The Handyman's Dream (16 page)

“I don’t see why not,” Ed said, thinking of his own niece and nephew. “It’s not like I haven’t had any experience.” He smiled at Rick. “What the hell. If it means I get to spend more time with you, I’m all for it.”

* * * * *

Rick looked triumphant when he stopped to see Ed the next afternoon. “Guess what? The perfect excuse has come up for you to spend some time at my place. You can be the handyman and Uncle Ed at the same time. How are you with doorknobs and locks?”

Ed smiled at Rick’s eagerness. “Depends. What’s going on?”

“Well, the front door lock at that house has never been quite right. And this morning the doorknob came off in my hand.” Rick rolled his eyes. “You know, a nice little suburban house with everything guaranteed to fall apart. Anyway, do you think you could install a new doorknob and a new lock?”

“I’m seeing you standing there, holding on to that doorknob,” Ed said, and laughed. “I would have loved to have seen the look on your face.”

“And heard what I said, or would have said, if the kids weren’t around.” Rick laughed with him. “Can you do it?”

“Oh, sure. That shouldn’t be any problem. I’ve done it before. I’ll just have to look at it, then go over to the lumberyard for some new hardware. Easy stuff,” he bragged.

“My man, the handyman. He’s good at all kinds of things.” Rick grabbed him and sighed happily. “Here’s Claire’s idea. She thought you could come over Saturday in the afternoon and fix the door, then stay to supper. What do you think?”

“I can do that, on one condition.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, I’ll fix your door, and play with the kids, and be nice to your sister, and everything else, if, sometime later, Uncle Ed gets to spend some alone time with Uncle Rick.”

“No sweat, baby,” Rick said, kissing him. “No sweat.”

And so the plans for Saturday were set, at least until Rick called him later that day.

“Claire’s come up with another brainstorm,” he said with a good deal less enthusiasm than he had shown earlier. “She really wants to go to Fort Wayne and do some Christmas shopping for the kids. She was hoping I’d go with her, and you could stay and keep an eye on the kids while you fix the door. Then, when we get back to town, we’d stop at Gino’s and pick up pizza for all of us.”

“She wants me to babysit her kids?” Ed asked, surprised. “Boy, she really does trust me, doesn’t she?”

“Yeah. I told her I thought it was an awful lot to ask, but I promised to ask you anyway. It shouldn’t be too bad, though. Judy’s going to visit a friend down the street, so that just leaves Josh and Jane. And they’ll probably be happy with TV. Well,” he conceded, “Jane may drag out Candy Land, but I think you can handle that. But listen, baby, if you don’t want to do it, it’s okay.”

Ed thought for a moment. “Well, the door won’t take too long. I can certainly keep an eye on two kids watching the tube. And I do love those ice cream floats in Candy Land.”

Rick laughed. “Okay. You’re committed now. And have I told you yet today how much I love you?”

“Oh, I think you may have mentioned it.” Ed smiled into the phone. “But you can tell me again on Saturday. Hell, show me again after that pizza.”

“Mmm,” Rick moaned. “Pizza and Ed. What a combo! Who knows? I just may pick up an extra Christmas present for you, too.”

* * * * *

Saturday afternoon, Ed drove across town to Claire’s little ranch house in the Westside Hills subdivision. Ed, an east-side-of-town boy, had never spent much time on the far west edge of Porterfield, and he had to admit he much preferred the eastern section of town with its old, solid, established houses and full-grown trees. He suspected that Rick felt the same way, and allowed himself a brief dream of the two of them living in a graceful old home, not unlike Mrs. Penfield’s.

He quickly checked out Claire’s front door, and as he thought, it would be an easy fix. He drove over to the lumberyard/home-improvement store where he bought most of his supplies, thinking about his babysitting chore ahead of him.

Eleven-year-old Judy appeared to be an average sort of girl on the verge of adolescence. Eight-year-old Josh bore a striking resemblance to his Uncle Rick and clearly doted on him. Josh loved to read, Rick had said, and one of Rick’s favorite things to do was take Josh to the Porterfield library. Jane, at five, seemed to be more of a handful, and Ed hoped it wouldn’t take much more than a good rousing game of Candy Land to endear him to her.

