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Authors: Wanda E. Brunstetter
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said enough
, Emma thought.
It might be better to just show Erika kindness and do the best I can at teaching her to quilt. Once she discovers that she can do it, she might find it enjoyable and realize she can do something useful
.
“If you’ll excuse me a minute, Erika, I need to go back to the kitchen,” Emma said. “Lamar’s still in there, and I need to make sure he isn’t sampling the snack I prepared for our quilt class today.”
“Go right ahead,” Erika responded in a sullen tone.
Emma hurried to the kitchen, where she found Lamar at the table, peeling an orange. “I was hoping you weren’t testing the coffee cake,” she said, taking a seat beside him.
He wrinkled his nose. “Nope. I knew better than that. Don’t want to do anything to get my
fraa
riled at me.”
“It would take a lot more than you eating a piece of my coffee cake to get your wife riled,” Emma said. “Now, if you ate the whole thing that would be an entirely different matter.”
“Figured, to play it safe, I couldn’t get into much trouble if I just had an orange.” He glanced at the doorway leading to the other room. “Is everything okay with Erika? She seems pretty down-in-the-mouth today.”
“I’m afraid you’re right,” Emma agreed. “She doesn’t want to be here, but I think the real problem may lie in the fact that she has no self-esteem.”
“Guess that might be the case, all right.” Lamar bit into a piece of orange, sending a spray of juice in Emma’s direction. “Oops! Sorry about that.”
“No harm done.” Emma grabbed a napkin and blotted the juice that had sprayed her apron. “Getting back to Erika, I can understand why she’d be depressed and feel as though she has no self-worth, but there are other people in the world who are worse off than her.”
“That’s true,” Lamar agreed.
“I feel as though Erika has come to us for a reason, and I hope there’s something we can do to help her.”
“God will give us the right words at the right time; He always has,” Lamar said. “And who knows, Emma, a breakthrough for Erika might come about because of something that someone else says or does, rather than through one of us.”
Emma nodded. “I’m fortunate to have married a man as
schmaert
as you.”
Lamar grinned, bouncing his bushy eyebrows up and down. “Well, I did convince you to marry me, so I must be fairly smart.”
“It’s nice to see you this morning,” Kim said as she and Noreen stepped onto the Millers’ front porch.
“Same here,” Noreen said with a nod.
“I’ve been wondering if you were able to get that tea stain out of your slacks,” Kim said.
“As a matter of fact, I was,” Noreen replied. “I used cold water and some Stain Stick, and it came right out.”
Kim blew out her breath. “That’s a relief.”
“Would you like a friendly piece of advice?” Noreen asked.
“Sure.”
“During my college days, I worked as a waitress for a while, and one thing I tried to remember was to be careful with the food and beverages I carried to and from the table. Some customers wouldn’t be as nice as I was about a waitress spilling something on their clothes, and if you want to keep your job, you have to be on your toes.”
“Yes, I know, but accidents can happen.”
“And it’s your job to make sure that they don’t.” Noreen pursed her lips. “Otherwise, you could end up getting fired. In my day, I saw that happen more than once.”
Kim cringed. While Noreen had kept quiet about her spilling the tea, she figured if something like that should happen to Noreen again while Kim was waiting on her, she would tell Kim’s boss. Kim had a hunch that Noreen wasn’t one who gave people a second chance.
Kim wasn’t normally so klutzy—only when she got nervous or overly stressed. Hopefully things would go better for her at the restaurant once she relaxed and felt more comfortable with her new job.
“Guess we’d better get inside,” Kim said, knocking
, Emma thought.
It might be better to just show Erika kindness and do the best I can at teaching her to quilt. Once she discovers that she can do it, she might find it enjoyable and realize she can do something useful
.
“If you’ll excuse me a minute, Erika, I need to go back to the kitchen,” Emma said. “Lamar’s still in there, and I need to make sure he isn’t sampling the snack I prepared for our quilt class today.”
“Go right ahead,” Erika responded in a sullen tone.
Emma hurried to the kitchen, where she found Lamar at the table, peeling an orange. “I was hoping you weren’t testing the coffee cake,” she said, taking a seat beside him.
He wrinkled his nose. “Nope. I knew better than that. Don’t want to do anything to get my
fraa
riled at me.”
“It would take a lot more than you eating a piece of my coffee cake to get your wife riled,” Emma said. “Now, if you ate the whole thing that would be an entirely different matter.”
“Figured, to play it safe, I couldn’t get into much trouble if I just had an orange.” He glanced at the doorway leading to the other room. “Is everything okay with Erika? She seems pretty down-in-the-mouth today.”
“I’m afraid you’re right,” Emma agreed. “She doesn’t want to be here, but I think the real problem may lie in the fact that she has no self-esteem.”
“Guess that might be the case, all right.” Lamar bit into a piece of orange, sending a spray of juice in Emma’s direction. “Oops! Sorry about that.”
“No harm done.” Emma grabbed a napkin and blotted the juice that had sprayed her apron. “Getting back to Erika, I can understand why she’d be depressed and feel as though she has no self-worth, but there are other people in the world who are worse off than her.”
“That’s true,” Lamar agreed.
“I feel as though Erika has come to us for a reason, and I hope there’s something we can do to help her.”
“God will give us the right words at the right time; He always has,” Lamar said. “And who knows, Emma, a breakthrough for Erika might come about because of something that someone else says or does, rather than through one of us.”
Emma nodded. “I’m fortunate to have married a man as
schmaert
as you.”
Lamar grinned, bouncing his bushy eyebrows up and down. “Well, I did convince you to marry me, so I must be fairly smart.”
“It’s nice to see you this morning,” Kim said as she and Noreen stepped onto the Millers’ front porch.
“Same here,” Noreen said with a nod.
“I’ve been wondering if you were able to get that tea stain out of your slacks,” Kim said.
“As a matter of fact, I was,” Noreen replied. “I used cold water and some Stain Stick, and it came right out.”
Kim blew out her breath. “That’s a relief.”
“Would you like a friendly piece of advice?” Noreen asked.
“Sure.”
“During my college days, I worked as a waitress for a while, and one thing I tried to remember was to be careful with the food and beverages I carried to and from the table. Some customers wouldn’t be as nice as I was about a waitress spilling something on their clothes, and if you want to keep your job, you have to be on your toes.”
“Yes, I know, but accidents can happen.”
“And it’s your job to make sure that they don’t.” Noreen pursed her lips. “Otherwise, you could end up getting fired. In my day, I saw that happen more than once.”
Kim cringed. While Noreen had kept quiet about her spilling the tea, she figured if something like that should happen to Noreen again while Kim was waiting on her, she would tell Kim’s boss. Kim had a hunch that Noreen wasn’t one who gave people a second chance.
Kim wasn’t normally so klutzy—only when she got nervous or overly stressed. Hopefully things would go better for her at the restaurant once she relaxed and felt more comfortable with her new job.
“Guess we’d better get inside,” Kim said, knocking
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