He winked at her. “Grab a shovel.”
“Why do I feel like I just made more work for myself?”
“Because you did. And it’s awesome.”
It was three in the afternoon before the two took a break for lunch. As they sat eating sandwiches, they admired their handiwork. The steps around two sides of the deck were in place and the concrete footings for the rest of the deck extension were dug, poured, and setting up. Jake and Lily measured out what wood they had left and made a list of what materials Jake would pick up tomorrow.
“I gotta say, Lil, I don’t think I’d have been able to get this far so fast without your help.”
“I am the great motivator, you know. It looks great so far. I can’t wait to see what it looks like when you finish it. Tomorrow, you think?”
“Yeah, I think it’ll be done tomorrow. And what do you mean ‘when I finish it’? Aren’t you gonna help?”
“I’d love to but I promised Billy I’d work a double tomorrow. Arlene has to take the kids to the doctor’s and Marta’s off.”
Disappointment clouded his face and he was quiet.
“But I can come by after. If you need any help then, I would be glad to pitch in.”
“Oh, yeah. That would be great.”
“Good. I should be off by five or so. I can be here by six.”
They finished their sandwiches and beers. For an hour, the two sat next to each other in silence on the finished part of the deck and looked out at the trees.
Finally, Jake spoke. “This is nice.”
“It is.”
“Thanks for helping.”
“Anytime, Jake.”
Jake breathed in and closed his eyes. “She left two years ago.”
Lily looked straight ahead. “Why did she leave?”
“’Cause that’s what she always did.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I’m not. For the first time in a long time, I’m not.”
CHAPTER 12
Very early the next morning, Jake awoke covered in sweat. He’d dreamt of Maddie again. He dreamt of the happiness he felt when he first found out, the happiness that precluded the collapse of his world...
***
Maddie had been sick for days. Her stomach rejected everything she ate. She stayed in bed for three days and Jake was worried. The morning of the fourth day, he decided she needed to see a doctor.
“Maddie, I’m gonna take you to see Dr. Anderson.”
She didn’t say anything, just nodded her head as she sipped the water he brought her. She looked awful and he hoped she really had stopped using. He’d hoped she’d really given up the drugs. It wasn’t that long ago, after all, that he found her in his bathroom, high on God knows what. Whatever was wrong with her, he wanted to find out and get her better.
Once at the doctor’s office, Jake sat in the examination room with Maddie. She looked pale but at least she’d kept down the water he gave her earlier. He took that as a sign she was feeling better. This visit was more for Jake, unfortunately. He needed to know what was going on with her, and he swore to himself that if she was on drugs, he needed to make a decision. It wasn’t an easy wait for him.
After a blood test, a urine test, and an overall physical examination, Dr. Anderson walked in the room with her file.
“Well, Maddie, how are you feeling? Sorry for all the tests but we wanted to cover all our bases. And it seems there’s nothing wrong with you.”
Relief washed over Jake. “That’s terrific.”
“Nothing wrong in that, well, nothing is wrong. I am happy to say that you two are going to have a baby.”
The color drained even further from Maddie’s face but Jake was too busy beaming from ear to ear to take much notice. It was as if the past almost two and a half years had disappeared. In an instant, he forgot all her drama, all her bull shit, all his pain and focused on the tiny little person growing in her belly. His hand moved to her stomach and he smiled at her. She didn’t smile back.
“So all this—her throwing up and nausea is all because of a baby?”
“Yes. All women react differently and Maddie, unfortunately, seems to be especially sensitive to morning sickness.”
“But I don’t just get sick in the morning.”
Dr. Anderson laughed. “The term ‘morning sickness’ is deceiving. It can happen any time of day, usually throughout the first trimester. From what I can tell, you are smack in the middle of it. About eight or nine weeks as far as I can see. You will have to make an appointment with your OB/GYN to be sure. You will need to make regular visits to her, just to make sure everything is on track.”