Back at the house, Ed carried the new hardware and his toolbox in through the attached garage to the back door. Claire was in the kitchen, washing the lunch dishes. She smiled warmly at Ed as he walked in. Claire was several inches shorter than her brother, but their resemblance, from dark hair to identical warm smiles, was remarkable. Claire’s face seemed a bit worn from her troubled marriage, and her body had thickened considerably after three children. Still, Ed could see in her the pretty high school girl Rick had mentioned.

“This is so nice of you,” she said. “Between fixing the door and watching my monsters all afternoon, I feel like I should be giving you a lot more than some pizza.”

Ed smiled back. “Don’t worry about it. You know, I’d do just about anything for your brother.”

Claire hung up her dish towel to dry. “Yeah, I’m kinda aware of that, and I couldn’t be happier. Really. I can’t tell you how glad I am the two of you met and that things are going so well. It takes a lot of guilt off me, knowing that Rick is happy, after I practically dragged him here from Indianapolis.’

“You didn’t have to drag me,” Rick said, entering the kitchen. “Well, maybe a little bit, but it has definitely paid off.” He gave Ed a quick kiss. “Who knew Porterfield had such a cute handyman, hmm?”

“Oh, for . . . ,” Ed mumbled, blushing.

Claire, grinning, shook her head at her brother. “We sure don’t have to stop and see Santa at the mall. He already knows what you want for Christmas. Let me get my coat. And my gloves. It’s cold out. They’re talking about snow, did you hear?” she said as she walked out.

“Hey, kids,” Rick hollered. “Come say hi to Ed.”

All three of them straggled into the kitchen, murmured greetings, and listened patiently as Rick told them to behave themselves. Ed noticed that Josh and little Jane were obviously in the midst of some all-day-type sibling feud, but they had managed somehow to unite against Judy, the oldest, who seemed disgusted with both of them. Rick seemed oblivious to it in the way an insider is used to the serial dramas of kids, but Ed wondered what was brewing between them. He didn’t ask for details, figuring, at least for the moment, that what he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.

After Claire and Rick left, Judy immediately went to the bedroom she shared with Jane, practically slamming the door behind her. Josh and Jane went to the living room, Jane crawling up on the sofa to return to her television show, Josh to an easy chair to pick up the Highlights magazine he had left there. Ed hauled his stuff over to the front door. Music blared out of Judy’s room, Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall.” Well, at least she’s got good taste, Ed thought as he opened his toolbox, nervous though at the thought that the lyrics could incite open rebellion among the children.

“She thinks she’s so smart,” Josh muttered to Jane, glancing down the hall toward the bedrooms.

“I’m not talking to you,” Jane replied, eyes never leaving the TV screen.

Ed smiled, remembering his childhood battles with his sister. He just hoped open warfare would be avoided until after Claire and Rick returned.

The music stopped abruptly with the sound of a phonograph needle being yanked off a record. Ed winced. Judy appeared shortly after that.

“I’m leaving,” she said.

“Good,” said Josh and Jane together.

“I’m going down the street to my friend Angie’s house,” Judy said to Ed. “Mom said it was okay.”

“I know. Have a good time.”

“We’re going to make Christmas cookies,” Judy said, pulling her coat from the closet.

“Mmm, that sounds good. Think you’ll be able to spare some for a hungry handyman?” Ed asked with a grin.

“Oh, sure,” she said, buttoning her coat. “Which do you like best, the Santas or the Christmas trees? Or maybe wreaths. I think they have a wreath cookie cutter, too.”

“Christmas trees,” Ed replied, “with lots of green icing.”

“Yeah, me too.”

Judy searched her pockets for something. Mittens, it turned out. She pulled them on, then stood silently, staring at Ed. He looked back at her. He noticed, with empathy, her preteen awkwardness, but had no doubt she would be as popular as her mother had been when she hit high school.

“Ready to go?” he asked, made uneasy by her stare.

