Chapter 31

"Look who the cat dragged in!" Cal Porter called out. "I'd given up on seeing you today."

Seth inwardly winced. His boss was a good foreman and he'd been really understanding about Seth's need to be near Tabitha for the last week. Though Seth didn't regret a second that he'd spent by her side, Cal was counting on him to help get the finish work done so the new owners of the house could finally move in.

"Sorry about being gone so much. It couldn't be helped."

Cal slapped him on the back. "No apology needed. Lott told me you were visiting your girl at the hospital."

Surprised to hear that they'd talked, Seth scanned the front yard of the house until he found Lott's lanky form next to two of the more seasoned members of their crew. Some of the awkwardness he'd displayed when he'd first started his apprenticeship had faded. He now fit in.

"She's not a fan of hospitals."

Cal nodded. "That was where you needed to be." His voice lowered. "How's she doing?"

"She's better and home now." Mary had stayed with Tabitha her first night home. Now Melonie—and their mother—were over at Tabitha's. Seth couldn't believe how many things had changed so quickly. Or maybe it shouldn't have been such a shock. For years now, they'd all been in something of a holding pattern. It was like they'd all been waiting for the right moment to move forward. Though Seth would've preferred that Leon had never resurfaced, he was thankful for the changes that had occurred.

"That's good. Praise God."

"Yes." Glancing back at Lott, Seth noticed that he was grinning at one of the other guys. "How's Lott doing?"

"He's making progress. I received some good reports about his first weeks apprenticing, so I asked him to come to my house for the last three days."

"Yeah?"

"I wanted to spend some time with him before giving him more responsibilities."

"I hope he didn't let you down."

"Not at all. He worked hard and listened. Plus, he was good company. We got to know each other pretty well."

That was a surprise, but a welcome one. "I'm pleased."

Cal's eyes twinkled. "I hear he's courting your sister."

Seth groaned but figured he might as well get used to a little bit of gentle ribbing about Lott seeing Melonie. "Yeah."

"And how's that going?"

"I couldn't say."

"No?"

"My sister's not going to give me details, and Lott knows better than to say anything other than that he respects every last hair on Melonie's head."

Cal laughed. "Sounds like my family. We love each other but know our boundaries."

Seth grinned, liking the idea that the Zimmermans might start thinking of themselves as a family again too. "Boundaries are a good thing."

"You ready to work?"

"Yes, sir." Looking at the beautiful house that was almost complete, he said, "Where do you need me?"

"In the pantry." He waved a hand. "The owners got to thinking and decided they wanted to fancy up the space. More woodwork and new glass cabinet doors."

"I see."

"The lady has some kind of fancy pottery collection she wants to show off."

"Gotcha." The crew hadn't done anything but the basics in that room, on account of the owners wanting to keep at least some of the costs low. It seemed they had changed their minds. People always did, he reckoned.

Inside the house, everything was essentially finished. When they reached the pantry, he had to agree with the homeowners. It looked too basic and plain when compared to the rest of the house.

The room was little more than an enclosed hallway, about five feet wide and ten feet long. Cabinets covered most of one of the walls. On the floor were the replacement cabinet doors and baseboards. To his relief, they all had been coated with primer.

"What do you think?"

"It all looks easy enough."

"How soon can you finish it?"

"Tomorrow, most likely."

"I'll give you a bonus if you can do most of it today."

"Seriously?" Seth couldn't care less about the bonus. What he was concerned about was the fact that Cal was expecting him to work a miracle.

Cal grimaced. "I know you don't like to work so quickly, but I can't help the homeowners changing their minds all the time."

"You're right. I know it's out of your hands. I'll get to work. I could use an extra hand, though." Wanting to connect with Lott again, he said, "Any chance I could have Lott? He could help me get some of the prep work taken care of."

"That's not a problem. I'll send him in."

"Thanks, Cal."

Seth had just knelt down to look at the baseboards they were going to pull off when Lott walked into the room.

"Hiya, Seth. Uh, Cal told me to come help you."

"Yep. I asked for you."

"What would you like me to do?"

"Come here." Picking up the crowbar, he showed him how to carefully pull the existing baseboards from the wall. "See how I did it?"

"Jah."

"Go slowly, okay? We'll be able to use the baseboards someplace else in the future."

"We can't just pull them out and put them in the dumpster?"

"Nope. After you get the pieces off, remove the nails and clean the area. I'll work behind you and start putting the new ones in."

"All right." He removed a couple of nails and stopped.

"Hey, we've got to move a little quicker than that," Seth teased.

