About Renovations 5: Mending Fences

by Anah Crow and Dianne Fox
26 pages / 15000 words
ISBN 978-1-60370-727-5, 1-60370-727-1
Available file types - html, lit, pdf, prc

Life for Toby and Ven has settled down into a new ideal; half of every week with Toby's girls and the rest of the time to themselves. When Brenda's parents come to take the girls for a weekend, it seems like the perfect time to relax. But what Toby's disapproving father-in-law has to say brings everything crashing down.

Suddenly, Toby and Ven are faced with losing time with Toby's girls because of their relationship. Ven considers moving out, and Toby can only hope that Brenda will be on his side, no matter what went wrong in the past.

Sample

"Did you remember to pack up your homework to take with you?" Toby asked, holding up a soccer-themed backpack. The girls were getting ready to spend their first weekend with their mother's parents since Brenda had started her continuing ed classes.

"Uh-huh," Josie mumbled, but she was too busy trying to turn herself into a pretzel to really be paying attention.

Ven shot Toby a knowing look, and Toby nodded, sighing. Ven turned to his brother, who was hovering in the doorway like an amiable bear. "Cake, you want to head over to the park down the street? Maybe Charlotte and Josie would like to play on the swings while me and their daddy get the rest of their stuff together."

Cake grinned, nodding. "Yeah, we can ride bikes. You all want to ride over and then we can go to the swings?" Cake had a bicycle at Ven and Toby's house, a gift from Ven so that he could go riding around with the girls. He was responsible enough to keep them from getting into trouble, and it kept the three of them busy when Ven and Toby had other things to do. Sometimes, other things did include each other; it was a relief sometimes to be able to grab a little time together that didn't involve parenting or work.

"The park!" Charlotte bounced up off her bed, dragging her doll along with her, and ran over to Cake. "I wanna go on the swings! Will you push me? Please? Please, please, please?" Josie was untangling herself to get to her feet, beaming. Both girls adored Cake, and they always seemed thrilled to get to play with him.

Cake swung Charlotte up in the air and then put her on his hip, looking about to bust with pride. He loved to get to be in charge. "You bet. I got my cell phone. You all gotta find your helmets. When we gotta get back?" He checked his watch to see what time it was, then let Josie check it, too. Sometimes, Josie was a little better at keeping track of time than Cake, who got so involved in what he was up to that he sometimes forgot to look at his watch, so she got to double-check.

Toby checked his watch, too. "About an hour, I think. Gramma and Grampa are supposed to be here around five, so they can take you two to dinner."

"We'll be careful not to get messed up," Cake promised Toby solemnly. Cake looked smart today in a white sweater, pressed jeans, and white sneakers. Since he'd moved into Greenwood, he'd started worrying about looking nice when he wasn't working. A man had to look sharp if he was going to keep up with the social scene over there. "Gramma and Grampa didn't come all this way to see a pair of little ragamuffins." He put Charlotte down so she could run and get her bike helmet from the girls' cubbies by the garage door.

Josie ran after Charlotte. "Wait for me! We gotta get our shoes on. Daddy, tell Charlotte to slow down!" A series of rapid patter-thuds signaled the girls' descent to the first floor, and the shouting finally trailed off.

Ven smiled, remembering Momma looking down at him and Cake -- he couldn't even remember what they'd done, maybe fallen in a dumpster going after a ball -- and saying how she'd sent two little boys out to play and got back a pair of dirty ragamuffins. "Thanks, Cake." He patted his brother on the shoulder. "I can run you home after the girls go on."

"You don't gotta do that," Cake said, elbowing him. "Some of us got plans; I'm sending Candy a text and she's comin' to get me. 'Sides. I don't wanna interrupt you all's busy stuff I know you gotta do." Cake rolled his eyes and elbowed Ven harder as Ven swallowed laughter. "I'm just bein' considering."

"Yeah, well, you just keep your thinking on us being busy to yourself around the girls." Ven's cheeks were warm and he gave Toby a sheepish look. Brothers were such a pain. "Some day, it'll be your turn."

"You bet I'm making you guys babysit for me." Cake shook his finger at Toby. The cell phone in a little holster on his belt beeped. "I gotta get that."

About the Author - Anah Crow, Dianne Fox