The Healing Quilt (13 page)

Jennifer sighed. “I don’t think the Millers would expect an expensive meal. Maybe you could barbecue some burgers or make a big taco salad.”

“I’ll give it some thought.” Randy rose to his feet. “Guess I’d better get those oranges and lemons brought in before they shrivel up from the heat. It may be the dead of winter and cold as an iceberg in some places, but here in Sarasota, it’s hot enough to cook a hot dog on the roof of your car.”

Jennifer snickered. She was glad her husband hadn’t lost his sense of humor, despite all they’d been going through with the loss of his job.

“Say, Randy, I’ve been thinking,” she said before he headed outside. “Since we still don’t have a crib for the baby, why don’t we go to one of the thrift stores in the area soon and see if we can find one? They might have some other baby things in good condition, too.”

He shook his head. “I don’t want our baby girl to have a bunch of used furniture or hand-me-down clothes. She deserves better than that.”

“We can’t afford to buy anything new right now,” Jennifer argued. “Your unemployment check just doesn’t go very far.”

“How well I know it. Let’s wait another week or so and see if I find a job before we look at any of the thrift stores, okay?”

She nodded slowly. “Whatever you think’s best.”

Noreen entered her house and flopped into the recliner with a moan. She’d gone to the styling salon after the quilt class today, and been told that her stylist had gotten sick and gone home. Noreen could have rescheduled, but since she didn’t know how long her stylist would be sick, she decided to stop at a store on the way home and buy a box of hair color. She’d never attempted to color her own hair but figured it couldn’t be that difficult. She would fix herself some lunch, read this morning’s mail, then do her hair.

Moving to the kitchen, where she’d left the stack of mail, Noreen opened up the letter from her former student Monica:

“Of course I’ll come,” Noreen said aloud. It would be great to see some of her old students again, as well as her teacher friend, Ruth Bates, who would no doubt also get an invitation. Noreen would give Ruth a call later on to see if she was planning to go.

One more reason to get the gray out of my hair so I don’t look so old
, she thought.

After shampooing and towel-drying her hair, Noreen stepped up to the bathroom mirror. She blinked in disbelief, and her mouth dropped open. Her hair was darker, alright, and yes, the gray was gone, but it was darker than it had ever been in her life! The color looked so stark, even against her tanned skin. Had she bought the wrong shade of brown or left it on too long?

Bending over to fish the empty box from the garbage, Noreen gasped. She didn’t know how she had missed it before, but the color listed on the box was black, not brown!

Tears pooled in Noreen’s eyes. “I look ridiculous like this. What was I thinking? I shouldn’t have colored my own hair. I should have waited till Lynn came back to work. How can I go anywhere in public looking like this?” she wailed.

Goshen

With a sense of excitement, Jan knocked on Star’s door.

“Come in, Dad!” Star hollered from inside the house.

He stepped in and smiled when he found his daughter in the living room, holding her guitar. “Hey, how’d you know it was me at the door?” he asked.

“Are you kidding me?” Star grinned. “I could hear your motorcycle comin’ from a block away.”

Jan chuckled. “Yeah, I’ll bet. If you were playing your guitar you probably couldn’t hear much other than that.” He winked at her. “More’n likely it was my heavy boots clompin’ up your front steps that told you it was me.”

She placed the guitar on the sofa and poked his arm. “You got me there, Dad.”

Jan draped his leather jacket over the back of a chair and took a seat beside her on the sofa. “So, are you ready to leave this cold weather behind for a few weeks and head to sunny Florida in the morning?”

She drew in her bottom lip. “Uh, I was gonna call you about this, but now that you’re here, I can give you the bad news to your face.”

His forehead wrinkled. “What bad news?”

“I can’t go to Florida with you.”

“How come? You’re not sick, I hope.”

“No, it’s nothing like that. I can’t get the two weeks off that I have coming right now.”

He smacked the side of his head. “Oh great! Why not?”

“When I went to work this morning, the boss informed me that Shawn Prentiss, one of the guys who stocks shelves, had an emergency appendectomy, so that leaves them shorthanded. He asked me to wait a few weeks to take my vacation—until they can hire someone to take Shawn’s place, because he probably won’t be back for at least six weeks.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Jan said. “Guess we’ll put our Florida plans on hold till you’re free to go then.”

Star shook her head. “Two weeks from now the weather could improve and you might have some roofing jobs. I think you oughta go on the trip without me, and if my boss hires someone to take Shawn’s place soon, then I’ll hop on a plane and join you in Sarasota. Since I won’t be ridin’ my bike, we can double up on yours and get around that way. Or maybe I can rent one once I get to Florida.”

