When she stepped out on the porch, a blast of water shot Heidi in the face. Holding her hands like a shield, she gasped.
“Uh-oh.” Randy quickly lowered the hose, holding the nozzle so it pointed toward the nearest flowerbed.
Marsha, who stood sobbing across from him, was drenched from the top of her blond head all the way down to her little bare toes.
Heidi wasn’t sure what to do—scold Randy or comfort his distraught sister. She shook her finger at the boy, then quickly turned off the nozzle at the end of the hose. “I’m ashamed of you, Randy. What made you squirt your sister with water?”
He gave an undignified grunt. “Marsha said she was hot, so I cooled her off.”
“I don’t believe being soaked with cold water from the hose was what she had in mind.” Heidi placed her hand on Marsha’s wet head. “Now, Randy, please put the hose back where it belongs and make sure the spigot where the hose is connected is turned off.”
“Okay.” Randy paused and looked at his sister. “Sorry for gettin’ you wet. Are ya mad at me?”
Still sniffling, Marsha shook her head.
As Randy stepped off the porch, Heidi leaned down and clasped the little girl’s hand. “Looks like I got a little bath too. Come inside with me, and we’ll get out of our wet clothes.” She was thankful the social worker hadn’t shown up for a surprise visit in the middle of all this. If Gail had seen what had just happened, it would not have made a good impression.
Marsha looked up at Heidi with such a sweet expression, it almost melted her heart. Truth was, she had begun to think of these children as her own.
“I don’t see why we have to eat here,” Kassidy grumbled as the hostess showed them to a table at Der Dutchman restaurant. “I told Hillary I’d be home before one o’clock. She was gonna come over and swim in our pool today.” Kassidy reached back to flip her red ponytail.
Denise clicked her freshly manicured fingernails against the table. “In the first place, it’s not warm enough to go swimming yet. In the second place, you should not have invited your friend without checking with me first. So settle down, because we are not going home until we’ve eaten lunch.”
Kassidy slumped in her chair. “Are you trying to punish me ’cause of what happened to my shoe?”
“Your shoe is inconsequential. What upset me today was your attitude. You were rude and acted like a spoiled three-year-old child instead of an eleven-year-old girl who should know better.” Denise released an exasperated sigh. “I’ve never been so humiliated in all my life.”
“Well, what about me? You shouldn’t have signed me up for that stupid cooking class. I already know how to cut up fruit, and everything about the class was boring.”
“Is that so? First of all, you need to stop thinking of yourself all the time, and boring or not, you will be taking the next five classes.” Denise spoke with clenched jaw and forced restraint. “As far as Hillary is concerned, you can call her right now and say she can’t come over because you’re on restrictions until you learn to have a better attitude.”
Tilting her chin down, Kassidy frowned. “That’s not fair, Mom. I was looking forward to spending the afternoon with my friend.”
Shaking her head, Denise held firm. She’d given in to her daughter too many times in the past, and it had done nothing to improve the girl’s haughty attitude or tame her temper. “Kassidy, I was looking forward to us being at the cooking class together, and look how that turned out. So get on your cell phone and call Hillary right now.”
Frowning, Kassidy reached into her pocket. “My phone! It’s not here.”
“Did you leave it in the car?”
“No, I—I must have left it at that Amish woman’s house.” Kassidy’s face contorted. “I remember setting it down on the table when we were eating the fruit salad. I bet it’s still there.” She pushed her chair aside and stood. “We’ve gotta go back, Mom. We need to go there now and get my phone.”
“Sit down, Kassidy and quit making a scene.” Denise pointed to the menus on the table. “We’ll go after we’ve had lunch.”
“But what if something happens to my phone? Those kids Heidi’s taking care of are little. If one of ’em fools around with the phone, they might mess up the settings.” Eyes narrowed, Kassidy’s voice rose as she clutched the neckline of her blouse.
Denise put her fingers to her lips. “Calm down. I’m sure Heidi would have found your phone and put it in a safe place.”
“But what if she didn’t? What if—”
“All the ‘what ifs’ in the world won’t change a thing. We’ll find out about your phone when we get there.” Denise pushed the menu closer to Kassidy. “Now make a decision on what you want, or I’ll order for you.”
Kassidy pouted, but grabbed the menu. After looking it over, she muttered, “Nothing looks good, so I’ll just have a burger and fries.”
Denise felt relief when a waitress came to take their order. Maybe once her daughter had food in her stomach, she’d be in a better mood. I know I will be. She picked up her water and took a drink. I’m more than ready to eat lunch, and despite whatever Kassidy thinks, everything on the menu here looks good to me.
“What did you think of the cooking class today?” Miranda asked her children.
