I’m surprised to see you here.” Darren smiled as he stood beside Ellen’s chair. “Do you come to Sugarcreek often?”
“No. I heard about this restaurant and decided to stop for lunch before heading home.” She fiddled with her napkin, nervous all of a sudden. The depth of Darren’s blue eyes seemed to bore right through Ellen as he held her steady gaze. “How about you? Have you and your son eaten here before?”
“Nope. It’s our first time too. Got a recommendation from another fireman who lives in Sugarcreek.” He grinned. “If anyone knows a good place to eat, it’s a guy who puts out fires for a living.”
She chuckled. Darren was not only good looking, but he had a sense of humor, something she’d always appreciated in a man—or anyone else for that matter. As a nurse, she’d learned from observing her patients that laughter and a positive attitude were good medicine.
Darren gestured to the empty chairs at Ellen’s table. “Say, would it be okay if Jeremy and I joined you? It might be nice to get better acquainted.”
Ellen looked at her daughter, wondering how she would feel if Darren and his son sat at their table. When Becky said nothing, Ellen looked back at Darren. “Sure, that’d be fine.”
Darren turned and motioned for his son to come over. Jeremy remained in his seat a few seconds, then got up and tromped across the room. “What’s up, Dad?”
“We’re going to sit here and eat lunch with Ellen and Becky.”
Jeremy’s brows furrowed. “I thought we had our own table.”
“We did, but I decided we should sit over here and visit with Becky and her mother.”
“Okay, whatever.” Jeremy took a seat next to Becky and slouched in his chair.
She gave him a sidelong glance, but didn’t say a word either. Ellen hoped her daughter wasn’t holding a grudge against Jeremy because he’d kicked her under the table.
Darren seated himself in the chair beside Ellen, then glanced over at her menu. “I hear the French dip sandwich is pretty good here.”
“I’ll probably have a salad.” Ellen pushed the menu closer to him. “Do you want to take a closer look?”
“Nope. I know what I want.” He handed the menu to Jeremy. “You’d better make up your mind soon, ’cause a waitress is headed this way.”
“I made up my mind when we were sittin’ at the other table.” Jeremy nodded in that direction. “I’m gonna have a personal-size pizza.”
“I thought they didn’t have pizza here.” Becky looked at Ellen with furrowed brows. “If he gets to have pizza, why can’t I?”
Feeling a headache coming on, Ellen rubbed her forehead. “Okay, Becky, you can have whatever you want. I must have missed seeing pizza listed on the menu.”
After the waitress took their orders, it grew uncomfortably quiet at the table.
“Did you enjoy the cooking class?” Darren asked at the same moment Ellen threw out the same question.
He chuckled. “You go first.”
“Yes, despite the fact that no one knew each other, I thought things went well for the first class.”
“I thought it was a little awkward, though.” Darren glanced at Becky, then back at Ellen. “Hopefully the next ones will go better, and the kids will be more comfortable with each other. Don’t you think so, Jeremy?” He nudged his son’s arm, but all Jeremy did was nod his head.
“Did you like the class, Jeremy?” Ellen asked.
“It was okay.” Jeremy glanced at Becky, then looked quickly away.
“How about you, Becky? What did you think?” Darren questioned.
“It was all right,” she mumbled without looking at him.
Darren chuckled. “Well, at least our kids think alike where that topic is concerned.”
Ellen smiled. “You mentioned another fireman had recommended this place to eat.” She took a drink of water the waitress had put on the table. “Are you also a fireman?”
“Yeah. It’s what I’ve always wanted to be.” He grabbed his glass of water and took a big swallow. “I tried college after graduating from high school, but only got as far as acquiring my associate’s degree in business management.”
“I see.” Ellen leaned her elbows on the table.
“I knew sitting behind a desk was not for me.” Darren didn’t want to talk about himself anymore. “How about you? What do you do?”
“I’m a nurse in the pediatric ward at the hospital in Millersburg.”
He smiled. “Guess that means you must like kids.”
“I do.” Her face sobered. “It saddens me, though, to see a severely sick or injured child.”
Darren slowly nodded. “It’s hard for me to see kids who have been burned or injured because of a fire. So in some ways our jobs are similar.”
“Yes, I suppose.” Ellen rested her hands beneath her chin.
“Don’t mean to change the subject, but are you planning to come to all the cooking classes with your daughter?”
“Yes, I am.”
Darren came close to voicing his opinion on that subject, but the waitress arrived with their food. Maybe once he’d gotten to know Ellen better he would feel free to interject his thoughts.
“Are ya still mad at me for playin’ with the hose?” Randy asked Heidi as she sat in the kitchen with him and Marsha, eating lunch.
She reached over and gave his shoulder a tender squeeze. “No, Randy. You apologized and I forgave you.” Heidi looked at Marsha, her lips covered with peanut butter. “Your sister accepted your apology too.”
“I won’t touch the hose again.” Randy shook his head vigorously. “Promise.”
Heidi smiled. “Sometimes Lyle or I might ask you to turn on the hose, and then it will be okay. I just don’t want you spraying anyone with water.”
“Okay.” He pointed to the cookie jar on the counter. “Can Marsha and I have a kichli?”
“Yes, but not until you’ve finished your lunch. There are only a few oatmeal cookies left, but you and Marsha can help me make more.”
