breakfast Club Scholarship Fund. Dexter Broszin and Claire were out-of-town.

There were two unexpected things happen as the result of this campaign. Jim had been talking to Cecil Underhill, a corporate lawyer friend when he mentioned this project the group was taking on. His friend became interested in both the project and the group. When Jim gave him a brief overview of the group and their informal dinners, Cecil asked how he could get an invitation and could he contribute to the fund. Jim said he would get back to him.

Lynn had a similar situation arise with a friend, Janie Dunton, who was Vice President and Director of Human Relations, with a large corporation that had its headquarters in Barton. Upon hearing an explanation of the group and the new project, she also asked how she could get invited and if she could contribute to the fund. She thought it was a wonderful idea. Lynn said she would get back to her. Upon hearing these things, Greg wondered why he hadn’t thought of something like this before. About Thursday noon, Kara called him to say she was sure she had the figures he wanted.

“Good,” said Greg. “Could you come out to my place for breakfast tomorrow morning. Penney McDermot and Serena Tellou, two young women, who are with the group working on plans to help you, will be here. We could discuss the whole situation and make more definite plans.”

Kara hesitated for a minute. “Yes I can be there,” she said.

“You can bring the figures with you. Do you need a ride. You said you lived on the outskirts of Montrose. Serena stays on a farm just outside of Montrose and of course I’m only a few miles from the town, so either of us could easily pick you up,” Greg said.

“No,” said Kara. “My car is running fine, and I know where your place is. I’ve heard it is beautiful. I never thought I’d get to see it.”

“Well you can have breakfast in it,” said Greg. “Can you make it at eight?”

“Oh yes,” said Kara.

“Oh and jeans are the order of the day,” added Greg. “We’re very informal and casual at my place. Especially for breakfast.”

“Sam says everyone wants to get an invitation to breakfast at your place.”

CHAPTER ONE

Saturday Greg Manart decided to go into Montrose for breakfast. It was a beautiful summer day, and he did not want to eat alone in his house. He entered the Rose cafe and noticed there was a new waitress he hadn’t seen before. When she came to take his order he said,

“You must be new. I thought I knew everyone here by now.”

She looked at him for a second then said, “Yes, I just started last week.” Then she added, “I just work weekends. I go to college in Barton.” Greg gave her his order, then watched her as she walked back to the counter to place his order. She must be a non-traditional student. She looked to be in her late twenties or early thirties. She was young looking, but she also had the look and air of maturity about her. With a session in a hair/beauty salon and someone like Penney or Lynn to dress her, he thought she would be somewhere between beautiful and pretty. If she was going to college in Barton, he wondered why she was working out here. He’d become curious so he caught Sam’s eye. After disengaging himself from another old customer, Sam wandered over to Greg’s booth.

“I see you met our new waitress,” said Sam. “She’s just come back to finish her education.”

“Not in your cafe?” said Greg with a twinkle in his eye.

“Oh, I don’t know,” said Sam, “you can get quite an education, if you keep your eyes open here.” Then he added, “She recently got divorced and she is coming back to the University to finish the education that was interrupted by her marriage. From what she told me and others, she quit graduate school to work and put her husband through college. Then after he graduated and got a job, suddenly she wasn’t good enough for him. So she divorced him and came back to the University to try to finish her education. She’s a niece of an old acquaintance and she needed a job. She’s looking for a scholarship or a grant or a loan so she can stay in school this next year.”

“What’s her field of study?” asked Greg, suddenly becoming interested. He did have connections at the University, and here was a kindred spirit. She had gotten a raw deal in her marriage. Finances had not been a problem with him. Apparently it was with her.

“It is something in science. You’ll have to ask her. If you think you can help her I’ll tell her to talk to you,” said Sam, then he added, “She’s a really nice young woman, and really deserves to be helped. She also has a lot of spunk. Incidentally her uncle is not in any position to give her much help and he’s her only living relative.”

“I’d like to talk to her,” said Greg. “I’m not sure yet what I can do, but there should be something.”

