Little Cabin on the Lane

Chapter 2

“Ben, aren’t you supposed to be in a classroom somewhere?” John asked after Ben pulled his car over to park on the lane. John arched his own Kinney brow, slightly annoyed that Ben had parked a little too close to all the heavy equipment.

“I don’t have class until later tonight,” Ben said as he stuck his hand out towards John. John shook it automatically. “I just wanted to see how it was going.” Ben stood next to John surveying the area where the cabin would eventually sit.

“It’s going, slowly, but it’ll be up before Christmas. You might be able to spend the Thanksgiving weekend here if you want to.”

“Really?”

“Probably.”

“Wow.” Ben was quiet for a while, taking it all in. There wasn’t much to see. The land was being leveled and huge rocks were being trucked in.

“What’s with the stones?”

“I’ve decided to make a stone wall. It’ll run from the gate parallel to the turn off from the highway and just beyond Rachel’s house. Not only will it be for safety reasons, but it’ll actually mark our boundary on this side of the land. You won’t be able to see much of it because of the trees. But if Taylor decides to explore beyond his backyard, the wall will stop him from going farther.”

“Makes sense. And who knows if Molly will decide to have more children. What about on the other side?” Ben pointed towards the section of woods toward the stream. John snorted. “What?”

“My brother has been looking into expanding,” John began. Ben’s eyes widened. “Just call him a gentleman landlord. When he’s done negotiating with the Commonwealth, we’ll finish the wall. Considering how much land he wants to buy, we’ll have enough to warrant our own post office.”

“If that ever happens you can officially name the town,” Ben joked.

“No, I refuse to live in Kinneyville,” John huffed making Ben laugh. “Ben, what’s the real reason you’re here?” John gave Ben a look.

“The plans for the cabin, Michael made them very simple.”

“Yes he did. I thought he wanted it that way.”

“He does but I don’t think he thought it through.”

“You mean JR.”

“And Hunter and Nick.”

“Hunter’s been out of the house for a long time,” John said gently.

“I want to strengthen our relationship with him and Nick,” Ben continued. “I see this as an opportunity to do it,” Ben said with a wistful tone.

“You can’t force a closer relationship on him.”

“I know but I can try. But I can’t do that if the cabin is so small that only two people can be comfortable in it at one time.”

“Okay, I see where this is going. I’ve only ordered the perimeter logs and foundation, I can still build upward. Put on a second floor with two additional bedrooms and a second bath. Do you still want to be on the first floor?”

“Yes. Michael still gets easily fatigued.”

“Then I’ll make the bedroom area into a real bedroom.”

“Thank you,” Ben said as he put his hand out again. John took it.

“What is it?” John asked, still holding Ben’s hand. Ben had an odd look in his eyes.

“Patrick.”

“Patrick?” John asked suspiciously.

“Has he said anything about wanting to go to college?”

“He’s only twelve.” Ben made a face. “Okay, okay.” John held up his hands. “He wants to be an architect like his old man,” John said proudly. “So yes, I foresee college in his future. I hope he takes over Anderson Construction someday or creates his own firm. Why?”

“JR, all she wants to do is work in that damn store.”

John nodded; he had heard it all before. “Why do you find this so difficult to accept? I see nothing wrong with her wanting to take over her father’s business.” Ben turned and walked toward his car; John followed. Ben hesitated before he opened the door. His fist hit the roof of the car so hard that it made a slight dent.

“Whoa! Take it easy. What is it about JR taking over the store that has you so torqued?”

“Does no one in this family see how wrong it would be if JR missed out on furthering her education?!” Ben spat out until he was red in the face.

“Who says she’s going to miss out on anything? What’s wrong with her taking some time before going to college? She’ll get some real life experience. Ben, it’ll make her a better student. She’ll understand what’s at stake and she’ll set some real goals. You know as well as I do that so many kids spend the first year in college wasting time, space and their parents’ money.” John placed his hands on Ben’s shoulders in an effort to calm the big man down.

“Let me ask you something,” John said. “Did you go right to college after high school?”

