The Healing Quilt (23 page)

Emma stared at her plate. She was glad she hadn’t tasted her enchilada yet. If it was hot enough to affect Lamar and Jennifer as it did, she’d probably have choked to death.

“I’m going to get the jar of sauce.” Randy rose from the table and left the room. When he returned with the jar, he placed it on the table and pointed to the label. “See, it says right here that it’s mild.”

“Maybe you should taste it,” Jennifer suggested.

Randy opened the lid, stuck his spoon inside, and put the whole spoonful in his mouth. “Yow! That’s anything but mild!” He coughed, sputtered, and gulped down his glass of water.

“That jar of sauce must have been mislabeled,” Jennifer said. “You should take it back to the store.”

“I’ll do that tomorrow,” Randy said, “but right now we need something else to eat, so I’ll grill some burgers with the package of ground beef that was in the box the Millers gave us.” He looked across the table at Emma and Lamar. “I’m really sorry about this. It wasn’t a good way to repay your kindness.”

Lamar waved a hand. “Don’t worry about it, Randy. Barbecued burgers will be just fine.” He pushed his chair aside and stood. “In fact, I’d enjoy helping you grill them, and while we’re doing that, it’ll give us a chance to chat.”

Randy gave a nod. “Sounds good to me. Let’s get that grill started.”

Emma smiled. She was glad to see Randy relax a bit and be willing to accept, not only the food they’d brought, but Lamar’s help.

“I’m glad you suggested we go bowling tonight,” Kim said when Jan picked up his ball and got ready to take his turn.

He smiled and nodded. “Back home, bowling is one of my favorite things to do on a Friday night.”

“Do you have a bowling partner?”

“Star usually goes along, and sometimes we bowl against my friend Terry and his girlfriend, Cheryl.” Jan wiggled his eyebrows playfully. “It’s kinda fun to compete and see who can rack up the most pins.”

“Well, you won’t have to worry about that tonight, ’cause even though I enjoy bowling, I’m not very good at it,” Kim said. “I’ll probably have more gutter balls than strikes.”

“Let’s not worry about competing.” Jan grinned. “I just wanna have fun and get to know you better.”

Kim gave a nod. “Same here.”

As they took turns bowling and keeping score, Jan appreciated what a good sport Kim was. She never got upset when she messed up, and even when he made a strike or a spare, she cheered him on. He found himself liking her more all the time, and that scared him. Could he trust Kim not to break his heart the way Star’s mom had?

I’ve gotta quit thinking like this
, Jan told himself.
In the short time I’ve known her, I can already tell that Kim is nothing like Nancy
.

Jan glanced to his right and saw a middle-aged man dressed all in black sitting on a bench at one of the alleys up from them. The guy had thick dark hair and sideburns, and of all things, he was wearing sunglasses.

Jan nudged Kim and snickered. “Look over there. I think an Elvis-wanna-be is in the building.”

Kim looked that way and laughed. “You’re so funny, Jan. No wonder I’m having such a good time tonight.”

He wiggled his eyebrows again, stifling a belly laugh. “Thank you. Thank you very much.”

As the evening progressed, Kim found herself enjoying her time with Jan more than she’d ever expected. Not only had he offered her some bowling tips, but even when she rolled a few gutter balls, he never made fun of her.

When they finished bowling, they headed out to an Asian restaurant Kim had been meaning to try. Each table had its own chef, who cooked the meal on an open hibachi grill right in front of them. After he’d cut the tails off the shrimp, he flipped them into his white chef’s hat, adding a bit of humor to the whole experience.

Kim glanced over at Jan and could see by his broad smile that he was having a good time and enjoying the meal. She liked his easygoing, positive attitude, and wished once more that Jan didn’t have to return to Indiana when his vacation was over.
When I’ve worked at the restaurant long enough for some vacation time, maybe I’ll take a trip to Shipshewana and see where Jan lives
, she thought.
Who knows—I might even like it there and decide to stay
.

H
ow’d your date with Kim go last night?” Lamar asked as he, Emma, and Jan sat at the kitchen table Saturday morning, eating breakfast.

Jan grinned widely. “Good. Really good.” He reached for his glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. “I like her a lot.”

Emma looked at Lamar and smiled when he winked at her. It was good to see Jan in such good spirits. He’d been through a lot over the years and deserved to be happy. Emma couldn’t help but wonder, though, how Jan and Kim could keep their relationship going once Jan returned home. Also, things seemed to be moving rather quickly between the two, and that concerned her a bit. She hoped no one would end up getting hurt.

“Say, Jan, I’ve been wanting to make a trip to Venice to look for sharks’ teeth,” Lamar said. “Would that be something you’d be interested in doing?”

Jan nodded enthusiastically. “You bet! When did you wanna go?”

“Anytime you’d like. ‘Course, it can’t be on a Saturday, because of the quilt classes, and then, Sunday is our day for church.”

“No problem. We can make the trip whenever you want. I’ll have to see about renting a car, though, since I only have my motorcycle with me.” Jan smacked his forehead. “Hey, here’s an idea. I could get a sidecar and have it attached to my bike. Wouldn’t it be fun to tool around together that way? Emma, you could ride in the sidecar, and Lamar can sit behind me on the bike. How far is it from here to the Venice beaches?”

