"Jamie! Hey, how ya doin', girl?"
"All right. I rode around with the policemen for the first time today."
"So is that your new summer job?"
"No, it's with the Police Explorers. It's to get job experience."
"Great! So how did it go?"
"It was really interesting. I learned a lot."
She wasn't about to talk about what had really happened with Andy and risk an emotional breakdown.
"Glad to hear it. Hey, listen, would you like to meet me at the Starbucks in the mall Saturday evening at seven? With your parents' approval, of course."
"Just a minute. I'll ask." She covered the receiver with her hand. "Mom, can I please meet Andy at Starbucks in the mall Saturday evening?"
"Sure, hon." Jo smiled.
"Mom said it was OK," Jamie told Andy.
"Cool! I'll be looking forward to it."
Later, Jo and Doug were sitting on the sofa watching television and discussing Jamie's upcoming date with Andy. "Our little girl's really growin' up!" Doug exclaimed.
"Almost too quickly," Jo added.
Doug grinned. "Aw, she'll be fine. I felt the same way when Clay first started likin' girls too, and he turned out fine."
"Ready to go?" Blair asked Natalie.
"Almost," Natalie replied. "I just need to finish packing the diaper bag." Adam and Alyssa were spending the summer with their father, and Blair and Natalie had planned a shopping spree for the day.
Nine-month-old Luke had grown to be a chubby, happy baby with his mother's curly brown hair and big blue eyes. He already had a couple of teeth and was able to pull himself into a standing position by holding onto furniture.
"Are you ready to go bye-bye?" Natalie asked her son. Luke grinned at her and opened and closed his hand. She carried him to the car and put him into his car seat, and the three of them were off.
Arriving at the mall, Natalie found a parking space and parked, then got Luke's stroller out of the trunk and put him into it. Then she and Blair entered the first department store, where Blair found several dresses for herself, shoes for Adam, and a couple of shirt-and-pants sets for Alyssa, and Natalie found a couple of shirts for herself, Ralph's favorite cologne, and several new outfits for Luke.
The women enjoyed shopping for several hours, and then Natalie got hungry, so they went to the food court. Natalie sat Luke in the high chair, took his baby food out of the diaper bag, and began to feed him in between taking bites of her sandwich.
"Your grandson is adorable!" a middle-aged woman who was walking past exclaimed. "How old is he?"
"Nine months," Natalie replied. "And he's my son, not my grandson."
"Oh." The woman looked mortified.
"Is it my roots?" Natalie asked after the woman had gone as she ran frantic fingers through her hair. "I just had them touched up a couple of weeks ago."
"You look fine," Blair assured her. "Don't take it so personally."
Yet Natalie was unable to put the woman's question out of her mind for the rest of the day.
Jamie felt her heart begin to beat faster as she entered Starbucks and saw Andy. He saw her at the same time, smiled, and went to join her. "What would you like?" he asked.
"They all look so yummy!"
"I recommend the White Chocolate Mocha Frappucino," Andy told her. "It's always been my favorite."
"OK!"
He ordered one for each of them. "Would you like something to eat as well?"
"No, thanks. I've already had dinner."
They took their drinks and found a seat. Andy asked Jamie several questions about school, her friends, and her interests and hobbies, and she answered them with eagerness, so very flattered that a grown man had taken such an interest in her. When her turn came, she asked him about his childhood, his family, and his adventures as a missionary. He shared with her the sorrow he'd experienced upon his mother's death, and she told him the little she remembered about her biological father.
"You're a nice girl, Jamie," he said after awhile. "I like you a lot."
"I like you, too." Jamie frowned and stared into her coffee, wondering where the conversation was going.
"I'm going back to the Amazon in late August," Andy continued. "It's my calling, what God has impressed upon my heart. I know you have a couple years of school left. I'd like to stay in touch with you after I leave, but I don't know how often I'll be able to come back for a visit. I know there are probably lots of cute guys in your school, and I don't want to hold you back if you want to date any of them."
"But I don't want some immature high school boy!" Jamie protested.
Andy laughed. "I'm sure you'll change your mind when the right one comes along."
"Never!"
Andy's eyes twinkled with amusement. "Let's just be friends for now and see how things go, all right?"
"Uh, sure. OK. We can be friends." Jamie felt like a deflated balloon.
"Great!" He smiled and clasped her hands. "I'm so glad I met you, Jamie."
"What are you looking at?" Ralph asked his wife, who was scrutinizing her face in the mirror with care.
"Do you think my crow's feet are getting worse?" asked Natalie.
"To be honest, I've never even noticed that you have crow's feet."
Natalie turned to face her husband. "Today a woman thought Luke was my grandson."
"She did?" Ralph laughed.
Natalie glared at him. "It's not funny!"
"Aw, c'mon, Nat. It was an honest mistake." He embraced her and kissed her cheek. "You'll always be beautiful to me. Isn't that all that really matters?"
She grinned. "Of course!"