“Yes, I did. My parents wanted me to go and I saw no reason not to,” Ben replied proudly. John waited for more. “It was before I came out, before I really acknowledged my true nature. I buried myself in my work.”

“And you’ve become successful in your chosen field.”

“I’m satisfied with much of how my life has turned out, yes,” Ben admitted. He left the unspoken, unspoken.

“I couldn’t go straight from high school. You know it was me and my mother for most of my life,” John said. Ben nodded. “We didn’t have the money for me to go to college right away. I worked the farm, worked a lot of odd jobs and applied for every grant I could possibly find. It took me a while to save up enough money to at least start part-time. The point of what I’m saying is that I appreciate my education all the more for having worked at it and having those life experiences. Yeah, sometimes I resented some of the rich kids who got into school on their daddy’s dime but most of the time I was just grateful.

“Ben, JR is smart. She seems to have inherited the best from all of you.” Ben rolled his eyes. “And yes, from your influence as well. She’s compassionate and thinks beyond just her. She gets that from you.”

Ben stopped huffing and puffing and saw the sincerity in John’s eyes.

“It’ll be okay,” John said. Ben nodded and gave John a small smile. “Are you going to kiss me too?” John chuckled.

“No,” Ben said as he blushed and gently shoved John back. “That man...”

“I know, he still affects a lot of people that way,” John agreed.

“Yes, he does but he’s a good man, a good friend and to do this,” Ben swept his hand toward where the cabin would be. “How do I repay him?”

“You don’t. Just be happy with your family and that will be enough for him.” Ben nodded. “Now, will you get the hell outta here so I can get back to work? Log cabins don’t build themselves.” John opened Ben’s car door and Ben got in.

“But they do grow on trees,” Ben said making a very bad joke. John groaned as he watched Ben turn on his car then slowly move up the lane so he could turn around. He paused as he began to pass John and rolled down his window. “Make sure we’re invited.”

“To what?” John was puzzled.

“To the official opening of Kinneyville!” Ben laughed when John brandished his hammer at him as Ben drove away.

“I think the Town of Anderson has a better ring to it,” John mumbled with satisfaction as he sprinted back to work.

 

*****
 

“What are you doing home?” Justin asked Bobby. Justin was setting up his canvases to continue his work. Bobby was lounging on a chaise with a book.

“Vacation, remember,” Bobby replied.

“Only you’d take a vacation when everyone else is working or back in school,” Justin commented.

“Yup!” Bobby said with a smug grin. “I get more peace and quiet that way. Besides, I get to watch John parade around in his tool belt,” Bobby said with a familiar waggle to his eyebrows. Justin laughed then went back to his work. Bobby shook himself then went back to his book.

 

*****
 

“Hey,” Justin called as he strolled down the lane.

“Hey,” John responded with a warm smile. His men had just about finished clearing the spot for the cabin. He was leaning on the hood of his truck studying some plans. “I thought you were in painting overdrive today. What are you doing over here?”

Justin grinned. “Break time, and I was curious.”

“You want to see what I’m cooking up for Michael.”

Justin nodded. “Am I interrupting you?” Justin asked. “You looked lost in thought.”

“I guess I was,” John replied. “I had a visit from Ben a little while ago. He got me thinking.”

“Oh, about what?”

“Seems he wants to have a bigger cottage than Michael had indicated. He’d like a couple more bedrooms so that they could have JR and Hunter and Nick stay all at the same time. If the occasion arises.”

“I see,” Justin said with a thoughtful look.

“I told him we could whack on a second story, but the more I got thinking about it, the less I liked the idea. Most of the cottages are single story, so I’d kind of like to keep this one in the same mode. Besides, two story log cabins are pretty rare.”

“So what are you going to do?” Justin asked.

“I think I can make two bedrooms out the back or the side, but I’ll have to order more perimeter logs and expand the foundation.”

“Is that doable?”

“Sure, but it’s going to hold us up for a few days.”

“Oh.”

“What are you thinking about?” John asked with curiosity evident in his look.