“I’d say about twenty miles or so,” Lamar replied. “I’m not sure we’d want to travel the way you suggested, though. Emma and I are a little old for that sort of thing. Right, Emma?”

She gave a decisive nod.

“Not a problem,” Jan said. “I’ll see about renting a car for the day. That way there’ll be plenty of room for all three of us to go.”

“You two don’t need to worry about me. Just go ahead and have fun,” Emma said. “I’ll be perfectly fine here at home while you’re gone. Oh, and maybe you could see if one of our drivers will take you to Venice. That would probably be cheaper than Jan renting a car.”

“Aw, come on, Emma, you’ve gotta go along. I thought I’d invite Kim to join us, and it’ll be more fun if you’re there, too.” Jan reached for his cup and took a drink. “Hey, I’ve got it!” he said, nearly choking on his coffee. “Kim has a motorcycle, but she also owns a car. I’ll bet anything she’d be willing to drive us there.”

Emma didn’t really care about looking for sharks’ teeth, but it would be nice to visit with Kim, walk the beach, and search for pretty shells. “Okay, if Kim goes, then I will, too.” Emma blew out a puff of air. “I feel better knowing we’ll be taking a car. I just can’t see myself riding in one of those sidecar things.”

“I understand, but I haven’t ditched the idea of getting a sidecar. I’d actually like to see how my bike maneuvers with one of those on. While I’m here in Florida, I may get one installed before I head home. That is, if I can find a dealer around here that sells ’em.” Jan rubbed the bridge of his nose. “If I got a sidecar, Star could ride in that on the way home instead of sitting on the back of my bike, like we’d planned for her to do. Might be more comfortable on the long trip. And since I hate leaving Brutus at home so much, or having to ask someone to watch him when I go on some motorcycle trips, he could ride along.” He chuckled. “Can’t you just see my dog sittin’ next to me in a sidecar? I wonder how he’d look wearing goggles.”

They all laughed. “That would surely be something, alright,” Emma agreed.

Jan rubbed his hands together. “Now back to goin’ to the beach in Venice. Here’s another thought. Maybe we should wait till Star gets here. I think lookin’ for sharks’ teeth would be something she’d enjoy doing, and it’d be a chance for her to get acquainted with Kim.”

“That’s a good idea, Jan.” Emma smiled, looking at Lamar, who was nodding his head in agreement. “It will be so nice to see Star again, but Jan, don’t you think you should ask Kim first, if she would mind driving us all to Venice?”

“‘Course I’ll ask, but I’m almost sure she won’t mind.” Jan gave his left earlobe a tug. “In the short time I’ve known Kim, I’ve found her to be real easygoing. In fact, if she was here right now, I can almost bet she’d have already suggested taking her car.”

Emma reached for her cup of tea and took a sip.
If Jan wants Star to get to know Kim, then he must be getting serious about her already, Now, wouldn’t that be something if Kim decided to move to Indiana and she and Jan got married? It would be a pleasure to have another one of my quilting students living nearby so we could visit once in a while
.

Emma enjoyed staying in touch with her previous students. It was nice to see some of the quilting projects they had done on their own—not to mention keeping up with what was going on in their lives. Just the other day she’d received a letter from Pam Johnston, who’d attended Emma’s first class. Pam mentioned that she and Stuart were planning to take their children to Disney World during their spring break and said if Emma and Lamar were still in Florida, they might come down to see them, since Orlando was only a few hours’ drive from Sarasota.

We’ll be going home in the spring
, Emma thought.
I need to be close to my family there and could never be happy staying here on a permanent basis. Oh, I hope Lamar doesn’t get any ideas about living here year-round
.

“Emma, did you hear what I said?” Lamar asked, nudging her arm.

“Uh, sorry, I didn’t. Guess I was deep in thought. Would you please repeat it, Lamar?”

“I asked if there’s anything you need me to do before our students get here this morning?”

“Thank you, but I think everything we need has been set out.” Emma turned to Jan and said, “Will you be joining us again today?”

He gave a quick nod. “Wouldn’t miss it!”

Goshen

Star picked up her guitar and took a seat on the end of her bed. It had been awhile since she’d composed a new song, and since she didn’t have to work this morning, it was a good time to come up with some words that would express the way she felt about her dad. Star wished she and Jan could gain back the twenty years they’d lost when her mom had taken her and run off, but that wasn’t possible. What mattered was the time they had to be together now and in the future.

Star was glad her dad didn’t have a serious girlfriend. It was probably selfish, but she wanted him all to herself. It was bad enough she had to share him with Brutus. The mutt always seemed to be vying for his master’s attention—especially when Jan had been away from home for a while. She could only imagine how the dog would carry on when Jan returned from Florida. He’d probably become Jan’s shadow for several days.

“Though we can’t turn back the hands of time, we have the future to look forward to,” Star sang as she strummed her guitar. “Like grains of sand slipping through our fingers…”

Star’s cell phone whistled, letting her know she had a call. She placed the guitar on the bed and picked up the phone. Looking at the caller ID, she smiled, pleased to see it was her dad.