“Mom, stop. Let’s get this haircut done. I don’t want to keep Libby waiting.”
D.J. sitting was nearly as tall as a standing J.J. Her sons had gotten their father’s “muckle” size. Which was apparently a Scottish term she’d learned from Dean long ago. It applied to any Tucker she’d met, man or woman. She was the odd shorty out in any Tucker gathering.
J.J. moved the pile of garbage off the table and onto the counter. There didn’t seem to be a working garbage can or bag.
She headed to the trailer window. “I’m never going to get used to the man smell, never.” But it was more than that. The work trailer, the one Dean had kept meticulously neat and tidy, looked more like a college dorm.
She opened a window as D.J. sat down. She slid a cup of the coffee she’d brought in front of the man-child she called her eldest.
She opened her bag, pulled out her water spray, and got going on the boy’s hair.
The outdoor air helped make the trailer air breathable, and the coffee perked D.J. up a bit.
J.J. didn’t want to confront her son on the lie she’d caught him in, nor the one she’d told Libby to cover up for it. She did want to see how far he’d take it.
“So, how did the tile pickup for Libby go?”
“What?”
“The tile pick up, the reason you canceled our spa day, son of mine.”
“Oh, yeah, I got that messed up. Date wise. My schedule is nuts. Wound up putting out another fire instead. You know how it is. I understand Dad a lot better over the last few months working with Libby and managing Austin and the crews. The whole thing. Did you know Austin is dating a new girl? Did he tell you?”
And they moved away from the work conversation. J.J. listened to her son explain his opinions on Austin’s love life and his prediction on when they’d be done with the downtown projects, and he shared some of Libby’s thoughts on who she wanted to lure to downtown Irish Hills.
He was funny, insightful, and just easy to be with. She forgot the lie and chalked it up to a misunderstanding. She missed her sons. She didn’t want to nag or be the fun police, so she just enjoyed the time she had with him as she cut his mop.
The little boys whom she did everything for were now men who had girlfriends, adventures, misadventures, and even shopped for clothes without her.Imagine!
It was still a strange thing to get used to, going from being everything for the three men in her life, to now, to being, being whatever a woman with grown children is.
WatchShark Tanksometime. None of the women walk in with their invention and say, “My kids are grown, and I have this great idea now that I have time!”
No, it’s all announcers declaring that this “mommy” has a great idea. Mommy is the shortest of the mothering you do, but yet somehow, it defines you to the world.
J.J. decided what her son needed was a little help. After all, she’d helped Dean build this business. She knew more about it than anyone else. It stood to reason that her young son, trying to manage it, would need a little time to get up to speed.
J.J. ran a comb through D.J.’s hair, making sure each side was even. And then she made her offer.
“Hey, looks like you could use an office assistant.”
“Yeah, not in the budget.”
“Well, how about your old mom and OG partner in Tucker Construction spend some time organizing for you this morning?”
“Don’t you have a million-dollar salon to set up with Stone?”
“I do, yes, but I’m just waiting on some equipment to be delivered today and can’t do much until it comes in. So, how about I just tidy up? File some of this, uh, paperwork.” She picked up a hamburger wrapper and threw it at the wall to emphasize her point.
“I know. I know. It’s a mess. I just have a lot to do. I don’t have time for the paperwork.”
“I’m not trying to bust your chops. I just want to help you.”
“I can handle this.”
“Dean Tucker Junior, this is a lot of work, this business, and you’re getting my services for a morning for free. Did I say free? Your dad was a dufus, but he wasn’t one to pass up an office assistant for a morning. You just go actually do what Libby needs you to do.”
J.J. walked in front of her son and raised her eyes. She wanted to keep it light but also reassure him that asking for help was a sign of maturity, not youth.