“Um…” Justin hesitated. He had a slightly guilty look on his face.

“Spit it out,” John ordered with a grin. He knew Justin had come up with something that he wanted to do. He’d seen that look many times before.

“Well,” Justin began. John waited. “As I was walking down here, I got thinking about what the log cabin would look like.” Justin stopped there unsure whether to continue.

“Yes?” John prodded wanting his brother-in-law to continue. “You don’t see much of a log cabin here … at least not yet.”

“Yeah, that’s the problem.”

“What problem?”

“I, um, was thinking that I might like to do a series of paintings of cabins or cottages.”

“Like Thomas Kinkade?” John asked.

“No,” Justin said making a face. “I know a lot of people love his work, but I don’t paint anything like that.”

“I know,” John said with a smile. “I was just putting you on.”

Justin shook his head. “I’m pretty gullible, aren’t I?”

“Sometimes,” John told him.

“Well, anyway,” Justin continued returning to his previous thought. “Remember what our cottage looked like when Brian first found it.”

John chuckled. “Yeah, that brother of mine sure is a visionary. Who would have thought we’d create all this?”

“I knew you and your brother could do it,” Justin said giving John one of his sunshine smiles.

“That brother of mine sure lucked out the night he met you.”

“So did I,” Justin replied trying not to let himself tear up as he thought of his absent and greatly missed spouse.

“So, why were you so hesitant about telling me your plan to paint cabins?” John asked going back to what he knew Justin had started to tell him before they got sidetracked down memory lane.

“I know how busy you are…”

“So?”

“I was wondering if you knew of any cabins in the area that you could show me. I need some inspiration.”

“You do know that I have a doctorate in cottages,” John laughed.

Justin laughed too. “Yes, I do know that, Dr. Anderson,” he said with a fond look for his brother-in-law. “I just don’t want to take you away from anything important.”

“I think your next art project is very important.”

“But, what about Michael’s cottage?”

“I’m going to work out the design for the new and improved log cabin today. Once that’s done, I’ll get Gordon and the crew to make a bigger foundation area and to gather more rocks while we wait for the new materials to be delivered. I could take you out looking at cabins day after tomorrow. How does that sound?”

Justin stared at his brother-in-law. “You are the best!” he said before he pulled John into a warm hug.

“Of course I am,” John chuckled, although he was greatly touched by Justin’s words.

As Justin released John from his hug, he said, “Thank you so much.”

“Not a problem,” John assured him.

“Show me what you’re planning for Michael’s cottage.” Justin and John leaned over the hood of his truck studying the preliminary sketches John had made.

 

*****
 

“Daddy,” JR said.

“Yes, honeybun.” JR glared at her father. “You know you’re always going to be my honeybun no matter how much you hate me calling you that,” Michael said with a mischievous grin.

JR was glad to see her father joking with her. She was working in the comic store fulltime now that school had started and Curtis was going to university. That still ticked her off a bit, but she knew how much Curtis really wanted to get ahead in the world and make his grandfather proud of what he would become. She had told her father that he could take more time off from the store, but he liked to be there checking inventory and waiting on customers.

“Why is Ben angry with me?” she asked.

“Ben’s not angry with you,” Michael immediately replied. He knew that Ben was upset with their daughter, but he had hoped that JR hadn’t noticed.

“Yes he is,” JR declared. “I see the way he looks at me.”

“And how’s that?” Michael asked.

“Like I’m the biggest disappointment in the world. I know he’s angry that I didn’t go to college like Curtis. He thinks I’m a failure.”

“Oh, sweetheart, I’m sure he doesn’t feel like that,” Michael said pulling his daughter into a hug.

There was only one customer in the store, and he was poring over some X-Men comics, not paying any attention to Michael and his daughter.

“He just really wanted you to go to college,” Michael tried to explain. “He lives in the academic world, so he thinks that’s all there is.”

“I might still go to college, you know,” JR averred. “I was thinking about some economics courses.”

“That would be great if you did. No one from my family has gone to university. I tried community college for a while but it wasn’t for me.”