"Yeah, I know." Exhaling, he lifted the hammer again.

"Hold on." Moving closer, he placed his hand on Lott's shoulder. "Something's going on with you. What is it?"

"Nothing."

Keeping his voice low and steady, he said, "Care to tell me again?"

Lott met his gaze, then looked away. "Nothing. I ... I just don't want to mess up."

"I can understand that." He suspected Lott wasn't just talking about their current project, that he was talking about his relationship with Seth and his relationship with Melonie too. Since connecting with Lott was the reason he'd asked for Lott to work by his side, he figured it might be time to do just that.

Once the kid settled down a bit.

"Let's get started. After we make some progress, we'll talk."

Instead of acting relieved, Lott looked a little sick. "Okay." He picked up the crowbar, slid it into the small gap between the baseboard and the wall, and pulled hard.

The wood splintered and broke.

"Sorry."

"Do you see what you did wrong? I told you to go easy."

"I thought I did."

"Slow and steady, Lott. Try it again."

Lott slid the crowbar into the gap farther down and pulled with too much force again. The wood released in one piece, but just barely.

"Lott, you're not listening to me."

"I'm trying, but Cal told me that I needed to work fast."

"You need to work efficiently. That's different." Seeing that Lott still looked obstinate, Seth held out a hand. "Hand me the crowbar." When Lott did, he showed him how to gently pry the wood. "You see the difference?"

He frowned. "I guess."

Seth stood and pointed to the next section. Even though part of him wanted to take over the project, he knew that Lott needed to learn. He also needed to see that Seth believed in him. "Try it again. You'll get it."

It took another ten minutes, but finally Lott followed directions enough to get the next section of old baseboard up and the nails removed.

"Good. Now keep going."

Lott looked frustrated but nodded.

Ignoring Lott's attitude, Seth concentrated on measuring and using the miter board to cut the new wider baseboards. After another hour went by, all the old boards were stacked neatly, the area was clean, and Lott was helping him nail in the new boards.

"This looks better, doesn't it?" Seth said.

"Jah. I thought it was a waste of time, but I guess it wasn't."

"It wasn't. Rushing through things is rarely the best option. To do them right takes time."

Lott glanced at him. "Are you talking about just woodwork?"

"I might be talking about courting my sister too."

"I'm being careful with Melonie. I like her a lot." Blushing slightly, he stared down at the floor. "More than that, even."

"I'm glad. She's special."

"I agree."

Feeling like the words he said were going to matter, Seth added, "Just so you know, Melonie doesn't give her heart easily. Take care with it, okay?"

"I'm doing my best. I'm only calling on her properly so your parents don't get mad."

"I see."

Lott looked at him. "You aren't acting like that's a good thing."

"Oh, I'm sure it is. But, um, don't forget that she's still Melonie. Even though I'm not supposed to know about it, she's still the girl who snuck out to see you when my parents weren't happy about you calling on her."

"You want me to sneak around with her again?"

"No, but, um, if she needs you to sit in her living room on a formal call, then that's what you should do. And ... if Melonie needs you to talk about your feelings, then you're gonna need to do that too. Women like that sort of thing."

"Does Tabitha?"

"I think so." Feeling Lott's gaze on him, Seth swallowed hard. "I'm still trying to figure out a way to be the person Tabitha needs me to be. But I'm willing to try. And if I fail, I'm willing to try again."

"Falling in love is hard, isn't it?"

It hadn't been for him. He'd crushed on Tabitha when he was fourteen, ached for her when she was married, and spent the last two years building a new, more solid relationship between them. All of that had been hard.

Everything except falling in love.

"I think relationships are hard, Lott. Good ones, at least. I reckon that deciding who to marry is the most important decision in a person's life. The person who's beside you is going to help you be the man you want to be. She's also going to help you when you aren't." He grabbed the level, made sure the board was straight, and then added, "That's not just for now but for years and years, Lott."

"I never thought about marriage like that."

"Like you've pointed out a time or two, I'm no expert when it comes to a lot of stuff. But prison gave me some time to really think about things."

"Sometimes you act like going to prison wasn't the worst thing in your life."

Seth knew Lott was studying him carefully. "That's because sometimes it wasn't. Not every hurt is obvious to others, you know? Everyone's got something that aches that they don't like to mention."

Lott's eyes widened, then he nodded. "What's next?"

"Grab the screwdriver and start taking down the old cabinet doors."

Seth was pleased that the boy was now following his directions without question. Maybe the two of them were figuring out a lot of things about each other at last.

He reckoned that was a very good thing.