“I liked it, but I don’t care much for Kassidy.” Debbie’s lips curled. “She wants her way all the time.”
“Maybe since we were all strangers to one another, everyone was a little uncomfortable. I’m sure it will get better once we all get to know each other.” Miranda had to admit that Kassidy was one spoiled child. I’m glad my children aren’t like that. “How about you, Kevin? What did you think of the cooking class?”
“Guess it was all right, but I had more fun when that nice man showed us the animals after the class was over.”
“It was kind of Mr. Troyer to give you a tour of their barn.”
As Miranda drove toward home, she recalled how Heidi’s husband had been so patient, answering the children’s questions about all the animals they had on the farm. One thing that had really impressed Miranda was when Lyle glanced lovingly back at his wife, and how Heidi smiled at him, watching as he and the children ventured toward the barn.
Miranda blew a breath from her lips. I remember when Trent used to look at me that way. When did it all go wrong?
Before returning home, Miranda wanted to make a stop, so she pulled into the local market in Berlin. “Hey kids, how about we go in here and get some things to make toasted cheese sandwiches for our lunch?”
“Sounds good,” Debbie and Kevin said in unison.
“We’ll need to make it quick, though. We have to get home and let Blondie out.”
Blondie was their poodle, and she got the name because of her light-colored, curly fur. Blondie was a friendly, good-tempered dog. The kids loved her, and she’d become an important part of the family.
After picking out some different cheeses, fresh bread, and a bag of potato chips, they returned to the minivan, and Miranda drove the three miles to their home.
When she pulled into the driveway, she spotted Trent’s shiny red truck parked by the garage. Her husband stood in the backyard, throwing a stick for Blondie to fetch.
“Dad’s here!” Debbie yelled, quickly getting out of the van after it came to a halt.
Kevin was close behind her, and they both ran to greet their father.
Miranda got the bags of groceries out of the back and headed toward the house. Like a faithful friend, the poodle ran up to greet her.
“Hey there, Blondie. Did you miss us?” Miranda smiled as the dog raised up on her hind legs and tried to sniff inside the bags. “Don’t worry. I got something for you too.”
As if the dog understood, Blondie gave an approving bark.
After chatting with their dad a few minutes, the kids called to Blondie and continued the game of fetch.
Miranda stopped as Trent approached. He wore a light beige shirt and a pair of darker beige, stylish slacks. While some people might think her husband was average looking, to her, no other man was as handsome as Trent. The first two buttons of his shirt were open, revealing dark curly chest hairs that matched his thick eyebrows. Miranda’s face grew warm, as she willed her eyes to rise up and meet his gaze. Even with all the problems between them, she still remembered, and longed for, the way things had been before he’d begun seeing another woman. Of course, Trent denied having had an affair. He insisted the relationship hadn’t gone that far before he’d broken things off. But Miranda lost faith in him and wasn’t convinced he was telling the truth.
“Nice of you to stop by when we weren’t home.” Miranda couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of her tone. “Why are you here anyway? I thought you were scheduled to work today.”
“I did work this morning, but I got off at noon. Oh, by the way, I didn’t know you weren’t going to be home.”
“Don’t you remember?” Miranda sighed heavily. “We were at the cooking class I told you about when I called to see if you could take the kids.” Trent never remembers anything I tell him.
“Oh, yeah, right, I forgot.”
Big surprise. “So, why did you stop by?”
“I want to get some of the music CDs I left here when you kicked me out.” Trent shifted from one foot to the other. “I have a CD player, but no music to play in it.”
“Oh, I see.” Miranda’s body temperature rose, and it wasn’t from the heat. “Then I guess it wasn’t because you wanted to see the kids.”
“Now don’t try to make something out of nothing, Miranda.” Trent kept his voice lowered. “Figured when I got here, I’d spend a little time with Debbie and Kevin.” He reached out and took one of the grocery sacks.
Miranda didn’t want to argue, especially in front of the children, so she invited Trent to stay for lunch. That would allow him some time with the kids.
“Thanks for the offer, but I’ll have to take a rain check.” Trent looked toward the children, who were still playing with the dog. “I had a busy morning at the dealership. In fact, I sold three cars. So I’m tired and want to get home and relax. If it’s okay with you, I’ll pick out some CDs and be on my way.”
“Sure, take whatever you want.” She waved her hand to shoo him on.
“Look, Miranda, I’m trying to be cordial. Quite frankly, when I realized you weren’t home, I could have just gone in the house, got the CDs, and left. But I hung around, hoping you and the kids would be home soon. That’s why I came out here with Blondie. Figured I’d mess with her a bit while I waited for you.”
