Return to Paradise. Barbara Cameron
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help them get jobs and help support themselves—and their children if they have them.”
Kate paused to take a breath. “Sorry, I’m pretty passionate about what we’re doing.” She picked up her sandwich and began eating. “Leah has given us material and supplies. And I’ve gotten donations from the community. We teach the class from noon to 2 p.m. on Wednesdays. Do you think you’d be interested in stopping by this week to see if you’d like to volunteer?”
Lavina nodded. “I’ll come and see if it’s something I can help with.” She sipped her drink. “I have a question for you.”
“Sure.” Kate smiled and watched the server refill her coffee cup. “What’s your question?”
“If I wanted to find someone—someone who’s moved away from here—how would I go about it?”
“There are a lot of things you can do,” Kate said. “Do you know how to use a computer?”
“Not very well,” Lavina admitted. “I’ve done some work on the ones in the library, but I’m not the best.”
“Where do you think this person moved to?”
“He’s still in the county.”
“Hmm. It might not be that hard. Start with directory assistance first. You know, information on the phone. Here, let me give you some paper to write on.” She pulled out a slim notepad and began ripping out a few sheets.
Lavina lifted her soft drink and glanced idly at a man passing their table on the way to the cashier at the front of the restaurant. Was she seeing a ghost? Her eyes widened, and her fingers went numb on the glass. It slipped from her grasp and shattered on the tile floor. “David!”
The man stopped and stared at her. “Lavina!”
Chapter 2
2
David couldn’t believe his eyes. He’d wondered if he’d ever run into her, and now here she was as he stood, tongue-tied, not knowing what to say.
“So, is this the man you were looking for?” asked the police officer Lavina was sitting with.
“Er, yes,” Lavina stammered, blushing.
David tore his eyes from Lavina and noticed that the woman was a police officer. He frowned. “What, am I in trouble for something?”
“Nope,” the officer said. “Well, that was fast work,” she told Lavina with a smile. “I wish everything a citizen asked me about went as well.”
She picked up her check. “Lavina, it’s been fun. I have to be getting back to work. You give me a call if you’re interested in volunteering, okay?”
“I will.”
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.”