A Table for Two by Janet Albert Page A

that kind of information with anyone and she said that if a student told me, it would be against the law for me to tell anyone else."
    "Jesus..." Dana drank some of her iced tea.
    "I know. It's awful, isn't it?"
    "Maybe you do reach some of them, but you just don't know it. I watched you with the students today and I saw how much they liked and respected you. You're calm and patient with them and you're a good role model."
    "Teenagers are difficult to understand, but I happen to like them." Ridley shrugged and smiled as she remembered her mother's reply when she told her she liked teaching teenagers more than younger children. "My mother says I know how to relate to them because I'm still a teenager at heart. She's only teasing me, I hope."
    "That sounds like something my mother would say." Dana drank some more of her iced tea and continued, "I admire you. You're an inspiration for the rest of us and I think it takes a special person to do the kind of work you do."
    "I don't know about that. It's just..."
    "I mean it, Ridley. People like you make the world a better place."
    "It's just something I've always wanted to do--to make a difference."
    "So why did you choose to teach in the city schools? Wouldn't it have been easier and safer to teach in the suburbs?"
    "Yes, but these are the kids who need the most help and I don't want it to be easy. I know it would be better for me in the suburbs, but it's more challenging and interesting to teach in the city schools." Ridley got up and went out onto the patio to check on the chicken while she kept on talking. "The Catholic schools are better, but they should hand out tickets to heaven as a perk, because the salary and benefits stink. I get paid well in the city and I have excellent benefits." She came inside with the platter of grilled chicken and set it down on the table. "My mother's always asking me why I don't get a job in a nicer school district and if she knew what the city schools were really like, she'd have a conniption fit."
    "Most people don't know what they're like. I know I don't," Dana admitted.
    "Most people don't want to know."
    "You're right, but I'd like to hear more about it."
    "You will if you hang around with Laurie and me. Now that the chicken's done, why don't we move into the living room while it cools?" She poured Dana some more iced tea. "We'll be more comfortable in there and I want to wait a while before I put the salad together."
    Dana followed Ridley into the living room. She settled on the sofa and stretched her legs out in front of her, her feet crossed at the ankles. "Nice living room."
    "My mother helped me pick out the furniture and decorate." Ridley sat in a chair next to the sofa, tossed a throw pillow on the coffee table and put her feet up. "There, that's better. Tell me something? What made you want to move back to Philly?"
    "This area feels like home to me and I've always loved South Street. That's where I wanted to open my restaurant." Dana had a far away look in her eyes.
    "You could have opened one in Chicago," Ridley said.
    "Yeah, I know, but I wanted to come back here," Dana explained. "Tell me more about your family? Where does your mother live?"
    "She lives in Bucks County, near Newtown Square. That's where I grew up. My father died a few years ago so she's alone except for me and her sister my..."
    "Don't tell me, your aunt Jean?"
    "Yeah, that's right. You're paying attention," Ridley replied with a hint of teasing.
    "Of course I am. I'm all ears and I'm sorry I interrupted you. Go on."
    "We have a house on the Jersey shore in Long Beach Island and my mother spends a lot of time there. Her parents left it to her."
    "I used to go to Long Beach Island. Where's the house?"
    "It's in Loveladies. That's in the less populated North end of the Island."
    "I think I remember where that is. I wish somebody would leave me a house on Long Beach Island. I used to love going there. It's a lot less crowded than other parts of the shore."
    "You love