Where Secrets Lie (7 page)

“
All the wood is supposed to be labeled with a tag.” He handed the piece to her. “Am I missing something? Can you see a tag anywhere on this?”

Lee looked the piece over. “Nope.”

Jack pulled several more pieces from the box.

“
None of these have tags on them either.”

Lee peered into the box. “I think I see why.”

“
Yeah?”

“
Look on the bottom of the box. Are those tags?”

Jack looked into the box.

“
Yep, that’s them all right. Damn things all fell off.”

“
So what do we do now?”

“
It’s not a problem. We’ll just use the parts list to label them ourselves after we get them all unpacked. It’ll take longer, but it’ll work.”

When they got all the boxes unpacked, the floor of the two-car garage was covered.

“
Can we help?” Sara and Katie ran into the garage.

“
No,” Lee said. “Let’s go back inside and start another video. Whose turn is it to pick?”

“
Mine,” Katie said.

“
But I’d rather help,” Sara said.

“
Me too.” Katie often mimicked her older sister.

Before Lee could object, Jack picked Katie up. “Do you know where Daddy keeps the tape measure?”

“
Uh huh.” Katie nodded.

“
I know where it is!” Sara said and ran into the house.

Katie wiggled out of Jack’s arms and ran after Sara.

“
You don’t have to do this,” Lee said. “They’ll be happy with the video once it starts.”

“
But isn’t this for them?”

“
Well, yeah.”

“
I don’t mind if they help. There’s plenty of ways we can keep them busy.”

“
All right, but you can change your mind if they start getting on your nerves.”

Both girls ran back into the garage.

“
Here it is.” Sara handed the tape measure to Jack.

“
Thanks, now we’ll also need a pencil.”

Lee sent Sara into the house to get a pencil, and Katie trailed after her.

Jack gave the parts list to Lee. “Once we get the measurement you can look it up on this, and tell us how to label it, ok?”

“
Ok,” Lee said.

Sara and Katie returned with the pencil. Jack told Sara to hold onto it. He pulled the end of the tape measure out and handed it to Katie.

“
You take this and pull on it until you get to the other end of this piece of wood. I’ll stay at this end.”

Katie got to the other end.

“
Now hold it against the edge of the wood. You have to hold it steady, that’s it.”

Jack read out the measurement.

“
It needs a ‘D’ on it,” Lee said.

“
You’re up,” Jack said to Sara.

“
You want me to write it?”

“
Sure, right here on the end. Write it big enough that we’ll be able to see it.”

Sara wrote the letter. Jack looked at Lee.

“
Once it’s put together we’ll erase anything that’s visible,” he said. “Now, let’s do the next piece.”

They progressed around the garage until they labeled all the wood. Usually, Katie needed Lee’s help situating the end of the tape measure, but once it was set she wanted her mother to let go, so she could hold it in place by herself. Lee marveled that the girls never lost interest, and Jack never lost patience.

They went into the back yard, and Lee showed Jack where she wanted the swing set. The two of them measured out the space, and Jack marked the four corners with large rocks he carried from the front yard. The girls ran around the back yard playing.

Jack and Lee brought out the first pieces to assemble. Lee held a bag of screws and handed one to Jack. He started to screw the pieces together using a power screwdriver.

“
Uh oh,” Jack said.

“
What’s wrong?”

“
The wood’s starting to split. See that little crack?”

Lee looked where Jack was pointing.

“
So what do we do about it?”

“
We’ll have to drill pilot holes. The directions said they weren’t necessary, but this crack says they’re wrong. Have you ever used a drill?”

“
No,” Lee said. Paul never let her near his power tools.

“
It’s easy, I’ll show you.”

Jack went into the garage and came out with a cordless drill and a box of drill bits. He opened the box, selected a bit, and handed it and the drill to Lee. He showed her how to loosen the drill’s vise, slide the bit in, and tighten the vise around the bit. The proper location for the holes was pre-marked on the wood.

“
Now, place the bit on this mark. Make sure you keep the bit perpendicular to the wood. Pull the trigger and apply light pressure, let the drill do the work.”

Lee started to drill the hole.

“
That’s it.”

Lee reached the end of the wood.

“
Now keep the drill going as you draw the bit out of the hole. That’s all there is to it. What do you think?”

Lee was beaming. “Pretty easy.”

“
Told ya, now you can use that bit for all the pieces that require this size screw.”

Jack circled a screw on the parts list.

“
You’ll need to change to this bit for the other pieces,” he said. “Sound good?”

“
Yeah.”

“
Great, let’s do it.”

Lee drilled the pilot holes, and Jack assembled the pieces. The girls decided they wanted to help again, so Lee had them carry out the smaller pieces of wood. Once they finished that, she had them group the pieces by their labels, which made it easier for Jack to find them.

They stopped once for a lunch break. By the time Paul came home with pizzas for dinner, the set was halfway assembled.

“
Yay! Daddy’s home!”

The girls ran into the kitchen to greet him. Sara reached him first and jumped up. Paul caught her and swung her around. After he put Sara down, he picked Katie up and tossed her straight up in the air. When he caught her, he gently shook her back and forth.

“
How’s my munchkin?”

In between giggles, Katie said, “I helped measure.”

“
You did?”

Paul looked at Lee who joined them in kitchen, and she nodded.

“
Well good for you.” Paul put Katie down. “How about you, Sara? Did you help measure too?”

“
Nope, I labeled.”

“
You what?”

“
I wrote letters on the wood. Here, I’ll show you.”