Sam left and shortly afterward talked to the waitress. She continued working and in a little while brought Greg his breakfast.

“Sam said I should talk to you,” she said. “I’ll come back when you finish your breakfast and I finish serving my tables.” Then she left to continue working.

Greg had been finished a few minutes when the waitress came and cleared away his dishes, poured him some more coffee and then came back and sat down.

“Sam said you might have some ideas where I can get the money to stay in school,” she said gazing intently at Greg with a slightly hopeful look in her eye.

“First I need some information,” said Greg. “Sam didn’t tell me your name, and he said he didn’t know your field of study, except that it was something in science.”

“My name is Kara Toltec, I’m twenty-nine and I’m divorced,” said the waitress, and Greg began to laugh. Kara looked at him strangely.

“I’m sorry Kara,” said Greg apologetically, “it was just the way you recited it.” Then Kara laughed too.

“My field basically is physics, and I would like to get into nuclear physics. I have been temporarily accepted into graduate school pending the receipt of my transcripts from the university where I started my program. I’m told you’re an artist and writer,” said Kara questioningly as if wondering how much help Greg could be under those circumstances.

“Just to keep the record straight,” said Greg with a smile on his face, half knowing what her chain of thought probably was, “I have a Ph.D. in nuclear physics and one in nuclear bio-chemistry.”

Kara’s mouth dropped open, then recovering her composure said,

“I didn’t know you were also a scientist.”

“It is not that widely known around here, although it is known at the university,” said Greg. “Dr. Jeremy Lee is a good friend.”

“I have heard of Dr. Lee, but I have never met him,” said Kara.

“Well the important question is, what is your financial situation, so we know what we are dealing with, and what we have to do,” said Greg. Kara looked at him rather wide-eyed.

“You sound like you are definitely planning to help me. Not just give me advice.” Greg laughed, then turned serious again.

“I am,” he said, “I just don’t yet know how.”

“You asked about my present financial situation,” said Kara. “I have a room here in town that is paid for the next three months. I have a beater of a car that at the moment is in good running condition. My tuition for the summer session is paid. I have a part-time job at the university during the week and this job on the weekend that is getting me by,” she added.

“When do you need money for next semester?” asked Greg. He actually knew the answer, but wanted to see how much of a realist this young woman was.

“I’ll need tuition money for next semester by September. Money for a place to stay, probably a week or two before that. Money for books and supplies I would need at least by the second week of September,” Kara replied tight-lipped.

“We have to have things put together within the next two months,” said Greg more to himself than to Kara. Kara looked at him quietly almost in disbelief that this man she didn’t really know, except for what she had heard, seemed to be taking her problem upon himself and apparently was going to work to find a solution.

“I have to think about this,” Greg said thoughtfully. “Then we’ll have to get together again to try to put together a plan. Meantime you’ll have to get me some figures. Tuition cost, fees, books and supplies, rent for an adequate place to live, and other necessary living expenses. They have to be realistic and include everything. And don’t say you’ll work to make living expenses. I want a total of all expenses, then we can figure out where the money for them is going to come from. Darn, I wish Christy Jorgenson was still with the University. She could get a lot of this information, and she would be realistic about it.” Then Greg added, “Can you put this information together as soon as you can, then give me a call and we’ll set up a time to meet.”

Kara quietly said she would work on that this week. Greg gave her his telephone number. Kara went back to work and Greg paid his bill and headed back for his house. Greg had a glimmering of an idea of how he might put together a package of help for Kara. He’d have to do some preliminary sounding out of some people before he could put together a definite plan. He would also have to figure out where he could meet with Kara after she got the information he asked her to get. He couldn’t just ask her to come out to his house unless he had someone else come out also. It was one thing to have friends like Lynn Tarrot, Penney McDermot, or Christy or even Claire Gordon, come out alone. It was something else to ask a chance acquaintance like Kara even if it was to set up a plan to help her finance her college expenses. He’d have to get someone like Lynn or Penney sold on his plan first and then, get them to come out for breakfast with Kara.

