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“Will do. We need to run to my parents’ house and get a tire and some chain.”
“I’ll be here removing wallpaper in the dining room.”
“Have fun.”
After breakfast, Milo and Caleb drove to the family home and found John in the garage working on an unidentifiable object at the workbench.
“Hey, Dad.”
“Milo. Who do you have there?”
“This is Caleb.”
“Nice to meet you, Caleb. I’m John.”
Caleb leaned against Milo’s leg. “We came by to pick up that tire and chain for the swing.”
“I put them in the back of my truck. I thought we’d bring a couple different sized tires and see what works best.”
“We?”
“I also thought you could use some help.”
“That’d be great, Dad.”
John went to the sink and washed his hands. “I’ll follow you back to your place. Did you say hi to your mother?”
“Not yet.”
“Go see her. I believe she just pulled a batch of cookies out of the oven.”
“We’ll go see Mom.”
He took Caleb’s hand and headed for the house, then followed the smell of cookies to the kitchen.
Allie smiled when she saw them. “Just in time.” She picked up a cookie and held it out to Caleb. “Peanut butter.”
Caleb took it from her and took a bite.
Milo cocked his head. “Your son would like one, too.”
Allie handed him a cookie. “Here you go, sweetheart.” She held up a plate wrapped with foil. “And a few for the road. Make sure you save some for Wilda.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He took the plate. “We need to run, but thank you for the cookies.”
“Anytime. I’m still waiting for you to bring Wilda and Caleb over for dinner.”
“Yeah…we’ll do that soon.”
“Bye, Caleb.”
He waved and whispered, “Bye.”
Allie looked at Milo, and he nodded. “Yep. Things are coming along.”
“I’ll see you soon.”
They returned to Milo’s house, and John took charge of the tire swing project. Milo was fine with that. His father could build or fix anything.
