Love From the Ashes (8 page)

“Okay; it will be charge.  Do you mind delivering everything?”  He looked around the group and started to chuckle.  “My van is a little
over capacitated.”

“Sure; no problem.”  He followed her to the register and she rang the sale.  “We can deliver it all by Wednesday.  Will that be alright?”

“That would be perfect.  Thanks.”  He grabbed the hands of Judy and Joey and they headed out of the store.  “Now that I’m broke…” he teased as they walked to the parking lot.  “Do you want to come to our place for supper?”  He was surprised that he spoke the words, but the look on her face showcased that she was even more surprised.  “I mean, it’s our first night in the new place and I could make something on the grill.”

“Actually…” she sighed softly.  “I have other plans.”

“Oh; of course you do.  I should have thought…never mind.”

“If I didn’t already have something to do, I would love to…I just…”

“No need to explain Rebecca.”  They stopped at her vehicle and she got in.  “Thanks for helping me out today.”

“No problem; it was fun.”

“Yeah, spending someone else’s money is always better.”  He joked and she laughed.  “So Monday…you’ll pick up Joey and Judy from Cassie?”

“Yeah
…” she held up her finger and pulled out a piece of paper.  “Here’s my address.”

He laughed.  “Oh yeah, that’s important.  I’m not sure, what time…”

“No need to worry.  I’ll keep them until you get there.”

“Thank you Rebecca.  I’ll leave the car seats with Cassie.  Frankie won’t have one to get to Cassie’s house, but…”

“It’s not too far away.  I’ll buckle her in, just don’t tell the police.”  He smiled.  She then startled him by reaching out the window and touching his hand.  “Don’t worry Thomas, they’re in good hands.”  He looked down at her hand.  He swallowed hard and she seemed to notice the tension.  She quickly pulled away.  “I’ll see you Monday.”  She drove away and he watched her pull out of the parking lot.  He couldn’t place it, but if he didn’t know any better he would say he was attracted to Rebecca.  He had to block the thoughts from his mind; it was only because she was always there helping him out.  It had nothing to do with a man and woman feeling connected; he was going to make sure of that.

Rebecca
looked at the class as the bell rang to end the day.  “I’ll see you tomorrow.  Remember to read from your readers tonight and we will discuss it in class.”  She waved as they rushed out of her room; all except for Kari.  It was going to be the first day of their new arrangement and she still couldn’t believe she had offered.  It was either going to go extremely well, or it would be a disaster in the making.  She had to use extra caution to make sure it definitely wasn’t the latter.  “I’ll be just a minute Kari and then we can meet up with your sisters.  They had decided to meet near the same bench she had seen them before.  “If you want to go get your bag from your locker, I should be done when you get back.”

Kari nodded.  “I’ll hurry.”

Rebecca smiled as the girl ran from the room.  She then went back to her paperwork and piled them in into her bag.  “What’s that about?”  She hadn’t seen Adam Gregory enter the room until he had already reached her desk.

“What’s what about?”  She went back to diligently finishing up.  She didn’t want Bethany and Frankie to have to wait anymore than necessary.

“Isn’t that Kari Campbell?  Why isn’t she off to meet up with her dad?”

Rebecca wasn’t surprised that he was up on all of the children in his school; it was his job as the principal.  However, she was confused as to why he would care.  “Yes, it’s Kari.  I am watching Thomas’ children, while he’s at work.”

“Oh…Thomas; I didn’t realize you two were so close.”

Rebecca could have punched him; it wasn’t any of his concern and she didn’t feel she owed him any explanation.  “
I’m just helping him out.”

“I see.”  He shrugged and smiled; she figured it was forced.  “So, I have a favor to ask of you.”

She tried not to look annoyed; even though she definitely didn’t want to hear what he had to say.  “Adam, I’m running late.  I have to get…”

“It won’t take long;” he interrupted.  “Friday night, I need a date.  Can I count on you?”

She laughed.  “Uh, no…”

“Rebecca, I need you to help me out.”

She stared at him; searching is face in hopes that he was only kidding.  When she didn’t see any signs of joking she went back to work.  “I don’t feel like I need to do anything.”  She paused and shook her head.  She was going to regret asking me the question.  “What do you need?”

“There’s a family reunion that I don’t want to go dateless to.”

“Surely your family knows that you’re single.”  She turned to him and raised her eyebrows.  “So, why do you need a date?”

“I don’t want them to think that I couldn’t get a date.  Everyone else will be paired off; I don’t want to be the loner.  There will be games and music.  I am sure you will have a great time.”

“Adam, can we talk about this later?”  She had noticed that Kari had reentered the room and she didn’t want to have her hear their conversation.

