Mother's Promise (23 page)

Rachel's mind was reeling with everything she had going on these days. Her course work was not especially difficult, but it took up a lot of her time. The same was true of her work at the hospital, especially when she had to return after hours to handle some emergency. Then there was the reprimand regarding Zeke that she had received from Darcy Meekins—a reprimand that was now a part of her employment record. Mark Boynton had explained to her that the hospital had a three-strikes-and-you're- out policy when it came to such things.

But uppermost in her thoughts was the feeling that she was not spending enough time with Justin. Not that he had said anything or given any indication that he was upset with her. To her relief he seemed to have connected with a group of boys from his school. One day she'd happened to be coming back to the guest cottage at the same time the school bus pulled up and Justin got off.

He hadn't seen her right away because his attention had been on a boy leaning out one of the windows of the bus, shouting something to Justin. Justin had been smiling and then laughing as the bus pulled away and the boy continued to hang out the window.

“Who was that?” she'd asked.

“Just somebody in my class,” Justin replied.

“Does this person have a name?”

“Derek.”

“He seems …”

Justin had shot her a look that warned her not to say anything derogatory about his friend so she changed tactics.

“Does he live nearby?”

Justin shrugged.

“Because maybe you'd like to invite him over for supper one day, or we could …”

“I see him at school. I've got homework,” he added. “Math test tomorrow.”

On the surface everything with Justin seemed to be going as well as could be expected. His grades were fine. He was making friends given the exchange with the boy on the bus and his occasional comment about a couple of other boys. He did his chores and did not complain when she had to go back to the hospital late at night. But there was something….

“I can call Sally's parents and ask if you could stay with them until I get back, or you could come with me,” she'd offered the first time she'd gotten a late-night call.

“I can stay on my own, Mom. I'm not a little kid anymore.”

No, he wasn't. In the short time since they'd come to Florida it seemed to Rachel that he had grown taller and his body—always rail thin—had begun to fill out. And his voice was changing as well. It was rougher, and he had developed a tendency toward mumbling. But what worried her most was that his attitude had changed. He was quieter than ever—sometimes bordering on sullen.

She needed to speak to him about that. Sometimes when Sharon or Malcolm Shepherd walked over to the garden when he was out doing the weeding, he was not as polite as Rachel would like him to be. But the fact was that she had little enough time to spend with Justin these days and she was reluctant to use a minute of it to chastise him.

“It's a phase,” Hester assured her one day when Rachel and Justin had gone over to the co-op so that Justin could help in the packinghouse and Rachel could help Hester label the jars of marmalade they would sell at the farmers' market.

Rachel wasn't so sure. As she made her way through the labyrinth of corridors that led from the children's wing to her office, she had one more worry on her mind. She simply could not afford to lose this job. She forced herself to take a deep, calming breath and silently sent God a plea to show her how best to earn Darcy's approval.

And then she turned the corner and bumped—quite literally—into Ben Booker.

Chapter 14

H
ey there. I was hoping I might run into you,” Ben said with a grin.

Rachel felt her cheeks flush. She lowered her eyelids, protecting herself from the effect that his smile had on her. Ever since seeing him at the charity ball she had been unable to get Ben Booker out of her mind. After Justin had gone to bed, when she would sit alone in the cottage's small kitchen studying, images of Ben dressed up for the ball would return. She was convinced that her thinking of the man at such times was nothing more than loneliness and fatigue.

“Rachel?”

“I wasn't paying attention,” she admitted. “I'm so sorry.”

“Not at all, and I meant what I said. It's been awhile since I checked up on you.” He leaned against the wall, one ankle casually crossed over the other as if he had all the time in the world. “How are things going?”

For one fleeting moment she was tempted to confide in him, to tell him that she often felt overwhelmed by work and her studies for the certification examination and she was worried about Justin. Most of all she was tempted to seek his advice on how best to smooth things over with Darcy.

But then she remembered them dancing. Clearly, they had a relationship that went beyond work. If Rachel could believe Eileen, the two were
an item.

“I believe that Pastor Paul is pleased with my work. At least …”

“I'm not asking about work, Rachel. How are
you
doing?”

She heard the genuine concern in his words, and she looked up at him. His eyes reflected his sincerity. This was no casual inquiry. He really wanted to know. Still, it was important for her to remember that in spite of the times they had been together when he visited his sister, theirs was a working relationship. “I am well. Thank you for asking,” she said, and then with a smile she added, “And you? Have you completed your duties at Memorial yet?”