Jan gave his beard a sharp pull, mulling things over. He really didn’t want to go without Star, but she had that look of determination he’d come to know so well, and he figured if he said no, she’d argue with him the rest of the day.

“Well, okay, if you’re sure,” he finally said.

Star gave a quick nod. “I’m not happy about having to stay behind, or for that matter, even flying down there, but I’d be a little nervous cycling all the way to Florida by myself. Most of all, though, I’d feel worse if you didn’t go ahead.”

“No, I wouldn’t want you comin’ all that way alone on your bike.” He gave her a hug. “You have a good head on your shoulders, and I’m glad you came back into my life when you did.”

“Same here.” She hugged him back. “You need to promise me one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“Don’t ride your bike too fast; remember to stop for a break every few hours; and call me every night so I’ll know how you’re doing.”

He tweaked the end of her nose, lightly brushing her gold nose ring with his little finger. “That was three things, and you said one.”

She giggled and poked his arm playfully. “Okay, so I lied. Seriously, though, I really do want you to call when you stop for the night. Oh, and when you get to Sarasota, I’ll want to know that you’ve arrived safely.”

“Yes, Mother,” Jan teased, leaning his head against the back of the sofa. “I’ll keep you posted every step of the way, but it’s sure not gonna be the same without you on this road trip. You’re my favorite cycling partner.”

B
ong! Bong! Bong! Bong! Bong!

Emma’s eyes snapped open, and she cast a quick glance at the clock on the far wall. After doing some mending this afternoon, she’d relaxed in her recliner for a while. Then, unable to keep her eyes open, she’d fallen asleep. Now it was five o’clock.

“That noisy clock you bought the other day has just let me know that it’s time to start supper,” Emma said to Lamar, who sat on the sofa nearby, reading the newspaper. She yawned and stretched her arms over her head.

“Sorry about that,” Lamar apologized. “When I found the clock in the secondhand store, I didn’t realize it would be so loud. I can turn the ringer off if you’d like.”

“
Danki
. It might be better if you did.” Emma expelled another noisy yawn.

“Did you have a nice nap?” Lamar stifled a yawn, then laughed. “Hearing you yawn makes me feel the need to yawn, too.”

“Jah, hearing someone yawn can be quite contagious.” Emma grinned. “When I was a young girl, I and a bunch of my classmates were supposed to be quietly reading, while our teacher Sara Beiler graded papers. Some of us got mischievous and took turns yawning, and in no time we had the teacher yawning, too. Sara never caught on to what we were doing, and it was all we
kinner
could do to keep from laughing out loud. We were lucky that day that we didn’t get in trouble.”

Lamar clucked his tongue. “My, my, you were a little dickens when you were young,” he teased.

“Oh, you know, it was just kid stuff.” Emma yawned once more and covered her mouth with the palm of her hand. “I don’t know why, but I’ve been tired ever since our quilt class ended today.”

“Tired physically or emotionally?” Lamar asked.

“I think it’s more emotional than anything,” she said. “It’s difficult to see others struggling and not be able to do anything about it.”

“Is there anyone in particular you’re thinking of?”

She nodded. “Jennifer, for one. She’s on the brink of becoming a new mother and shouldn’t have to worry about how she and her husband are going to provide for their baby when it comes.”

“We can give them some more food,” Lamar suggested. “Or maybe buy them a gift card they can use at one of the grocery stores in their neighborhood.”

“That’s a good idea. I think we should do that. Unfortunately, just seeing that they have food in the cupboards won’t pay their bills.”

“We could give them some money, I suppose.”

Emma removed her glasses and cleaned a spot that was smudged. “I’m not opposed to that idea, Lamar, but I think from what Jennifer’s said, her husband might take offense if we gave them money. Maybe if we knew them better…”

“I wish I knew of some restaurant that needed a cook,” Lamar said. “I’d surely put in a good word for Jennifer’s husband.” He rose to his feet. “Speaking of restaurants, why don’t we go to that nice one up the street, where Anna and Kim work? It’ll save you from having to cook this evening.”

“Oh, I don’t mind cooking; I’ll just keep it simple. I appreciate your offer, Lamar, but I really don’t feel like going out this evening.”

“Okay. I’ll turn the clock’s ringer off, and then we can go to the kitchen and I’ll help you fix whatever you want.”

“We have some cold meat loaf and potato salad in the refrigerator, so maybe I’ll make a fruit salad to go with those and use some of our juicy oranges. I also have some strawberries and pineapple that I purchased at the produce market the other day, so that can be our dessert.”

“Sounds good. We haven’t had fruit salad in a while,” Lamar said. “I can help by slicing up whatever fruit you want to use.”

Emma smiled. Once more, she was reminded of how fortunate she was to be married to such a kind, thoughtful man.