Page 20 of Peach Tree Family

"It's nice to meet all of you," Theo told them.

"I don't see your car," Wyatt said to Theo. He must have been familiar with all the other cars there.

"We're walking," Theo said.

"I like to walk the kids sometimes, but it's been raining on and off," Wyatt said. He was right. It was sunny at the moment but threatening rain. "We can drop you off," Wyatt offered, but his words almost got drowned out by the noise of an old truck rumbling as it pulled up next to them.

Rico was at the wheel and he was pointing at Theo and Ace. "You two are coming with us," Rico said as he leaned out the old truck's windows and cut the engine so he could be heard. Theo was confused and then surprised to see Seth sitting next to him.

"That's our friend, Seth," Ace said excitedly.

"Hi everybody," Seth said to the kids.

"Grandma is dumping this old truck on you guys," Rico said to Theo and included Seth with a wave of his hand.

As Theo looked over at Seth, he ducked his head sheepishly. "I said how you didn't have a car, and it made it hard to furnish the house and pick up Ace, and then this happened." Seth spread his arms out helplessly.

"Isn't this Mr. Miller's truck?" Wyatt asked.

"It's famous around here," Rico said to Theo and Seth. "Mr. Miller used it to pick up junk, but he can't drive any more because his cataracts is so bad. So Grandma bought it off him as a favor. She didn't know what she was going to do with it, but now it's all yours and I don't envy you." Rico pointed at Theo and Seth both like they were supposed to share it.

"I can't... I mean..." Theo started to say.

"Keep it till you get something better," Rico told him. "Now give it a test drive." Rico jumped out of the truck and pushed Theo toward the open truck door.

Theo just stood there. "I can't drive this."

"I don't mind it," Seth said. He was still sitting on the passenger side. "This is only a little worse than the truck my grandpa drove. If it drives, it's good enough for me."

"It's good enough for me too," Theo said getting defensive. "I just can't drive a stick."

"That's no big. I'll teach you," Seth volunteered, but Theo hadn't actually accepted the truck.

"So what's the plan?" Wyatt asked.

"We're done with our delivery," Rico said. "Mitch is picking me up to do some work. He'll swing by here any minute."

Theo wondered what Rico and Mitch were to each other, but then Sammy asked, "Can I go with the kids and the new big kid?"

"Big kid," Rico said and he winked at Ace. "That's you."

Ace straightened up to look taller.

"He has to meet Barney and Brownie," Ry was saying.

"Our dogs," DJ said. "Can he?" As he sensibly looked from Wyatt to Theo, all the other kids did too.

"You need that driving lesson," Wyatt said to Theo. "You guys take the truck. I'll take Ace with us. Follow us to the house to see where it is and check the place out. Then after your driving lesson, you can come and get Ace."

It was clear Ace wanted to go so Theo agreed. They exchanged phone numbers, and Theo let Seth drive to the Hayes house and just watched what he did.

"It's easy once you get the hang of it," Seth said.

"Driving or telling people about my problems?" Theo asked him.

"Sorry. But you haven't met Mrs. Del Rio. She can't be denied," Seth claimed. "Did you know she was a showgirl in Vegas?"

Theo didn't see how that explained anything. Maybe Seth had a thing for showgirls.

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