by LoRee Peery
4
Monday morning, Paisley’s head and one shoulder were underneath the kitchen sink.
Rob rustled through the drawer contents, causing an occasional metal clink or swish when he tossed something in the trash. A few items dotted the shower curtain still covering the table.
Oren walked in bringing the fragrance of coffee. “Mornin’ all.”
With a friendly greeting like that, Rob had to be getting used to the idea of family.
They’d been working in companionable silence. Did Aunt Rainbow often deal with so many people coming and going when she tagged a household?
“I picked up an extra java on my way to work,” Oren spoke to Rob. “Since you didn’t answer when I knocked at Edna Mae’s, I figured you were keeping company with Paisley here at Dad’s place. I hope you like your coffee black.”
“I do. Thanks.” Rob took the large cup from Oren, blew, and sipped. “You’re a mind saver. I came over to see if Paisley had some brewing, but according to her, there’s no coffee anywhere in this house.”
Rob rubbed rust off his hand onto his worn jeans, leaving a brownish orange smear. He had shaken his head when she asked if he wanted rubber gloves to sift through the junk drawer.
She passed the cleaning rag over the back corner of the cabinet around water pipes.
“I found an old aluminum percolator that I have no idea how to use. I always have my chai tea before I start my day,” Paisley said, backing out from the cabinet.
“Edna Mae probably helped herself to the can of coffee Dad left. I told her to take whatever food she could use,” Oren said. “A couple more things, Rob. Well, both of you. Nora wants you to come to dinner at six thirty. We pulled out what pictures we could find of our dad and older relatives and want to go through the album with you. I don’t know what your plans are for the day—”
“I’ve already put him to work,” Paisley teased.
Oren chuckled. “If you can find anything useful, Rob, it’s yours. Seriously, though, please go through the place and ask me about whatever catches your eye. Nora is into ultra sleek and modern and no clutter. That means I didn’t take much from the house after Dad died. So if anything captures your interest, go for it.”
Unused to generosity, Rob waved his free hand over the junk drawer that took up half the table top. “I’ve run across a couple interesting things. I set aside a few antique padlocks and skate keys.”
“They’re yours,” Oren offered. “With you being into restoration, there’s something out back that I could use your opinion on. If it’s worth fixing up, and you don’t have to hurry back to California, I’ll give you full rein to stay and fix it. Dad left some tools that’ll make you drool, as well as the…on second thought, I’ll let you discover what’s in the building for yourself. The key to the shed door is on the hook just inside the pantry. I need to get to the bank.”
“I’ll check out back as soon as I finish my coffee. Thanks again, and for everything else. Especially for trusting me with your father’s tools.”
“Our father’s belongings. See you two later.”
Oren stepped back through the door thirty seconds later, holding the door open. “Hey guys, this is Andria Hernandez, coming to clean.”
Paisley was drawn to Andria’s pretty smile and snappy brown eyes. The girl went back to her car for her own cleaning supplies.
“There are rags here under the sink if you need more,” Paisley offered. “I’m going to start in the pantry off the kitchen now, so if you need water, the sink is all yours.”
“I’ll use the bathtub. My mother claims it’s more sanitary and easier to clean,” Andria replied.
Paisley went back and forth carrying small appliances to the kitchen counter for cleaning and wiping down the pantry shelves as she progressed.
From the top step of the utility ladder, Paisley felt Rob’s gaze on her through the doorway, but each time she glanced his way, he looked down. She couldn’t escape her awareness of him. His presence magnetized, pulling her attention toward him whenever he was around.
The three continued to work without conversation.
Paisley dared another peek, but Rob kept his head lowered. Did she still affect him? Make his heart beat as crazy as hers pounded in his presence?
He eventually lifted the drawer off the table. “It’s empty now. I’ll wipe it out for you, put it back where it belongs, and then take out the trash.”
