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Josiah stood beside him. “Did you need my help with sorting out the clothes? I help Ma sort out the clothes.”
“I’ve got that all down.” He tapped the button to start the washer. “I appreciate you offering, though.”
“Can you help me with something now, then?”
“Of course.”
He followed Josiah to the front room.
At some point, Josiah had moved his brother to the sofa and propped a throw pillow beneath Theo’s head, and he didn’t know how Ayesha couldn’t see how good of a job she was doing. While he and his older sister were the best of friends now, rather than let him sleep, she would have walloped him awake with one, or more, of the pillows.
“It’s my homework,” Josiah said, grabbing the folder from the coffee table. “Before you sign it, can you look over some of these problems for me?”
Joel took the folder to the dining room table and took a seat. Josiah stood next to him, one hand on the back of his chair.
“It’s math turned into a crossword puzzle. I’m pretty good at multiplication and division and stuff, but I was wondering if you could check my answers for me.”
All it took was a quick scan to see that all the answers were correct, but Joel took his time, pointing and nodding and asking Josiah how he arrived at his solutions. The issue, he realized, wasn’t third-grade homework. With Theo asleep, Josiah wanted to use some of this time to get one-on-one attention.
“I think you’ve pretty much aced this, Siah,” he said. “So, I sign it and put it in your cubby, right?”
Josiah, chewing on the inside of his bottom lip, nodded, rising and lowering onto his toes. “Yeah. You sign right under Ma’s name.”
“After I do this, do you have another minute? I’m going to check on the pool, and I feel like you’d be an expert at helping me with that.”
Josiah’s eyes lit up. “I’d love to help!”
He signed the homework, tucked it in the cubby, and they went to the pool deck, feet bare on the stone surround.
The pool was an architectural masterpiece, designed to look like it had been plucked from a corner of the island and dropped behind the house. Saltwater trickled down over natural-looking artificial rock formations, creating a variety of waterfalls. Tall palms and bushels of vibrant hibiscus flowers enclosed the body of water, and when he wasn’t facing the house, it felt like stepping into a lagoon.
It was something Curtis had wanted forever. Yet, according to Ayesha, they barely used it, considering they were within walking distance of a private beach. However, he understood. Childhood dreams rarely disappeared; instead, they were tucked aside to make room for adult realities. A part of him wanted to dedicate one room at his place to transform into a Christmas village with a train and trolley running through it—merely to appease the little boy inside him.
“The pool guy was here not that long ago,” Josiah informed him.
Joel kneeled at the edge and ran his fingers through the lukewarm water. “Do you remember all that he did?”
“Um,” Josiah tapped his chin, mouth wrinkled, “he tested to see if there was acid in it.”
“Okay, he tested the pH.”
“He used a big brush on the sides.”
“Wow, Josiah. You remember a whole lot. Your brain is probably the size of an elephant.”
Josiah beamed. “Oh, and he cleaned the filter. He said everything was good since we barely use it.”
“Maybe we should change that. It would be a good place to continue your swimming lessons. In here, it would be easier to move up to diving.”
Josiah walked over, small feet slapping the stone, and kneeled next to him. “Did you have a pool when you were a kid, Joel?”
“Not at my house,” he said. “We had one at the apartment complex where we lived. Then, when my folks moved, there was one in the community clubhouse.”
“Did your dad teach you how to swim?”
“He sure did. And he’s a great teacher.”
“Maybe he can teach me?”
