An Abundance of Blessings

by Carolyne Aarsen

  Principal Duncan didn’t even look Pete’s way. Pete clenched his hands, raising them to waist level and for a moment Sam thought he was going to grab Principal Duncan by the front of his suit jacket. Sam was surprised. Usually Uncle Pete liked to sit back and poke fun at things and people. He didn’t usually react this strongly. Like some kind of action hero.

  “I can’t just sit here while she’s in there,” Pete said. “She … matters.”

  “I’m sorry. Even if she was your wife, we wouldn’t let you in the building,” the fire chief was saying. Then his walkie-talkie squawked and he put his hand up to stop Pete from saying anything more.

  Pete shoved his hands in the pockets of his jacket, glaring first at the fire chief, then at the front doors of the building.

  He took a couple of steps toward the school. But just then the doors swung open and the cheers of the students filled the air.

  Dana was walking out of the school, her arm around some kid whose head was bent down, a blanket around his shoulders. Sam easily recognized the person holding up the kid on the other side.

  Adam Grienke.

  Right behind them came one of the other fire fighters.

  As the group came closer, Sam caught a glimpse of the boy they were escorting—just before the police converged on them.

  Dale Kaffleck looked up, blinking in the sunlight, then he turned his head and looked directly at Sam.

  Sam almost took a step back at the expression on Dale’s face. It was as if he’d been crying.

  For a brief moment, Sam felt guilty. He knew he’d not always been as kind to Dale as he could have.

  The police officers led him to a police car and Sam wondered if Dale had been the one to start the fire.

  And if he had, why?

  Had Dale been the one involved in all the other stuff going on too?

  Pete ignored the fire chief and ran toward Dana, the flaps of his silly hat bobbing up and down. He stopped in front of her, lifted one hand, but then dropped it. “Are you okay?” he asked.

  Dana just smiled at him and nodded. “I’m fine. I’m just a little cold. And I smell like burning paper.”

  Pete yanked his coat off and dropped it awkwardly around Dana’s shoulders, fiddling with it to make sure it was straight.

  She gave him a funny look, as if she wasn’t sure what was going on. “Thanks, Pete.”

  He gave her an awkward smile, then shrugged. “You’re welcome. And, well, I’m sorry.”

  “For what?”

  Pete pushed his goofy hat back on his head, then pulled it off, turning it over and over in his hands. “For, well, everything. I shouldn’t have gotten mad.”

  “No. You shouldn’t have.”

  “And as for Lisa—”

  “We’re not discussing this in front of the entire school,” Dana said in her schoolteacher voice.

  Wow, Sam thought, Miss Simons wasn’t going to make things easy for Uncle Pete. And he didn’t blame her. Pete should never have gone out with Miss Grienke.

  Dana turned to Adam, who stood a bit behind them both. “Adam, are you okay?”

  “Yeah. It wasn’t a really big fire. But it sure smoked.”

  “Where was it?” Sam blurted out, curious.

  “A trash can in the maintenance room. Could have gotten really bad if the flames got much bigger,” Adam answered.

  “How did you find it?” Jake put in, joining the conversation.

  “I saw Dale sneaking into the room. I followed him because he was the one who tried to set me up for the stink bomb.” Adam glanced at Sam. “The one you took the fall for.”

  “Dale set that up?”

  Adam shrugged. “He told me just now. He did all the other stuff too.”

  “Why?”

  “Said he liked the fuss he made. The way it made people talk. He liked feeling like he knew something no one else did. Kind of a goofy kid. Feel bad for him. He’s pretty lonely.”

  Sam’s shame grew as Adam talked. Shame that Adam felt bad for a kid that Sam felt he had foisted on him. Shame that he had thought Adam was involved and shame that he hadn’t been more friendly to Dale.

  “And Miss Simons?”

  “I heard Adam and Dale talking in the maintenance room,” Miss Simons said. “I went over to get them out of the school.” She turned to Adam. “You showed real bravery going into that room with all the smoke coming out.”

  “I just wanted to find out what was going on,” Adam said, shrugging away Miss Simons’ praise.

  Then he looked directly at Sam, held his eyes a moment, then turned away.

