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At the top of the hill on the opposite side of the pond was the fire tower in Allis State Park. They were among the first of their party to arrive at the picnic area, but the rest soon followed. Bridget kept bracing herself to see Jonas’s wagon drive up. Everyone had arrived and there was still no sign of him.
“Where’s Jonas?” Evelyn looked around with a frown. “Isn’t he here yet?”
“I haven’t seen him,” someone else replied.
“You talked to him, didn’t you, Bob?” Evelyn turned to her husband. “He was coming, wasn’t he?”
He shrugged. “That’s what he said when I saw him in town the other day.”
“I wonder if we should wait for him,” Evelyn murmured absently.
“I’m hungry, Mom,” her youngest complained.
“Let’s fix the children’s plates,” Mary Chapman suggested. “If Jonas isn’t here by then, I think the rest of us should go ahead and eat.”
“We can save something for Jonas,” Evelyn agreed.
The children were called and Molly came rushing up to Bridget. “Do we have to eat with the kids?”
Bridget glanced at the Chapman girl hovering beside her daughter. Both were in fifth grade and positive they were too old to be mixing with younger children.
“You and Patty fix your plates now, but I think it will be all right if you and she find some place by yourselves to eat away from the smaller children.” She checked the breathless rush of thanks from the pair by adding, “Check with Patty’s mother first. She might want her to watch Tommy.”
“We will,” Molly promised before they went dashing off.
A few minutes later, Bridget saw the pair stealing quietly away to another picnic table beneath a tree, some distance from the other tables. When all the children had their plates filled and were seated at a table, there was still no sign of Jonas and the adults sat down to eat.
An hour later they were all sitting around the tables, the bulk of the food gone. A car door slammed. Bridget didn’t turn around to see who it was. She guessed it was Jonas before the first greeting was called out to him.
“We were beginning to give up on you, Jonas. What kept you?”
He walked to the table. “Sorry I’m late.”
“We saved some food for you,” Evelyn smiled.
“Thanks.” Jonas sounded tired.
Bridget couldn’t help noticing his crumpled appearance. His print shirt and chino pants both looked as though they’d been slept in. His hair looked as if it had been combed with his fingers. His features seemed leaner, darkened by a shadowy stubble. There were haggard lines etched around his mouth.
“From the looks of you, you must have been at one helluva party last night,” Bob observed jokingly.
“It was no party,” Jonas replied, sliding his long legs under the picnic table and sitting down with obvious weariness. “A maternity case.”
“Who had a baby?” Mary Chapman asked.
“No one from around here.” He shook his head. “A young couple from Massachusetts came up to spend the holiday weekend at Lake Champlain. She went into labor about one in the morning. I was on call at the hospital. Temporary gig. They were short-handed and the hospital director called me in.”
“Got it,” Bob said. “You’re a good guy, Jonas.”
“What did she have?” Evelyn asked. “Boy or girl?”
“A girl.” He made an effort to smile, but it couldn’t reach his eyes. He glanced at Bob. “You don’t happen to have any beer left?”
“I think there’s a couple of cans left in the cooler.” Bob winked.
“What would you like to eat?” Evelyn asked. “We have—”
“I’ll take a couple of those hot dogs. That’s good enough,” Jonas insisted.
