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“Next week, you boys are going to be busy,” he says. He uses a stick to briskly stir the fire, which makes a shower of sparks rain down.
“Busy doing what?” Jake asks, and I can already see him bristling in the way he sits up straight.
“I’m having a load of lumber delivered so I can build that storage shed I’ve been talking about.”
“What’s that got to do with us?” Jake says.
“Who else would do the building?” Mr. Jacobson says, his voice full of snark.
“Pop,” Jake chides. “I’ll build your building.” He looks at the other two. “You guys are off the hook.” But he obviously isn’t happy about it.
“I’ll help,” Aaron says.
“Me too,” Eli chimes in. “But you’ll have to supply the beer,” he adds.
“Done,” Mr. Jacobson says.
I think I hear Jake mutter the words “manipulative bastard” but he does it so quietly that I can’t be sure.
But then Mr. Jacobson stands up, stretches, and says, “But this manipulative bastard knows how to get shit done.” Then he takes a small bow and adds, “And this manipulative bastard is taking his ass to bed.”
“Don’t go away mad,” Jake says. “Just go away.”
Mr. Jacobson shoots him the bird, but he’s grinning when he does it. As he walks by Katie, he gently scruffs the top of her head. “’Night,” she says.
After the door closes behind him, Jake says, “He’s really good at getting what he wants. I told him two weeks ago I’d build that damn shed.”
“We don’t mind,” Aaron says. “It might be fun.”
Jake stares at him like he has lost his mind. “Building anything is not fun. Not with Pop. He’ll gripe the whole time, and I’ll end up yelling at him, and Katie will be so mad at me that I won’t get any.”
“Eww,” Gabby says from the chair where she’s curled up by the fire.
I laugh. “So, you know you can avoid all that,” I say. “Just be nice to him and you’ll still get laid.”
“He makes it impossible to be nice to him,” Jake explains. “Manipulative bastard,” he says again under his breath.
The baby monitor that Katie has had tucked in her pocket goes off, and we all freeze as we hear Mr. Jacobson’s voice over the monitor. He must have gone in with the babies, who went to sleep before the sun went down. “Your daddy thinks he’s smart,” he says quietly to one of the little ones. “But he’s just a jackass who thinks he knows everything. Here. Let’s pull your covers up. No, no, don’t wake up,” he says quickly as he makes a shushing noise. “Your daddy’s hoping to get laid. If you wake up, it’ll ruin all his plans.”
“Oh, jeez,” Jake says as he buries his face in his hands and growls. “Pop!” he says to no one.
“We had better get to bed,” Katie says, and she rounds up Trixie and Alex amid mild protests. Trixie’s great big dog follows her into the house, after Sam picks her kitten up from between his humongous paws where it had been sleeping. “Good night, everybody,” Katie says.
“Somebody put the fire out,” Jake says, and he drains the last drop of his beer.
“We’ll take care of it,” Aaron volunteers.
Jake, Katie, and their brood disappear into the house, shutting the door behind them.
I look over and find that Kerry-Anne has fallen asleep in her chair. Her head is cocked at an uncomfortable-looking angle and she’s out cold.
“I’ll help you carry her to bed,” I say. “You want to get the fire?” I look up at Eli, who nods.
I push myself out of Eli’s arms and stretch, the cool night air even colder against my sweat-dampened skin. We were all still damp from the earlier soaking. Katie had handed out some towels and we all got dried off by the fire as much as possible.
I watch Eli adjust his junk as he stands up and I raise my eyebrows at him. He gives me a comical grin in return, which makes me snort.
“You guys look happy,” Aaron says quietly.