  “Adam! Adam, are you okay?” Lisa Grienke came running up, clutching her coat closed with one hand, her other reaching toward her brother. “What happened? I heard there was a fire. I was so worried.”

  “I’m fine. Don’t fuss.” Adam looked embarrassed.

  As Sam watched her fuss anyway, rubbing his back, touching his arm, Sam wondered if Emily would be worried about him like Lisa was about her brother. Like he had been, for a moment, about her.

  He doubted it. These days all Emily could think of was her clothes, her hair, and her friends.

  The other day, when he talked about their dad, she got mad and told him to stop wasting his time. It was like she didn’t care about the things he cared about.

  “We need to talk to your son a moment,” the fire chief was saying to Lisa.

  She glared at him, hanging onto Adam’s arm. “He’s my brother, and he didn’t do it. I know he didn’t.”

  The fire chief adjusted his hat on his head as if he wasn’t sure what to do or what he should say.

  “It’s okay, Lisa,” Dana said. “I know what happened. He didn’t do anything.”

  Lisa turned her glare on Dana, but she managed to squeak out a smile. “Thanks. You seem to be the only one who thinks that way.”

  Then her eyes flicked from Dana and latched on to Uncle Pete. She stared at him a moment, her breath coming out in short puffs of steam in the cold air.

  Dana was looking at Uncle Pete too.

  But he just looked down at the ground, pushing snow around with the toe of his winter boot.

  Poor Uncle Pete. Caught between these two women. Then he took a step closer to Dana and looked at her, as if to show Miss Grienke who he was choosing.

  She looked sad, but at the same time, Sam could see that it was almost as if she expected it.

  “Adam Grienke?” A police officer had come up behind the fire chief, and held a pad of paper. “I’d like to talk to you. And you too Miss Simons,” he said to Dana.

  Dana tried to take Uncle Pete’s coat off, but he put his hand on her shoulder to stop her, then tugged the front of the coat closer together. Like he was taking care of her. “Don’t. Keep it. I’ll get it later.”

  “Will you?”

  Pete nodded and shoved his hands in the pockets of his blue jeans. “I will. I—uh … I’d like to see you sometime. I’d like to talk about … things. Us.”

  “Talking would be good.”

  And then Dana left just as Jake and Paul came sauntering over.

  “Okay, so what’s going on here?” Jake asked.

  “Sounds like someone lit a fire in a trash can.”

  “That’s all?” Paul asked.

  “Was it that Adam dude?”

  Sam shook his head. “No. He was helping Miss Simons.”

  “I saw Dale, the weasel, with them. Did he do it?” Paul asked, cranking his head past the fire truck to see the police car, which held Dale.

  Miss Simons and Adam stood outside, talking to another policeman.

  “So when will they let us back in the school, man? I’m freezing.” Jake shivered, rubbing his hands over his arms.

  “Me too.” Paul angled his chin toward Uncle Pete. “So, who is this guy?”

  “This guy is my Uncle Pete.”

  Pete turned at the sound of his voice, the flaps of his hat bouncing.

  Sam tried not to be embarrassed as he introduced his f
riends.

  “Uncle Pete, this is Jake and Paul.”

  “These your snowboarding friends?” Pete asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Hey. Cool hat, dude,” Jake said. “Where’d you get it?”

  “Now that’s a long story,” Pete said, striking a pose that made Sam want to shrink.

  “He got it at a garage sale,” Sam said, stopping his uncle before he really embarrassed him.

  “That’s awesome,” Paul said.

  “Were these the guys you were supposed to go snowboarding with this weekend before you got grounded?” Pete asked.

  Sam closed his eyes. Trust his Uncle Pete. Full speed ahead and who cares what we crash into.

  “Supposed to? Grounded?” Jake shivered again, turning to Sam. “You’re not coming, dude?”

  “I can’t. Grandpa was ticked ’cause I got fingered for the stink-bomb thing.”

  “Plus he didn’t go to church on Sunday like he was supposed to,” Pete added with a slightly self-righteous tone.

  Sam could have hit him. As if Uncle Pete was such a regular church attendee himself.

  “Church? I didn’t know you went to church,” Jake said.