“I can’t believe it, Doc!” Jake crowed. “Thank you so much! This is such a relief. Not just a relief, a reason to celebrate!” He was over the moon. He just needed to talk to the doctor for a minute without Maddie in the room.
“Well, Jake. Madison. I am happy to be able to deliver you the good news. I am going to write you a prescription for some prenatal vitamins. You need to make the appointment with an OB as soon as you can.”
Dr. Anderson stood and walked out of the room, Jake on his heels. In the hallway, Jake was torn over whether or not he should ask, but for the sake of his unborn baby, he knew he needed to.
“Dr. Anderson! Wait. Did anything else show up in Maddie’s tests?”
“Anything else?”
“You know her history with drugs. Did anything show up in there? I need to know. That’s my baby she’s carrying.”
“No, Jake. Nothing else showed up. She’s clean as a whistle. The only thing that showed up was a baby.”
Dr. Anderson placed his hand on Jake’s shoulder. “You done good, kid. Keep her healthy.” He turned and walked away leaving an incredibly happy Jake standing in the hallway.
***
Jake sighed, got out of bed, and walked to the bathroom. He was tired of her intruding in his life. She was gone and for the first time he wished she would stay gone. Anything good that happened to him, any happy memory, was always tainted with bad. He knew he couldn’t go on like he had before. He had been shown the promise of a ghost-free future. Even if Lily was leaving at the end of the summer, he was happy she was there. She reminded him what it was to be alive, to live for something. And he’d be damned if he was going to let Madison ruin him again.
It was too early to wake up fully but too late to go back to bed. He had things he wanted to accomplish this week, so rousing early wasn’t totally annoying.
He’d taken the rest of the week off. Mr. Olsen seemed pleased and Jake thought it was funny that a boss would actually want an employee to take time off. There were enough people working, though, to give Jake a little leeway for a much needed few days of personal time. He planned on finishing the deck and painting the house. He might possibly even replace the shutters. But he remembered that Lily had said to take it a day at a time. Plan for today, and then tomorrow, plan for that. It was sound advice, especially since he wasn’t used to planning much of anything other than showing up for work. It felt good.
He dressed and ate a leftover bagel that had gone stale on the counter. Instead of his usual morning run, he decided to get an early start on the deck. He figured the concrete was set enough to start framing the extension. It was a project he knew he could throw himself into. He’d even called his father last night and convinced him to take the day off so he could come and help. It had been a long time since Jake and his father had spent any meaningful time together and now was as good a time as any. He had his reasons for wanting to finish the deck as soon as he could.
He looked at his watch. At four-thirty, there wasn’t much of a chance of anyone else being up. His father would be here at seven, so he had a couple of hours to get started. Maybe he’d be able to give his father a reason to be proud of him again.
Before his father showed up, Jake measured twice more and cut the wood he had to the lengths he needed. Once the footings were prepared with braces, and he and his father had figur
ed out exactly what else he needed, he’d run back to the lumberyard for the rest of the supplies. He’d even measured and outlined an opening on his bedroom wall and, though it would be a stretch, maybe he’d pick up a door for that.
Jake consciously locked all memories of Madison away. She wasn’t welcome here, not today. He needed to focus. He wanted to finish the deck, and he felt like a parent preparing Santa Claus’s presents for his young children. He wanted to make the unveiling a surprise. He just hoped Lily would be as excited as he was.
At seven sharp, he heard tires pull into the gravel driveway. His dad was nothing if not punctual. It was a trait he’d tried to instill in his boys. Danny was better at it than Jake but he tried. A second set of tires pulled in right behind the other. Jake couldn’t figure out who, besides his father, would be here this early. He walked around to the driveway and smiled.
“Hey, Dad! Danny, what are you doing here?”
“Dad called me last night and said I should take off for some family bonding time.”