“See, Dad, I’m not sure college is for me either. I really like working in the store. Why can’t Ben accept that?”

“He wants the best for you, sweetheart.”

“I know that, but I’m the one who knows what’s best for me, and right now it’s working here.”

“He’ll come to terms with that, I’m sure.”

“I’m not so sure,” JR replied. At the moment, she didn’t think Ben thought much of her or her decision not to continue with school.

“Be patient with him, okay?” Michael requested. “I’ll talk to him and try to smooth things over.”

“Thanks, Dad, but it doesn’t seem fair that you should even have to do that. Why can’t he just be proud of me the way I am?” JR’s eyes started to fill up.

“He is so proud of you, JR,” Michael said hugging her again. “He’s very proud of both our children.”

“I wish that was true,” JR gulped.

“Um … excuse me,” the lone customer in the store said clearing his throat as he stood on the other side of the counter. Neither Michael or JR had heard him approach. “I’d like to buy this.” He held out a couple of copies of the X-Men comics.

Michael reluctantly released JR. “You okay?” he asked.

She nodded before heading to the office to wipe her face. A good retailer didn’t cry in public. Michael watched her with concern written all over his face.

“My comics?” the customer repeated.

“Yeah, right,” Michael finally replied. He took the comics and rang them up in the till. “Good choices,” he told the guy, hoping to make him forget the intimate moment he had just witnessed.

The man pulled out his wallet and paid for the comics. “Um…could I say something?” he asked.

“What?” Michael asked snippily. He wasn’t in the mood for advice. He had already tried just about everything he could think of to make things right between his husband and his daughter, and nothing had worked. He didn’t need some outsider telling him what to do.

“Hey, sorry, man. I’ll take my comics and go.” The man threw up his hands in surrender and turned to leave.

“Listen, I’m sorry,” Michael quickly responded. “I didn’t mean to be rude. What did you want to say?” Michael knew he shouldn’t alienate his customers, especially ones like this who spent regularly in his store.

“I don’t want to interfere,” the guy stated again.

“It’s … not a problem. JR’s going through some difficult stuff with my husband. We’re both at a loss as to what to do.”

“Yeah, I kinda overheard that.”

“So, have you got the solution to all my problems?” Michael asked with a wry smile.

“Probably not, but it’s something that occurred to me when I heard what you and your daughter were saying.”

“What’s that?”

“You created Rage, right?” Michael nodded. “So, let Rage and Zephyr solve it.”

“What? What are you saying?”

“I was just thinking that maybe if you were to work on a Rage issue that dealt with the same sort of thing that you were discussing, you could get your daughter and your husband to help you solve the impossible problem.” He made air quotes around impossible problem. “That might help them deal with what’s going on.”

“Hm,” Michael said. “That’s not a bad idea. What sort of problem did you think they could help me solve? I can’t be too obvious about it.”

The man shrugged. “I just make the suggestions, you’re the creative idea man,” he said with a big grin, as he picked up his comics and started towards the door.

“Hey, thanks, I think,” Michael called after him.

“You’re welcome, I think,” the guy said with a grin. “And we may get a new issue of Rage out of it too.”

“Devious,” Michael called as the man opened the door.

“Of course,” he agreed before closing the door behind him.

“Now all I have to do is figure out how to pull this off,” Michael mumbled to himself.

“Pull what off?” JR asked as she came back to join her father behind the counter.

“Um, an idea for a new issue of Rage.”

“What will it be about?”

“Don’t know yet,” Michael said.

“But how can you have an idea for a new issue, if you don’t have the idea yet?” JR asked with a frown.

“That’s the million dollar question,” Michael said.

“What are you talking about?”

“Nothing, honeybun.”

JR plastered on her glare, but then it turned to a smile. “Thanks for listening, Dad. I really want Ben to be proud of me.”

“As I said, he is. Don’t worry about it. It will all work out.”

“You’re such an optimist.”

“I try.”

JR grinned. “So, is Zephyr going to save the day this time?” she asked.

“I certainly hope so.”
 

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