  Sam glared at Pete. “I go with my grandparents.”

  “And you got grounded for not going. Man, that’s kinda harsh.” Jake shook his head as if he couldn’t understand Sam’s family.

  Sam thought it was kind of harsh too, but at the same time he felt duty-bound to defend his grandparents. “They expect me to go,” he said. “And usually I do.”

  “Hey, Pete, Sam. What’s going on?”

  Sam groaned, as his grandfather joined the group wearing his old red-plaid coat. Why not, he thought. May as well get completely embarrassed by his family in front of the guys he was trying to impress.

  Grandpa clapped his gloved hands together, his eyes bright. “So. Where’s the fire?”

  “How did you find out?” Sam asked.

  “I heard at the fire hall that something was happening at the school. So I thought I would stop in and see for myself.”

  “They don’t need help, Dad,” Pete said.

  Grandpa frowned at Pete. “Where’s your coat?”

  Here was Sam’s chance to get back at his uncle.

  “He gave it to Miss Simons.”

  Grandpa’s eyebrows shot up to meet the brim of his farmer cap. “Really? How does that work?”

  “Quite well,” Pete retorted.

  “Is she here?”

  “She’s talking to the police right now,” Pete said. “She was one of the last ones out of the building. She helped the kid who started it all get out.”

  And again, Sam was surprised at the concern in his uncle’s voice. Sounded like, given time, he and Miss Simons would be getting together again. Which was good. Miss Grienke was okay and all, but he really liked Miss Simons better.

  “This your grandpa, dude?” Jake asked, his mouth quirking up in a smile.

  Sam sighed, wishing, hoping they would let them all back into the school.

  But Principal Duncan and the fire chief were still talking, so it looked like he was stuck out here for a while.

  May as well get this over and done with.

  “Grandpa, these are my friends. Jake, Paul, this is my Grandpa Stevenson.”

  “Nice to meet you, sir.” Jake held out his hand. “Pardon my cold hands. It’s a bit chilly out here.”

  “Nice to meet you, son.” Grandpa shook Jake’s hand, then Paul’s. “So, what happened here?”

  “Fire in a garbage can in the maintenance room,” Sam said.

  Grandpa pursed his lips. “That could have been bad.”

  “It’s bad enough to keep us out here for half an hour,” Paul said. “Good thing the sun is shining or we’d all be a lot colder.”

  Sam caught Jake looking at his grandfather with a puzzled frown and he wondered what his friend was thinking.

  “Hey. Mr. Stevenson,” Jake said suddenly. “I want to say we’re sorry for not making sure Sam went to church on Sunday.”

  Grandpa gave Jake a surprised look. “Well, now. You are?”

  “We didn’t know, man,” Paul put in. “I mean, church is okay. For him. You know.”

  Sam shot his friend a grateful glance. He made it look like it was their fault, not his.

  “See, we want Sam to come boarding with us this weekend and he said he was grounded.”

  “Yes. Well, that was for a variety of reasons.”

  “He didn’t do that stink-bomb thing, no matter what Principal Duncan said,” Paul put in, his sudden defense surprising Sam. “Sam’s a good guy and I know he’s not a troublemaker.”

  Grandpa frowned as he crossed his arms. “Really.”

  “We’d really like Sam to come.”

  “Yeah. He’s our friend, man,” Jake put in.

  Grandpa nodded. “Well, we’ll see.”

  Sam knew Grandpa didn’t always budge once he took a stand, but knowing that his friends were willing to stick up for him made it all a lot easier.

  My friends, he thought, glancing from Jake to Paul. They really are my friends.

  His life officially didn’t stink so much, after all.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Hey, Christopher, how did your horse thingy go?” Emily asked at dinner that night. Christopher grinned. “I got an A plus. My teacher said it was interesting and informative.”

  “As interesting as the fire at school?” Emily unfolded her napkin

  “Were you guys scared?” Christopher asked. “I heard the bell ringing just when I was done.”

  “Hey, Sam. Were you scared?” Emily asked.

  Sam shot a glance at Emily. “When I smelled the smoke I was. A bit. Were you scared, Emily?”

