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“Yes, I do.”

“Then why don’t you give him a call? Wouldn’t that put your mind at ease?”

“I think it would. Guess I can put my boots and outer garments on, then go out to the phone shed to make the call. I’ll dress warmly so that when Dad comes inside to let us know that he has the horse and buggy ready to go, I’ll be all set.”

“While you’re out there, would you tell Alvin to quit playing in the snow and come inside so he can get washed up and into some clean, dry clothes?”

“Sure, Mom. I’ll deliver your message.”

“And do be careful,” Mom hollered when Rosa got up from her chair and left the room. “The packed snow and patches of ice could be dangerous, and you sure don’t want to slip and fall.”

“I’ll watch out for any slick patches,” Rosa responded before disappearing into the hall.

When Rosa stepped out the front door, she spotted Alvin in the yard next to a pretty good-sized snowman.

She smiled, remembering the days when she and Norman had built snowmen together, before Susan or Tena had been old enough to join them.

Those were fun times, when life was carefree and less complicated.

It wasn’t until she’d become a teenager that Rosa had begun to question their church rules and Dad’s expectations of her joining the church.

Rebellion had set in by the time she’d turned sixteen and desired to sow her wild oats.

I was a fool , Rosa thought as she approached Alvin.

All those rebellious things I wanted to do so badly only led to trouble and heartache for my parents.

She glanced down at her growing baby bump.

I hope I can instill good behavior in my child, and that when he or she becomes a teenager, good decisions will be made.

“Wanna help me put a face on my snowman?” Alvin asked.

“That sounds like fun, but I don’t have time for that right now, and neither do you.”

His round face contorted. “How come?”

“We’ll be going to Norman and Salina’s for supper soon.”

Alvin reached under his knitted stocking cap. “Oh yeah. I forgot about that. Figured we’d be eating here like usual.”

“I have a message for you from Mom,” Rosa said. “She wants you to quit what you’re doing and go inside to wash up and change clothes. We all need to be ready to leave as soon as Dad gets the horse and buggy ready.”

Alvin’s shoulders slumped. “Guess I’ll have to finish it in the morning before I leave for school, ‘cause it’ll probably be time for bed when we get back from Norman’s place this evening.”

“That’s true.” Rosa began walking down the driveway.

“Where ya going?”

“To the phone shed to make a call.”

When Rosa entered the chilly building, she was disappointed that the light on the answering machine was not blinking, which meant that no messages had come in since Susan had checked.

Rosa picked up the receiver and dialed Anthony’s cell number.

When he didn’t answer, she left a message.

“Hi, it’s Rosa. I’m hoping you made it home by now, and if you have, I would appreciate it if you’d give me a call.

My family and I will be gone for the rest of the evening, but I’ll check for messages again in the morning. ”

Rosa wanted to say that she missed Anthony already, but what would be the point?

He really had no choice but to leave, and he was probably looking forward to being home with his parents and going back to work at a job he really enjoyed.

Although he’d never come right out and said so, Rosa figured Anthony had been bored while staying with them.

He might have even wished that he’d never come to her parents’ home in the Big Valley, pretending to be someone he wasn’t.

New York City

That evening, after spending the afternoon getting settled into his apartment along with searching for his cell phone, which he’d somehow misplaced and had yet to find, Anthony returned to the restaurant.

He had every intention of speaking to his parents about the reason he’d gone to Belleville.

He also planned to admit that while he was there, he had pretended to be Rosa’s husband.

Anthony wasn’t sure they would understand the reason behind his decision to do such a thing, but he felt he needed to explain anyway. Anthony hoped that his dad would understand about the things that had kept him in Belleville longer than he’d planned.

I hope if I ever become a parent, I’ll be understanding when my children come to me to discuss something and seek my approval, Anthony thought as he approached his mother and father at the table where they sat eating a late meal.

He’d seen them do this many times over the years—always after the restaurant had closed for the day.

“I see you two are enjoying a plate of Pop’s tasty lasagna,” Anthony said when he approached their table.

“Actually, it was Billy who made this batch.” Anthony’s father looked at him with a smug expression. Was he trying to rub it in? If so, Anthony refused to let it ruffle his feathers.