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“I know I didn’t. I just figured if you thought it was important to finish this deck, I should be there to help. And I brought some extra boards from when I finished mine.”
“You guys are awesome. Thanks. This means a lot to me.”
Andy spoke up. “We figured you haven’t been this focused on something in a long time. I’m happy to be a part of it. Come on, let’s grab some of this wood from Danny’s truck and get to work.”
Danny smiled and held up a plastic container. “Megan made muffins.”
“Say that three times fast?”
Danny was confused. “What?”
Jake smiled. “Nothing. What kind?”
“Apple cinnamon.”
Jake couldn’t help but laugh. “How many did you eat on the drive over?”
“I’m offended!”
“How many?”
“Four.”
“Four? It’s a ten minute drive.”
“I was hungry.”
“Maybe she’s right. You should stick to the light beer.”
“Come on! She never makes these! She only made them ’cause I was coming over here. A man’s gotta eat!”
“You’re so weird, man. How many did she make?”
“Twelve.”
Jake walked over and took the container from his brother. “The rest are for me. And Dad.”
As Jake opened the container, his dad walked by. “When are you two boys gonna stop goofin’ off and help me empty this truck? If the deck is going to be what Jake said, we have work to do. And give me a damn muffin.”
By ten, the three men had laid the floor of the deck extension. Jake’s father had taken the drive to the lumber yard and picked up any materials they’d need to finish while Danny and Jake measured, cut, hammered, screwed, and laid the boards. It was shaping up when they took a break. The summer heat was turning up.
“Do you think we’ll finish today?” Jake asked his father.
“Yeah. We’ll finish. We may not have all the minor touches done but we’ll finish the decking. We might even be able to knock that door out. You know, while we’re here, I figure we can measure that out, too. Come to my truck, I got something for you.”
Jake and Danny followed their father to the driveway. In the bed of the truck was a set of french doors.
“Dad, you bought these?”
“Yeah. I know you said you wanted a slider but I remember your mom always wanted french doors. I never got around to it before she passed. I figure she’d appreciate this.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
Even Danny was impressed. “Yeah, Dad. That’s really cool of you. I need a new toilet in the downstairs bathroom. You got one of those in there too?”
Andy smiled. He was glad he’d agreed to spend the time with his boys. It had been a long time since the three of them had spent any quality time together. He and Danny had remained close, but Jake had closed off not long after he and Maddie became an item. Andy thought about how upset his wife would have been, had she been alive, to see the life sucked out of her youngest son...
***
“Dad!” Jake ran into his father’s house yelling. “Dad!”
“What? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing! Nothing’s wrong. As a matter of fact, everything is great.”
“Well, spill it. What’s so great?”
“I’m gonna be a dad! Maddie is pregnant! We’re having a baby!”
Andy sat down. He wasn’t prepared for this. He should have been, he knew. But he had hoped that, despite the constant break-ups and reunions, Jake would come to his senses and get rid of that girl. Now she would be tethered to the family regardless of what happened from now on.
“Dad? Don’t you have anything to say?”
“It’s yours?”
Jake looked shocked. “Of course it is. Why would you ask that?”
“I’m sorry. I just wasn’t sure. Are you sure you two are ready for this? A baby is a big responsibility.”
“You think I don’t know that? What? You think I can’t handle it?”
Andy saw his son losing control. “No. It’s not you I am worried about.”
“She’s past all that, Dad. Jesus. Can’t you just be happy for us? Happy for me?”
“I don’t know, Jakey. I want to be. I just thought—”
“Thought what? Thought I’d dump her and forget about everything we’d been through? I can’t leave her like this even if I wanted to. I love Maddie and now we’re gonna have a baby. You can either be happy for us or not. Either way, she and I are stronger than ever and now we have this baby coming. She knows it’s a big deal. She’s done with all that other bull shit.”
“I know you think so, Jake, but how many times have I, have you, heard all this before?”
They were both yelling now, Andy, out of fear for his son, and Jake, out of anger at his father.
