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Chapter seventeen
“Big Bad Bruce.”
By Friday, Milo and Wilda had settled into a comfortable routine. They took turns making dinner every other night, and those couple of hours of dinner conversation, followed by kitchen cleanup, were becoming Milo’s favorite part of the day.
He dried the last dish while Wilda prepared the coffee machine for the morning. “What time should I set it for?”
“Hmm. Saturday morning…nine o’clock.”
“We need to finish the fireplace tomorrow. It’s the last thing in that room, and I’ve already moved on to the dining room.”
“You could’ve finished it this week.”
“We started it together. We’ll finish it together.”
“We’ll get it done.”
“So, no Rachel tomorrow?”
“She’s going to White City with my mother.”
“She’s like part of the family.”
“Rachel is the daughter my mother never had. Although now she has a few daughters-in-law.”
“Are all of your brothers married?”
“Four of them are. It seemed like it was never going to happen, then suddenly…” He shrugged. “I think it’s run its course for a while, though.”
“Would you mind reading to Caleb again tonight? He really enjoys it. Mathias used to do it, and I think it helps Caleb not miss his uncle as much.”
“I’d love to. Mathias will be home tomorrow, right?”
“Yes.”
“So, we don’t need to finish the fireplace if it’s going to interfere with your brother time.”
“I’m sure we’ll be able to fit it in. I’d love to mark one room as completely finished.”
“I guess I should start looking at pool tables.”
Milo was waiting in the living room for Caleb to get out of the bath. Caleb ran into the room with damp hair, smelling of bubblegum shampoo, and climbed up next to Milo. He had two books and set one aside, then handed the other to Milo.
“This one first.”
“Um…” Caleb’s words were clear, and he hadn’t whispered. Milo glanced over his shoulder to check whether Wilda was in the room, but she hadn’t followed Caleb. “Okay. We’ll read this one first, then the other.” He opened the book. “Do you know the title of this one?”
“Bad Bear.”
“Big Bad Bruce. An all-time classic.” He began reading about a bully bear who finds humility when a witch shrinks him to a few inches tall.
When he finished the book, Milo set it aside and turned to Caleb. “Would you like to be four inches tall?” Caleb shook his head. “It might be kind of cool.” Caleb picked up the second book. “Frenchie would be a giant monster that might think you’re food, though.” Caleb patted the second book. “Fine. What’s the title of this book?”
Caleb shrugged, then whispered, “Marco.”
“That’s right. Marco Takes a Trip to the City.”
“Read.”
