peace until Grandma heard a sound somewhere in the house and decided to start up about the plumbing. “That septic drain is going to back up in the cellar, I can tell by the way it sounds.” She paused in the middle of a bite of casserole, listening. “Oh, if it backs up, it will be expensive to fix. It is too much paper, that’s all. Too much paper down it with so many people in the house. We will all have to be more careful, and no . . .” A semi roared by on the county road, and she paused in midsentence, then seemed to lose her train of thought. “Oh, those awful trucks. The way they come racing through. That little Jordan girl might be on the road.”
“Grandma,” I scolded. “Stop worrying.”
She gave no indication that she’d heard me, but turned to Ben instead and reported, “We nearly ran right over the little Jordan girl today.”
“Grandma!” I squealed.
Ben gave me a quizzical look.
Rubbing the growing ache in my head, I rolled my eyes. “It was nothing,” I said to Ben. And to Grandma, “Eat your casserole.”
Ben smirked at me, trying not to laugh, then bent over his plate shaking his head. Grandma huffed and ate some casserole, then decided to fill Ben in on the day’s successful salvage operation. That cheered her up, and by the time we finished eating, she had a gleam in her eye and a plan for how the three of us could get the potatoes stored in the cellar and the apples peeled, boiled, and made into apple butter and preserves. To my complete amazement, Ben complied, and we spent a couple of hours storing up food for the next century. After he had carried the potatoes to the cellar, he even helped to mash and strain the apples. The extra helpfulness and the overly cheerful tone of his voice told me that he was up to something, but I didn’t dare ask about it in front of Grandma. Whatever it was, he knew I wasn’t going to like it, and he was trying to butter me up.
He brought it up after Grandma went to the little house and Joshua was put to bed. He took a deep breath and dropped the bomb as we were cleaning the last of the canning supplies. “Kate, I have to go out of town for a couple of days.”
It took me a minute to register what he was saying; then a pang of disquiet went through me. “What?”
“I can’t help it,” he went on quickly. “James needs me at a job site to solve some detail problems. They’ve got some steel that’s not fitting like it should and it’s holding up the job they’re on. It’ll only take a couple of days, a week at the most.”
“A week?” My disquiet erupted into full-scale panic. “What if Grandma sets the house on fire again? What if Joshua gets sick and needs to go to the doctor? You know any kind of infection could put strain on his heart, and . . .”
Ben reached out and grabbed my shoulders. “Josh is fine. Grandma will be fine. It’s only a couple of days. We need the money.”
“You already agreed to go, didn’t you?” I looked at him, and suddenly I knew there was no point in fighting. He’d already decided.
He nodded, looking guilty about it. “James really needs someone who can get this figured out in a hurry and get the job on-line. His detailer wants them to remake all the parts, but I looked at the design on-line, and I have an idea. I told James I think I can save him a lot of money and man-hours.” Beneath the surface guilt there was that look of excitement and job lust that he always got when presented with a challenge. Once again, he was Superman, out to save the world from poorly designed buildings and metal parts that didn’t fit.
I knew there was no point in arguing anymore. He was going. Sighing, I pressed the palm of my hand against my forehead, wondering if the rest of our lives would be Ben coming in on one flight and leaving on another. I had a flash to the two of us in some former life planning all the traveling we would do together. “When do you fly out?”
“First thing in the morning, and
“Grandma,” I scolded. “Stop worrying.”
She gave no indication that she’d heard me, but turned to Ben instead and reported, “We nearly ran right over the little Jordan girl today.”
“Grandma!” I squealed.
Ben gave me a quizzical look.
Rubbing the growing ache in my head, I rolled my eyes. “It was nothing,” I said to Ben. And to Grandma, “Eat your casserole.”
Ben smirked at me, trying not to laugh, then bent over his plate shaking his head. Grandma huffed and ate some casserole, then decided to fill Ben in on the day’s successful salvage operation. That cheered her up, and by the time we finished eating, she had a gleam in her eye and a plan for how the three of us could get the potatoes stored in the cellar and the apples peeled, boiled, and made into apple butter and preserves. To my complete amazement, Ben complied, and we spent a couple of hours storing up food for the next century. After he had carried the potatoes to the cellar, he even helped to mash and strain the apples. The extra helpfulness and the overly cheerful tone of his voice told me that he was up to something, but I didn’t dare ask about it in front of Grandma. Whatever it was, he knew I wasn’t going to like it, and he was trying to butter me up.
He brought it up after Grandma went to the little house and Joshua was put to bed. He took a deep breath and dropped the bomb as we were cleaning the last of the canning supplies. “Kate, I have to go out of town for a couple of days.”
It took me a minute to register what he was saying; then a pang of disquiet went through me. “What?”
“I can’t help it,” he went on quickly. “James needs me at a job site to solve some detail problems. They’ve got some steel that’s not fitting like it should and it’s holding up the job they’re on. It’ll only take a couple of days, a week at the most.”
“A week?” My disquiet erupted into full-scale panic. “What if Grandma sets the house on fire again? What if Joshua gets sick and needs to go to the doctor? You know any kind of infection could put strain on his heart, and . . .”
Ben reached out and grabbed my shoulders. “Josh is fine. Grandma will be fine. It’s only a couple of days. We need the money.”
“You already agreed to go, didn’t you?” I looked at him, and suddenly I knew there was no point in fighting. He’d already decided.
He nodded, looking guilty about it. “James really needs someone who can get this figured out in a hurry and get the job on-line. His detailer wants them to remake all the parts, but I looked at the design on-line, and I have an idea. I told James I think I can save him a lot of money and man-hours.” Beneath the surface guilt there was that look of excitement and job lust that he always got when presented with a challenge. Once again, he was Superman, out to save the world from poorly designed buildings and metal parts that didn’t fit.
I knew there was no point in arguing anymore. He was going. Sighing, I pressed the palm of my hand against my forehead, wondering if the rest of our lives would be Ben coming in on one flight and leaving on another. I had a flash to the two of us in some former life planning all the traveling we would do together. “When do you fly out?”
“First thing in the morning, and
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