by Anna Schmidt
Mom was talking—something about being ready for the first day of school—a topic that Tessa understood was of far greater importance to her parents than it was to her. Even her dad…
That’s it. I’m starting a new school. Dad’s starting a new job there.… Instinctively she knew that Chelsea would focus on the obvious connection among the three of them—school.
And lo and behold, it worked—sorta, kinda—at least with her mom.
Chapter 4
Jeannie
Onee again she had messed up. And although she truly believed that Emma had forgiven her, Geoff was a different matter. Leaving Jeannie out of the family circle while they all watched the sunset was about as clear a sign as he could have given her that things between them were not good. She didn’t think for one second that it was intentional. Geoff was just terrible at hiding his true feelings. If he was upset, she knew it, and if he was upset with her, then he would usually take the easy way out and focus all of his attention on Tessa. The tension in the car was so thick it would take a chef’s knife to cut through it.
Jeannie drew in a deep breath, squeezed her eyes shut, and sent up a silent prayer. “It was a nice day,” she ventured as Geoff steered the car around the maze that was St. Armand’s Circle until they reached the turnoff that would take them across the Ringling Bridge toward home.
He made a sound that could be interpreted either as agreement or indifference.
Silent treatment alert, Jeannie thought and turned in her seat to talk to Tessa. “Have you got everything you need for tomorrow, Tess?”
“Pretty sure I do—at least everything on the list the school put online.”
“Excited?”
Tessa shrugged. “You know how it is, Mom. Starting a new school year is always a little exciting.”
“Well, it’s a blessing that you’ll have Sadie there to show you the ropes.”
Up to now, Tessa had attended the small Mennonite school that Jeannie and Emma had attended as kids. It was the one piece of her past that Jeannie had insisted on keeping after she and Geoff joined the more liberal branch of the faith. At the little Mennonite school, students of all ages worked at their own pace, moving from level to level as they completed the required work. Jeannie had such wonderful memories of her years there, and when she realized that Tessa was a shy, studious child, she had persuaded Geoff that attending her old school—at least until Tessa was ready for high school—would be an advantage.
“Dad?” Tessa leaned forward so that her face bridged the space between her parents.
“Hmmm?”
“If it’s okay for the first day, I’d like to bike to school with Sadie.”
Geoff chuckled, and Jeannie felt herself relaxing slightly. Leave it to Tessa to put him in a better frame of mind. “Not cool to arrive with the vice principal?”
Tessa giggled. “Not cool at all, but very cool to arrive with one of the popular kids.”
“I’m crushed.” He sighed dramatically, and Jeannie and Tessa both laughed.
Suddenly the tension that had held them all captive evaporated like the morning fog as Geoff pulled the car onto their driveway. Together they piled out and started unloading the picnic supplies and lawn chairs and other equipment they had hauled to the park. Tessa ran ahead of them to put away leftover food in the kitchen while Jeannie and Geoff took care of storing the lawn chairs in the garage.
“Looks like rain,” Geoff said, checking the western sky that still held a hint of light.
“Smells like it, too,” Jeannie agreed as she slipped her hand into his. “Maybe it will cool things off.” She felt his fingers tighten on hers.
They stood together looking up through the giant fronds of a cluster of palm trees toward a starless sky. “Is Emma okay?”
Jeannie didn’t need to ask what he meant. “She was upset—rightly so. Oh honey, I realize now that I shouldn’t have agreed to take Sadie, but I was sure that Lars was trying to find a way to convince Emma. He’d already signed the paperwork. He didn’t want to disappoint her, and neither did I.” She shrugged. “It just seemed like…”
Geoff sighed and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close and kissing her temple. “Honey, by now you know that how things may seem to you may not always be the way they are for others. I mean, Emma must have had her reasons for delaying this, and even if you don’t agree…”
“Yeah, I know. It’s just that sometimes Emma can be so strict—our folks were that way. You’d think that would make a difference—that she would understand that in this day and age Sadie needs…”
“Sadie’s not your child, Jeannie. I know that you love her—we all do. What’s not to love? She lights up a room, but it’s up to Lars and Emma to decide such things. They’re her parents.”
“You’re right.” She hugged him, and then trying to cling to the lighter mood, she added, “You’re always so wise. I’m sure that’s why the school board named you vice principal.”
Geoff groaned. “Don’t remind me.”
“You’re going to be great. The kids already love you, and the teachers and staff have great respect for you. You can’t lose.” She smoothed back his hair and saw the shadow of doubt cross his features. Geoff had always been her rock. “Why do you think Tessa turned out to be such a great kid? It’s because of the example you set for her.”
“She also has you… and Emma.”
“But you…”
His smile won out over the worried frown as he shrugged off her compliment. “So, here you are sending the two of us off to conquer new challenges,” he said.
“That’s right, and frankly I think we’d all better get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day.” She stood on tiptoe to kiss him, and she couldn’t help being a little disappointed when he released her after a quick peck on the lips.
“Coming?” he asked as he started for the house.
“In a minute.” She watched him go inside, heard the television come on. Things were better, she thought. Just not what they had been. She felt the first drops of rain and lifted her face to them before going inside.
