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Bright pink circles erupted on Mom’s cheeks, and she shook her finger at Susan.

“I cannot believe you would ask me such a question, but since you did, then I will make sure to say this clearly enough so you won’t bring the topic up again.

You may not move your things into Rosa’s room unless at some point after the baby comes she decides to remain downstairs permanently and agrees to give up her room. ”

Mom spoke with such conviction and in a louder voice than usual, which let Susan know she’d lost the battle. Once again, Rosa the favored one had won out without even knowing it.

“Guess I’ll go help Tena get supper started,” Susan mumbled.

“That would be appreciated,” Mom said. “Oh, and would one of you please go out to the phone shed and call Anthony? His number is posted in the shed near the phone. I’m sure he would want to know about Rosa’s condition.”

“Sure, Mom. I’ll take care of that myself.”

“Danki, I appreciate it.”

Why does Anthony need to know anything about Rosa?

He’s not her husband, for goodness’ sake , Susan thought as she left the room and returned to the hallway where she’d hung her outer garments when first arriving home.

Tena can start supper while I’m outside in the frigid weather. That’s just fine with me.

New York City

Anthony was about to start cooking supper when his cell phone rang. He picked it up from the counter near the sink to see who was calling. He’d hoped it might be Rosa, responding to his last message, but no, it was Mom.

“I suppose I may as well answer it,” Anthony muttered. “If I don’t, she’ll just keep calling, wanting to know how I’m doing.” Anthony couldn’t fault her for that, because if he were a parent, he’d be interested in how his children were doing, even if they were fully grown and living on their own.

“Hi, Mom,” Anthony said after he’d answered the call. “How’s it going?”

“Fine on this end, I suppose, but the reason I called is to ask how you’re doing. Any prospects of a job yet?”

“Uh … yeah … in fact, I landed one yesterday.”

“Oh, good. Which restaurant owner is the lucky person to have hired my son, the brilliant and talented chef?”

Anthony lifted his gaze toward the ceiling. “Come on, Mom. Don’t you think you’re just a wee bit prejudiced?”

“It’s a mother’s prerogative to be proud of her son, so it’s okay for me to do a little bragging when I want to.”

He chuckled. “Okay.”

“So where will you be cooking from now on?”

Anthony grimaced. Guess I may as well tell her and get it over with, ‘cause it’s not likely that she’ll drop the subject till I do.

“I’ll be cooking at one of the fast food places not far from here.”

“What? Would you please repeat that?”

“I said, I’ll be cooking at one of the fast food places not far from here.”

There was silence on the other end, and Anthony figured his mother was trying to process this and would no doubt have something to say about it once the shock wore off. He wasn’t wrong.

“You’ve got to be kidding, Son. That position is beneath your abilities as a mighty fine chef. What were you thinking, accepting a job at a fast food restaurant? If you can even call it a restaurant,” she added.

“I was thinking that I needed to earn a living, and this was the only place willing to hire me, so I took it.”

“Oh, Anthony—I’m so sorry your dad won’t consider giving you your job back. I’m sure we could make it work if he’d be willing to take some time off and let you act as head chef, with Billy working under you.”

“Yeah, right, Mom. Like that’s ever gonna happen.

You know how stubborn Pop can be once he makes up his mind about something.

Besides, I can’t imagine him taking any time off and turning things over to me.

” Anthony paused to formulate his next sentence.

“Let’s face the facts, Mom—Pop’s mad at me for leaving New York and going with Rosa to see her folks.

And the fact that I got stuck there due to circumstances that were not of my making and were out of my control doesn’t mean a thing as far as Pop is concerned.

I have to wonder if he thinks that I planned it that way, just to make his life difficult at the restaurant.

” Anthony’s face heated, and he knew it wasn’t from the warmth in the room.

“Listen, Mom, there’s no point in going over all this. I lost my job at the restaurant, Pop’s not going to hire me back, and I am moving on with my life. Even if the new job isn’t to my liking, I’m gonna do my best to make it work. Do you understand and support me in that decision?”