  She shook her head. “I thought it was a drill.”

  “I know. I saw you laughing with your friends.”

  Emily frowned. “You saw me?”

  Sam looked down at his plate, pushing his potatoes around. “Well. Yeah. I wanted to make sure you got out. I was a bit worried about you.”

  His quiet admission created a moment of silence. Charlotte glanced from Sam to Emily, pleased to see Emily smiling at her older brother.

  “You were? Really?” she asked.

  “Yeah. I’m glad you were okay.”

  Charlotte watched as Sam looked up at Emily and shared a quick smile with her.

  Charlotte felt a warmth slipping around her heart. In their own way, they truly cared about each other.

  “So it was never Adam who set the alarm off?” Pete asked.

  “It was Dale all along,” Sam said with a faint note of disgust.

  “Why did that young man do those things?” Charlotte asked. “And why did he try to pin it on Adam?”

  This generated a casual shrug from Sam. “I think the first time everyone thought it was Adam. ’Cause of how he dressed and acted. Maybe Dale figured it was easy to keep making it look as if it was him.”

  “That’s too bad. I hope he gets some help. It’s sad when people feel as if they don’t belong anywhere and then have to resort to such extreme measures to get attention.” Charlotte handed Pete the salad bowl. “Pass that on to your father,” she said.

  “I hope Adam doesn’t feel too bad when he comes back to school after it opens again,” Emily said.

  “He might not be back,” Pete said, leaning back in his chair.

  “How do you know?” Sam asked.

  Pete crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes on his empty dinner plate. “I, uh, had a talk with Lisa this afternoon after the alarm. That’s why I came to the school. To talk to her about stuff. Anyway, she told me their parents are trying to work things out, so Adam will probably go back home.”

  “So that means Miss Simons doesn’t need to be jealous of Miss Grienke?” Emily asked with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

  “She never did,” Pete mumbled, reaching for a toothpick.

  “So why did you date her?” Bob asked from his
end of the table.

  Pete crossed his arms. “I didn’t really date her. She just kept asking me. What was I supposed to do?”

  “Say no?” Bob said.

  “I guess.” Pete looked surprised, as if the thought hadn’t even occurred to him.

  “So that means you and Miss Simons can have a happy ever after?” Emily said with a theatrical sigh.

  “I don’t know,” Pete said. “But at least we can try for happy for now. I’m going over to her place next week. She said she’d help me apply for some night-school courses.”

  “So you won’t be a dummy anymore?” Emily asked, feigning an innocent expression.

  “Not funny at all, missy,” Pete said. “Never was a dummy. Just lazy.”

  “I bet Grandma won’t let me use that as an excuse.”

  “You better not. Grandma said I’m supposed to be an example to you. Work when you’re in school ’cause it’s a whole lot harder afterward.”

  Toby, who had stayed outside when everyone else came in from chores, started barking, the noise echoing in the porch.

  Charlotte glanced out the window in time to see headlights sweep over the yard and a vehicle come to a stop by the house.

  “Oh. Oh. I almost forgot.” Christopher sat up, looking guilty. “Aunty Anna called. She and Uncle Bill were gonna come over to pick up some of Madison and Jennifer’s stuff that you forgot to pack.”

  Emily groaned. “And there goes our happy ever after.”

  Charlotte shot a guilty glance behind her. The kitchen counters were still piled with dirty dishes from making supper. The table held remnants of their meal and in the family room a basket full of laundry waited. Charlotte had planned on folding it while she watched the evening news with Bob.

  And they still had to have dessert.

  “Bob, can you please clear the table? Sam, you quickly tidy up the counter. Emily can you put the laundry basket—”

  But just as she started issuing orders, and people started getting up, she caught herself. This was her house and it shouldn’t matter what Anna thought of it. Or, if the people coming to the house weren’t Anna and Bill, anyone else for that matter.

  “On second thought, just sit down,” she said. “But Bob can you greet our company? Tell them to come in and stay for dessert.”

  Bob threw down his napkin and pushed himself away from the table as he glanced out the window as well. “It is Bill and Anna. Doesn’t look like they have the girls with them. I only see Bill and Anna getting out of the car.”