Page 41 of The Coworker
“Do you know how to fix a sink?”
“Maybe. I’ve gotten pretty decent at fixing things around the house.”
I’m not about to turn him down. Plumbers are expensive, and while my parents left me this house, they didn’t leave me much money after taxes took its share. “Okay, thanks.”
Tim follows me into the house. It’s weird because he’s been in this house hundreds if not thousands of times, but not for a long time, and not since the two of us have grown up. I never swapped out most of the furniture my parents had, but it’s not the same furniture from when we were kids. It looks different, but the same. Sort of like Tim himself.
“Do you have a toolkit?”
I think for a moment. “My dad kept one in the garage.”
“I’ll get it!” Josh says.
Tim and I stand there awkwardly while Josh runs to the garage to grab my father’s toolbox. Fortunately, he doesn’t take long. He comes back a minute later, lugging a black toolbox that looks like it weighs more than he does.
“All right,” Tim says. “Let’s do this.” He looks down at Josh, who is watching him with big eyes. “I don’t know if I can handle this by myself. Do you think you could help me?”
“Yeah!”
He seems even more excited about fixing the sink than he was about cookies.
_____
I spend the first five minutes watching Tim and Josh anxiously, but then I realize how boring it is to watch two people fix a sink, so I go to the living room to read. There’s a lot of loud banging and intermittent running water, and at one point, I swear I hear both of them laughing.
About an hour later, Tim comes out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on his blue jeans. Josh follows a second later. “Mom, we fixed it! Mr. Reese fixed the sink!”
Tim’s face breaks into a smile. “Actually, Josh here did most of the work. I was just sort of watching.”
“And you helped me tighten that bolt.”
“That’s true. I did do that.”
Josh beams at Tim. “Now you can fix the doorknob upstairs that keeps falling off. And I’ll help.”
Tim’s smile falters. “Uh, well…”
I stand up from the couch. “Josh, Mr. Reese is too busy to fix everything in our house. And it’s getting late.”
Josh’s face falls. He looks like someone told him his dog just died. “Oh.”
“But I can come by tomorrow,” Tim adds. “I mean, if it’s okay with your mom.”
“It’s okay with me.” My eyes meet Tim’s. “If it’s okay with you.”
“It’s okay with me.”
Josh looks between the two of us, his face scrunched up. “So… are we fixing the doorknob?”
“Sure,” Tim says. “Tomorrow, okay?”
I send Josh off to get ready for bed while I walk Tim to the door. I honestly didn’t think I was going to see him again after the talk we had. But now it seems almost forgotten. Although I’m sure Tim hasn’t forgotten.
We pause as Tim steps outside. “Thanks for doing that,” I say.
“No problem.” He looks at me for a moment, contemplating what to say next. “You were right, Brooke.”
“I was? About what?”