He thought it would be a great thing if the group would sponsor Kara. It would take a real selling job. Not that they couldn’t afford it. All of them were doing very well financially. He was willing to make the major contribution seeing as it was his idea. In fact, he could dedicate the money he would make off the painting to that project. They could set up a scholarship fund and let Mark Janes and Jim Carter invest it. They could all contribute a certain amount a month. Greg figured he could take care of the first semester’s expenses until they could build up the fund.

The more he thought of that idea the better he liked it. Now, to get the rest of them to agree to it. First he had to decide, whom he would start with. His first inclination was to call Lynn, but then he remembered Penney had put herself through college. She also had been instrumental in having her company set up a scholarship fund. In addition, Penney would be all in favor of helping another woman. Then he would work on Christy, because Christy could be very persuasive when she believed in something. Maybe if he could get them both together for breakfast tomorrow he could try to sell them both on the idea at the same time. It was worth a try, so he dialed Penney’s number. When Penney answered, Greg said,

“Hi, this is Greg, are you busy for breakfast tomorrow. I have an interesting idea for the group, I’d like to bounce off you first. We could either meet in town or you could come out here.”

“Well seeing as it is going to be a beautiful day tomorrow, and I don’t have any plans for breakfast, I’d be willing to come out to your place. Anyone else invited?” asked Penney.

“Well now that you have accepted, I was going to call Christy and see if I could talk her into coming out also. I have a reason for asking the two of you and I’ll explain the whole thing tomorrow,” explained Greg.

“Okay,” said Penney, “If you’re going to be secretive about it, I’ll see you tomorrow. I suppose about eight?’

“Eight would be fine,” said Greg. Luckily he caught Penney in a good as well as a curious mood so she was interested in finding out what he had on his mind. Hopefully he could intrigue Christy enough to join them. He put in call to Christy.

When she answered he said, “Hi Christy, this is Greg, are you in an adventuresome mood?”

“It depends upon what you have in mind, Greg,” Christy laughed.

“To have breakfast tomorrow at my place with Penney and me, to hear an interesting idea I have for the group. I wanted to bounce it off the two of you first to see what you thought.”

“Has Penney said yes already?”

“Yes she did, and we planned to have breakfast at eight.”

“Okay, I’m in,” said Christy, “See you at eight for breakfast tomorrow. You promise the weather will be beautiful and your gardens in full bloom?”

“Yes, and the idea intriguing,” said Greg. Greg was surprised that it came together so easily. He hoped the rest would go as smoothly. He’d better get his story together before tomorrow morning. Actually it was a plus that he could get to talk to the two of them together and in the relaxing atmosphere of his place. Besides after he made the pitch, if the reaction was favorable, Greg could then get some idea on the expenses Kara would be looking at, from Christy. Although Greg did not spend all the rest of the day working on the details of the plan he wanted to bounce off Penney and Christy, in actuality he was at least thinking about it practically all the rest of the day.

Sunday he was up early to a warm, beautiful summer morning. He spent some of the time gathering some bouquets of flowers from the garden. The rest he spent making preparations for the breakfast he intended to serve the two women. He wanted it just right. The top of the head idea, that began to form when he had talked to Kara Toltec on Saturday, had become a priority project in his mind. Now he had to make it a priority project for the rest of the group. But would they buy it? He really didn’t know. It was a gamble, but one he was more than willing to take. Penney arrived first.

“Well the day is beautiful, the setting is gorgeous, and I’m sure the food will be delicious. Just what intriguing idea have you come up with now?” asked Penny, but before Greg could answer she added, “I was going to say harebrained idea, but decided to give you the benefit of the doubt this time.”

“Thanks a lot, Penney,” said Greg, “I really appreciate you giving me the benefit of the doubt.” About this time Christy’s car pulled into the yard and they both waited to greet her at the door.

“Well you delivered the beautiful day and the gorgeous flowers, now to see about the intriguing idea,” said Christy as she greeted them.

