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Drew didn’t pause. Instead he asked, “What happened to your dad?”
“He died from lung cancer.”
“Did he get it because he smoked? Cigarettes are bad for you.”
Noah shook his head. “No, my dad didn’t smoke. He was a firefighter, and they have a higher risk of dying from cancer than the average person.”
“A firefighter!” Drew’s eyes rounded. “Oh, wow. So he was a hero?”
“Yeah, he was a hero. Now shut up and drink your milk, kid.”
His mouth in the mug, Drew muttered, “It’s not nice to say shut up.”
“I’m not a nice man.” Noah checked his watch. How much longer until the boy’s mom got here? He wasn’t accustomed to this nonstop chatter.
Noah strode to the thermostat on the wall and punched the heater up a couple of degrees. Ordinarily, he kept a fire burning in the woodstove while he worked, ensuring the shop stayed warm. His trip into town this morning meant that the place was chillier than usual. Noah didn’t mind, but the kid needed to warm up.
At the table, Drew Eldridge slurped a long drink of milk. Then the chatterbox started up again. “How come your dad made a ‘Santa’s Workshop’ sign?”
“It was part of our holiday lawn decorations.”
“You had lawn decorations this far from town?”
“In Denver. That’s where I grew up. You sure are a nosy kid, you know that?”
“I’m a little nervous. I always talk a lot when I’m nervous.”
Noah was taken aback. After those first few minutes, Drew hadn’t seemed to be frightened. Noah hadn’t intended to scare the kid. Maybe he was just out of practice being around people. “Am I making you nervous?”
“Nah. Well, maybe a little bit. I’m mostly worried about what my mom is going to do. She’s going to be mad becauseI didn’t go where I said I was going, and she’ll probably punish me.”
“Does she ground you?” Noah asked.
“No. She’ll take away my Switch. It’s her new favorite thing to do. She used to not do it because I playedAnimal Crossingwith my grandmother when we lived in Nashville. Nana really loved doing that, and Mom said she couldn’t punish her when I was the person in trouble. But now that we live in the same town, we hardly ever play. I see her almost every day. She babysits a lot.”
“Your grandmother plays video games?” Noah folded his arms and leaned against the counter. “That’s cool.”
“Yeah. She’s cool, I guess.” The boy took another long drink of milk, then set down his cup with a bit of a bang. “Oops. Sorry. It slipped. Don’t worry. I didn’t break it.”
“Good. It’s my favorite mug.”
“Whoa, you’re lucky. I probably could have broken it without meaning to do it.” The boy wiped his mouth with his coat sleeve and added, “My mom sometimes calls me Andrew-the-Accident-Waiting-to-Happen. She’d never give me her favorite anything to use.”
He paused and giggled softly. “Shedidlet me help hang the cuckoo clock Auntie Helen gave us for Christmas, and I get to wind it every week.”
Noah put two and two together. Stifling a grin, he clarified. “Your mom wants you to break the cuckoo clock?”
“Maybe. She doesn’t like it very much. But I’m really careful. My sister and I both love Cocoa. That’s what we named our cuckoo bird.” Then, in an abrupt change of subject, he added, “I’m not cold anymore. Will you show me how the dollhouses work now?”
Noah released a long sigh. When the kid first showedup and quizzed him about the contents of Noah’s shelves, he’d begged to see a dollhouse in action. Noah had put him off, saying truthfully that Drew needed to stay inside and warm up first.
Noah had an old house he wouldn’t mind sacrificing for the effort. Besides, lighting a fire might be the only way to put a lid on the motormouth’s questions.
“Okay. Let’s do it.”
“Hurray!” Drew scrambled out of his chair. “I love playing with fire!”
Noah turned his most ferocious gaze upon the boy and stepped right up to him. Looming above the boy, hands braced on his hips, he put a stern note of threat into his voice as he said, “Stop. Right. There. We already talked about the lighter you used earlier. Fire is not a toy. Never under any circumstances is fire something to play with.”
