Mrs. Craig made a face at him and said, “Very well, I’ll just take this right back to the kitchen.”
“Hey, hey,” Ralph said, snatching a cookie from the plate she picked up. “I’ll eat everything in sight. I am hungry!”
They all laughed, and Mrs. Craig poured out steaming cups of hot chocolate for everyone. Jean propped Jack up on the couch so that he could manage his cup.
“Now, then,” Mrs. Craig said, “tell us what you’ve been doing.”
Ralph stopped munching his cookie and looked at her. “Don’t tell me Jeannie hasn’t kept you posted?”
They all roared. “We can practically recite your letters by heart,” Doris teased.
“Not all of them, I hope,” Ralph protested.
“Aw, she always left out the mushy parts,” Jack said. “She just read the interesting things.”
Ralph chuckled and winked at Jack. “Well, I did run into one good story that I didn’t write Jeannie about. Right in Bergen. I was working with a boy quite a bit younger than myself. He was the leader of the underground movement during the war. After Norway was occupied by the Nazis, that is.”
“Oh, good heavens!” Mrs. Craig cried. “Those poor people!”