“No, it’s all right,” he said. “I was going to have to address this at some point.”
Scotty was now playing around with his food, not eating it.
“You’ve made the burger with way too much ketchup on it, tonight,” he said. “But you’ve made it how you wanted it, so you need to eat it,” his voice was firm, and she could see the military training in him. “And you probably don’t like being corrected when you’re eating, so we’ll stop now, but first I want you to understand that shouting that you don’t like a food is rude to the person who made the food. So that needs to stop, now. If you will stop doing that, then we won’t have to discuss it again.”
“Okay,” Scotty said.
At a look from his dad, he said. “Yes sir.”
“Good,” his dad said. “Now eat.” He turned to Ellen. “How was your day at school?” he asked. “The show and tell thing was new.”
“Yes,” she sighed. “We had a bit of commotion over one boy during tell.” She glanced at Scotty. “So, we won’t be doing that anymore.”
“Yeah,” Scotty perked up. “Harley said his mommy’s boyfriend has a dingdong this big!” He held his hands out, to demonstrate.
Travis just about choked on his burger. His eyes lit with mirth, then he brought himself under control.
Ellen was now almost as red as the ketchup on Scotty’s burger. And having trouble looking Travis in the eye. She cleared her throat and then took a gulp of Ginger ale.
“Just another day in the life of a kindergarten teacher?” Travis asked.
“No,” she shook her head, smiling, “A very unusual day. Which hopefully won’t repeat again.”
“So now it’s just show,” he nodded.
“With show, I can check to see what they’ve brought and make sure it’s something I can let them show,” she said. “The principal suggested it to me just in case.”
“Are you enjoying the job?” he asked.
“Yes, very much,” she said. “The children are lovely, and the smaller town is friendly and becoming more comfortable as I get to know everyone.”
“You’ll find that in a small town,” he said. “Everyone knows everyone.”
“Yes,” she said. “They sure do. They’re also into everyone’s business. Did you know there’s a betting pool on us? They’re placing bets on when we’ll go out together.”
He laughed. “That doesn’t surprise me,” he said.
“Well, I’m surprised my principal urged me to come have dinner with you,” she said, before taking a sip of ginger ale.
“With that betting pool on us,” Travis laughed. “He’s probably in on it.”
“Maybe.” She paused for a moment. “You think so?”
“You should ask him and see what his bet was,” Travis laughed again.
She laughed too, then, as her nerves had fled. It was fun sitting here, enjoying the food, and chatting with each other as if they’d known each other for years.
“But this isn’t a date,” he said. “This is a family dinner.”
By now, Scotty had eaten half his burger and most of his vegetables. He was done but was watching them, and taking everything they said in. “Daddy, pools are for swimming,” he said. “Can we go to the pool?”
“Maybe one Saturday we’ll find a pool and go,” Travis said.
He shared a look with Ellen, and she knew he wasn’t ready to discuss betting with his five-year-old son. “So,” she said. “I’d love to stay, but I need to get home. Thank you for dinner. The food was delicious.”
“Thank you,” Travis said. “It was just simple burgers,” he shrugged. “Nothing fancy. And you’re welcome to join us for dinner any time.”
“Simple good burgers,” she said. “Can I help clean up before I go?”