Sara grabbed Paul’s hand and tried to pull him toward the back yard.

“
You can show me after dinner, I’m starved.”

“
Me too,” Katie said.

Lee put out paper plates and napkins, and Jack walked into the kitchen. Sara and Katie began to pull pieces of pizza from one of the boxes.

“
Can we eat outside, Mom?” Sara asked.

“
Absolutely, help your sister with her plate. I’ll be right out with some milk.”

Paul went to the refrigerator and pulled out three beers. “You two ready for one of these?”

“
Yes,” Jack and Lee said in unison and laughed.

The three of them went out to the patio. Paul looked at the partially assembled swing set.

“
You made good progress considering the girls were in the way.”

“
Daddy,” Sara said, “we weren’t in the way. We did a good job.”

“
You certainly did,” Lee said.

“
Can we help tomorrow too?” Sara asked.

“
Oh, I don’t think so. Most of what’s left requires tools that are too dangerous for you to use.”

“
Awww, can’t we do something?” Sara looked at Jack.

Jack winked at her. “We might be able to think of something.”

Lee turned to Paul. “Will you be here tomorrow?”

“
Afraid not. I fixed the problem we knew about, but now I have to recheck everything to make sure no other mistakes were made. It has to be done before Dad meets with the client on Monday. Sorry, Jack.”

“
It’s all right. We should be able to finish anyway.” Jack looked at Lee. “Don’t you think?”

“
You bet.” Lee smiled at Paul. “Jack taught me how to drill today.”

Paul’s eyes bulged. “Really?”

“
Don’t look so shocked.” Lee slapped Paul’s leg playfully. “It’s insulting.”

“
She’s a natural,” Jack said. He turned to Lee. “Since you’re done with the pilot holes, I’ll bring my power screwdriver tomorrow, so we’ll both have one. We’ll finish even faster.”

“
She’s going to use my power screwdriver?” Paul feigned an appalled look.

Lee slapped his leg again. “Stop it.”

“
I’ll teach her to use mine, if it makes you feel better.”

“
Much better.” Paul grinned at Lee.

Lee stuck her tongue out at Paul, and the girls giggled.

~

The next morning, Paul had already left for work when Jack walked into the kitchen toting a large plastic shopping bag.

“
What have you got in there?” Lee asked.

“
You’ll see, where’re the girls?”

“
Out back.”

They went into the back yard, and Lee called the girls over. Jack emptied the bag’s contents onto the patio, and the girls squealed with delight. There was a toy drill including bits, which made drilling noises and rotated in forward or reverse and a toy toolbox containing a hammer, a screwdriver, pliers, a wood saw, a level, and a tape measure.

Jack showed the girls how to use each tool and explained how they could use them on the swing set to pretend assemble it. The girls ran over to the swing set with their new tools in tow.

“
What a great idea,” Lee said.

“
Thanks.”

“
And a really sweet thing for you to do.”

“
I brought you something too.”

Jack pulled a power screwdriver from his back pocket.

“
Only problem is, you have to give it back.”

Lee took the screwdriver from him.

“
In that case, I promise not to get too attached to it.”

Jack chuckled. “Not much chance of that.”

“
Oh, I don’t know, I’m beginning to see the allure of power tools.”

Jack groaned. “Don’t tell Paul, I don’t think he’d ever forgive me.”

“
It wouldn’t hurt him to learn to share.”

“
Oh yes it would,” Jack said.

They both laughed and walked over to the swing set. Jack showed Lee how to operate the screwdriver, and they divvied up the remaining tasks. By lunchtime, the swing set resembled the finished picture in the instructions.

“
I can’t believe we’re almost done,” Lee said.

They were sitting at the patio table eating sandwiches with the girls.

“
Can we play on it now?” Sara asked.

“
Not until it’s done,” Lee said.

“
The slide’s done,” Katie said. “I want to play on the slide.”

“
No, you have to wait until the whole thing’s done. It’s not safe until then.”

“
Awww… Mom,” both the girls said.

“
Your mother’s right,” Jack said. “Don’t worry, it won’t take much longer.”

“
Can I use our drill?” Katie asked. “I like the drill.”

“
Sure,” Lee said. “You two go get started. We’ll be right there.”

The girls ran over to the swing set and started using their toy tools.

“
How much longer do you think it’ll take?” Lee asked.

“
A couple hours tops.”

“
I can’t wait.” Lee jumped up and gathered their lunch dishes together. “I think I’m almost as excited to finish it as they are.”

~

By mid afternoon, Lee and Jack were lounging on the patio, drinking beer, and watching the girls crawl all over the swing set.

Lee’s aching muscles were assuaged by the sense of accomplishment she felt. She actually played a part in putting that enormous thing together.

“
It’s even bigger than I thought it’d be,” Lee said. “The girls look so small on it.”

“
Yeah, especially Katie.”

The phone in the kitchen rang.

“
I better go get that.”

Lee ran into the house. Several minutes later, she came back out.

“
That was Paul, he found more problems, he’ll be home late.”

“
Tough way to spend a weekend,” Jack said.

Lee agreed, but she was accustomed to it. Paul’s job often required him to work odd hours in order to meet a deadline, straighten out a problem with an account, or appease a client.

Being in charge of their office in Denver had a lot to do with it. Besides the extra workload associated with the responsibility, there was the commute. Sometimes, Paul went to the gym after work to wait out rush hour, but whenever he did, by the time he got home the girls were already in bed.