“Looks like you’ve got a busy weekend planned.”
Hearing the words coming from behind him, he turned and looked at the man in line with a huge flatbed cart filled with supplies. The man was tall, slightly barrel-chested, with dark hair cut high and tight, shot with a bit of silver. His appearance screamed former military.
“Yes. Working on my grandmother’s house to get it ready to sell when she decides she’s ready.” He tilted his head down to the man’s cart. “You?”
“I own Anderson’s Construction Services. I’m a local contractor, hiring veterans.”
“I thought you were military.”
Grinning, the man nodded. “Navy. Did fifteen years then got out to help my father with his construction business.” He scanned Ben with an eagle-eye stare “And you?”
“Navy. SEAL. Just got out. Fifteen years also.”
The man stuck his hand out, clasping Ben’s in a firm grip. “I’m Daniel. Daniel Anderson.”
“Ben Popovich.” They moved up in line a few feet.
“So, Ben, tell me about your grandmother’s place.”
They killed time in line as Ben described the work he was doing, expounding on the renovations his grandfather had accomplished years prior. Daniel listened, nodded, and offered a few suggestions.
“You know, if you ever decide that you’d like to work for us, here’s my card. I’m always looking for hardworking veterans to join Anderson Contracting. Even if you just work for a few years and get your own license, I’m good with that, too.”
Taking the card, he felt a surge of energy jolt through him, something he realized he’d been missing ever since he’d torn his knee up the last time. Wanting to be upfront, he said, “You should be warned that I’ve got a bum knee.”
Daniel threw his head back and laughed. He pulled up his pants leg and Ben stared at a prosthetic leg. “Below the knee amputee.”
“Damn,” he breathed, admiration for Daniel ratcheting up.
Still smiling, Daniel said, “You won’t find me climbing on the roofs of any of our houses, but just about everything else, I can do.”
Moving to the cash register, he tucked Daniel’s card into his pocket before paying for his purchases. After completing his transactions, he pushed his cart out of the way and turned back to Daniel. “Sir, it was good to meet you.”
“Same to you, Ben. I wish you luck with your projects, and keep me in mind.”
Reaching out to shake his hand, he nodded. “I will. I… well, I’ll give you a call.” With Daniel’s well wishes ringing in his ear, he pushed his cart out to his SUV, his step—and his heart—lighter.
Once home, he unloaded his purchases and carried them to the back door, his footsteps accompanied by Bounder’s enthusiastic presence. Letting both of them into the kitchen, he smiled at his grandmother stirring a pot on the stove. The scent of butter, cream cheese, chocolate, and almonds filled the air. Walking over, he bent and kissed her cheek. “Babciu, you’re going to make me fat.”
Laughing, she shook her head. “These are for the church meeting.”
He cocked his eyebrow and placed his hand on his heart as though wounded. “All of them?”
“Most of them, although I suppose I might could set aside a few for you and the Mayfields.” She turned back to the stove, stirring her concoction, her lips quirking upward. “What’s on your agenda for today?”
He rubbed his chin and hesitated. He wasn’t surprised when she twisted around and speared him with another stare. “I met someone at the home store. A man… a veteran who runs a construction company that hires veterans.”
She laid the spoon onto the counter and turned to give him her full attention. He smiled, her actions so like he remembered when growing up. She had always given attention to him when he needed to talk, seeming to instinctively tell when he was lost, confused, worried, or just grieving.
Plunging in, he said, “I like working with my hands… always have. I’m good at taking things apart and putting them back together. I’m good at figuring out what needs to be done and coming up with a plan to accomplish that. I can work fast and methodically, depending on what needs to be done. These are all things I know grandpa did when he was redoing this house. I learned a lot from him and didn’t even realize it at the time.”
“Do you think that you’d like to be a contractor?”
He snorted as he shook his head. “It seems weird to be thirty-three and trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up.”
She chuckled as well. “Life is full of change, Benjamin. You may be grown up already but that doesn’t mean that things are written in stone.”
“That’s for damn sure.” He watched as she glanced down at the pot and stirred once more. “But yeah, I think I’d like to try it. I’m getting an idea of how things work by fixing your place and what I plan on doing for Violet’s place. But I’m considering calling Daniel—uh, that’s the contractor. Daniel Anderson.”
“Hmmm, Anderson Contracting. I remember a Dylan Anderson who used to be in the construction business. Your grandfather did some work with him at one time.”
“He said his father started the company.”
“Well, well. Small world,” she murmured, smiling. “So, when are you going to work on Violet’s house?”
“I thought I’d work here today and then over at her house tomorrow since she and the kids will be home.” He turned to walk out of the kitchen and looked down to see Bounder sleeping on his blanket. “That reminds me, did you hear anything in the backyard last night?”
She tilted her head to the side. “Hear anything? Like what?”
“I don’t know. Bounder was whimpering but not barking. Then I let him out and he raced to the back fence, sniffing around. With neither of our bedrooms on the back of the house, I didn’t figure you heard anything.”
“I confess, I slept like a baby.”
Grinning, glad that she was sleeping well, he added, “I bought motion sensor lights for the back. We should have better lighting at the back of the house anyway.” With that, he headed outside to begin his work for the day. Glancing toward Violet’s house, he found that he looked forward to Charlie and Lily getting home from school.
12
“So, how does it work?”
Ben looked down from the ladder he was on and smiled toward Charlie, who was holding the lamp in his hands. “It has electronic eyes that detect something called infrared waves. Those are heat waves, and they radiate from moving objects. When it detects those waves, it triggers the light to turn on.”
Charlie seemed to ponder the explanation, then asked, “Any moving object?” Ben nodded and Charlie continued. “What if there’s someone walking on the sidewalk?”
“We can set it for a range. Since I don’t want it to go off every time somebody walks on the sidewalk, I’ll have it angled more toward the yard.”
“What if a cat jumps over the fence to get into the garbage can? Mom gets real mad when something gets into the garbage and makes a mess.”