“Why not?”
“He got mad. Told me I was treating him like a child.”
Jewel laughed. “Well, he acts like a child.”
“That’s true. But he was insulted. He ripped off all the labelsand dumped out all the drawers. Now our bedroom is a giant mess.”
“Oh, Mom.” Jewel patted her back. “I’m sorry.”
“I told him to clean it up.”
“Good.”
“But I doubt he will. And if he does, who knows where he’ll put things. We may never find anything again.” She looked up with misty eyes. “But maybe it doesn’t matter. For all I care, he can go commando.”
Jewel laughed.
“Sometimes I think I should just step back, let him make his messes and live in them and suffer the consequences. I used to think that was a good way for kids to learn.”
“Do you think it would work with Dad?”
Mom slowly shook her head. “No. By tomorrow he won’t even remember what happened today. Consequences are meaningless to him. So it’s pretty much pointless. Besides, if I let his messes remain, I have to live in them too. And I can only take so much chaos.”
“It’s a pickle for sure.” Jewel reached for an old straw hat that no one seemed to claim. “I’m going out to water the garden before it gets too hot out. Unless you’d rather do it. In that case, I can ride herd on Dad.”
Mom jumped to her feet, grabbing the old hat from Jewel. “I’ll take the garden, thank you very much.”
Jewel smiled. “Good choice. By the way, Aaron just texted me with exciting news. He said we can expect the delivery of the new house sometime this afternoon.”
“I thought it was delayed until next week.” Honey pursed her lips. “I wonder how your dad will react.”
“Guess we’ll find out.”
“Speaking of Aaron Hanford.” Mom put the straw hat on. “Did you ever get a chance to talk to Miguel about all that?”
“All that? You mean his relationship with his brother-in-law?” Jewel knew that’s what Mom meant, although she sort of regretted how she’d confided in her now. She’d prefer to forget thewhole thing. “I haven’t seen Miguel since last night. I probably offended him.”
“Well, I suspect you’re making more of it than he is. I watched the way he was with you, Jewel. Something was—”
“Oh, Mom.” Jewel gently but firmly nudged her mother toward the back door. “You better get to that garden before your plants are scorched. Don’t want to send your lettuces into shock.”
But after her mom left, Jewel let her mind wander. Should she try to square things away with Miguel? She still felt badly for the way they’d left it that night. But maybe her mom was right, maybe she was overblowing it in her head. Besides, she wasn’t sure what to say. She did want him to understand there was nothing between her and Aaron, and she really hoped there was a way the two men might repair their relationship. As much for Anna’s sake as anyone’s. After all, Aaron was her uncle, and the Oroscos didn’t have many relatives around here. Okay, she promised herself, if the opportunity arose, she would at least try to talk some sense into Aaron.
In the meantime, she knew she should check on her dad. He was clunking and thumping around in the master bedroom like something was amiss. Hopefully he hadn’t tripped over his cane. As she tapped on his partially open door, she imagined him thrashing around helplessly. When he didn’t answer, she tapped a little harder. “Dad?” she called. “Everything all right in here?”
“No,” he growled.
Recognizing her invitation to enter, she found him sitting on the bed with clothes and empty drawers strewn all over the place. “Sounded like you were remodeling in here.”
“Remodeling?” He looked up with a bewildered expression, a reminder to her that he was word challenged and took everything literally. Humor was lost on him. Well, unless it was his joke.
“What happened?” she asked lightly. “Who made this mess?”
“Honey did it.”
“Oh...?” She felt her brows arch. “So Mom did this?”
“Treats me like a child,” he grumbled.
