CHAPTER 4
1050 Words
CHAPTER 4
“There you are, sweetie.” Gloria leaned in to give Susannah an air hug since her hands were covered in flour.
“Smells good,” Susannah said. “What are you making?”
Gloria was nodding subtly toward Ricky, hoping her daughter would take the hint and acknowledge him as well. That was the problem. Those two had grown up so close together they were just like siblings. Ricky was invisible to Susannah like the vase or photo you pass every single day until you stop noticing it at all.
Gloria had to snap her focus back onto her cooking if she wanted to have these snacks ready for the VBS students, who right now were upstairs screaming as loudly as they could, spurred on no doubt by the opening speaker.
She glanced at the pile of tablecloths she’d brought over from Orchard Grove Bible Church. “Why don’t you two start setting the tables. I was hoping they’d be up for us by now, but I guess the folks here had other matters to worry about.”
She nodded at some stacked folding tables against the wall. “Ricky, I don’t think Susannah’s strong enough to get those by herself. Why don’t you help her out?”
Susannah led the way to the tables. Gloria wanted to call after her, whisper to her that she should let Ricky go first. Make him feel respected as a man. But those lessons could come later. All Susannah needed was for God to open her eyes to the potential residing in Ricky Fields. With the right kind of woman by his side, he could turn into one of the most upstanding citizens Orchard Grove had seen in decades.
Stan would have been so happy. As much as he jokingly complained about Gloria playing matchmaker while the kids were still young enough to swim naked together in the kiddie pool, he would be proud of the man Ricky had become.
Proud to make him his son-in-law.
It was supposed to get easier, wasn’t it? When Gloria was a young widow struggling to raise a precocious preschooler and a toddler who failed to meet any of her physical or developmental milestones, she’d figured that by this point in her life, she’d have moved past the mourning stage. Her biggest worries back then were how to raise her daughters without their father leading her and offering his guidance, but with the Lord’s help and a significant amount of heavenly grace, she’d managed.
“Here, Susannah. Let me get that for you.” Ricky bumped his knee into one of the chairs, toppling it over, while he scrambled to grab and unfold the legs.
Gloria glanced at the pair surreptitiously and thought of God’s many blessings.
Susannah had graduated a year early and was working now as a caretaker at an assisted living home. Kitty’s condition was as stable as it ever would be. Both girls loved each other and loved the Lord. What more could she ask for?
A happy marriage for Susannah. A marriage as joyful and harmonious as Gloria and Stan’s had been.
Yes. That’s what she wanted for her daughter. That’s why she was so anxious for this week to go perfectly for the two of them.
“What are you doing with those tables?”
Gloria snapped her head up from the cookies she’d been icing. Wiping her hands on her apron, she hurried out of the kitchen. “Can I help you?”
A slightly bald man in gym shorts and a sweat-stained T-shirt stood in the middle of the room. “What’s going on?”
She didn’t recognize him. Must be a member at Valley Tabernacle. His name tag just said Derek, no last name. Gloria could only guess why he was bothering her now. She was already behind schedule. “Well, the snack tables weren’t arranged, so I asked my daughter and her friend to set them up for us.” She glanced at the clock on the wall. “The kids will be here in fifteen minutes.” It wasn’t much time to get things ready. She still needed to finish icing the cookies and then arrange the fruit in the shape of a dolphin to go along with the week’s underwater theme.
Derek glanced around the room. “My kids’ll be here in fifteen, you mean.”
Gloria crossed her arms. “I beg your pardon?”
“This room is reserved for games and rec. Didn’t you get the handout at the meeting?”
“I told Joy we needed this space to feed the kids, and she said it was all mine.”
He shrugged. “Well, I checked again just this morning. Games and rec in the fellowship hall. We’ll need these tables folded back up against the walls. I can help if you ...”
Susannah laid a gentle, placating hand on Gloria’s shoulder, but Gloria ignored her. “And where do you expect the kids to eat all this food I’ve made?”
Another shrug. “Outside, like it says here on the schedule?”
As if he couldn’t just as easily take his games and rec outside. Who needed an entire fellowship hall just to play duck, duck, goose?
She shook her head. “We’ve been planning on using the fellowship hall for weeks. Joy said it was ours.”
“I’m sorry for the mix-up.” There was a softness in his tone that for a second made her believe he meant it. “I can talk to Joy later, but for now I wonder if we better stick to what’s printed.” He pointed to a piece of paper taped to the wall.
Gloria didn’t bother walking all the way over to read it.
“So what do you want to do?” Derek asked. “I suppose we could squeeze the tables in over here and share the space.”
She shook her head. Her kids would have no peace or quiet to eat their snacks with rowdy games and relay races going on just a few feet away. The last thing she needed was for a basketball to come crashing down on her fruit dolphin or a dodge ball to knock over one of the pitchers of lemonade.
She let out her breath in a loud huff that she hoped communicated her displeasure. “Well, if we just have to take the snacks outside, so be it. Good thing it’s sunny.”
He frowned and for a moment looked genuinely sincere. “Well, the kids aren’t here yet. Will you at least let me help you take the food outside?”
She turned on her heel. “I’m sure we’ll manage just fine by ourselves, thank you very much.”
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