“Well, since you put it that way, as your mother, who loves you very much and cares about our relationship, I don’t have any choice but to accept whatever decision you have made.”

“Thanks, Mom, I appreciate that.” Anthony glanced across the room at the circular pan he’d set out in preparation for creating one of his favorite pizza pies. “It’s been nice talking to you, Mom, but I’m getting ready to fix my supper, and I’m hungry.”

“I understand, so I won’t keep you any longer, but please keep in touch. Okay?”

“Of course. Bye for now, Mom.” Anthony clicked off and silenced his phone, although he figured his mother probably wouldn’t call again tonight. All he wanted right now was some peace and quiet and to be left alone to create and eat the kind of mouthwatering meal he’d become so good at making.

“Mom’s right,” Anthony said aloud. “I shouldn’t be working somewhere like a fast food place. But it’ll have to do until something better comes along, so I’ll make the best of it until that time.”

Belleville

When Susan entered the phone shed, she found Anthony’s number, but instead of making the call to him, she sat there on the frosty chair, shivering while mulling things over.

If I make the call, Anthony might be worried and head right on back here to see how Rosa is doing.

If I’m not mistaken, he had a thing for her, although I don’t know if he ever confessed his feelings to her.

Susan tapped her cold fingers on the wooden shelf where the phone sat. On the other hand, if I don’t let Anthony know about Rosa’s condition, I will have to lie to Mom when she asks if I made the call.

Susan shrugged her shoulders. Well, I’ve lied to her before, so what’s one more untruth gonna hurt? I’ll just say I made the call and left him a message, and Mom will be none the wiser.

She stared out the small window at the dense fog that had found its way into the valley and flexed her fingers a few times.

It made no sense that her sister could have bold-faced lied to their parents about Anthony and been forgiven—at least by Mom.

Susan wasn’t sure how Dad felt about Rosa these days.

But he hadn’t thrown her out of his home—only Anthony had been given the boot.

And it certainly wasn’t fair that Mom had always seemed to care more about Rosa than she did Susan.

There’s absolutely no reason I can’t have Rosa’s room now that she isn’t sleeping there. It’s not fair. Nothing in my life has ever been fair, so why should I be fair to others?

When the frigid temperature inside the phone shed got to be more than Susan could handle, she opened the door and stepped outside. Walking as fast as her cold legs would allow and being careful of her footing, she soon entered the house.

After removing her outer garments, Susan went to the kitchen. She was surprised to see her mother there, helping Tena peel and cut potatoes.

“Did you reach Anthony?” Mom asked, glancing at Susan.

“Jah, it’s done.” Susan approached her mother. “You look really tired, Mom. If you want to go rest awhile or check on Rosa, I’ll help Tena make our supper.”

Mom offered Susan a weary smile. “Danki, Daughter. That’s thoughtful of you. Think I will go to the living room and sit by the fire for a while. But please call me if you need my help, okay?”

“I’m sure we won’t need your help, Mom,” Susan was quick to say. “Go enjoy the warmth of the fire. We’ll call you and Dad when supper is ready.”

“And we’ll let Alvin know too,” Tena interjected. “At least he’s able to come to the table.” She heaved a sigh. “I feel so sorry for Rosa. It can’t be easy to be confined to her bed. I’ll take her a tray as soon as the meal is ready to serve.”

“I’m sure she’ll appreciate that.” Mom smiled at both Susan and Tena before leaving the kitchen.

Susan grabbed a peeler and, holding it over the sink, started working on one of the larger potatoes. She was glad Mom hadn’t asked her what Anthony’s response had been when she’d told him about Rosa.

Susan began peeling hard and fast. If she had asked, I was prepared to say I didn’t talk directly to Anthony but left him a message. At least I wouldn’t have had to make up anything about Anthony’s response, and for that, I’m thankful.