Page 63 of Reaching Roland

“That's okay, Daddy,” he said, shuffling next to me back to the table. My gaze dropped to the ground, and I bit back a laugh. He’d stuck his much smaller feet into my slippers. It was ridiculously endearing that he was helping himself to my stuff.

Like a sleepwalker, he dropped into my lap like a rock. Good thing he was a little thing.

Stroking his hair back, I asked, “What do you want to do today?”

“Go to the Farmers’ Market after I take a six-hour nap.”

I chuckled softly. “Six hours? You’d sleep the day away.”

He sighed, tucking in closer. “That's okay as long as you're with me.”

I pictured myself trying to stay in bed that long and shuddered. Kenny opened one hazy green eye and snorted. “You can't do it, can you?”

“No, I really don't think I can.” I’d try for him, but I’d probably go stir-crazy.

He nuzzled his face into my shoulder, mumbling, “What are you doing out here?”

He knew I got up every morning and came out here. I’d sent him pictures of the birds in my yard. His body was up, buthis brain hadn’t fully woken up yet.“Having a cup of coffee and researching some things about starting a business online.”

“That's a good idea,” he said, sounding like he was falling back to sleep.

“Would you like me to bring my laptop into the bedroom, and I can sit on the bed while you sleep?”

“Nah, I’ll wake up sooner than later. Just talk to me.” He curled into a tighter ball on my lap. He was definitely not waking up anytime soon.

“What would you like to know?”

He let out a jaw-cracking yawn, which sounded painful, then asked, “How did you get so handy?”

I laughed. “That would be from buying an absolute piece of crap house.”

“I didn't know you ever owned another home. I thought you raised Cameron here.”

“I did. We did, but we had him so young that I had to work my way up from the bottom in my company. I started in the mailroom.”

That popped his eyes open. “Really?”

“Yep. We both wanted Rhonda to stay home with Cameron, so everything was up to me. I worked in the mailroom, with the goal of working my way up in the company, and then I did other side jobs like pumping gas or delivering pizza.”

“No way. I can't even picture that.”

My mind wandered to those early days. We were so young, so full of hope, but it had been hard work. Both financially and emotionally. “I was willing to do whatever it took to provide for my family. I really wanted to get us out of the apartment we were in because it wasn't in the best part of Takoda. So, I busted my ass, saved money, and when I bought this house, it was an absolute disaster, but it was all I could afford.”

“So you got a fixer-upper with the intention of repairing it yourself?” he asked, getting more alert as he got into the story.

“That's right. And let me tell you, that's what happens when you think you know what you know, but you don't really know anything.”

“What's that supposed to mean, Daddy?”

This didn’t feel like that interesting a story, but I loved how intently he listened, how much he cared about every little thing I shared with him. It had been this way since our first serious conversation in the salon, and I’d found myself craving more of his time. “I had to teach myself how to do everything. I spent a lot of time at different hardware stores, picking the brains of anyone who was willing to share information with me. There were certain things I didn't attempt, like electrical stuff, but everything else, I was determined to save us money and do it with my own two hands.”

“Wow. That's impressive.”

Chuckling, I shook my head. “Rhonda sure didn't think so. It probably costs us more with how many repairs I had to do on all of my repairs than if I'd just saved up money and hired a professional in the first place.”

“Yeah, but look at you now. You're about to start a new venture as a honey-do handyman.”

I'd announced that last night, but I was still letting it sink in. It was hard to imagine leaving the corporate world after I worked so hard to climb that ladder. I hummed in agreement.

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