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Each day brought several new customers to Piccolos’ Pizza. The Aldens were sure many more would follow once the restaurant started serving its big pizzas again. Finally the day came when the gas company was going to fix the broken gas line to the Piccolos’ brick oven.

Henry could hardly wait for the truck to arrive. “I wonder what’s keeping them,” he said to the Piccolos. “They were supposed to be here at eight.”

By nine o’clock, everyone was beginning to wonder. After all, Mr. Piccolo had gone ahead and made enough dough¹ to fill most of their large-sized pizza pans. The Aldens had even handed out flyers saying the big pizzas would be back on the menu.

Henry picked up the phone. “I’m going to see what’s holding up that truck,” Henry said. He dialed the gas company number. “The repair truck was supposed to be here an hour ago,” Henry told someone at the other end of the line.

“Canceled!” Henry cried out a minute later. “Of course we didn’t cancel. The Piccolos have been waiting over two weeks for the gas line to be repaired.”

When Henry hung up, he looked confused and angry. “They said a woman called to cancel the appointment for the repairs. Can you believe it? Anyway, they finally agreed to radio the truck. It should be here in a couple of minutes.”

No one was sure what to do next. Mr. Piccolo didn’t know whether to divide the big pans of pizza dough into small ones. Mrs. Piccolo wondered if she should put back the extra tomato sauce she had taken out of her deep freezer.

Benny had a breadstick problem. “Should I put these extras back, Jessie?” he asked his sister. “They might get stale if we don’t get enough customers.”

“No, don’t do that,” Jessie cried from the front door. She was on the lookout² for the repair truck. “They’re here! Maybe they can get the big oven fixed³ before lunchtime.”

The children ran out to the truck and waved it down.

“Follow me,” Henry told the two workers who climbed out of the truck.

Mr. Piccolo followed them out back, too. Now that the repair people were here, everyone wanted to make sure nothing went wrong.

“Let’s make small pizzas, just to be on the safe side,” Jessie said. “We can keep an eye on the repairs from the upstairs kitchen. If the brick oven is fixed in time, we’ll just roll out some more dough.”

The children and Mrs. Piccolo looked out at the backyard. They saw Mr. Irons march out from the factory building to see what was going on. Jessie opened the window so everyone could hear what was happening.

“What are you doing on Mighty⁴ Mufflers property?” Mr. Irons asked the workers.

One of workers pulled out a clipboard and held it up for Mr. Irons to see. “We work for the gas company and we’re here for repairs.”

“Well, all right,” Mr. Irons said. “Just stay out of the way of my muffler workers and get off my property as soon as you’re done.” He turned on his heel and marched back to his office.

A half hour later, one of the repair people shouted up from the backyard. “All set! Your oven should work now.”

“None too soon, either,” Violet said. “I’ll get out more flour and run some warm water. We’ll be needing lots more dough this lunch-time.”

By the time the noon factory horn sounded, both the apartment oven and the restaurant oven were going full blast. The little restaurant was warm and filled with good smells. Upstairs, Jessie was in charge of the Personal Pizzas. Downstairs, the rest of the Aldens helped the Piccolos make large-sized pizzas for customers with bigger appetites.

“Something for everyone,” Mr. Piccolo said to the Aldens when they came downstairs. “From dieters to hungry folks.”

“I’m one of the hungry folks!” Benny joked.

The Piccolos and Aldens barely had time to talk once the lunchtime customers came in. Henry had handed out a huge pile of flyers and coupons⁵ that morning. It seemed that every person who got one decided⁶ to come in at the same time. There were so many customers, people had to wait for tables. It took a while for Jessie to notice Tom Morgan standing⁷ in line right behind The Lady in the Red Hat.

“I guess I’ll just have to get a take-out pizza,” Tom said when Jessie finally spotted⁸ him in the crowd.

She gave Tom a big smile. “Well, we just ordered a good supply of take-out boxes. Big ones and little ones. What size would you like, Tom?”

“Plenty big,” Tom answered. “I’m bringing back some lunch for my helpers.”