Tessa had already put everything away in the kitchen, and Jeannie could hear her daughter upstairs in her room. In spite of assuring them she already had what she needed for school on the drive home, Jeannie had no doubt that Tessa was double-checking her backpack. When she was satisfied, she would come downstairs, set the backpack on the straight wooden chair by the back door, and then come to the den that did double duty as Geoff’s office and the family’s television room to kiss them both good night.
Jeannie took out a gift-wrapped package she’d been saving for this occasion and set it on the chair. Then she went into the den and perched on the arm of Geoff’s chair while they watched a sports report together.
As she had predicted, only moments passed before Tessa came downstairs. “What’s this?” she asked, coming into the den and blocking the television as she held up the present.
“Well, look at that,” Geoff said. “Somebody left me a present.”
“Dad, it has my name on the card.”
“No kidding. So, are you going to open it or just wave it around all night?”
Grinning, she carefully untied the wide satin ribbon then rolled it around her fingers and laid it aside. She then opened each taped section of the wrapping paper, pressing the paper flat as she laid it on Geoff’s desk.
“At this rate, we won’t need to set the alarm because you’ll still be opening your present when it’s time to get up,” Jeannie teased.
“The ribbon and paper are part of the gift,” Tessa reminded her. “You taught me that.” She laid aside the top of the box and then spread the white tissue paper inside. “Oh my,” she whispered as she lifted out a handmade journal and an old-fashioned fountain pen. “I love them.”
“We thought maybe you might want to start a new journal,” Geoff said, clearing his throat as if it had suddenly filled with emotion. “And the fountain pen was your grandfather’s.�
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Geoff’s father had owned a small newspaper back in Iowa where Geoff had grown up. After Tessa was born, her grandfather had written her a series of letters with this, his favorite pen. He’d sent a letter to her on every birthday until his death a year earlier, when the pen had been given to Geoff. “Now it’s your turn to write,” Geoff told her.
“But write what? I have nothing to say.”
“How about letters to us?” Jeannie suggested.
“You’re kind of right here, Mom.”
“I know, but you could write letters to us that we could read later—like when you’re off to college or on your wedding day or when you have your first child or…”
“Stop it, Mom,” Tessa said laughing. “You’re going to have me living my whole life before I’m out of high school.”
Geoff was laughing as well. He looked at Jeannie the way he used to look at her when they were courting. His eyes twinkled with that same surprise and curiosity that fueled her interest in him from their first meeting. She looked from Geoff to Tessa and grinned. For the first time in weeks, she felt sure that everything was going to be all right for them.
Geoff held out his hand for Tessa’s new journal and flipped through the pages. “That’s a lot of blank pages,” he said. “I figure you’ll have it filled up by…”
“…Tuesday,” Jeannie said, knowing that when Tessa started any new project, she became single-minded about finishing it.
“I’m going to start tonight,” Tessa said when Geoff handed back the book. She clutched it to her chest, her eyes sparkling. “Thank you so much—it’s perfect.” She started up the stairs then turned back. “And, Mom. No peeking.”
“Me?” Jeannie asked, pointing to herself. “Why would that even cross your mind?”
Both Geoff and Tessa rolled their eyes.
“Promise?” Tessa said, and it was clear that she was asking for a serious commitment.
“Promise.” Jeannie placed one hand over her heart.
Satisfied, Tessa blew them both a kiss and hurried off to her room.
Jeannie was watching her go when she felt Geoff’s arms come around her, his lips close to her ear. “Thank you,” he whispered.
“I would never have violated…”
“Not for the promise,” he said, turning her so they were facing each other. “For raising such a wonderful kid.”
Suddenly shy, Jeannie fingered his shirt collar. “I didn’t do it alone.”
“But you’re the one who has given her confidence and your gift for taking care of others.”
Jeannie’s heart was so full that she circled her arms around his neck and laid her cheek against his chest. “You make me so very happy—you and Tessa are my whole world.”
She felt the rumble of his chuckle deep from in his chest as his arms tightened around her. When he spoke, his voice was so soft that she had to stay very still to hear him. “We’re going to be all right,” he said, and she couldn’t help but wonder if he had meant to speak the words aloud.
She looked up at him and stroked his cheek. “I love you, Geoff Messner.”
He grinned. “That’s Vice Principal Geoff Messner,” he teased.
“No. That’s Geoff Messner, the best husband and father God ever created.”
He kissed her then, and as they walked upstairs together arm in arm, Jeannie silently prayed the prayer she had prayed every night and every morning of her life. This is the day the Lord did make; let me be glad and rejoice in it.
Chapter 5
Emma
After weeks of sunny days with cloudless blue skies, the day after the annual picnic dawned with an unexpected and relentless downpour. Emma was making breakfast for the family, although she was well aware that whatever she prepared would probably be eaten on the run. Sadie was already on the phone for the third time that morning, and Matt could be heard banging around in his room, searching no doubt for the supplies that he and Emma had shopped for a week earlier.
She smiled and shook her head. As organized as their parents were—everything in its place—neither child seemed to have inherited that particular trait. Emma could almost imagine the disaster area that Matt’s room would be after he left for school. Sadie’s room would be no less messy. But in her room, the bed would be covered with rejected items of clothing. For a girl who dressed plain, she could come up with an endless number of combinations of tops and bottoms.