“Well how about breakfast first, then we can get to the business at hand,” said Greg. The two women allowed that was a reasonable idea so they went out on the porch and sat down while Greg served them the breakfast he had prepared. They were finishing up when Penney turned to Greg and said.

“When did this intriguing idea raise its ugly head and grab you?” she asked looking at Greg speculatively.

Greg laughed and answered, “You’re not going to believe this but it first came into being yesterday morning.”

“Oh, Oh,” said Christy in a mock serious tone, “One of those morning aberrations. What was it triggered by?”

“I’ll have to tell you the whole story so you’ll understand where I am coming from,” said Greg. So he told them of hearing Kara Toltec’s story from first Sam and then from herself. He explained that she did not ask him for any help, that it was his own idea that she deserved to be helped. He said that the more he thought of the idea of trying to help her to finish her degree, the better he liked the idea. Now he wanted to see if the group might like to make a project out of it.

“Okay,” said Penney, “What is your plan to accomplish this, because I know you have at least the outlines of a plan. Lay it on us,” and they both looked at him in anticipation.

“Let me first say that I’m prepared to see that she gets through the first semester this Fall, but I really don’t want her to know that,” began Greg. “Then I thought we could set up a group scholarship fund for her and we would each put in so much a month into it. We might be able to get Mark Janes and Jim Carter to ride herd on the fund and make sure it’s invested wisely. I’ve asked Kara to get me realistic figures on all the expenses broken down by category. I asked her to include all expenses, and not to exclude the ones she thought she could handle by working. I told her that after we had the figures then we could determine how to handle them.”

“I applaud your thinking,” said Penney. “We wouldn’t want some quirk of circumstance to foul up the whole project. Let’s know everything that has to be planned for right from the beginning.” That statement by Penney gave Greg hope that maybe Penney was starting to buy in to the idea.

“I thought maybe through your contacts at the University, we could have a double check on those expenses,” said Greg.

“Do you think this Kara will come in on the high or low side of the estimate?” asked Christy.

“In spite of how badly she wants to get into college and finish her degree, I will bet she is going to come in at least slightly on the low side,” said Greg.

“Figuring she might have a better chance that way of getting some help, you mean?” asked Penney.

“That is the way I read her. Actually I don’t think she is even figuring on any major help from what ever I come up with,” said Greg.

“But you are, if I read you right,” said Christy.

“I would like to insure that she could stay in school for the next three years,” answered Greg. “By that time she would have established herself enough so that she could practically be insured of research grants, etc. enough to let her finish.”

“What do you see each of us contributing each month, and do you see each of us putting in a somewhat larger amount up front to get it started,” asked Penney.

Greg gave them some tentative figures he had been playing with pending of course getting an estimate of the expenses. Neither seemed at all surprised at his figures.

“What are you planning to do if not everyone buys in to this project? Make up the shortfall yourself, or raise the anti?” asked Christy.

“The limit of each person’s contribution, I think, should be up to each person. I do intend to make up any shortfall,” said Greg. “However, it will be presented to Kara as if it is a joint group project.”

“A little self protection?” asked Christy then she quickly and contritely added. “I didn’t mean that, Greg. I’m sorry. I really know where you’re coming from and I love you for it.”

“Actually Christy, if Kara thought the money was just coming from me, she might hesitate to take it,” said Greg. “I don’t want that to happen. So I would prefer that it would appear a group project. Therefore the group scholarship idea.”

“What would we call it? The Eagle’s Aerie Scholarship Fund?” asked Penney.

“How about the Breakfast Club Scholarship fund? The idea started at breakfast and it was planned at breakfast. Maybe we could have a breakfast of the group to make it official,” said Greg. “What do you say? Would you go for the idea.”

“Count us in,” they chorused together.

“Now how do we convince the rest to go along?” said Christy. “Shall we each take some of the group and go one-on-one?”

“I think that would be a good idea,” said Penney. “That will make it look like several of us have already decided to do it. I’ll talk to Lynn tonight. If I can get her to agree, I’ll call you. Then we can say four of us have decided this is a great idea.”

