“Oh, honey, I don’t care about that,” the woman said, leaning more heavily on her cane to look closely at Benjamin. “I care that you’re feeling bad, buddy. That stinks.”
“Yeah,” Benjamin agreed. “But I’ll let Mommy work! I used to come to work with her a lot when I was little, so I know how to do it.”
The two adults exchanged an amused glance. There was nothing more charming than a small child speaking about their past smallness like they were fully grown.
“I bet you do,” Mrs. Richards said. “And, if it’s okay with your mom, I even have some of those popsicles… the ones that are for kids when they’ve got a bug,” she added to June. “I can’t remember what they’re called, but my grandkids left them here last time they came to visit.”
“You definitely don’t have to—” June began to instinctively protest, but the elderly woman cut her off.
“Oh, stop that right now, June Caldwell. I know I don’t have to do it. When you get to be my age, nobody can tell me Ihave todo anything. Besides, I like company, so I’m happy to see young Benjamin here. Benjamin, do you like movies? Would you mind if I joined you watching one?”
June’s son smiled, revealing a gap where he’d lost a tooth several weeks prior.
“Can I, Mommy?” he asked.
“Of course,” she said, feeling a rush of relief… and a rush of gratitude for her community. “I’ll get you set up and then get to work.”
June worked busily throughout the morning, taking extra care to get into all the nooks and crannies that she knew were hard for Mrs. Richards to reach. When she finally finished up the well-practiced series of task on her mental list, she was surprised to see that it was already early afternoon.
She went back to the kitchen, where she found Mrs. Richards placing two plates on the table, each with a sandwich on top that looked so good that June’s stomach began to rumble on instinct. She pressed a hand to her belly and gave her client a sheepish look.
“Sorry about that,” she said.
The other woman laughed. “Oh, please. I don’t get up to much cooking these days, so it’s nice to hear a little bit of flattery about the few things I do make. This is for you. Take a load off for a few, sweetie.”
June hesitated. “I should check on Benjamin…”
“He’s reading some book about a dog that lives in outer space,” Mrs. Richards assured her. “He read some of it out loud to me, and it seemed like nonsense, but he seemed happy enough. He also ate a sandwich a while ago, said his stomach was feeling better too. No coughing or sneezing all morning.”
June collapsed into a kitchen chair. “Goodness,thank you, Mrs. Richards. I appreciate you keeping an eye on him and letting me bring him in with me today.”
Mrs. Richards smiled and reached out to give June’s hand a squeeze. “There’s no need to thank me. I remember how hard those years were when your kids were young… and I had myhusband, and I didn’t have another job outside the house. You’re doing all of that at once. It’s hard. I can’t imagine how hard. But I am very, very impressed with you, June Caldwell. You work so hard and that boy of yours is such a happy, kind little thing. You did good. Take a break and eat your sandwich, huh? Let me help you a little bit.”
June was left with two choices: she could either eat her sandwich or break down in tears right here at this time-worn kitchen table.
She decided to eat the sandwich. It was delicious, with whole grain mustard, crisp vegetables, and a healthy pile of deli meat. It was the kind of sandwich you made when you weren’t rushing off, trying to slap a lunch together before you dashed off to the next obligation.
Or maybe June was reading into it too much. Little acts of kindness meant so much to her that it was hard not to put a heavy burden of meaning on them.
For a little while, the two women ate in silence. Then, when they’d polished off their last bites, June looked at Mrs. Richards.
“Thank you,” she said simply. “Your kindness means a lot.”
Mrs. Richards beamed like June was giving her a gift by saying so.
“Thank you, honey. Bring that little boy of yours back any time, okay?”
June finished up a few last-minute tasks, then loaded her cleaning supplies back into her car before rousing Benjamin, who was almost on the last pages of his book. Fortunately, June had packed the next volume in the series about a dog astronaut that Benjamin and Izzy had been obsessed with recently.
Thank goodness for the library,she thought for the millionth time. Eleanor really could not open that bookstore soon enough either.
“Ready to go, baby?” she asked her son.
He smiled up at her. He looked a little more tired than usual, but not the way he got when he feltreallysick. And if he wasn’t coughing or sneezing or otherwise spreading germs, she really couldn’t afford to give up her shift at the diner.
“I’m going to bring you to work with me to the diner too, okay?” she told him.
Benjamin brightened. “Can I have French fries?”
