“Jah,” she said wearily. “I, um, think that might be best, too.”
He picked one of the plates up off the ground and set it on the table. “I’ll help you clean up first. I mean, my boys and I will.”
She knew his offer was sincere. She also knew if their situations were reversed, she would offer to do the very same thing. But at the moment she wanted nothing more than to be alone. “I appreciate your offer. However, if you don’t mind, I’d rather clean up on my own.”
“I can’t let you do that.” Looking around, he frowned. “I mean, it looks like a picnic exploded in the middle of your yard.”
It kind of had, but Emma kept quiet about that. “I will be fine.”
“I’ll help her,” Tricia offered.
When Emma noticed Ben’s frown, she shook her head. “That’s sweet of you, but no. Why don’t you go change your dress? Go on now.”
“I’ll stay. Don’t worry,” Beverly said. “Emma and I will clean things up in no time. I promise, this is one instance when more hands will not make the chore easier.”
With a sigh, Jay nodded. “I think you are right about that. I’ll see you later. Thank you for the lunch.”
Just then she remembered the banana bread and the cake. “Oh, hold on. No one has had dessert. How about I prepare a plate for you all? You can take it home.”
All three of the boys shook their heads. “Maybe another time,” Jay said.
Feeling the giant lump in her throat grow with each second, she watched Jay and his sons walk back out the gate, Tricia by Ben’s side. And then it was just her and Beverly. Emma walked into the kitchen, got a black plastic garbage bag, and started tossing dirty plates and cups into it.
“I am so sorry,” Beverly said as she did the same. “I shouldn’t have said a word to Tricia.”
“Your words weren’t the problem.”
“I think they were. I shouldn’t have mentioned anything about babies or children. She is a pretty sensitive girl.”
“All girls her age cry from time to time. They can’t help it,” Emma said.
“I suppose. But I have to tell you, I simply don’t know what happened,” she continued as she gathered silverware and piled them into the bowl Emma had used to hold chips. “One minute, everything was fine, the next . . .”
“Chaos.” Unable to help herself, Emma chuckled. It had been a crazy few minutes, but they’d survived.
After bending down to check on Frankie, who was lying on his side, looking rather like he was stuffed to the gills but otherwise fine, she walked into the kitchen.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m sure you’ve seen things like this happen at your inn.”
“Things have gone wrong,” she agreed with a smile. “Though never with so many tears.”
Emma stood at the sink and started washing dishes while Beverly put salads in plastic containers, handed serving bowls to her, and competently wiped down the counters and tables. After the first couple of minutes Emma felt herself relaxing. She rarely ever had help in the kitchen and she was finding Beverly Overholt’s quiet industriousness to be a calming influence.
“Emma?” Beverly asked when they were almost finished. “If you don’t mind my saying so, I happened to notice that you don’t seem all that shocked or worried about how fast things are progressing with Ben and Tricia. Why?”
“I guess because I was married at eighteen but I fell in love with Sanford years before that.”
“That sounds so young.”
“Because it was. It was young. But that doesn’t mean it was wrong.” She shrugged. “I just happen to believe that each of us has a match and when it happens it happens.”
“So you think I should leave Tricia alone?”
“No. I mean, I know you love her and she loves you, right?”
“Of course.”
“Well, if I am right and God has brought Ben and Tricia to each other and they are happy and in love . . . who are you to say that they are wrong?”
“I’ve been so used to guarding my heart because of some things that happened in my past . . . maybe I’m letting all that influence me.”
“I suppose it’s a possibility,” Emma allowed. “I don’t know.”
“I think I need to pray on this.”
Emma smiled. “I hope your prayers give you the answers that you need.” Walking toward Beverly’s beautiful cake, she said, “At least you’ll have some cake while you’re thinking.”
“Oh, no. You keep it.”
“It’s too much.”
“I’m sure you can find some folks to share it with.” Smiling softly, she said, “Who knows? Maybe even Jay will get a chance to have a piece.”