“Auntie Shelley taught me how to chop tomatoes and make the pizza sauce. And we mixed the dough straight after school. It’s the only time Auntie Shell let me get away with any cooking time before homework, because she said the secret to perfect dough is giving it time to rise.”
“It’s better than any pizza I’ve ever had, Ben. How about you make some for us next week? Maybe if we practice some, we can get them a little more round in shape.”
Both Ben and Shelley busted out in laughter at my comment. I stared at them, lost.
“They’re not supposed to be round, Dad.” Ben grinned.
“Um…” My face scrunched up. “Aren’t pizzas supposed to be round?”
“Sure.” Shelley chuckled.
“So…” I held my hands up.
“Not these ones, Dad.” Ben laughed. “We made trapezoid pizzas.”
“What kind of pizzas?”
“Trapezoid pizzas,” Ben repeated, looking at me as if I were the stupid one for not understanding him the first time around.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had trapezoid pizzas,” I said, at a loss for a better reply.
A bell chimed in the kitchen. “I better get the last of the trapezoid pizzas out of the oven.” Shelley chuckled, ruffling Ben’s curls as she got up and walked back inside.
“Auntie Shelley helped me with my homework. We had a geometry assignment about rectangle and trapezoid shapes. I couldn’t figure it out the first time around. So we decided to turn pizza night into a rectangle and trapezoid pizza party.” Ben’s smile split his face, lighting up his whole countenance. He indicated to the rectangular pieces of paper littering the table and the trapezoid-shaped pizza still intact on the tray we hadn’t dug into yet. Understanding finally dawned on me. “These here are rectangle, because all angles are ninety degrees and the opposite sides are equal. Auntie Shelley had me explain as I cut each one in different sizes. Then we made trapezoid pizzas with two parallel sides. She had me explain that to her as we rolled and shaped the pizza bases.”
“Wow. Your Auntie Shelley really is something else.” I’d never thought to tackle his homework in such a creative way. I’d struggled in the past, looking for ways to help Ben when he didn’t understand a certain assignment. I couldn’t explain how it made me feel that someone had seen this need and tackled it. Helped Ben in a way I hadn’t been able to help him.
“Yep.” Ben took another large bite from his slice.
“More trapezoid pizza?” Shelley strolled back outside, holding a tray and filling the air with the scent of melted cheese and pineapple.
My eyes connected with Shelley’s, and my chest burned inside with an unfamiliar sensation. She offered me that easy smile, and that burning sensation intensified. Thank you, I mouthed to her. You’re welcome, came her easy reply as she mouthed it back for only me to see. Her eyes sparkled as she winked.
The more time I spent with her, the more I got to know her, the more Shelley intrigued me.
“I’d love some.” I held my plate out to her, my eyes meeting hers again.
Ben was in the spare room on his phone, video calling Thomas while Shelley and I cleared the table.
“I can’t believe you came up with such a creative idea to help Ben with his homework,” I said, as I started stacking plates.
“I was researching some channels, and I found a ton of great ideas how to tackle homework.” Shelley stood up and took a hold of the tray.
We both walked into the kitchen and stacked the dirty dishes on the countertop.
“Here, let me show you.”
Shelley led me into a room I assumed was her office. She had a state-of-the-art laptop on her desk with lots of other camera equipment lying on the side.
“Here, sit.” She scooted another chair over and positioned it next to her office chair. In a matter of seconds, she had her laptop switched on and the Internet browser open.
“This is the channel I’ve been getting a lot of fun ideas from to help Ben with his math homework. It’s a video blog created by a mother who homeschools her children. Her ideas are amazing. And she shares links to all kinds of different channels and websites.”
Shelley quickly navigated through the channel, showing me videos to help explain math and science as well as extra activities and fun things to do with kids during holidays. I never thought to look into video channels to help me with Ben’s homework.
“This is amazing.”
“I know, right?” Shelley glanced my way from the screen, her eyes sparkling as a smile tugged at her lips.
“I’ll e-mail you this link so you can check it out.”
“Thanks.” I reached out and squeezed her hand.
Shelley’s fingers stilled on the keypad, and she looked over at me. “Sure,” she said. “Anytime.”
I continued to stare, my heart warming from the thoughtfulness of all of her efforts to reach out to Ben. To help him. And by helping Ben, helping me. Since Ben had been coming to Shelley, it had been a lot easier to get him to do his homework.
“E-mail sent,” Shelley said.
“Time to finish the dishes, then.” My eyes remained on Shelley for a beat longer.
“Right.” Shelley switched the laptop off and led the way out to the kitchen.
Once in the kitchen, Shelley opened up the dishwasher and began to stack the dirty dishes.
“You know...” I stood next to her at the sink, adding a plate to the dishwasher. “You need to let me do something for you in return. Or let me pay you for the food or something. You feed us twice a week, and I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Ben eats like a horse.”
“Oh, it’s Ben that eats like a horse, is it?” Shelley leaned her hip against the counter as she crossed her arms across her chest, her lips tugging up in a smile. “After eating seven slices of pizza, you’re pinning this on Ben?”
“Hey.” I took a step toward her, the twinkle in her eyes inviting me closer. All these weeks I’d resisted the building attraction, but as I stood there, so close, I couldn’t keep fighting the pull I felt toward her. It was too strong. “Those weren’t full-size slices, being a trapezoid pizza.” My feet inched another step closer, that invisible string tugging me to her.
“Ha.” Shelley barked out a laugh. “You keep telling yourself that.”
“I’m serious, though, Shell. Let me do something. What you did for Ben today.” I ran my hand through my hair. “What you do for him every time he’s here. It’s more than anything anyone has ever done for us.” I hated admitting that, but it was the truth.
“Not even your parents?” Shell’s brows pulled together as her arms tightened across her chest, hugging herself. “Ben’s their only grandchild. Haven’t they been around to help at all?”
I rarely spoke of my parents. It was a touchy subject. But I’d slowly discovered I could trust Shelley.
“You remember my dad,” I began.
Shelley scoffed. “Yeah.”
“He always had big dreams for me, his only child, his son. He wanted me to follow in his footsteps. Work alongside him in his law firm in San Diego. Take over one day. Live in the family mansion. He hated my art. Hated that I applied to Berkeley for the art program. When I got a scholarship, he threatened to throw me out. But I didn’t care. I was going to Berkeley. I was going to pursue my dreams and become an artist. Then I got Zoë pregnant, and my dad lost it. He insisted I marry her. He wanted us to move in with them so I could get the law degree he wanted me to, and Mom could help take care of the baby.”