Steve finished off his cinnamon roll and coffee while he watched Emily and Makayla set up the air popper with a large bowl. Soon the noise and aroma of the corn popping filled the air. As Emily worked with her daughter, Steve was struck by how patient she was. He knew that was an area that he was sorely lacking in when it came to dealing with his boys, especially in the kitchen. Most of the time, it was just way easier to do it himself than to try to teach them. But from how Makayla responded to each direction from her mom, Steve knew that Emily had taken the time to instruct, not just do, for her kids. Would she be that way with his boys as well?
By the time it was all done, Makayla left the kitchen with a lightly buttered, lightly salted bowl of popcorn. Instead of returning to the table, Emily finished cleaning up and put away the popcorn maker. Soon the scent of the popcorn was the only indication of what had occurred a few minutes earlier.
At his look, Emily shrugged. “It’s easier to make sure each thing is cleaned up promptly. With four kids, things get out of control way too fast.”
Oh yeah, he knew all about that. His house was still full of unpacked boxes, and then all the stuff they had unpacked so far was scattered throughout the house. He really did need to tackle a bit each day or it was never going to get done.
Speaking of getting things done… Steve pushed to his feet. “Well, let me help you out with a few things today. Some jobs I’ll need to grab additional supplies for, but, for now, I can—at the very least—get that step fixed for you.”
“Thank you. Let me know the cost of the supplies you buy so I can reimburse you,” Emily said as she folded a dishtowel and laid it on the counter.
Steve had no intention of doing that, but he nodded as he walked out of the kitchen, knowing that she’d just argue with him if he told her that.
Once outside, he looked over the step then got his hammer out to pull up the nails they’d used. It had been a valiant effort, but sadly, ineffective for something like this.
“We kinda messed that up, eh?”
Steve looked up to see Bennett standing beside the screen door. “Nope. Not messed up at all. It just needs screws because they are a bit stronger to hold the step in place. The piece of wood you got is perfect, though.”
The boy came a bit closer and dropped down onto his knees on the porch, pressing his fists into his thighs. “I got a book from the library that told me about building decks and stairs. Mom and I got the wood it suggested, and it told me how to measure what we needed too.”
Steve looked at Bennett, taking in the serious look on his face. “You did an excellent job. Do you like doing this kind of stuff?”
Bennett nodded quickly. “I like to measure and build things. I’ve tried to help Mom with some of the stuff around here, but I don’t know enough yet.”
Steve straightened and stood with one booted foot on the lowest step. He leaned against the railing. “Are you ten like Kenton?”
Another nod.
“Well, I didn’t know any of this stuff when I was that age either, but I’ve learned a lot over the years. This is kind of what I do for my job now.”
“Really?” The interest was clear on Bennett’s face. “
“Yep. I help renovate places.” Steve rested the hammer on his thigh. “You want to give me a hand with some of this stuff around here?”
Bennett’s body went tight with anticipation. “Could I?”
“Sure,” Steve said. “As long as it’s not too dangerous and your mom doesn’t have a problem with it.”
Steve had always thought his boys would be interested in learning his trade, but so far, the only one who had shown even a passing curiosity about it was Mitch, and he was still too little to help with much. The prospect of teaching Bennett, especially since he already showed an interest in the work, was inspiring.
As he worked, he explained what he was doing to Bennett and had him help with a few things that weren’t too dangerous. He thought it might slow down his progress, but although it did slow him down some, it didn’t lengthen any job beyond what he could tolerate.
*
“Where’s Ben?” Emily asked as she glanced around the living room.
Ryan looked up from where he was coloring. “He’s outside with Mitch’s dad.”
Emily told herself she shouldn’t have been too surprised at that. He’d always been one for building things. Whether it had been out of Lego for his own enjoyment or cardboard forts for him and his siblings, he always seemed to know exactly how to make it work. He’d been a big help when she’d finally decided to tackle some of the repairs around the house. Unfortunately, neither of them had the skill that was needed to complete most of the jobs.
She stepped into the entryway so she could look out the screen door. Their words were nothing more than indecipherable murmurs, but Steve appeared to be showing Bennett what he was doing to repair the step they’d been working on earlier.
Looking at Bennett’s dark head bent next to Steve’s lighter brown, Emily felt a spark of concern. Though Bennett had been only eight when James had died, he had a clear memory of having a father and Emily knew that he missed him more than the other children did. Of all the kids, James had spent the most time with Bennett.
Would he begin to view Steve as the father he missed? It had been a struggle to help Bennett with his interest in things like building and carpentry. Emily didn’t know how to guide him since those things were so far out of her area of expertise. She could teach him to bake or cook like nobody’s business but build a tree fort in the backyard or attach a shelf to the wall in his room? Yeah, not so much.
It was different with his boys and her. She doubted the boys were looking for that connection the way a girl might. But her son, on the other hand, might well be susceptible to that longing for a dad to do things with.
Part of her wanted to storm through the door and grab Bennett by the hand to pull him back into the house. To protect him from heartache when he realized that Steve wasn’t the man to fill the role of father in his life. The man had already made it perfectly clear he didn’t want a wife, and really, from what he’d shared of his past, Emily could hardly blame him.
