Return to Paradise. Barbara Cameron

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      The server came over with a broom and dustpan. David watched Lavina apologize and try to take the broom to clean up the mess she insisted she’d made, but the server wouldn’t let her. The job accomplished, the server left, leaving David and Lavina standing there staring at each other.

      “You look well.” He couldn’t get enough of looking at her.

      “You, too.”

      “You were asking that officer how to find me?”

      “Ya.” She took a deep breath.

      “Why?”

      Bill walked up then. “David, I thought you were behind me and then I got up to the cashier and you weren’t there. Hello,” he said to Lavina. “I’m Bill, David’s friend.”

      “Lavina Zook.”

      David dragged his gaze from Lavina. “Bill, could you give us a few minutes?”

      “Sure. I’ll wait for you up front.”

      “Thanks.” David waved his hand at the booth, and Lavina slid back into her seat. He sat opposite her. “Tell me why you were looking for me.”

      Had she missed him as much as he’d missed her?

      She bit her lip. “I talked to your mamm the other day. David, your dat is very sick. Your mamm said she was afraid that if you didn’t come see him—” she broke off, obviously struggling for composure. She took a deep breath. “If you don’t see him now, you might never get to.”

      “I’m sure she was exaggerating. He’s never sick. He’s too mean to get sick.”

      Lavina shook her head. “I don’t think she’s exaggerating.” She took a deep breath. There was no easy way to say it. “She said he has cancer.”

      David felt the news hit him like a blow to the gut. He rubbed at his temple, feeling a headache coming on. “He won’t want to see me. He’s the reason I left.”

      “But if he doesn’t have much time . . .” she trailed off. “David, if you can’t do it for him, think about your mamm. She needs you right now.”

      “I’ll think about it.” He got to his feet.

      “Should I tell her I saw you?”

      “It’s up to you.” He stood there, staring at her. Who knew when he’d see her again. “Lavina, I’m sorry for the way I left.”

      “Are you?” she asked him. “Are you, David?”

      She slipped from the booth and hurried away.

      Torn, he started after her and then realized she’d gone into the ladies room. He glanced at the front of the restaurant and saw Bill standing there, looking out the window. Maybe it was best if he just left. He wasn’t prepared for seeing Lavina, and the news about his father had unsettled him. He needed to think.

      “Sorry I kept you waiting,” he told Bill. He paid the bill, and they walked to the truck.

      Lavina came out of the restaurant and walked to her buggy. They watched her, but she didn’t see them—obviously not expecting David to be sitting in a truck outside.

      “So is Lavina your girlfriend?”

      David shook his head. “Was,” he said. “Was.”

      He watched her drive the buggy away.

      “Everything okay?” Bill asked him when David sat there without immediately turning on the ignition.

      “She told me my dad’s sick. Very sick.”

      “Man, that’s rough. You gonna go see him?”

      He’d told Bill a little about why he’d left the community, but he hadn’t said anything about Lavina.

      “I don’t know,” he said finally. “I just don’t know.”

      He put the key in the ignition and started the truck. They drove back to Bill’s apartment in silence, then sat there, the engine idling.

      “You have my cell number if you want to talk.”

      David nodded. “Thanks.”

      “See you Monday on the job. Thanks for lunch.”

      “You’re welcome. Thanks for help with the truck.”

      Bill grinned. “I’m sure the two of you will be very happy together.” He got out of the truck and went into his apartment building.

      David pulled out onto the road and drove back to his own apartment. The truck was just transportation to him. Expensive, challenging transportation. He hadn’t left his community for things like trucks or drinking or . . . whatever. He’d left it because of arguments with his dat and the bishop.

      Mattie, his landlady, was raking leaves in the front yard when he pulled into the drive. “Well, look at you now. Bought yourself a truck, huh?”

      “Yes. Do you mind if I park it here?”

      “Not at all.”

      “Let me do that.” He reached for the rake and his eyes widened as the little elderly lady put up a determined struggle for it.

      “I can do it.”

      “I know. But I’d like to. I miss doing things like this.”

      She gave him a long look and then handed him the rake.

      He really did miss working on the yard, on the farm. When he left, he’d had to find a job in town. He was grateful for it, but as he raked up the leaves, he enjoyed the crisp fall air, the exertion. The chance to not think about what Lavina had said even if it only put off things for a little while.

      “I’ll go get some plastic bags,” she said.

      They worked together, Mattie holding bags so that he could scoop up the leaves into them. Then David hauled the bags to the curb.

      “Yard looks really good now,” she said when they were finished. “Thank you for the help.”

      “You’re welcome.”

      “How about some supper? I’ve got a casserole about to come out of the oven. Ham and scalloped potatoes.”

      “Sounds wonderful,” he told her and meant it. On a cool fall night like this it was the kind of supper his mudder or his grossmudder might have made.

      Mattie’s kitchen was small, but warm and smelled wonderful. He washed his hands at the sink and sat in one of the chairs, watching her pull the casserole from the oven. She served it with canned green beans and sliced bread. Simple, filling. David ate two servings of the casserole and hoped he wasn’t taking food she couldn’t spare. He figured she rented out the tiny apartment upstairs for extra СКАЧАТЬ