Marsha grinned, and Randy bobbed his head. It was good to see him becoming more receptive to her. It also pleased Heidi that Randy had used the Pennsylvania Dutch word for cookie. He was beginning to catch on to more Amish words. When he started school this fall, Randy would have an advantage over the other children, since he already knew the English language. It would be easier for him to make friends and communicate with the other children before and after class if he spoke Pennsylvania Dutch. Marsha wouldn’t start school for a few more years, so Heidi would have plenty of time to work with her if she and Lyle were allowed to continue caring for the children.
What a privilege it was to take care of these precious youngsters. And to think, if one of my previous students hadn’t mentioned the need for foster parents, Lyle and I never would have considered such a thing. It still amazed Heidi how the Lord had worked things out on their behalf, as well as the children’s. Despite the disappointment she’d felt over not being able to adopt Kendra’s baby, everything had turned out well.
Seeing that the children had finished their sandwiches, Heidi scooted away from the table and went to get the ingredients to make oatmeal cookies. She set a carton of eggs on the counter and was about to get out the oatmeal, when a knock sounded on the front door.
“I’ll be right back.” She hurried from the room.
When Heidi opened the door, she was surprised to see Denise and Kassidy on the porch.
“Sorry to bother you.” Denise’s tone was apologetic. “My daughter thinks she may have left her cell phone here.”
Kassidy lifted her chin. “I don’t think it, Mom. I know I left it here. I had my phone with me when I was in Heidi’s kitchen.”
“The children and I just finished eating lunch, and I didn’t see any sign of your cell phone in the kitchen. Perhaps you left it somewhere else,” Heidi suggested.
The girl’s face turned crimson, as she shook her head. “I only took it out when I was sitting at your table, because I wanted to see if I had any text messages.”
“Okay, well, let’s go to the kitchen and take a look.” Heidi led the way.
When they entered the room, where Randy and Marsha still sat, Kassidy scanned the table.
“Your phone’s not here,” Denise pointed out. “Are you sure you left it on the table?”
Kassidy nodded curtly.
“Maybe one of the others who was here at the class saw the phone and moved it someplace else,” Heidi suggested.
“Or maybe someone took it.” Kassidy planted both hands on her hips, glaring at Randy and Marsha.
“Now, don’t go making accusations, Kassidy.” Denise stepped between her daughter and the table.
Kassidy’s face tightened. “I need my phone, and I want it back!” She skirted around her mother and leaned close to Randy’s chair, looking him right in the face. “I bet you took it, you little thief. You have guilt written all over your dirty face.”
“My face ain’t dirty.” He glared back at her.
“Yeah, it is. There’s purple jelly on your chin and a smudge of peanut butter on your cheek.”
Heidi was on the verge of intervening, when Denise spoke again. “Kassidy, you can’t go around accusing people of taking your things when you have no proof.”
“But I do have proof,” she insisted. “I left my cell phone here, it’s gone now, and the little runt looks guilty.”
Feeling the need to end this, Heidi looked at Randy and said, “Did you take Kassidy’s phone?”
He started to shake his head, but then slowly nodded. “It was on the table when she left, so I picked it up.”
“What’d you do with it?” Kassidy’s nostrils flared like an angry bull about to charge.
“I—I put it in my room so I could look at it later.”
“You’d better not have played with the buttons or messed up any of my settings.” The girl’s cheeks turned a deeper shade of red.
“Randy, please go to your room and get Kassidy’s phone.” Heidi was embarrassed by his behavior and disappointed because he had taken something that wasn’t his, without asking. She wondered if his parents had taught him right from wrong.
“Okay, I’ll get it.” Randy leaped from his chair and bolted out of the room.
“I apologize for his behavior.” Heidi looked at Denise. “He’s young and doesn’t always think about what he’s doing.”
“Believe me, I understand.” Denise gave a sidelong glance toward her daughter.
A few minutes later, Randy returned with Kassidy’s cell phone. Before he could utter a word, she snatched it out of his hand and looked it over.
Randy backed away from Kassidy and took a seat next to Marsha.
“Everything seems okay with my phone. Can we go now, Mom?” Kassidy put the phone in her pocket.
“Yes, but before we do, you need to tell Randy you’re sorry for talking so sharply to him.”
“Okay, whatever.” Kassidy went over to where Randy sat, and mumbled. “Sorry for what I said. And you should be sorry, too, for taking my phone.” She moved across the room and stood with both hands on her hips.
Denise turned to face Heidi. “Sorry for the interruption and especially for my daughter’s rude behavior. We’ll look forward to seeing you in two weeks.” Denise and Kassidy went out the back door this time.
Heidi looked at Randy. “I’m not going to punish you this time, but if you ever take anything that doesn’t belong to you again, there will be consequences. Understand?”
“Jah.” Randy scrubbed a hand over his face and turned his head away quickly.
Heidi wished she could do something to reach the boy. One minute things were going along okay, and the next minute Randy misbehaved. Was it the pain he still felt over losing his parents that caused his naughtiness, or did Randy dislike living here? One thing was certain: this had not been a good day for the boy.
That evening before the children went to bed, Heidi would read to them the verse she’d written on the back of the recipe card for fruit salad. Both Randy and his sister needed to understand the importance of obedience.