“I have. From now on I'm full-time here at Gulf Coast, but stop changing the subject. We were talking about you. How's Justin?”

“He is also well.” She thought about the note her son had handed her that morning as he rushed off to catch the bus. It was from his teacher asking her to call to set up a meeting. Justin did not answer when she asked him to explain.

“I'm late,” was all he'd shouted as he jogged down the lane.

Ben nodded. “Must be tough on a kid his age losing his dad and then moving to a place where he has no friends.”

“He seems to have made friends at school—and of course, there is Sally.”

“Sally tells me he's some kind of math whiz?”

Rachel fought the swell of pride that came from hearing Justin praised. “He is very good in that subject.”

Ben pushed himself away from the wall. “Maybe come tax time I'll get his help. I am terrible at that subject.” He hesitated as if not knowing what to say. “It's good to have you here, Rachel.”

She did not miss the way his tone had changed from teasing to serious, and she paused, not sure how to answer him. “Danke,” she murmured.

Ben seemed about to say something more, but then he cleared his throat. “Well, I have one more patient to see and you've probably got work to do.” But he made no move to go. “Sharon tells me that you're always working—studying or cleaning or weeding the garden with Justin. Seems to me you could use a break. How about grabbing a quick bite to eat after work?”

Startled, she said the first thing that came to mind. “With you?”

He smiled and glanced around as if looking for someone else. “Why not? We work together. You live next door to my sister. My niece seems to think you are pretty special—all I hear lately is Rachel this and Rachel that. I thought that maybe we should get to know each other outside of this place.”

She had often seen groups of coworkers leaving the hospital together, chatting about plans to share a meal or attend some event. Sometimes they had invited her to join them but she had always begged off, citing the need to go home to Justin.

“Rachel?” Ben was watching her now, waiting for her answer. “It's not a date or anything,” he assured her.

She felt her cheeks grow hot with embarrassment. Was that why he thought she'd hesitated? Because she thought he was asking her for a date? Was he right? “Nein,” she murmured. “I mean, no, I realize that. It's just that I have Justin and …”

“How about I get Sally and you get Justin and the four of us go out tomorrow after work? Do you like boats?”

The way this man's mind leaped from topic to topic was confusing to Rachel. “Boats?”

“I'll rent one from Margery Barker's marina. We could pack a picnic and take a ride around the bay—calm waters and all—and watch the sun set.”

“Justin would love a boat ride.” It might be the very thing to lift his spirits. He would not be quite as excited that the offer included Sally.

“Then it's a date—not a date—a boat ride with food,” he said. “We'll have the kids meet us here after school and as soon as we've both finished for the day, we can go, okay?”

“Okay,” she agreed, her head still spinning with the way this casual inquiry about how she was doing had turned into something much more complicated. “I will prepare some—”

“You will not. I'll take care of everything—boat, food, the works, okay?”

It was impossible to refuse him. “Okay.”

When Rachel spoke to Hester about the teacher's note, her friend could come up with no ideas about why Mr. Mortimer would ask to meet with Rachel.

“I think it's kind of a normal thing in public schools,” Hester had suggested, and that did make sense. After all, in their Mennonite school back in Ohio with its much smaller enrollment it was routine for the teacher to call upon a parent to talk about how a child was progressing—especially a child new to the community.

So Rachel called the school and left a message for Mr. Mortimer to contact her at work after asking Eileen if she thought it would be all right to receive the call there.

“Of course,” Paul's assistant assured her. “Heavens, if you only knew how some people abuse the system with their personal calls. It's not like you're going to make a habit of this.”

The teacher's call came the next afternoon, right before Justin was due to arrive at her office after school for their boat ride.

“Mrs. Kaufmann? This is Justin's teacher—Ralph Mortimer.”

“Yes, hello.” Rachel heard the nervousness in her voice and cleared her throat to cover it. “How are you?”

“Very well, thank you. I'm afraid that I have a concern, however, about Justin.”

“He has shown me several papers with high marks,” she ventured.

“Your son is a bright and industrious student, Mrs. Kaufmann. It is not his work ethic that concerns me. It is his choice in companions.”

“I don't understand.”

She heard the teacher sigh heavily. “That is why I think it would be good if we could meet in person.”

Rachel's mind reeled with everything that she had to accomplish over the coming days. Pastor Paul was out of town attending a conference so she was filling in for him. On top of that she had sole responsibility for any on-call emergencies. In addition she had a paper due for one of her online classes and a supervisor from the certification board in Tallahassee was coming to observe her work.

“Mrs. Kaufmann?”