“Helpers,” Jessie said, out of breath. “That’s what we could use right now. For once, four Aldens aren’t enough.”

Tom looked around the dining room. “Isn’t Nick back yet? I haven’t seen him around since he got sick. He must be better by now.”

“I wish,” Jessie sighed. She handed Tom a take-out menu. “Mrs. Piccolo called him yesterday, but he wouldn’t say when he was coming back. If things stay as busy as they are today, we’ll definitely need an extra pair of hands around here.”

“Not to mention your delivery service,” Tom reminded Jessie. “Henry came by the station for bike parts. He said he wanted to build a delivery box on top of the bike so he could take pizzas to people’s homes.”

Tom pointed⁹ to the large Pizza Supreme¹⁰ listed on the take-out menu. “Here’s what I’d like. My mouth has been watering for one of these for weeks now,” Tom told Jessie. “Well, it looks as if you kids have already made a difference with your good ideas.”

Jessie wanted to keep chatting with Tom, but there were onions to be chopped, cheese to be grated, and sausage to be fried. There weren’t enough Aldens and Piccolos to get everything done.

“Boy, did that go by fast,” Benny said after the last customer had finally left two hours later.

“Everything was a blur¹¹, but a nice blur,” Violet said with a smile.

She and the other children sat down with the Piccolos to take a welcome break.

Henry checked the restaurant clock. “I guess we’d better get the dining room set up for the dinner crowd.”

“You mean we have to do this all over again tonight?” Benny said in amazement¹².

Everyone laughed so hard, they didn’t hear the bell on the front door jingle¹³. When they finally looked up, they saw their steadiest customer, The Lady in the Red Hat, standing in the restaurant.

Only this time, she was The Lady with No Hat. “Excuse me,” the young woman called out nervously¹⁴. “Did I leave my hat here?”

Benny ran to the Lost and Found box under the cash register! “Here it is!” he cried when he held up the woman’s red knit hat. “Now you’re The Lady in the Red Hat again!”

This made the young woman smile. “I’m also Laurie Baker¹⁵,” she told Benny. “Thank you for finding my hat.”

“I wish I could find the menu that was at your table yesterday,” Benny said. “It’s lost.”

The young woman’s smile instantly disappeared. She turned to leave.

“Come back,” Mrs. Piccolo called out. “Share a cup of tea with us.”

The woman looked pale and nervous. She didn’t seem too interested in staying.

“Please, Miss Baker,” Mrs. Piccolo said. “It’s cold out. We’d like to thank you. You’re one of the few customers who came to the restaurant in the last few weeks when everything was so slow.”

“Sit,” Mr. Piccolo insisted, and the young woman finally did.

While Mr. Piccolo got up to put on the kettle, Mrs. Piccolo sat down next to the young woman. “We would have lost our business without people like you who came even when things were not so good.”

“I see you’re busy now,” Laurie Baker said. “Today I even had to wait for a seat.”

“Ah, yes, yes,” Mr. Piccolo said when he came back with a cup of tea for the woman. “Almost too busy.” He nodded at the Aldens. “Of course, we have the best workers in Silver Falls. But even their busy hands and feet won’t be enough if we have more hectic¹⁶ days like this one.”

Miss Baker seemed to be thinking hard about something. She clinked her teaspoon¹⁷ nervously. “Would you be looking for someone extra to help out?” she asked the Piccolos. “My parents used to have a restaurant before it went out of business. I worked there after school and during the summers. I can cook and wait on tables.” Just then she dropped her teaspoon on the floor and bent¹⁸ quickly to pick it up.

The Aldens looked at each other but didn’t say anything. They didn’t have to; they were all thinking the same thing. None of them could picture this nervous, unsteady person talking to customers or balancing heavy trays.

The Aldens could see that the Piccolos didn’t feel any of this. The faces of the couple were full of trust. “Ah, how we could use an experienced person like you in the coming days. After all, the Aldens won’t be able to stay forever!” Mrs. Piccolo said.

The Aldens tried to be happy for the Piccolos. They weren’t sure about Laurie Baker. But if the Piccolos liked her, then the Aldens would learn to like her too!