Larry and Jimmy regarded her with tear-reddened eyes.
“I’m sorry, Mom,” Jimmy said first.
“Me, too,” Larry added. “We really weren’t being mean. We were scared she’d fall out of the swing like she did yesterday.”
Amanda’s mouth gaped. “Susie fell out of the swing yesterday?”
Jimmy nodded. “Twice. She made us promise not to tell, ’cause she was afraid you wouldn’t let her get on the swing anymore.”
Amanda sighed. “Then you were trying to protect her?”
Both boys nodded solemnly.
“Then I’m the one who’s sorry,” she told them. “I should have given you a chance to explain.”
They wrapped their arms around her waist and leaned into her.
“It’s okay, Mom. You were kinda busy with Caleb and that lady,” Larry said.
She looked down into their upturned faces. “How about I make it up to you with ice cream after dinner?”
“We have ice cream?”
“No, but we’ll take a walk and get cones,” she said.
“Susie, too?” Larry asked indignantly.
“Something tells me she’s learned her lesson,” Amanda said. “She was sent to her room, too.”
Both boys seemed to consider that for a moment.
“Okay,” Larry said eventually. “But we get double dips and she only gets one, ’cause we’re bigger.”
Amanda laughed at the twisted logic that gave them a triumph over their little sister. “That sounds fair.”
Caleb returned to Amanda’s just in time to meet her and the kids on the sidewalk.
“We’re going for ice-cream cones, Mr. Caleb,” Susie announced, holding out her arms to be picked up. The red band holding her hair in a ponytail had slipped and curls were poking out in every direction. There was a streak of spaghetti sauce on her cheek and another on her purple T-shirt.
He scooped her up just as Larry tugged on his shirtsleeve.
“We get two scoops, but she only gets one,” he told Caleb.
“Because you’re older,” Caleb guessed.
“And because Mom’s’ pologizing to us,” Jimmy added.
Caleb glanced at Amanda. “Oh?”
“Long story,” she said. “What brings you back?”
“I was hoping we could talk some more about the Mary Louise and Danny situation.”
Amanda looked vaguely uneasy. “Sorry I wasn’t more help.”
“Actually you were a huge help.”
She seemed startled by that. “Really?”
“Seems I’m the one who came away from the talk with a whole new perspective,” he admitted. “Have you ever considered going back to school and getting a degree in psychology, so you could counsel young people?”
She stared at him as if he’d grown two heads. “Me? No way. I barely have my own life together. I certainly don’t want to tell anyone else what they ought to be doing.”
“That’s just it, you weren’t telling Mary Louise what to do at all. You were showing her what lies ahead and letting her draw her own conclusions.”
“She came to the wrong one, according to you,” Amanda reminded him.
“No, I suspect she came to the right one for her. Or, if she didn’t, at least she’s moving ahead with her eyes wide open. That’s the best we can hope for.” He met her gaze. “I’m serious, Amanda. I think you could do this. I could certainly use someone like you to work with the kids at church. Maybe you could do that on an informal basis.”
“How?”
“Just be one of the sponsors of the youth group, sort of a mentor. You wouldn’t need formal training for that.” And, he thought, it would mean they’d be working together on a regular basis. He recognized that God would probably find some way to slap him silly for the ulterior motives behind his pitch.
“I don’t know,” she said doubtfully. “I really don’t have that much time.”
“You’ve been looking for a way to give back to the church for helping you get a house,” he said, forcing aside the instant twinge of guilt that assailed him for playing that particular card.
“I’ll think about it,” she promised.
“Seriously,” he pressed.
She regarded him with amusement. “Yes, Caleb, I promise I will think about it seriously. I will not crack up laughing at the mere idea of turning myself into anyone’s mentor.”
Before he could respond to that, Susie patted his cheek to get attention.
“Mr. Caleb, what kind of ice cream are you gonna have?”
“Strawberry fudge,” he said at once, knowing it was her favorite.
She grinned. “Me, too!”
He feigned shock. “Really?”
“I’m gonna have one scoop of chocolate and one of cherry vanilla,” Larry said enthusiastically.
“I want two scoops of chocolate,” Jimmy said.
Caleb turned to Amanda. “What about you? Is this a plain old vanilla night or are you going to live dangerously?”
He saw the precise instant when she rose to the dare in his voice. Her eyes began to shine with a rare sparkle.
“I am having,” she began, pausing for drama, “a banana split.” She looked each one of them in the eye, saving Caleb for last. “And I am not sharing.”
He laughed. “Not even one little bite?”
“Not even if you beg,” she declared.
Caught up in the moment, he locked his gaze with hers. “Bet I can make you change your mind.”
Bright patches of color rose in her cheeks, but she didn’t blink or look away. “Bet you can’t,” she said in a voice barely above a whisper.
Caleb once again admired her willingness not to turn away from something that so clearly scared her. He could have let the whole thing die right there, satisfied with the response he’d managed to stir in her, but he, too, was feeling just a little bit reckless and daring tonight.
With her steady gaze still even with his, he leaned slowly down and brushed a daring first kiss across her lips. When he pulled away, she looked shaken, but undaunted.
“You think that will change my mind?” she scoffed. “We’re talking a banana split here.”
He grinned. “That might not change your mind,” he agreed. “But how about if I tell you that if you don’t share, there’s a whole lot more where that kiss came from.”
She faltered for just a second, then chuckled. “You know, for a minister, you certainly know how to play dirty.”
“It would be wise, Amanda, if you’d remember that when it gets right down to it, I’m a minister, not a saint. Trust me, there’s a difference.”
“Yes, I’m beginning to get that.”
Oddly enough, it didn’t seem to scare her half as much as he’d expected it to.
And