“Well if you’d paid attention, you would have remembered that I said the cooking class would be over at noon.”
“Okay, I admit, I forgot.” Trent rubbed the bridge of his nose.
“By the way,” she added, “the next cooking class is in two weeks, and I have to work that Saturday. So can you take the kids?”
“I’m scheduled to work, too, but I’ll see if I can switch with someone.”
“Thanks.”
Miranda and Trent entered their ranch-style house. While she put the groceries away, he went to the living room to get what he’d come for.
Debbie and Kevin came running into the kitchen. “Where’s Daddy?” Kevin asked.
Miranda nodded toward the living room. The children hurried in to be with their father. Those poor kids miss their dad so much. I’ll never understand that man. If he hadn’t messed up, he could still be living here.
Blondie, who’d been left outside, whined and scratched at the door.
“Did they forget about you?” Miranda held the door open as Blondie pranced in. The cute dog stayed with her in the kitchen, sitting patiently and wagging her pom-tipped tail.
“What do ya say now?” Miranda held her hand out, hiding a surprise.
“Woof! Woof!” Blondie rose up in a begging position, reaching her front paws up as high as she could.
“Good girl.” Miranda rewarded her with a chewy bone.
She watched the pretty poodle go over to her doggie bed, spin in a circle, and lie down with the bone. Shortly thereafter, Trent, holding a few CDs in his hand, entered the kitchen, with both kids trailing behind.
“Can’t you please stay, Daddy?” Debbie held onto her father’s arm.
“Sorry, honey. Some other time. I want to go back to my apartment and put up my feet.” Trent patted the top of Debbie’s head.
Kevin stood silently, not saying a word, but his look of disappointment said it all.
“Why are we stoppin’ here?” Jeremy asked when Darren pulled his rig into the parking lot of a restaurant in Sugarcreek.
“We’re going to stop for lunch.” Darren glanced in the mirror at his son sitting in the back seat, wearing a scowl. “I’m hungry and figured you would be too.”
“Yeah, okay. Guess I could eat something. That dumb fruit salad I had to make during the cooking class didn’t fill my stomach. Especially when I had to share it with you.”
Darren chuckled. “You wouldn’t have eaten it in front of me, would ya?”
“Naw, I was only kidding.”
“Are you feeling better about taking the class now that you know you’re not the only boy?”
“I guess so, but the other guys are just little kids. I don’t have much in common with Randy or Kevin.”
“That’s okay. You don’t have to become best buds. It’s just kind of nice to know there are three boys in the class, which evens things out, since there are three girls.”
“Four, if you count the little girl who lives with Heidi.”
“True.” Darren opened the door on his side of the vehicle. “Let’s go inside the restaurant and see what’s on the menu.”
They had no more than stepped into the restaurant when Darren spotted Ellen and her daughter, Becky, sitting at a table near the window. He thought about how the two of them had hurried out the door after class ended today, preventing him from telling Ellen what he thought about her not giving Becky a chance to learn on her own. It was probably for the best, though. No point creating a problem—especially when they’d be seeing each other again at the next cooking class.
Ellen glanced up from perusing her menu and was surprised to see Darren Keller enter the restaurant with his son. When Darren looked her way, she offered a casual wave. He nodded in her direction, before following the hostess to a table. Ellen turned back to Becky. “Did you enjoy the cooking class today?”
Becky lifted her shoulders briefly. “It was okay, but I didn’t like two of the boys who were there.”
“Which two?”
“Kevin and Jeremy.”
“How come?”
“Well, Kevin kept doing things to irritate that girl, Kassidy, and Jeremy kicked me under the table a few times.”
“I’m sure he didn’t kick you on purpose.” Ellen glanced across the room, where Darren and Jeremy sat. They were too far away to hear what Becky had said, especially since she’d spoken so quietly.
“Mom, do they have pizza here?” Becky asked.
“I don’t think so.” Ellen pointed to the menu. “I’m going to order the baked chicken wrap. You should order something healthy too.”
“Okay I’ll have a wrap.”
“We’ll have pizza soon,” Ellen promised, seeing Becky’s defeated expression. “I know pizza’s your favorite food. Whenever we decide to have it, maybe instead of ordering a pizza, we can make one together. How’s that sound?”
“Okay.”
Ellen felt better when Becky nodded in agreement.
“Mom, when I go to the next cooking class, you can just drop me off at Heidi Troyer’s and come back when it’s done to pick me up.”
Ellen shook her head. “I wouldn’t feel right about that. I’d prefer to stay during the class.” She glanced at Darren again, and was surprised when he left his seat and headed in their direction. Ellen moistened her lips. I wonder what he wants.