Mommy For A Minute

She put the candles where she could easily find them.

Just then, the doorbell rang. It was five-fifteen, too early for her guests. She hurried to the door and swung it open. Bill and Barry were standing on the front porch. “Hi. What are you two doing here?”

“We wanted to make sure you were doing okay in your new place. With a storm like this, you might have problems,” Barry said as he moved inside.

“But you shouldn’t have driven in this storm,” Lauren protested.

“We didn’t think it would get this bad,” Bill confessed. “If we hadn’t been over halfway here, we would’ve gone back.”

“Come on in and dry off. There are some towels in the bathroom.”

She went to her bedroom and found some sleep shirts her brothers could wear. “These aren’t good-looking, like your shirts, but they are dry.”

About that time, Jack and Ally came down the hall. “Oh, Jack, these are my brothers, Bill and Barry. They came to check up on me. This is Jack Mason. He’s working on my office.”

They all shook hands. Then the guys asked to see what Jack had done so far in the room.

“You might as well show them, Jack. You can’t possibly take Ally out in this.”

As they went past the dining room, the guys noticed the dinner table set for three. “You two were invited to dinner?” Barry asked.

“No, I think your brother James and a friend were having dinner with Lauren,” Jack said evenly, showing no resentment at Barry’s tone.

“Are they still doing that?” Bill asked. “I thought he would’ve gotten over that after a few weeks.”

“I believe he’s bringing someone to meet your sister.”

“A girl? Is he bringing a girl? What’s wrong with the boy?” Barry demanded. “You don’t do that unless you’re planning on doing something permanent. He’s not even twenty-two yet. Has he lost his mind?”

By that time, they’d reached the office and Jack showed them his drawing of what the room should look like when he’d finished.

“Hey, this will be nice,” Bill exclaimed.

Before anything else could be said, they all heard the doorbell ring again.

“Damn, he shouldn’t be bringing a girl here,” Barry protested again.

“Maybe we should wait a minute and give Lauren a chance to meet her without any protests from you two,” Jack said with a grin. “It might make it hard on James.”

“You know James?” Bill asked.

“No, Lauren told me about him at lunch.”

“You ate lunch with Lauren?”

“She insists on making lunch every day for us. I’m deducting a certain amount from my bill. She’s also taking care of Ally, too, until I can find someone to take her.”

“Cute kid, but did Lauren volunteer for that? I mean, she works long hours. I don’t see—”

“You didn’t know she’s not working for four weeks?”

The two men stared at Jack, their mouths open. Then they whirled around as one and started back to the front of the house.

“Uh-oh. Looks like I spilled the beans. We’d better go apologize to Lauren,” he muttered, taking Ally’s hand.

“I didn’t see any beans, Daddy.”

“I know, honey, but I should’ve.”

They reached the kitchen just as the two older brothers were greeting the other two guests. Lauren introduced Jack and Ally to James and a beautiful young woman named Cheryl.

Before Jack could say anything, Barry demanded to know why his sister wasn’t working for four weeks. Lauren shot Jack a look, obviously understanding how that information had gotten out.

“I’m taking some time off. Why? Is that a problem?”

All three brothers stared at her. Finally, Bill said, “No, not if that’s what you want to do.”

“Yes, it is. I’m getting settled in my new place. And I’m taking care of Ally while Jack works.”

“Oh, sure. We didn’t realize Jack was a friend.” Bill shot a look at Jack, obviously reevaluating his status as friend—or maybe more than friend.

Jack looked at Lauren, but he said nothing.

“Yes, well, I’ll need to add a few places to the table,” Lauren said, not bothering to explain, as she had to Jack earlier that day.

“May I help?” Cheryl asked, and Lauren immediately gave her something to do, making her feel welcome.

Within minutes, Lauren had expanded her dinner for three to dinner for seven. She added more broccoli to the pot and cut up more salad. She put Bill and Barry to peeling more potatoes, and suggested to James that he entertain Jack and Ally.

Just as they sat down to dinner the electricity went out. Lauren found the candles and matches and they ate their dinner by candlelight. Outside, the storm raged.

“I like this dinner, Lauren. What did you call the casserole?” Jack asked.

“Chicken spaghetti. It was one of Mom’s favorites.”

“Yeah, I love it,” James said, smiling at Cheryl.

“I’d love the recipe,” Cheryl said softly, looking at Lauren.

“Of course. Mom got it out of a church cookbook, so it didn’t originate with her. But it’s very filling and has a lot of good things in it,” Lauren explained.

“It’s a good thing you fixed a lot of it,” James said, “since Bill and Barry arrived.”

“You think we shouldn’t check on Lauren?” Barry demanded.

“You know I always come on Friday,” James pointed out.

“Yeah, but this is a bad storm. We were afraid she might find she had a leak or something like that,” Bill said. “You never know in a new place until it’s tested.”