“Thanks. There’re paper towels and a box of liners on the counter near the door.” She flashed him a smile and returned to tagging and re-shelving the cleaned small appliances. The pantry held two sets of counter canisters and a collection of interesting tins.
Rob poked his head in and found the shed key. When he left to check out the contents of the backyard buildings, Paisley felt his absence as soon as she heard the door close. I need to check Aunt Rainbow’s instructions to see if I have to go through that building.
Time passed quietly except for short bursts of the vacuum and occasional water running.
The kitchen door banged and Paisley almost dropped the toaster, the last item to tag and shelve. When she turned in the narrow pantry, Rob stood right in front of her. His shoulders blocked everything beyond her vision. She fought the impulse to reach out and touch him. She pulled herself together and shut off the light.
Rob backed up and followed her to the sink. “You aren’t going to believe what I found in the shed. Mark Waverly kept the very same old milk truck that’s in the picture with my mom. I called Oren and he thinks it’s earlier than the sixties. The milk truck is definitely worth spending the time to fix up. It has tons of cool features and gadgets. And the shed is packed with well-kept tools, even some I don’t recognize. Oh, man, do I have some praying to do if Oren meant it when he asked me to stay.”
She’d never seen Rob so animated. Too bad her love wasn’t enough to put that look in his eye. Enthusiasm rolled off his whole body.
His raspy voice rose at the end of his statements instead of dropping. “Now, is that sweet or what?”
She dried her hands and studied his almost-smiling face. “What are you going to do?”
*
Had he ever been so pumped about a restoration? Rob had to do some research for the availability of parts. He’d think about the man who cared for it during its first spiff-up. He followed Paisley to the bathroom doorway and tracked every movement as she opened the medicine chest. She rarely tied her hair back, but swung it aside whenever it got in her way.
“Oren was right. The shed is a tool-man’s dream.” He cleared his throat, disliking the notion of asking anyone for anything. “I didn’t bring my laptop. Do you have yours hooked up to a printer?”
“Yes. I’ve found little need to use it since I’ve been here because I use my phone when I need info. I’ll jot down Aunt Rainbow’s address if you want to borrow it now. She lives only a mile from here so I’ve been walking.”
“Appreciate it. I prefer a computer over my phone. I’m ready for an afternoon coffee. I’d like to take you out for your favorite Mexican by means of saying thanks. Ask Nora or Andria for a recommendation and we’ll go for lunch tomorrow? Oren wasn’t kidding when he said the tools would get my motor going. There’s even a whole wall filled with antique tools, some I’ve never seen. And a few old things that need minimal attention someone may be interested in. I could clean them up for the sale. Are you supposed to tag the shed stuff, too?”
“Sure you need coffee? You sound caffeinated already, the way you’re carrying on.”
He loved to hear her laugh.
She gestured toward the waste basket. “Hand that to me, please. I’ve found medicines here that expired two to five years ago. No idea about the contents of the shed. Aunt Rainbow only talked to me about the usable stuff inside the house. This medicine cabinet is disgusting.”
“I want you to check out that shed. I could hardly believe it when I found a broken ice skate with the exact cross piece that’s missing fro
m the one I’m working on. All I have to do is grind off the rust.”
He’d stuffed the ice skates in his duffle when he’d packed so he had something to work on. Now that he had the missing iron, he could order the leather straps and polish them up here.
“No doubt about it, God is in the details.” Paisley led him to the kitchen where she dug in her tote for a pen. She scribbled on a bright green tag and handed him the street name and house number. “It’s a small frame, newly sided in a tan shade. Red hibiscus bushes are still in bloom out front.”
He shoved the paper in his pocket, lost in her tawny eyes.
She slanted him a tolerant smile.
“You’re kind of cute when you make faces at the medicine cabinet.”
“Too bad you don’t have a shovel to spread around all that fertilizer.” Her voice was so low and serious that it took a full thirty seconds for what she had said to register.