“I like your thinking,” said Greg. “That will look like it has already got momentum. If we can cover enough of the group we might set up a breakfast here for next Saturday. Maybe I’ll have some hard and fast figures by then.”

“I’ll see if I can’t get you some figures before that time also,” said Christy. “You know,” she added. “This sounds like fun.”

“Yes,” added Penney, “Maybe we could have a dinner or a breakfast the following week to meet with Kara. By the way, were you going to try to meet with her this week to get her figures on expenses. I could come out for breakfast Friday morning if you thought a chaperone was necessary to have her come out here for breakfast.”

“I would really appreciate that,” said Greg. “I felt a little funny about asking her to come here alone. I could say you were one of the group who was interested in possibly helping her.”

“She’s no eighteen year old kid,” said Christy.

“But she doesn’t know me like you do.”

“Hey that’s a plus,” said Penney laughingly. They agreed to keep in touch with each other as to how the campaign was going. Christy had dubbed it a campaign. Then they would know whether to set up a breakfast for Saturday. They might also know how positive they could be with Kara on Friday. Greg was to let Penney know if the Friday breakfast with Kara was on.

CHAPTER TWO

The following week things started out well with some pleasant surprises. Lynn immediately said yes, she wanted in. Serena Tellou was very enthusiastic and asked if she couldn’t also come out on Friday for breakfast, to meet Kara. Andy Wirrens needed little convincing from Christy and even asked if he couldn’t join Greg in covering the Fall semester expenses. Celeste Drewman had talked to Margo Cellini at Leland State and happened to mention the project the group was taking on. Margo immediately said she would like to make a contribution to that fund.

Thursday, Greg received a check from Margo made out to the Breakfast Club Scholarship Fund. It was for about enough to cover the first semester’s expenses. Greg turned the check over to Mark Janes to start a bank account. Greg also gave Mark a check and Andy Wirrens, upon learning that an account had been started at the bank, dropped off a check for the fund. It was getting off to a great start, and they hadn’t even decided on the up-front contribution. By Thursday night, ten of the group had enthusiastically embraced the project. Joan and Jim Carter had each sent a check to Mark for double the tentative amount of the up-front contribution, made out to the Breakfast Club Scholarship Fund. Dexter Broszin and Claire were out-of-town.

There were two unexpected things happen as the result of this campaign. Jim had been talking to Cecil Underhill, a corporate lawyer friend when he mentioned this project the group was taking on. His friend became interested in both the project and the group. When Jim gave him a brief overview of the group and their informal dinners, Cecil asked how he could get an invitation and could he contribute to the fund. Jim said he would get back to him.

Lynn had a similar situation arise with a friend, Janie Dunton, who was Vice President and Director of Human Relations, with a large corporation that had its headquarters in Barton. Upon hearing an explanation of the group and the new project, she also asked how she could get invited and if she could contribute to the fund. She thought it was a wonderful idea. Lynn said she would get back to her. Upon hearing these things, Greg wondered why he hadn’t thought of something like this before. About Thursday noon, Kara called him to say she was sure she had the figures he wanted.

“Good,” said Greg. “Could you come out to my place for breakfast tomorrow morning. Penney McDermot and Serena Tellou, two young women, who are with the group working on plans to help you, will be here. We could discuss the whole situation and make more definite plans.”

Kara hesitated for a minute. “Yes I can be there,” she said.

“You can bring the figures with you. Do you need a ride. You said you lived on the outskirts of Montrose. Serena stays on a farm just outside of Montrose and of course I’m only a few miles from the town, so either of us could easily pick you up,” Greg said.

“No,” said Kara. “My car is running fine, and I know where your place is. I’ve heard it is beautiful. I never thought I’d get to see it.”

“Well you can have breakfast in it,” said Greg. “Can you make it at eight?”

“Oh yes,” said Kara.

“Oh and jeans are the order of the day,” added Greg. “We’re very informal and casual at my place. Especially for breakfast.”

“Sam says everyone wants to get an invitation to breakfast at your place.”