But she had to protect her boy. Didn’t she?
Chapter Seven
“Ben, don’t get in Mr. Callaghan’s way, sweetie,” Emily said as she pushed open the door.
Two sets of eyes looked up at her. One bright blue, the other a darker shade. Bennett’s eyebrows drew together as he frowned at her.
“I’m not in his way,” he stated but then turned to look at Steve. “Am I?”
“You’re fine, buddy.” Steve glanced at Bennett then lifted his gaze back to meet hers. “He’s giving me a hand. Don’t worry. I’m not letting him do anything too dangerous.”
Oh, she wasn’t worried about him getting hurt physically. Steve would no doubt be as careful with Bennett as he was with his own sons, but would he recognize the danger of interacting too closely with a young boy who had no father?
“Seriously, Emily, he’s fine.” Steve tossed a smile in the boy’s direction. “He’s a smart kid.”
Emily crossed her arms, trying to contain the ache inside, and nodded. “Okay, well, if you need to do something without him hovering over you, just send him inside.”
The relief on Bennett’s face when he realized she wasn’t going to pull him inside only fueled Emily’s concerns. She’d need to somehow have a talk with Bennett about Steve. Remind him that he had boys of his own and that he was only coming over to help with the repairs of the house. She didn’t want to have to come right out and tell her son not to look at him as a replacement father-figure, but she would if it meant preventing heartache for her boy in the long run.
“C’mon, guys, time to clean rooms,” Emily said as she walked back into the living room.
“Mommmmm!” Makayla’s wail was accompanied by a rather dramatic flop back on the carpet, arms spread wide.
“Not gonna work, Kay.” Emily stepped over her daught
er’s prone body and picked up the now empty bowl of popcorn. “Keep this up and you’ll be spending time in your room once it’s cleaned.”
While the threat of being confined to their bedroom wouldn’t be any sort of punishment for Ben or Ryan, it was nearly a catastrophe for the two girls.
“Let’s go,” Emily said with a nod of her head to the staircase leading to the second floor.
Dragging her feet dramatically, Makayla made her way at funeral procession speed up the stairs.
“You know, if you made more of an effort to keep your rooms clean during the week, we wouldn’t have to do this every Saturday.”
“What about Bennett?” Makayla demanded. “Why doesn’t he have to help?”
“First of all, his room is already fairly clean. Second, he’s helping with the repairs so it’s not like he’s playing while the rest of you are working.” She clapped her hands. “Hup to. Strip the sheets off your beds first and put them in the hallway.”
Once the girls scooted into their room, Emily went with Ryan to the one he and Bennett shared. There were only three bedrooms in the house, but they had never lived in a house with more so they were all used to sharing.
As she suspected, there was very little to clean up in the boys’ room. It was funny how she’d always assumed that boys would be messier, but when it came to their room, Ben and Ryan kept a much tidier place than their sisters.
“Straighten up your stuff, sweetie and just put anything of Ben’s on his bed after you pull off his sheets.”
“Okay, Mom.”
Emily made her way into her room to pull the sheets off her own bed. Usually, she did it earlier in the day, but today was a bit messed up from their normal Saturday schedule. When she came back out of her room, she saw the piles of bedding in the hallway as requested.
Rather than try to navigate the stairs with a cumbersome armful of sheets, she tossed them down the stairs to the main floor, repeating that action to get the laundry from the main floor to the basement. She loaded the washer with half of the bundle and started it up.
Back upstairs, Emily glanced at the clock, not too surprised to see it was nearly noon. She pulled sandwich fixings from the fridge and put them on the counter along with a loaf of bread. Working quickly, she made up four sandwiches. Ham and cheese but no tomato for Ryan. Plain ham for Sammi. Ham and tomato for Makayla but skip the cheese. Bennett’s had everything. Once the four plates were lined up, she added some carrot sticks and a blob of ranch dip. After she had taken the food to the table, she filled four cups with milk then went to the front door.
Bennett and Steve were standing side-by-side, looking down at the step. Once again, it didn’t escape Emily’s notice that the way Bennett stood with his hands on his hips very much mirrored Steve’s stance. She stared at them for a moment then let out a long sigh before pushing open the screen door.
“Ben, sweetie, time for lunch.”
Both of them glanced up at her, and Bennett looked like he was about to protest, but he must have seen something in her expression because he gave a quick nod and climbed the stairs.
“It’s all done, Mom,” Bennett said as he joined her on the porch. “And I helped him.”
Emily slipped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him close. “You did a great job, sweetie.”
“He certainly did,” Steve said with a nod of his head. “Great little helper.”
“Well, go get your brother and sisters for lunch.”
As Bennett dashed into the house, Emily said, “Would you like some lunch as well?”
Steve shook his head. “We had a large breakfast this morning, so I’m good. I’ll just finish up a few more jobs around here. The kids are supposed to be back around three.”
“Thanks again for helping with this,” Emily said as she braced a hip against the wooden railing of the porch.
Steve crossed his arms as a corner of his mouth lifted. “Thanks again for helping with the boys.”
