“I’ve got the time and the knowledge to work on the house and then think about either working for a contractor or working for myself. At least, that’s the plan for now.” Looking over his shoulder, he added, “And speaking of plans… I’d better get off my as—um… chair and get the rest of the materials in. I’ve got some wood being delivered this afternoon.”
With that, he headed back outside, determined to make Babciu’s home perfect. Excited to get started, he sighed heavily at the idea of selling the house he grew up in when the renovations were finished.
5
“Hey, mister! Whatcha doing?”
Twisting his head around, Ben spied a little girl and boy standing at the back fence staring at him. Actually, they weren’t so much standing as having climbed halfway up with their feet tucked between the space in the chain-link and their arms hanging over the top, their fingers dangling. The girl was dressed from head to toe in varying shades of pink from her sneakers, shirt, and to the headband pushing her dark hair back from her face. Her blue jeans were the only nod to a different color. Next to her, the little boy was in mismatched everything, looking as though he threw on the first rumpled clothes he found on his floor… something Ben remembered doing when he was little. At least until his grandmother made him change.
Sighing at the interruption, especially when he thought his activity was obvious, he called out, “I’m building a deck.”
He’d spent the first part of the week inside, sanding and painting the bathroom cabinets while the rain kept him indoors. During a break in the weather yesterday he’d managed to rip out the old, small deck that extended straight from the back door. Not even large enough to set up a grill, it was barely more than an off-the-ground place to wipe feet before going indoors. Yesterday evening he sank the new supports into the ground, filling the holes with concrete after making sure they were level. He wanted to give them another day to cure, but with the sun now out in the cloudless sky, he’d spent the day cutting the lumber for the frame.
“It looks like it’s going to be bigger than the one that was there.”
“Yep.” He offered a slight nod of his head and turned his back to them, the interruption causing him to relook at the measurements before reaching toward the piece of wood to place on the table with his circular saw.
“My name is Charlie. What’s yours?”
Calling over his shoulder, he answered. “Ben.”
“I’m Lily.”
Since he’d already given his name, he thought perhaps he could keep working and just ignore the kids. As long as they stayed on their side of the fence, they wouldn’t get in his way, and he wouldn’t have to worry about them getting hurt.
“Mom says that you’re Mrs. Popovich’s grandson,” Charlie called out.
“Yep.”
“Mrs. Popovich showed us a picture of you one time. You were wearing your uniform. You couldn’t really see your face very well because you were wearing sunglasses and had on a helmet. You also had a really big gun. My mom won’t let me have a gun. But I thought your uniform was cool. I think that’s what I want to be next Halloween. Do you think I can get a uniform in my size?”
“It would be a costume, Charlie, not a real uniform. Mom can find one at the store where we went last year.”
“Well, when I get older, it can be a real uniform. I’ll be bigger then,” Charlie announced.
Having looked at his measurements three times—and forgetting them each time—it became evident that as long as Charlie was going to continue his running monologue interrupted only by snippets from his sister, Ben was never going to get the piece of wood cut correctly. Standing, he turned and faced the fence, irritation flooding him over the interruption. “So, do you kids have anything else to do? I’m kind of busy here.”
“Nope,” Charlie declared, his smile wide as he grabbed the top of the fence and leaned his head back, letting the sunshine beam down on his face.
Lily shook her head, but her gaze remained on Ben. “Can we call you Ben, or do we have to call you Mr. Popovich?”
Jerking slightly at the unexpected question, he opened his mouth to reply then realized he had no idea how to answer. “Uh… well, Mr. Popovich sounds like my grandfather. But… uh… maybe you should ask your parents what they want you to call an adult.”
“Mom says we should be ‘spectful,” Charlie said, his gaze now back on Ben but his smile still as wide.
Lily huffed and turned her intense gaze from Ben to her brother. “Respectful, Charlie. It’s respectful.”
“Right! Mom says we should be reee…spectful,” Charlie parroted with emphasis.
Getting a closer observation of the children, Ben spied a missing front tooth in Charlie’s smile. He noted the thick, dark hair on both kids, so like their mother’s. From this distance, he couldn’t determine eye color but wondered if either had inherited Violet’s unusual hue. Or looked like their dad.
With the week’s rain chasing everyone inside, he hadn’t seen Violet since their last encounter and still hadn’t laid eyes on her husband. With another glance toward the peeling paint on their back door, he grimaced at the thought of the man who didn’t take pride in where his family lived.
“Can we watch?” Charlie asked. “We’ve never seen anyone use a saw before.”
“That’s not true, Charlie,” Lily corrected. “Mama had that man come in and fix the door that fell down and squished you.”
“A door fell on you?” The question slipped from Ben’s lips before he could stop himself. At this rate, I’ll never get the deck built.
“It was right after we moved in last year. Charlie pulled open the closet door and the whole thing fell down on top of him, and he cried.”
Charlie wrinkled his nose. “I was younger then. That’s why I cried.”
Inwardly grinning at the young boy’s defense of his tears, Ben wondered why their dad hadn’t fixed the door. “I don’t blame you for crying. I’ll bet that hurt.” He looked back at the deck before facing the kids again. “I don’t mind if you watch as long as your parents don’t mind. You have to make sure to stay on your side of the fence so you’ll be safe.”
“Mom won’t mind. It’s been raining, and we haven’t had a chance to be in the yard. Mom is cleaning the house today and told us to come outside. She said she’d like to get one mess cleaned up before we make another.”
A chuckle slipped out, Ben remembering days when he was growing up and his grandmother was doing the same thing, fussing that he needed to clean his room and then not get under her feet when she was doing the rest of the house. Unable to hold back his curiosity, he asked, “What about your dad? Is he helping your mom today?”
“We don’t have a daddy,” Charlie said. “He died.”
Ben’s gaze shot from Charlie over to Lily’s face, seeing a flash of something moving through her eyes. Gut punched at hearing their father was dead, the air rushed from his lungs as a deep memory of his parents hit him. He had no idea what to say to Charlie’s matter-of-fact pronouncement and simply stood dumbly in place with his arms hanging to his sides.