“We can’t ride our bikes in this,” Sadie moaned. “Dan says he could come by here and pick me up, and then we’d go get Tessa.” She delivered this news in a tone that Emma understood was a plea for permission as she covered the receiver with one hand and waited.
Emma exchanged a look with Lars, and he nodded.
“The streets will be slick,” Lars told her. “Tell Dan to drive carefully.”
Sadie grinned and murmured something into the phone; then she giggled as she hung up and took a long swallow of her orange juice.
Emma turned back to the stove. She had wanted Lars to say that he would drive the girls to school when he took Matt. Dan Kline was a nice boy. He was also a senior and president of the student council as well as the quarterback on Geoff’s football team. Emma could see no explanation why he had fastened his attention on Sadie—a mere sophomore. He was older—and by definition more experienced when it came to dating. Of course, that was the real problem—Sadie was dating the boy. Not in groups, spending time with him and his friends or hers, but actual dates—long walks or bike rides and such. Surely Sadie was too young for anything so serious.
At least Lars had stood with her on that one. He had told Sadie that unless they were attending a school or community function with them or Dan’s family, she and Dan were to limit their time together to twice a week—during the day.
“Oh Dad,” Sadie moaned now as she took a bite of the donut that Emma had gotten up before dawn to make as a special treat for the first day of school, “Dan’s eighteen. He knows how to drive in rain.”
Lars put down his newspaper. “Ja, und it’s because he’s eighteen that I worry,” he said quietly. “Young men of his age tend to think they are indestructible and that anyone with them is as well.”
Emma hoped that maybe Sadie’s comment had raised enough of a red flag that Lars would reconsider. In their home, as in most conservative Mennonite homes, the man was the head of the household, and wife and children alike looked to him to make these kinds of decisions. But he picked up his paper again. Sadie rolled her eyes and then turned her attention to Emma. “How do I look?”
“Sehr gut.”
Sadie groaned and punched in a number on the phone that under most circumstances was kept in her father’s workshop behind the house and used primarily for his business. It was a mark of the importance of this first day of school that Sadie was allowed to use the phone. “Hi, Auntie Jeannie, is Tessa ready?”
Sadie giggled at Jeannie’s response. “What’s she wearing?”
A beat and her expression turned pained. “Not the black ones. I love those boots.”
Emma could hear Jeannie’s laugh muted by the phone Sadie clutched to her ear.
“Okay, so tell her Dan is picking me up anytime now, and we’ll be by for her in fifteen minutes.” She sighed heavily. “I know. I know. Trust me, Dad has already made the point.” She listened for a moment then blew her aunt an air kiss and hung up the phone.
Emma knew that she and Jeannie were in agreement when it came to Dan Kline. Although not of their faith, he came from a good family, and his parents were good Christian people. Dan regularly attended church and was an outstanding leader when it came to organizing other young people. But next year he would be off to college while Sadie had two more years of high school to finish. One of the things Emma and Jeannie had discussed more than once was that Sadie would be brokenhearted when Dan left and that they would need to help her mend.
“You mustn’t get used to the idea of Dan picking you and Tessa up for school, Sadie.” She stopped spe
aking and took a sip of coffee, hating the way she sounded so like their spinster neighbor, Olive Crowder.
“We won’t,” Sadie said as she gulped down the last of her orange juice. “But think of it, Mom. This is Tessa’s first day at the academy, and think how the other kids will sit up and take notice when she walks into school with Dan.”
Emma understood that at least on some level Sadie was sincerely doing this for her cousin. Like Jeannie, Sadie wanted Tessa’s first day of high school to be special. It did not occur to either of them that Tessa really did not care about making a first impression socially. She had confided to Emma that she was far more concerned about whether she would be able to keep up academically with the other students.
Sadie looked out the window for the fourth time in ten minutes. Dan was running late, which wasn’t unusual, but the last thing Emma wanted was for him to be rushing on a rainy day like this one. Just when Emma was about to suggest that maybe Lars should drive Sadie after all, a car horn beeped and Sadie grabbed her backpack. “That’s Dan.” Her voice trembled with excitement. She blew Emma and Lars a kiss as she flew out the door.
Emma watched from the kitchen window as Sadie scampered around the front of the car and climbed in. Dan had not gotten out to open the door for her; rather, he had leaned across the front seat and pushed it open. She heard Sadie laughing as the door slammed and Dan shifted into reverse, spinning shell gravel as he peeled out of their driveway.
“They’ll be all right,” Lars told her as he reached around her to put his cereal bowl in the sink.
“He’s too old for her.”
“Two years’ difference,” Lars reminded her. “We have four years between us.”
“But that’s different. We’re adults. She’s a child yet, and he’s—”
“Sadie is a smart girl. This too shall pass,” Lars said as he reached for his hat. “Matt? Es ist spat,” he called as he passed the hallway that led to the bedrooms. “I’ll take Matt to school, and then I’ll be in the shop if you need me.” He kissed her forehead. “Stop worrying,” he advised.