Page 15 of Room 1003

Zack went inside to call the city. I walked back toward the house, my boots making a slurping, sucking sound with each step, and it made Kit giggle. “Your feet are farting.” Oh boy, kids and their potty humor. Except Shane snorted a laugh too. It seemed we never really grew out of it.

When I took another step, it made a particularly rude sound, and now all of us were laughing.

I reached down to the grass and scooped a little bit of water off the surface and flicked it in Kit’s direction, teasing. He squealed and retreated, but it seemed I’d opened the door on a new game. Clearly, I’d issued an invitation to splash me back.

“Kit!” Shane gasped as his son took a great big scoop from the lawn and slung it at me, except it wasn’t only water, but also mud.

I stared down at the brown slop all down my chest, and Kit froze, looking guilty. He was waiting to see how much trouble he was in. I didn’t yell, though. Clothes were washable, and it was just mud. Instead, I peeked slowly up at him and narrowed my eyes in a pretend glare. “You’d better run,” I warned him.

His face broke into a wide grin, and he took off across the grass, squealing in glee and stumbling on the shifting surface.

I chased him around the yard in circles, letting myself get close but never quite catching him. I got ready to lunge and timed it perfectly, so that when he zagged to the left, I pretended to trip, my fingers closing on air. I came down on my stomach in a puddle, setting Kit off in a fit of hysterics.

“Oh, you think that’s funny, do you?” I reached out and snagged him around the waist and brought him down in a controlled belly flop. He was almost as wet as he could get.

“Papa! Papa, come play with us!” he called to his dad.

“Yeah, Shane. Come play with us,” I joined in, goading him.

Shane hesitated, but I knew by the way his mouth quirked that it was only a matter of time. The love and devotion he had for his son meant he would do anything for him, even roll in the mud. “Okay,” he said, stepping down from the safety of the porch, “but you’ll have to help me catch up. I’m way too dry.”

Kit was more than happy to oblige.

By the time Zack emerged from the house, we were all completely drenched and smeared with mud. “What happened? I was only gone for ten minutes.” He laughed, taking us in.

Kit ran over to his grandfather to give him a muddy hug, and Shane peeked up at me, his curls dripping. “I’m sorry,” he said, shaking his head but grinning all the same. “He can be a real handful.”

“Are you kidding? This is the most fun I’ve had in years,” I admitted, then before I could stop myself, I closed the gap and took hold of the loose curl, tucking it carefully behind his ear.

Shane’s whole body locked up, like a startled deer, and for a second, I thought he might bolt. I shouldn’t have done that, but it seemed when it came to Shane, I was doing all kinds of things I shouldn’t. The line between electrician and client seemed to have been washed away in the lake that used to be his yard.

He cleared his throat and stepped back with forced ease. “Um, I’m going to go ask the neighbor if we can borrow their hose. Maybe if I grab a bar of soap, this can count as Kit’s bath.”

I watched him go, and even though every part of me wanted to follow, I forced myself to stay put. When I looked over toward the house, I found Zack watching me with a knowing look. If only I understood half as much as what he seemed to know. Maybe he could fill me in.

9

Shane

Anotherdaywascomingto a close, and we seemed to be making negative progress. At least when we first moved in, we’d had ceilings and running water. Now the house was halfway to being condemned! I halfway expected it to be a pile of rubble by next week.

“Hey, it’ll be okay,” Ben assured me, and I wondered if he was tired of consoling me. He should probably include a therapist fee on his invoice. “The city will have this taken care of in just a few days.”

I sat down on the front steps, my wet jeans clinging tightly in all the wrong places and leaving me with an uncomfortable chafing feeling. “I’m generally a patient guy, but what am I supposed to do until then? If it were just me, it wouldn’t be that big a deal, but you can’t expect a six-year-old to manage without a working toilet.” I scrubbed my palms into my eye sockets until I saw stars, then I blew out a long, slow breath. I could do this. I’d been through worse. “It’s okay. We’ll go back to the hotel for a few nights. Kit will love it.” My bank account, however, would not.

Ben sat beside me, his wide body folding awkwardly, and his shoulder was close enough to touch if I just leaned a little to the right. His beard rippled as he gnawed on his lower lip, his thick eyebrows descending in a frown. “Just a thought, no pressure, but you guys could always bunk with me for a few days. My place isn’t huge, but it’s safe and free of charge. I have a cat, and I make a mean Belgian waffle.”

Before I could politely decline, my dad piped in, “We’d love to.”

“Dad!” I snapped, whipping around to look at him. I hadn’t heard him come out of the house.

He speared me with a glare. He didn’t look away as he said to Ben, enunciating carefully, “Ahem. It’s a very generous offer, Ben. We appreciate it. Thank you.”

My father would always be able to put me in my place. He was reminding me I shouldn’t be too proud to accept a little bit of help, and even though it might’ve been considered inappropriate by some, there was just something about Ben that spoke of safety and comfort. I felt heat color my cheeks. “Yes, thank you, Ben.”

And that was how we found ourselves pulling up in Ben’s driveway behind his truck. He’d gone home ahead of us while we packed a few belongings, with a day’s change of clothes and our toothbrushes. The house was kind of cute, with its blue-and-white shutters and little postage-stamp yard. It didn’t have the same character as our house, but I could guarantee the roof wouldn’t cave in on us in the night.

I hesitated with my hand on the car’s door handle. “This is a bad idea,” I whispered to my dad.

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