The following Tuesday, Todd arrived just after lunch.
I was washing a cup when I heard his pickup outside.
I looked through the window.
He was carrying a small toolbox.
I opened the door.
"Afternoon, Judy."
"Hello, Todd."
He lifted the toolbox.
"I thought I'd take a look at that stubborn drawer."
I laughed.
"It's been giving me trouble for weeks."
He stepped inside and put the toolbox on the kitchen floor.
I offered him coffee.
He accepted.
While the coffee was brewing, he examined the drawer.
He pulled it open.
It stuck halfway.
He tried again.
Then he looked underneath.
"Looks like the runner is loose."
"Can you fix it?"
"Shouldn't be difficult."
He opened his toolbox.
I sat at the table and watched him work.
There was something familiar about the sound of tools against wood.
Dale used to make the same noises.
A screwdriver turning.
A small hammer tapping.
A drawer being pulled out and pushed back.
For a moment, I missed him so badly that I had to look away.
Todd noticed.
"Everything all right?"
"Yes. Just remembering your father-in-law."
He nodded.
"He was good with things like this."
"Better than I ever was."
Todd smiled.
He tightened a screw and tested the drawer again.
This time it opened smoothly.
"There."
I stood up.
I opened it myself.
Then closed it.
Then opened it again.
"Well, look at that."
Todd laughed.
"Good as new."
I thanked him.
He put his tools away.
But instead of leaving, he sat down at the kitchen table.
He looked at the blue mug beside my coffee maker.
"Was that Dale's?"
I nodded.
"He bought it at a church sale."
Todd picked it up carefully.
"Michelle remembers that mug."
I smiled.
"She used to drink hot chocolate from it when she was little."
He placed it back.
Then he looked toward the refrigerator.
Sadie's drawing was still there.
"You've made this place feel like home."
I glanced around.
"I'm getting there."
He nodded.
For a few moments, neither of us spoke.
Then he said something unexpected.
"I've been thinking about that legal pad."
I looked at him.
"So have I."
He rubbed his hands together.
"I don't like what I see when I read it now."
I waited.
"I wrote down all those figures as if you were moving into a business arrangement."
I nodded.
"That's how it felt."
He looked at me.
"I thought being practical was the same as being fair."
I didn't interrupt.
"But I never considered how it would feel to you."
I took a sip of coffee.
"That was the problem."
He nodded.
Then he asked whether I had kept the original paper.
I looked toward the drawer where I had put it.
"Yes."
"Why?"
I thought about that.
"Because I don't want to forget how easily something can hurt when nobody stops to think."
He looked down.
"I understand."
I didn't tell him that I had also kept it because I wanted proof.
Proof that I hadn't misunderstood.
Proof that the number had been real.
Proof that I hadn't been unreasonable for refusing.
Instead, I asked him whether work was going well.
He told me about the plant.
There had been some changes in scheduling.
He was working longer hours on certain days.
I listened.
Then he mentioned that Michelle had been trying to rearrange the children's routines.
"She's doing a lot," he said.
"I know she is."
"Sometimes I think we both got used to asking other people to solve things for us."
I looked at him.
"Perhaps."
He gave a small smile.
"I suppose that's something we need to work on."
I nodded.
I didn't offer to solve it.
That was new for me.
In the past, I would have immediately suggested helping with the children.
I would have offered to cook a few meals.
I would have volunteered to pick somebody up.
But I was learning that love didn't require me to answer every problem with an offer of my time.
Todd finished his coffee.
Before leaving, he looked at the drawer again.
"Let me know if it starts sticking."
"I will."
He walked toward the door.
Then he stopped.
"Judy?"
"Yes?"
"Would it be all right if I came by again sometime, just to visit?"
I smiled.
"You're welcome whenever you want to visit."
He nodded.
"Thank you."
After he left, I stood in the kitchen.
I opened the drawer once more.
It moved perfectly.
I smiled.
A small repair.
Nothing more.
But it reminded me that things could improve when somebody was willing to listen and do the work without demanding something in return.
Click here to continue reading: PART 14: Michelle Invited Me to Spend an Entire Afternoon With the Children, and I Finally Learned That Saying Yes Could Feel Different
My Daughter Had a Price for Giving Her Widowed Mother a Place to Sleep, and I Had to Decide What My Years Were Worth
Part 13 of 20
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