He sighed heavily, but finally nodded.  “Just think about it.”

“I will.  Goodbye!”  She hurried from the room with Kari in tow.  “Sorry for taking so long.”

“That’s alright.”  She heard hesitation in her voice and she prayed that
Kari wouldn’t say anything.  She was wrong.  “Is he your boyfriend?”

“Who?”  She figured she could act clueless.

Kari laughed.  “Mr. Gregory.”

Rebecca side glanced at Kari and she noticed her looking right at her.  “No, he’s not my boyfriend.”

“He asked you out on a date; that’s something that boyfriends do.  He came to the party that one day.”  Rebecca laughed as they reached the main door.

“It wasn’t a date.  We’re just friends.”  They went outside and she saw Frankie and Bethany patiently waiting for them.  “Hey girls; hope you didn’t have to wait too long.”

Bethany smiled.  “Nope, we just got here.”

“Are you ready to go?”  They headed to her van and she sighed with relief that the conversation had come to an end.  She hoped that it would remain that way.

____________________

Rebecca followed the girls up to the front door.  They knocked, but then Bethany tried the door.  It opened with ease.  “We’re here!”  She yelled.  Rebecca had to laugh; she was sure that Cassie didn’t need to hear Bethany to realize that they were there.  They sounded like a herd of elephants running to get their food.

Cassie was coming down the stairs when Rebecca had got in the foyer.  “How was school?”

Kari was the first one to speak up.  “It was great.  I had a reading test and I got a
n A+.”

Cassie turned to Rebecca and Rebecca smiled.  “She’s right.  She had the highest grade.”

Kari was beaming.  “You must have a good teacher.”  Cassie replied with a laugh.  “What about you Bethany?”

“I had a Science Exam; I am not so sure I’ll have as high a grade as Kari did.”

“Well, she’s also younger.  Science is a difficult subject, but your Uncle Seth…he used to love Science.  If you need any help; don’t hesitate to ask.”

“I won’t.  Other than
that, the day was pretty good.”

“That’s good.  So, Frankie…what do you say?”

“We made macaroni art.  I still don’t know why they wouldn’t let us eat it, but oh well.”

Rebecca covered her smile.  Cassie looked at Rebecca and she saw that she was also trying not to laugh.  “It’s probably a good thing you didn’t.”  Cassie replied with emphasis.  “It wouldn’t taste as good as it looked.”

Frankie shrugged.  “It looked pretty good.”

It was too much for Rebecca she started to giggle.  “Is that before or after you glued it onto the paper?”

Frankie seemed to take that into consideration.  “Yeah, you’re probably right.  It’s a good thing Mrs. Jones told us to not eat the macaroni.”

“
Where are Joey and Judy?”

“They’re
upstairs playing with Savannah; or, I should say, telling Savannah what to do.  When you put three toddlers into a small room…you’re bound to have mass confusion.  In fact, I better get back upstairs.”  They followed her up the steps and went into the playroom.  Cassie was right; Savannah was sitting in the middle of the room just watching Joey and Judy play with the blocks.  “Why isn’t Savannah playing?”  Cassie asked the 3 and 4 year old.

“She kept knocking them down.”  Joey replied with irritation coming from his voice.  “We are trying to build a castle.”

Cassie stooped down next to him and he turned to look at her.  “It’s not very nice that you are keeping her from playing too.  She was probably only trying to help.”

“She was knocking it down; that wasn’t helping.”

Cassie smiled and turned to Savannah.  “She’s only a year old.  Maybe you could cut her a little slack?”

“What does that mean?”  He asked.

“It means next time, let her play.”

He groaned, but finally nodded.  “Okay; we will.”

“Thank you.”  She hugged him and then turned to Rebecca.

“You are really good with them.”  A frown crossed her face and she suddenly began to worry.  “Bethany, will you please keep the kids in here.  I need to talk to Cassie for just a moment.”

“Sure thing Rebecca.”

Rebecca hurried out into the hallway and Cassie followed.  “What’s going on Rebecca?”

“I think that maybe I made a mistake.  After all, I have never watched this many kids before.  I don’t know that I can do it.”  Cassie just stood gawking at her.  “What’s that look for?”

“Rebecca you take care of 24 kids every day.  You surely can handle 5 children at a time.  Besides, Bethany is going to be there.  She is a huge help; rely on her.”

“The 24 kids I take care of are easy.  I have a curriculum that we follow; everything is done in a timely form.”

“I know, but that can happen at your house too.  You can figure out a plan that they can follow.  It’s not
all night; just remember that.”

