“What time should I be ready to go?” Gus helped himself to a pretzel. “And what part will I be playing?”
Quinn covered her mouth with her hand, still staring at her lap. Esther finished her task and continued listening from thekitchen.
Mr. Clarkson cleared his throat. “Um . . . you’ll be playing a man named John. We’ll give you more instructions on Monday. But we’ll pull out around eight. It’s not necessary for you to be present in this meeting. Mostly lighting problems, and some of the scuba equipment malfunctioned, which wasn’t pleasant for our leading lady.”
“I’ll be ready.”
Gus passed back through the kitchen with the pretzel between his teeth and picked up his bowl of sugar and a stack of paperplates Esther had placed next to the bowl. He didn’t offer any thanks, but Esther learned long ago not to expect any.
After the screen door closed behind Gus, she quietly pulled her chair out and sat, tempted to catch a nap, but worried herguests might need something.
Quinn chuckled. “John? Since when do we have a character named John?”
“Yeah, news to me too,” either Hal or Jesse said. Esther wasn’t sure.
“The guy’s cranky as—”
Esther put her hands over her ears and flinched when Mr. Clarkson began cursing again. She could still hear him despite herbest efforts not to.
“It was the only way for me to get the guy to shut up about the generators. We’ll just stick him in the background somewhere.”
“He smells,” Quinn said. “Maybe you can make up a reason for him to take his own vehicle.”
Esther couldn’t dispute Gus’s lack of personal hygiene. Although, when he had taken her to her doctor and hospital appointments a little while back, he’d made an effort to clean himself up. And some days he’d even left his gruff demeanor behind. Those glimpses into the man Gus might have been at some point in his past were always welcome, but rare.
“Just put up with him Monday, and we’ll tell him we don’t need him anymore,” Mr. Clarkson said.
“Where do you want him in the background, and how do we explain who he is? Only the key players are in the cavern.” Giovannilaughed. “Is he going to be some ancient caveman’s ghost?”
Quinn was the one chuckling now. “I don’t think cavemen had big fat bellies.”
“What are you people even talking about?” Mr. Clarkson wasn’t laughing. “We’re not actually putting him in the movie. Juststick him somewhere and make him think he’s in the background, just to shut him up. I’m telling you, he was driving me crazyabout the generators, and I can’t listen to that for an entire month.”
Esther couldn’t help feeling sorry for Gus. She stayed quiet and continued listening.
“Well, he seems to think he’s part of our group now,” Quinn said. “Speaking of our group, I haven’t seen Jayce today.”
“He’s running around with an Amish girl,” Giovanni said. “Billy told me he had dinner with her Friday night and was spendingthe day with her today.”
Mr. Clarkson grunted. “You’ve got to be kidding. He doesn’t get enough at home, so he has to go poking around for it here—inan Amish community?”
Poking around for what?
“Billy said he talked to him. Let him know these girls are pious,” Giovanni said.
Jayce’s father laughed. “Like that would stop my son from going after her.”
Esther gasped, quickly covering her mouth with her hand as Mr. Clarkson’s words took on meaning. But then a chair scrapedacross the floor.
“I hate the way you always assume the worst about your son, Brandon. Maybe if you took the time to get to know him—”
“Oh, I know him. And here you are once again defending him.” He paused. “Maybe you and Jayce had a thing, Quinn?” There wasmockery in his voice. Esther didn’t believe the claim could be true. Quinn was a lovely woman but considerably older thanJayce.
The woman called Jayce’s father a name that Esther wished she hadn’t heard. Then her heels clicked across the room and upthe stairs.
“She’s too sensitive. I was just kidding.”
Esther didn’t hear any remorse in the comment. But all was quiet afterward.
She would be counting the days until this group went back to Los Angeles.
* * *
Jayce took in his surroundings as Evelyn guided the buggy down a gravel road. There were homesteads on both sides of the road, most with farmhouses, barns, and silos. Jayce felt like he’d stepped back in time to a place where life was slower, where simple pleasures were appreciated, and girls were happy with hot dogs, popcorn, and lemonade. Evelyn probably had no idea what saltimbocca was and probably hadn’t feasted on caviar, enjoyed seared lamb chops dusted in mint sauce, or tasted a host of other foods Jayce had grown up with. To this day he preferred a slow-cooked roast with potatoes and carrots like his grandmother used to cook. He still missed his grandparents.
They passed a small white building. “Is that a church?” It didn’t resemble a church. There was no cross or stained glass,but it didn’t look like a home either.
“It’s a school.” Evelyn clicked her tongue, gently slapped the reins, and picked up the pace.
“It’s not very big for a school.” He saw a hand water pump outside. “I guess there’s no electricity either.”
“Nee, no power. It houses grades one through eight for this district.” She slowed Millie to allow another horse and buggy to turnin front of her.
“What do you mean grades one through eight? Through the windows it looks like one big room.”
“Ya, all the children are together in one room. Lessons are tailored to each child’s age until graduation, which is after wecomplete eighth grade.”
“Then where’s the high school?” Jayce lifted his sunglasses and scanned the mostly open fields around them.
“No high school. We are only schooled through the eighth grade.”
“Wow.” Jayce lowered his sunglasses and relaxed against the seat. A whiff of Evelyn’s lavender aroma wafted his way but wasquickly overridden by Millie when the horse decided to do her business en route.
Evelyn guided them into a small