Emily stared at him for a moment, finding she wasn’t as immune to him as she would have liked to be, especially when he smiled at her. “Okay, so is that your way of saying that I need to stop thanking you for what you’re doing here?”
“Something like that. We have a deal. You’re doing a bang-up job on your end. I’m going to try and do the same on mine.”
“You’re right.” Emily straightened as she heard voices inside the house growing louder. “I’d better go see what’s going on.”
*
Steve watched as Emily disappeared inside the house then turned to clean up the tools he’d used for the step. He’d decided his next job was going to be the back porch, so he needed to figure out what was necessary to make that whole area safer. Bennett had told him that Emily made them use the front door to get around to the back yard.
Picking up his tool box, he followed the sidewalk made of cracked cement blocks around to the gate that led to the back yard. The gate squeaked loudly then sagged as he pushed it open. Okay, add gate and fence repair to his list.
As he came around the back of the house, he saw right away why Emily had steered her kids clear of the back porch. In its day, it would have been lovely, but it had fallen into disrepair. What boards weren’t missing were rotted. He stood looking at it, trying to picture what would be the best way to deal with the situation.
This alone would be a large and somewhat costly project so it might have to be moved further down his list. He suspected that’s why Emily hadn’t mentioned it to him. But she had made a safe place in her home for his boys, so it was only right that he make a safe place for hers. He’d have a talk with his boss to see if he might have some suggestions. In the meantime, he took measurements of the porch so he’d have the information in case he and Rob could figure something out.
Once he was done, he went back to the front porch and let himself into the house. He could hear the kids’ chatter coming from the kitchen as he walked into the living room. Emily had mentioned there was a problem with the toilet in the upstairs bathroom so he figured that was as good a place as any to start inside.
By the time he left just before three, Steve had crossed several things off his list but had also added a few more. He was going to have to sit down and make a list according to priority. Like replacing the insides of both toilets so they stopped running. That should reduce her water bill pretty quickly.
The McFaddens’ house was certainly going to present a challenge, but Steve found that he was looking forward to it. And if it meant his boys were being taken care of, it was a small price to pay.
*
Emily looked at the two boys sitting at the table, heads bent but obviously ignoring each other. They’d had another pretty good week with very few arguments about homework or getting along. But now it was Friday, and the first real issue appeared to be raising its ugly head. Too bad she couldn’t figure out what was going on, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to get to the bottom of it.
Kenton kept erasing things on his paper and then rubbing a finger across his chin before scratching out an answer. Usually, Bennett seemed to sense when Kenton was struggling with something and would bring it up, but today, her son was definitely ignoring the other boy.
Except for Tristan, the other kids quickly finished up their snacks and homework and were dismissed to go play. Bennett also started to gather up his things, signaling that he was done as well, but when he got to his feet, Emily said, “Sit.”
He scowled at her but slumped back into his seat, keeping his back to Kenton. “I’m done everything, Mom.”
“Not quite,” Emily said.
Kenton had looked up then and Emily could see the tension on his face. It appeared that Bennett was angry while Kenton was more frustrated and confused. She crossed her arms and allowed her gaze to drift between the two boys, waiting for one of them to say something.
When neither did, she said, “What’s going on, boys?”
“Nothing.” Apparently they were in agreement on
that.
“Bennett James McFadden. What have I said about lying?”
Bennett cringed at the full use of his name, but still he didn’t say anything.
Finally, Kenton looked at her, the expression in his blue eyes sincere. “I was only trying to help.”
At that, her son whipped around to glare at Kenton. “I didn’t need your help.”
“What didn’t you need help with?” Emily asked.
When Bennett didn’t say anything, Kenton’s shoulders slumped. “I was late for recess and when I came out, there were boys picking on Bennett. Pushing him around. Saying things to him.” He glanced at Bennett. “I went after some of the boys to get them to leave him alone.”
Emily couldn’t help the rush of affection for the boy. She appreciated him coming to Bennett’s defense, but clearly her son hadn’t experienced the same level of appreciation.
“Why are you upset about that, Ben?”
“They asked Kenton if he liked having to defend his girlfriend.” Bennett crossed his arms, his face red with emotion. “They said I was too wimpy to be a real boy.”
Trying to ignore the ache in her stomach at the hurt in her son’s voice, Emily rounded the table and sank to her knees between the boys’ chairs. She wrapped an arm around each boy’s shoulders.
“What they said wasn’t Kenton’s fault, Ben. He was just trying to help you. Just like you help him.”
Bennett glanced at her. “What do you mean?”
“Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses. You like studying and reading books. Kenton likes sports and playing hockey. That means that you’re going to be good at different things sometimes. And as a friend, you help each other out when the other one is struggling with something, right? Sometimes you help Kenton with stuff from school. This time around, Kenton helped you with the bullies.” She squeezed Bennett’s shoulder. “You should be mad at them, sweetie. Don’t be mad at Kenton for trying to help you out. He didn’t know what they were going to say. All he saw was that his friend was being hassled and he wanted to help. Right, Kenton?”
Love Blossoms: 7 Spring-Fresh Christian Romances Page 5