He couldn’t help himself. His lips twitched into an unfamiliar grin. “That’s the kind of talk I’d expect from Edna Mae.”
“I’m glad you liked it. Aunt Rainbow claims to have used that expression the other day on a farmer onboard the ship.”
He sobered. “Tell me again why you believed it best we go our separate ways? Being around you reminds me how much I’ve missed you. I went to your place on the cul-de-sac, only to find you gone.”
He glazed his knuckles over her soft cheek, fighting the urge to follow his hand with a path of kisses.
“I’ll have a place for you in my heart always.” She sucked in a gulp of air and headed back to the bathroom. “But there’s just something within holding me back. I think we both have too much unresolved, unsettled stuff from the way we grew up. I need to find my purpose and not put pressure on myself to pursue helping you be content.”
He retreated. “It’s not your job to make me feel any particular emotion.”
“I recognize your unresolved hurt. I hurt for you. But there’s no excuse for any Christian to go through life carrying such bitterness. I don’t believe God wants that for any of us.”
“You’re probably right. I admire the fact that you got that out in the open. You’re a sunshiny person and I’m cloudy. Sorry.”
“We can maybe finish talking about this later. For now, I have a job to do.” She pulled a label off a prescription bottle and set it aside.
“I can take a hint. Thanks for the use of your laptop.”
“The key is under that little frog on the step.”
“Appreciate it. No need for us both to drive tonight. I’ll come by for you.”
Will taking her to dinner at my brother’s house be a date?
*
Rob concentrated on driving to Oren and Nora’s. They lived in a development south of town. Paisley pointed out the name of the park they passed, Ta-Ha-Zouka, and they discussed possibilities for which Native American tribe the name originated from.
When they arrived, Sara had to show off her pink, purple, and lime-green room. The rest of the tour followed.
They ate in the dining room, separated from the open kitchen-family room by a wide hall. Conversation over Nebraska grass-fed roast beef, real mashed potatoes, and a variety of home-grown vegetables focused on Oren and Nora’s growing-up years.
After dinner, Rob poured his coffee in his saucer and gulped. He was struck by the silence in the dining room. He raised his eyes over the rim. “What?”
Nora and Oren stared.
Rob glanced at Paisley.
She shrugged.
“That’s the way Grandpa drank his coffee.” Sara piped up, blue eyes rounded. “He said it was too hot in the cup and it cooled off faster in a dish. And he was always in a hurry to get revved up. You must really be my uncle. Do you need to be revved up for something tonight?”
Strange, invisible vibrations gave way inside and he shook his head. “I like the taste of coffee, but I don’t like it burning all the way down.”
Rob set down the saucer and studied the faces around the table, his newfound family. Such a certainty was hard to swallow. He honest to goodness had a new family and didn’t need DNA testing to prove it. His throat constricted at the same time his eyes grew moist.
What did a grown man do with so much emotion?
As they ate delicious lemon pound cake, conversation shifted and bounced all over the place. Nora and Oren sang Edna Mae’s praises again for caring for Mark Waverly the last months of his life.
“She was older than Mark and, toward the end, treated him like a treasured younger brother, but we’re so thankful for her in Dad’s life,” Nora said.
Oren shook his head, his smile plaintive. “I once got a call from the grocery store. Dad used to dress hurriedly and sloppily into clothes worn on the previous day. He often left the house in disarray, ignoring what he wore, especially if he had some woodworking project or if he’d stayed late on the farm and came home too late to care where his clothes landed.”
“Rob does that, too,” Paisley added with a smile. “Sometimes on the weekends he came to my place wearing his shirt inside-out, even backwards once. He blamed his preoccupation on a restoration project.”
Everyone exchanged knowing looks and then turned to smile at Rob.
Nora continued the account. “One of the other customers in the grocery store told the manager Dad had left his underwear on the floor.”
No one laughed. Sara’s blue-hazel eyes were huge disks.
“Don’t you imagine anyone else would have felt the bulky material on their leg?” Nora asked Paisley.
