“I am killing it when it comes to my recovery,” she announced.
He stuck out his hand and she high-fived it.
In Medicine Creek, they stopped at Bright Beginnings. It was Josh’s week with Shane, so they picked up both boys.
Shane and Dillon bickered all the way to the house. When they got there, Josh called a time-in upstairs in Dillon’s room.
A time-in was a gentler version of the classic time-out. For five minutes, no words were used. The boys were given the choice to simply sit quietly or choose a book to look at while they calmed down. After that, they talked, which consisted of them complaining about each other for a couple of minutes. Then Josh asked them each to say their favorite thing about the other. Silence.
But finally, Shane volunteered, “He shares. Mostly.”
Dillon agreed that Shane shared, too.
Josh asked them if they were ready for a hug. They scowled at each other, but only for a few seconds.
Then Dillon said, “Okay, yeah. I am ready for a hug.”
Shane gave in then and agreed that he was ready for a hug, too.
A little later, the two went out in the backyard with Roger, where they threw Roger his ball and bounced around on the trampoline.
In the house, Josh brought Riley up to speed on the boys. “Crisis resolved,” he said. “At least for now.”
“Good.” She gave him a weary little smile. “They argue and needle each other a lot lately.”
“Yeah, but they always make up. They fight, but most of the time they seem closer than ever.”
“They do,” she agreed. “They really do.”
That night, Riley served slow-cooked chicken with heavy cream, sun-dried tomatoes, parmesan cheese and what she called her “secret spice blend.” Their bickering forgotten, the boys set the table. Riley got the pasta going, and Josh cut up a salad.
When they sat down, Josh suggested they make a toast to Riley and the great job she’d done to heal her injured ankle.
“We’re having toast?” asked Shane.
Josh explained the special kind of toast he was talking about. And then Riley got three cans of sparkling raspberry water from the fridge. Josh had a whiskey and soda. The boys raised their cans high, announcing, “Get well, Riley!” and “Go, Mom!”
Later the four of them played a rousing game of Spot It.
It was a great evening, Josh thought. He really liked where things were going lately. They might not actually be a family—not yet. But the past few days he’d let himselfget his hopes up again that eventually they just might become one.
Eight o’clock came around too soon. Riley read the boys a story, and Josh tucked them in.
Once the lights were out, Josh whispered, “Good night, you guys.”
Shane yawned. “’Night, Dad.”
And Dillon said, “’Night, Josh…”
In the dog bed a few feet away, Roger wagged his tail. Josh went over there and gave him a quick scratch behind the ears before slipping out the door and pulling it silently closed behind him.
Across the square of upstairs hallway, Riley stood in the open doorway to her room. Her eyes were soft as a summer sky. He drank in the sight of her, his gaze slowly straying downward from her unforgettable face framed by that soft halo of red hair to her two bare feet planted firmly on the floor.
“They give you any trouble?” she asked in a hushed tone.
“Nope. All bickered out—at least for tonight.”
“Well, that’s a relief.”
