The next heavy rain arrived without the drama of the first.
There were no stranded school buses and no men waiting beside an electrical box.
The county sent a warning that low roads might close overnight.
Mara checked the cooperative’s route list and canceled the earliest hospital shuttle before the drivers left home.
Jake called the passengers one by one.
Most understood immediately.
One woman asked how she was supposed to reach a medical appointment that had already been postponed twice.
Jake contacted the hospital and learned that the appointment could be moved to the afternoon.
He called her back with the new time.
She thanked him without enthusiasm.
“I hope the road opens,” she said.
“So do I,” Jake answered.
At the fire station, Mrs. Sloane prepared a smaller batch of soup because the afternoon meal service had also been reduced.
Gideon checked the weather from a chair beside the window.
His black phone lay on the table within reach.
Jake looked at it and remembered the first night.
“Do you ever miss the excitement?” he asked.
Gideon glanced up.
“What excitement?”
“Three vehicles arriving in the rain because you made one call.”
Gideon shook his head.
“I prefer days when nobody needs rescuing.
”
Jake considered that.
“Me too,” he said.
The rain struck the windows steadily.
Mara entered carrying a folder of updated road notices.
“The north bridge is still open,” she announced.
“The county has put cones around the damaged shoulder.”
Jake checked the route list again.
They had enough drivers for the afternoon appointments if the roads stayed clear.
The kitchen had enough food for the people expected to arrive.
Nobody raised their voice.
Nobody rushed toward a vehicle.
Jake realized how much work it had taken to make an ordinary rainy afternoon feel ordinary.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN F: A TABLE FOR TWO
Tessa asked Jake to meet her for dinner at a small restaurant near the library.
He arrived ten minutes early and found her already seated with two menus.
“You’re late,” she teased.
Jake checked his watch.
“I’m early.”
“You used to arrive half an hour early whenever you were worried about something.”
Jake sat down.
“I still worry.”
“I know.”
They ordered sandwiches and talked about her pharmacy job.
Tessa had applied for a training course that could lead to a better position.
Jake asked when the classes began.
“Next month,” she answered.
“I need to rearrange my shifts first.
”
“Do you need a ride?”
Tessa smiled.
“I knew you’d ask.”
“Is that a no?”
“It’s a maybe,” she said.
“I want to see whether the bus schedule works before I ask you to drive me.”
Jake nodded.
“Rosa would approve.”
Tessa laughed.
Then she grew serious.
“I heard the diner offered you your job back.”
“Warren called last week.”
“Did you consider it?”
“For about ten seconds.”
“Why didn’t you go?”
Jake looked at the people eating around them.
“I liked serving people,” he said.
“I didn’t like feeling as though one mistake could erase everything I’d done.”
Tessa nodded.
“Mom worried about that.”
“About Warren?”
“About you working until you couldn’t tell the difference between helping and being used.”
Jake stared at his plate.
“She never said that to me.”
“She said it to me,” Tessa replied.
“She knew you’d argue.”
Jake laughed softly.
“She was probably right.”
Tessa reached across the table.
“You can still be kind without saying yes to everybody.”
Jake squeezed her hand.
“I’m trying.”
They finished dinner and walked toward the bus stop together.
Tessa pointed out the new shelter the county had installed near the pharmacy.
Jake inspected the bench and the posted timetable out of habit.
“Stop working,” she told him.
He stepped back from the sign.
“All right.”
They waited beneath the shelter while traffic moved through the wet streets.
When Tessa’s bus arrived, she climbed aboard and waved through the window.
Jake waved back.
He walked home without checking whether the bus was on time.