“I would know something was wrong immediately. But then, I’m a nut when it comes to the neatness of my clothes. I take them off right side out and put them where they belong immediately. I hang them in a certain order and can even find specific folded clothes in the dark.”
“Me, too,” Nora said with a smile.
Oren sided with Rob. “I’d call that OCD.”
“Maybe.” Paisley elbowed Rob in the side to let him know by her expression she was teasing. “Better than being a slob like Rob.”
“That rhymed.” Sara giggled.
“That it did, sweetie.” Nora pulled her daughter’s ponytail. “People are so interesting. We all have our quirks. Finish your milk, please, and go take your bath. It’s a school night, you know.”
Sara did as her mother asked and cornered the table to give Rob a milk-mustached nuzzle alongside his neck. “‘Night, Uncle Rob.”
He cleared his throat over unfamiliar emotion and turned his attention to the others.
“What about phobias?” Nora continued as they got further acquainted. “Oren works with a guy who refuses to use an electric pencil sharpener. I detest all spiders. Even innocent granddaddy longlegs give me the creeps.”
“For me, it’s enclosed carwashes.” Paisley swung her hair over one shoulder. “With fear and trembling, I’ve managed to go through three times. I won’t attempt ever again. I had a hard, nervous time trying to hit the track right. The attendants gestured over and over which way to turn my steering wheel. They yelled for me to hit neutral. My insides were a mess. Then all I could think about was getting stranded inside and not being able to get out of my car while it poured colored soap bubbles.”
Sara skipped back in, giggling. “I love those carwashes. I like to make up stories about what’s hitting the windows. I’ll go with you next time, Paisley, so you don’t have to be scared.”
Paisley hugged and thanked Sara, and she scooted off again.
“You never confessed that carwash phobia to me.” Rob sounded dejected, even to himself.
“A girl has to keep some things to herself.”
Nora asked Paisley about her background.
Paisley flipped her long blonde curls to the other shoulder and, as usual, pooh-poohed her nomadic lifestyle. “Like Rob, I was born in northern California, where my father ran an organic salad-slash-sandwich shop in San Francisco, but he died when I was eight. Mom didn’t handle it well, and we moved
here to Norfolk to see if Aunt Rainbow could help. Mom preferred sunny California. From then on, we moved around from one place to another. Mom made life changes as often as I change hats.
“Then there came the day she got so depressed I had to do everything for her, until she died when I was in high school. So I guess I learned to go with the flow and don’t like to plan things to this day.”
“Does that mean you never went to college?” Nora asked.
“I took some design classes from time to time but they were nothing to use as background for a career.”
“What did you do on your last job in California?” Oren asked Paisley.
Rob caught himself delving into her golden eyes as she pondered her answer.
“I’ve done a little bit of a lot of things. Mostly enjoyed putting together floral arrangements, and I loved to give decorating pointers in the retail places I’ve worked. Nothing you’d consider permanent. I’ve been told I have a knack for color and shape. And was blessed to care for a vast flower garden I hoped to expand by adding herb beds, but the home owners decided to return and not relocate away from California. I was ready to find a new job and look for another place to live. Aunt Rainbow called me back to Nebraska to help.”
“Do you plan to stay here now?” Nora asked.
She turned Rob’s way as though he held the answer.
He said nothing, but his answer was for them to establish a home together where they’d set down roots. Ain’t gonna happen unless Paisley changes her pattern of roaming.
5
Outside Oren’s home, Paisley slowed her steps as Rob escorted her to the passenger side of the car. “Remember how we used to notice people and wonder what their circumstances were to make them behave the way they did?”
“Naturally. It was one of our favorite things to do. Why?”
One of these days, she’d see him wear a full smile. He was more relaxed, though, not so uptight.
Instead of starting the car, he stroked her arm. “They were probably going through something rough. I miss our times together, Pais.”
His comment brought tears to her eyes.
