Okay, maybe she didn’t want to be with kids either. Maybe she should just lock herself away in her room for the rest of the day.
CHAPTER15
“You are not!” Dallas’s yell came from the family room.
Austin turned away from the stove where he was stirring the Hamburger Helper and looked at his boys.
“Am too,” Cody countered. “Miss Debbie said so.”
“No, she didn’t. You’re lying.” Dallas’s face grew red. A sure sign that things were about to get physical.
Austin loved his children, but sometimes being a single parent was exhausting. The last time the boys fought like this, it had been over the toilet. Cody had fallen in and had been mad at Dallas for days because he’d pushed him in.
On days like this, Austin longed for more adult conversation. That’s probably why he enjoyed working with Debbie’s brothers so much yesterday and spending time with her family. The whole day had been filled with laughter and good-natured teasing.
He’d ended up hitting it off with Scott and Rudy better than he’d expected as they talked about Debbie’s family and her philanthropic activities. He’d learned she funded several programs and projects in the small town of Providence, including the rebuild of the sports complex where his boys played soccer, and the reading program they participated in at school.
Learning how truly generous Debbie was only strengthened his attraction for her.
He’d been leery when her parents showed up. Guilt ate at him for taking over as foreman on the project her dad had started.
Thankfully, Bill Wheeler had been content to sit in a nearby chair and watch. He’d given a few instructions from his spot in the shade, but for the most part, he let Austin run the show.
Austin visited with Bill while they ate dinner and learned he had a lot in common with Debbie’s father. But where Austin had gone the commercial route, building multi-million-dollar apartment complexes, Bill had stuck with smaller, residential and renovation-type projects.
“No, I’m not!” Cody’s voice reached a feverish pitch, pulling Austin from his musings.
“Boys!” Austin walked into the family room. “What is our rule about arguing?”
Both boys turned to him with a scowl.
“To not,” Dallas mumbled. “But Dad, Cody says he’s a better swimmer than me.”
“Miss Debbie said I’m becoming an amazing swimmer.” Cody propped his fists on his hips.
Dallas turned on Cody again. “That doesn’t mean you’re better than me. I’m a good swimmer too.”
“Yeah, but she didn’t tell you you’re amazing.”
Austin shook his head and dragged his hand down his face. Debbie didn’t realize what praising one child and not the other would do to boys who were best friends yet still very competitive.
He put a hand on each boy’s shoulder and guided them to the coat closet. He could send them to their room, but when he did that, the problem either escalated to throwing toys at each other or flopping on their beds and ignoring the other without ever working through their issues. In which case, the problem continued to simmer between them.
He released the boys long enough to pull the vacuum from the closet, then he pointed inside and looked at Dallas and Cody expectantly. The closet was too small to ignore each other but big enough they didn’t have to touch.
They both scowled at him again.
“You can come out when you’ve worked this out and can communicate with each other respectfully.” When the boys finally stepped into the closet with a groan, Austin added, “Remember to think about how your words make your brother feel.”
He left the door partially ajar so they would have some light and returned to the kitchen where Savannah sat at the table doing homework.
“You know, Dad, one of these days, they are going to be too big to shove into the coat closet together.”
“I didn’tshovethem in the closet.” Austin shook his head then grinned. “But you’re right. I guess we’ll have to upgrade them to the bathroom at some point.”
“Eww, Dad.” Savannah pulled a face, and Austin laughed.
* * *