Rebecca knew she was being silly.  It wasn’t like she should be afraid of 5 children that were 12 years old and younger.  “
You’re right; I am just being crazy.  I guess the nerves have gotten the best of me.”  She let out a slow breath.  “It’s going to be fine.”

Cassie smiled.  “Are you trying to convince me, or you?”

“Maybe a little bit of both.”

Cassie nodded.  “I figured so.”

Rebecca sighed.  “At least I’m honest.”  She groaned and headed back to the room.  She plastered a smile on her face.  “Are you ready to leave?”

“Look, the castle’s done.”  Joey proudly spoke up.

“Wow, you did an awesome job.”  A thought came to her and she turned to Cassie.  “I don’t have any toys;” she whispered.  “What will they play with?”

Cassie grabbed a bag and threw in some toys.  She handed it to Rebecca and smiled.  “This should get you by, but you’re a very intelligent woman and I am sure you would have figured something to do to pass the time.”

“Thank you!”  She grabbed the bag and followed everyone out of the room.  Cassie picked up Savannah and followed them down the stairs.  “I need the car seats and if there’s anything else they have.”  Cassie helped her carry everything out to the car and then load up the children.  “Thanks for your help Cassie.”

“You’re welcome.  Call me if you need anything.”

“I will; thanks.”  They waved goodbye as she got in the van and drove away.  She was sure it was going to be okay.  She just had this nagging notion that she was going to disappoint Thomas.  She didn’t know why, but that was the biggest worry of all.

____________________

Thomas absentmindedly drove his squad car down the busy streets.  He hadn’t thought about much of anything else after the 3:20 time had hit.  He punched in Rebecca’s phone number and waited for her to answer.  “Hello?”  When her voice came on the line he had to take a moment.  He didn’t know why just hearing her voice did things to him that he hadn’t experienced in awhile.

“H…hey; I was just wondering how your first day is going?”

She laughed and he sensed the nervousness.  “Thomas, it has only been an hour.  Things are going well.  I was going to call you, though.”

“Oh; you were?  Did you need something?”  He knew how that must have sounded.  If she was going to call him, of course she needed something.

“I…I didn’t know what time you thought you might be home?”  She giggled and he laughed.  “You know what I mean.  What time you think you might be here to pick up the kids?”

He was a little taken aback.  He had hoped he wasn’t inconveniencing her.  Now that she had asked that question, she seemed all to
o eager to have the children out of her house.  “I’m sorry; maybe this won’t work out.  I could go back to the station, get my car, and be there in about 15 minutes?”

“What?  You don’t have to…”

“I was under the impression that maybe you had already had too much.”

Rebecca laughed.  “Heavens no; I was just thinking that I didn’t know if I was supposed to cook supper.  I told you; I’m available as late as you need me to be.”

Thomas felt like a jerk.  He had just accused her of trying to get rid of his kids.  He had to make her see that he wasn’t totally blind to how much she was helping him out.  However, he needed to first start off by showing her that he didn’t really think she was a flake.  “Oh; I apologize that I thought you were trying to get rid of my…”

“Thomas, I understand.  You don’t need to say anything else.”

He let out a sigh.  “Okay; thank you.  I will probably be there around 7 or 8.  If you could get them something to eat, that would be great.”

“No need to worry; that’s all I needed to know.  We’ll see you whenever you get here.”  They said their goodbyes and
he hung up.

He needed to learn to just say thank you and
to not think the worst of every situation.  He would have to work on that.

____________________

Thomas yawned loudly; he didn’t think the day was ever going to end.  He was excited about seeing his kids and hearing how their day had gone.  When he knocked on her door, she didn’t come for what seemed like several minutes.  He felt bad about barging in, but he figured they were in the back of the house and so he tried the door.  Sure enough, it was unlocked and so he opened it and entered the foyer.  He looked around; it was the first time he had ever been inside her house and he was impressed.  He didn’t see where they were, but he suddenly heard the faint sound of her voice coming from the back of the house.  He felt like a burglar as he made his way down the hallway and stopped outside of a door.  It was opened a jar and he peeked inside.  The picture made him smile.  He saw Rebecca sitting on a couch.  Joey, Judy, Kari, and Frankie were seated around her and Bethany was sitting on the floor with a notebook in her hand, and her pen poised.  She wasn’t looking at the notebook; instead she looked just as engrossed in the book that Rebecca was reading, as the younger kids did.  He thought about interrupting, but they appeared so enthralled in the story that he hated to ruin the moment.

“That’s when all the children knew that they would always remember this day.  The end.”  She surprised him by kissing each of their heads.  “Did you enjoy the story?”