THE AFTERNOON SCENE NEARLY RESEMBLED THE NEW ORLEANS service project Lance had been part of a few years back. People pitching in, repairing, cleaning, painting. Part of his charge from Mr. Woods had been to take care of the house. And when he moved in, he’d seen lots of wear and tear, much of which—Trey now readily admitted—was collateral damage from parties. But Kendra’s care had taken precedence. Now, with Mr. Woods set to return on Saturday, Lance wanted to get it spruced up for him. But he was no handyman, so he’d sounded the call for help.
“How’s it going, guys?” He passed two friends from Living Word who were patching drywall in the hallway off the entryway. Wall damage there and in the lower level had been the biggest issue.
“It looked like somebody put a fist through the wall, if you can believe that,” one of them said.
“Oh, I can believe it,” Lance said.
The guy backhanded sweat from his brow. “We’ll be done with our part today, but it needs to dry. Then the painters can get to work on it.”
“Sounds great.” Lance patted them on the back. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your help.” He turned and watched another guy replacing pieces of cracked tile in the entryway. “Yours too, Mike. You guys are awesome.”
Mike kept at his work. “No problem, buddy.”
Lance peeked into the living room and gave a thumbs-up to Trey, who was steam cleaning the carpet.
In the kitchen, Darla worked to replace a few knobs and pulls that had been broken or ripped off entirely.
“I just told Kendra: God smiled on you all,” Darla announced. “They still make this style of pewter, and it was in stock.”
Kendra looked up from the kitchen table. “And I told Darla: God’s smiling on us by her being here to fix it.”
“No trouble for me at all,” Darla said. “It’s good for me to get away from the house and all of Bernie’s grousing.” She looked back at her. “I could’ve been over here all along helping with cleaning and such. I’m sorry I didn’t think of it.”
“Aw, thanks,” Kendra said. “Lance has actually been holding it down in the cleaning department. He may or may not be a little anal about it.”
“Who, me? Because I posted a cleaning schedule of which rooms need to be cleaned, when, and by whom?” He grinned. “With Trey, Molly, and me here, there’s no reason this house shouldn’t be spic-and-span on a daily basis.”
“That’s right,” Darla said. “Put the youngsters to work.” Her phone chirped, and she looked at it. “See, this is the problem with smartphones. Bernie can grouse over the airwaves.” She sighed. “Be right back. I’ll go see what he needs.”
“Be nice,” Kendra said, smiling. She sighed seconds later, looking at Lance. “I’m sad Molly’s leaving this week.”
“You told her she didn’t have to.” Lance got back to work on one of his own projects of the week—taking everything out of the pantry, throwing away expired goods, and wiping down the shelves.
“I know, but she thinks it’ll be awkward.” Kendra sipped some of the smoothie Lance had made for her. “And Brooklyn won’t be around while he’s here either, according to Ellen.”
“Well, what if he’s back for good?” Lance asked.
“I don’t know,” Kendra said. “But I understand Ellen’s position. She wants Dad to be the one to initiate a relationship. If Brooklyn’s over here, Ellen wants her to feel accepted and welcomed by him.”
Lance glanced at the dates on two boxes of cereal and tossed them out. “I have no idea what things will be like when your father comes, but the dynamics are about to change significantly.”
Kendra fell silent for a while. Then she said, “I almost wish my dad would stay where he is. I like the dynamics as they are.”