Near the cabin’s foundation where the wild brush had begun to wither under the threat of approaching winter, Warner discovered three more red-and-gold beer cans. He shoved the cans inside the large black plastic trash bag he carried.
“Damn Abe!” Warner exclaimed, as much frustrated at himself as at the previous owner.
“How do you know it was Abe?” Kendra asked.
“Did you see the cans in the back of his truck?” he replied, shaking his head in disgust. Continuing to walk through the thicket edging the worksite, he found more beer cans and thrust each one into the trash bag.
“That drunk tossed them everywhere!” his tirade went on. “Where the hell is Russ anyway? No wonder that guy has money trouble; he never shows up for work. It’s been seven days and he’s only given me six hours of the eighty he owes me. Here I thought I’d have the cabin roofed by Thanksgiving with Russ’ help—I must have been the one drunk off my ass believing I could pull that off. And what was I thinking—paying Russ in advance? I can be such a sucker sometimes.” He stared into the bag of beer cans and muttered under his breath, “Wonder if I can get our money back.”
Bella watched nearby with her typical quizzical expression when voices rose.
“This is exactly why I don’t want children,” Kendra said sharply, before easing her tone to add, “It’s not like I don’t like them, but you’re so damned irresponsible sometimes.”
“Irresponsible?” Warner turned to her wide-eyed. “I’m working two jobs trying to build the dream I’ve had since I was a kid. That’s hardly irresponsible.”
“That’s not the point. You should’ve told me before hiring Russ again. You even got into our retirement savings without telling me.”
“I did talk to you. You just weren’t listening.”
“No,” she said, “we discussed it and agreed we couldn’t afford it.”
“No,” he shot back, “you decided we couldn’t afford it. And this…,” he swung his arm out wide, encompassing everything from the garbage bag at his feet to the worksite and the trees beyond, “this doesn’t have anything to do with us having kids.”
“It has everything to do with it. You keep saying you’ll take care of the children if we have them, so I can keep my career, but every time you pull a stunt like this I wonder how long you’d stick to that promise. And once we had children, how long would it be before you ‘decide’ something else without telling me? At that point, I wouldn’t have a choice but to give up my career.”
“You know I’d never do that,” he said quietly.
Kendra let out a breath and her eyes softened. “I’m sorry, I know you wouldn’t.”
His eyes pleaded with her. “Give me the chance and I’ll prove it.”
“I know that look. The one you get when you set your mind to something,” she said with a smirk. “I guess I’ve been working so hard I didn’t realize how much everything’s catching up to me. You’ve always supported my career, so…. Can we talk more about this later?”
“You’ll actually consider having kids?”
“Slow down. There’s a few things we need to work out first, but yes, I’ll consider it. I do want us both to be happy.”
Turning away, Kendra picked up a can from the easy-to-reach edge of the bushes. While her lip curled in distaste, she held the aluminum between her thumb and forefinger before dropping it into her own trash bag. Continuing in silence, they were lost in their own private thoughts when Warner sat back with a smile, buoyed by Kendra’s words, and looked up at the cabin’s progress.
“It’s really going to be a beautiful home for our family,” he said.
The cabin’s first floor framing was complete, and four 28-foot columns rose into the sky, waiting for heavy roof beams to be hoisted across the top. Once those were in place with Russ’ help, they could hang the rafters and put on the roof deck. Then I can finally begin shingling before the wood frame is totally ruined.
The edge of something blue at the base of a wall near the middle of the foundation caught his attention. Setting his trash bag on the edge of the concrete slab, he walked through the forest of bare studs, leaned over, and picked up a blue tin cup partially filled with rainwater.
“How’d this get here?”
“Wasn’t me,” Kendra said. “Did you leave it out last week?”
Carrying the cup to the edge of the slab, Warner slung the water into the grass. As he set the cup beside the trash bag, he heard the sound of an engine and Russ’s orange Ford pickup crawled into view on Wa-Wilkin Road. Late again, but at least he showed up this time. Now I can get something done.
Moments later, Russ strolled up with a perceptible weave and the unmistakable smell of alcohol on his breath.