“There’s still some lasagna left in the kitchen,” Mom said. “Would you like me to fix you a plate?”

“No thanks. I’m fine. Just came here to do some explaining to you and Pop about my trip to Pennsylvania with Rosa.”

“Who’s Rosa?” Pop asked. “I thought you left here with that flighty waitress, Eileen.”

“Her real name is Rosa, and she’s not flighty.” Anthony pulled out one of the empty chairs and took a seat. “I mentioned that to Mom when I was here earlier. Figured she would tell you about it.”

Pop grabbed his glass of red wine and took a drink. “Nope, your mother never said a word.”

“I didn’t have the chance,” Mom explained. “We were super busy all day.”

Anthony shrugged. “That’s okay. No problem.” Not sure where to begin, he drew in a quick breath and spilled the whole story about how he’d pretended to be Rosa’s husband and why.

His mother’s eyes widened, and Pop stared at Anthony with a stony face. Good or bad, Anthony wished one of them would say something, but maybe the shock of all this was too much information to digest in one sitting.

Maybe they think I made the whole thing up , Anthony reasoned. It is pretty unbelievable.

Rather than wait to see if either of them would comment on the role he’d played as a pretender, Anthony shared the details about his car that had taken so long to be repaired.

He also mentioned his sprained ankle that had occurred when he’d fallen off a trampoline.

The last thing Anthony brought up was a description of how miserable he’d felt having to deal with chicken pox.

Deep wrinkles appeared in Pop’s forehead. “I know that much already, Anthony. You told your mother about the things keeping you from coming back to work here when you spoke to her on the phone.”

He leaned closer to Anthony with both elbows on the table. “Didn’t you think she would share that information with me?”

“Well, yes, but—”

“If you want my opinion, those were just made-up excuses so you could hang out with that pretty waitress.”

Anthony gave a vigorous shake of his head. “No way, Pop! Each of those events actually happened. Everything I’ve told you tonight is the truth.”

Pop raised both hands above his head. “Doesn’t matter.

You were foolish for running off with Eileen—Rosa—or whatever she calls herself now, and pretending to be married to her was even more stupid.

On top of that, if you’d really wanted to come home and keep your job here at the restaurant, you’d have found some way to get here.

When the car died, you could have had it towed to a garage here in the city, and I’m sure they would have been able to get the part and fix it quickly.

” He paused to take another drink of wine.

“And if you’d done that, the sprained ankle and chicken pox breakout would not have happened to you. ”

“That’s not fair, Herb,” Mom said. “Anthony could have been exposed to the chicken pox anywhere, anytime, and been laid up for a few weeks.” She shrugged her shoulders. “For that matter, he could have sprained an ankle doing anything right here in his hometown.”

Anthony appreciated his mother sticking up for him, but he was fairly sure he would not garner his dad’s sympathy or understanding. “I guess, then, you’re not planning to give me my old job back,” he said, directing his statement to his father.

Pop shook his head. “Nope. Not unless Billy quits for some reason.”

Yeah, like that’s gonna happen. Anthony pushed away from the table and stood. “Guess I’d better start looking for another job in the morning.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Pop said. “We need another busboy. You can take that position if you want to.”

Anthony felt his facial features tighten, right along with his fingers pressing into the palms of his hands.

“No thanks—not interested!” He looked at his mother and saw the look of compassion on her face, but to his disappointment, she said nothing.

Was she afraid to take a stand and go against his father’s wishes?

Wasn’t this restaurant just as much hers as it was his father’s?

“Give me a call if you change your mind, Pop. Of course, I’ll need to find my cell phone first.” Anthony started to walk away, but Mom stopped him.

“You left your phone here earlier, and I put it in the office for safekeeping. I can go get it for you, Son.”

“No thanks, Mom. I’ll get the phone myself.

” Anthony turned away and stalked off toward the office.

What a great ending to a not-so-perfect day!

He wished now that he’d never come here and tried to explain things to his parents.

In truth, Anthony wished he hadn’t bothered to come back to New York at all.