She blinked once, studying him further, a thoughtful frown on her face. “Uncle Rick spends a lot of time at your house, doesn’t he?” she finally asked.

“Uh, yeah,” Ed mumbled, searching his toolbox for another screwdriver.

“You don’t have any kids, do you?”

“No,” Ed admitted.

“Well, then.” She looked back at her brother and sister. “I don’t blame him. A bit,” she hollered in their direction. “I’ll see you later,” she said politely to Ed. “Bye.”

Judy left through the open door, as Ed breathed a small sigh of relief.

“Big turd,” Josh muttered.

“Shut up,” Jane said.

Ed went back to work, hoping to stay out of the crossfire. He examined the old doorknob. He agreed with Rick. Whoever had installed it had definitely done it on the cheap. The knob fell out and hit his knee.

“Aw, crud.”

Josh looked up from his magazine. “Can I help?” he asked, walking over to Ed.

Jane ignored him, still engrossed with Kukla, Fran, and Ollie, and the CBS Children’s Film Festival.

“Sure. You can hand me stuff when I need it. Here,” he said, giving Josh a screwdriver.

“Neat,” said Josh, his face lighting up.

Ed grinned at him. He felt as though he were dealing with a miniature Rick.

The two worked together, Josh eagerly handing Ed his tools, while Ed explained what he was doing. Josh leaned over and picked up the keys Ed had bought for the new lock.

“Can I hold these?”

“Well, okay,” Ed said. “But be really careful. We can’t lose them.”

“I will be.” Josh turned the keys over in his hand. “I like those colored keys they have better.”

“Sorry,” said Ed. “This was all they had at the lumberyard. Let’s just hope they work okay.”

It didn’t take too long for Ed to install the new knob and lock. He pushed the door shut and opened it, testing the knob, then locked and unlocked the door.

“Not bad,” he said, pleased with his work.

“Are we done already?” Josh asked.

“Nope.” Ed opened the door and walked outside. Josh followed him. “Now we need to see if the lock works okay from the outside.” He pulled the door shut. “Okay, Josh, hand me a key. Let’s see if it works.”

Josh got a stricken look on his face.

“Josh, I told you to be careful with those keys,” Ed said, twisting the knob. “Don’t you still have them?”

“No,” Josh whispered. “I knew you wanted me to be careful with them, so I put them on the table so I wouldn’t lose them.”

Ed tried the door again. Yep, it was locked all right.

Ed looked at Josh. Josh looked back at Ed.

“Aw, crud,” said Josh.

“It’s not the end of the world.” Ed peered through the glass to make sure Jane was still watching TV. “We’ll just go around through the garage and—”

Josh was shaking his head. “Mom always locks the kitchen door when she leaves the house.”

“Maybe this time she didn’t. You wait here.”

Ed walked around the house, through the garage, and tried the door to the kitchen. Damn, the kid was right. He walked back to the front steps, where Josh was banging on the door, hollering, “Let us in!”

“No,” Jane shouted back. “I’m still mad at you.”

Ed wished he had asked earlier what was going on with them. “Okay, what’d you do to her?”

“Nothing,” said Josh, sitting down on the steps.

“Come on, Josh.” Ed sat next to him. “I was mean to my sister all the time when I was your age. You can tell me. Maybe I can get her to unlock the door for us.”

Josh sighed. He looked up at Ed. “Promise not to tell?”

“Cross my heart.” Ed did just that.

“Well . . . she took some of the comic books Uncle Rick gave me this morning, just when I wanted to look at them. So I hid her teddy bear.”

Ed would have been amused if he wasn’t beginning to get cold. “Well, that’s no problem. Just tell her where you hid it. Then she’ll unlock the door for us.”

“I can’t,” Josh said, looking away.

“Why not?”

“’Cause I don’t remember where I hid it,” he admitted, rubbing his arms.

It was Ed’s turn to sigh. He noticed that Josh was wearing only a T-shirt with his jeans. The temperature couldn’t have been much above thirty degrees outside. It would be just great if the kid gets hypothermia while I’m incharge.

“C’mon,” he said, leading Josh over to his truck in the driveway.