“Damn it! Why can’t you support me? Why can’t you just be proud of me?”
“I am proud of you. And I do support you. Who was there first thing every time that girl broke you? Who picked you up when she tore you down? Me, goddammit. And I’ll be damned if she’s gonna do that to you again. Damned if she’s going to do that to my grandbaby. Jesus, Jake. Think this through. Think hard. Look me in the eye and tell me you don’t think she’ll screw you over again.”
“It doesn’t matter what I say. You think what you want. When you’re ready to be on my side, you’ll be welcome. Until then, keep your negativity to yourself. I’m done with it. I’ve had too much of it over the past few years—”
“Because of her.”
Jake stopped and looked at his father. Disappointment settled in both their eyes. No longer able to deal, Jake grabbed his keys and walked out the door.
***
Danny laughed. “Dad? I was kidding.”
Shaken from a memory, Andy tried to smile. “Well, let’s get this thing done. For some reason Jake is hell bent on finishing this today, and if we are gonna make that happen, we don’t have time for messin' around.”
Jake and Danny looked at each other. They both knew where their father went just then. It’s where they all went. Back to the past, back to the pain they’d just as soon forget.
For the rest of the morning and much into the afternoon, Jake, Danny, and their father worked on the deck. Once it was finished, the three gathered in Jake’s bedroom and contemplated the best way to knock down the wall.
“Do you think it’s a load bearing wall?”
Andy was knocking on the wall. “Not sure.”
Danny was the first to make the obvious joke. “You know, if you’re looking for a stud, I’m right here.”
Jake rolled his eyes and laughed despite himself. “Sure if you think a stud downs four muffins in ten minutes and is relegated to light beer.”
“Beer. That’s what this party needs.”
Danny disappeared into the kitchen
and came back with two lagers and a light beer.
“Now this will help me think. I’m so freakin’ tired, Jake. You owe me one, you know?”
“I know. I owe you about a dozen by now.”
“That you do, Brother. Cheers!”
Andy thought for a minute. “I think we should just cut through. There’s a header that runs the length of the wall. The ceiling is high so we won’t need to cut into it to fit the door. You sure you want this, Jake?”
“Yeah, Dad. Let’s do it. Demo is the fun part.”
“All right. Let’s outline the space to fit the new doors and get to work. We can have another drink when it’s finished.” He took out a tape measure. “
Within a few hours, they’d cut out the opening and fastened the doors in the space. After a few adjustments, they were opening smoothly.
“Gonna have to paint your room now, you know.”
“I know, Dad. Thanks for all your help.”
“I don’t know about you two, but I am beat,” Danny said. “Do you need me for anything else? Meg just texted me asking if I’d make it home for dinner.”
“Nah, man. Go home. Tell Meg I said hi. And Danny?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks, man. Thanks for everything.”
The two hugged for the first time in recent memory, and Danny felt a weird emotion churn up inside him.
“Yeah, yeah. Wussy. What else ya got? Remember, you owe me!”
When he left, Jake and his father were left to admire the massive amount of work they’d completed that day.
As he drained the last of his beer, Andy said, “You done good kid.”
“Thanks, Dad. We done good.”
“Yeah, we did. I’m gonna clean up outside. You go shower and get ready.”
“Ready for what?”
“That Lily is coming over, right? Isn’t that why you wanted to finish this?”
“Well, yeah. Kinda. How did you know?”
With a twinkle in his eye, Andy replied cryptically, “A father always knows. Now go. I’ll clean up the mess. Shouldn’t take me long. We done a good job cleaning up as we went. At least you guys learned somethin’ from your old man.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
With that, Andy went outside and cleaned up the tools, sawdust, and random pieces of wood they’d left lying around while Jake stayed inside to shower. Andy looked around at what he and his boys had accomplished and thought, At least it’s a start.
Three Days of Rain Page 8