Jeremy looked at Owen, a defiant look on his face, but he did as his mother asked. “Yeah, sorry.” Not even a touch of sincerity crept into his voice.
“No problem. I didn’t mean to upset you. I just used ‘son’ as an expression.”
“Well, I have a dad.”
“Yes, you do.” This conversation was going nowhere and Owen didn’t know how to make it better.
“Why don’t you boys go shoot some hoops while we cook the burgers.” Bella nodded towards the basketball pole and the boys took off in that direction.
“I’m sorry.” Bella took his hand. “Jeremy is just having a hard time with all of this. The move. Me dating someone.”
“You don’t have to be sorry. It’s not your fault.”
“I can’t tolerate him being so rude to you.”
“It’s okay.”
“It’s not okay, but I’m having a hard time getting through to him.”
“We’ll just give him time.”
Bella nodded.
“So, how long do I cook these burgers?”
Bella laughed. “I’ll help. Didn’t know you were a rookie barbequer or I would have helped you start the grill. I should have known since I took you on your first ever picnic this summer, that you weren’t a well-seasoned barbecue person either.”
“Touche. Nice pun.”
They grilled the burgers while the boys played and he helped her take them inside—on a clean plate—she insisted she never put cooked meat back on a plate that had had raw meat on it. Made sense, but who knew there were so many rules to barbecuing?
Bella opened the screen door and called the boys. They came running inside with the commotion of a freight train passing by.
“Wash your hands.”
The boys stood at the sink, hip checking each other out of the way and flipping their towels at each other when they dried their hands. Owen watched in fascination. So much energy involved in everything the two boys did.
The boys slid into their seats at the table, and Bella carried the salad to the table. “Owen, could you get the boys some milk?”
“I don’t want any.” Jeremy glared at Owen.
“I do.” Timmy piped up.
“Fine, Jeremy. You don’t have to have anything to drink at all with your meal.” Bella went and got some napkins.
Jeremy looked like he was going to say something to his mother, but backed down.
“Glasses are up there.” Bella pointed to the cabinet to the left of the sink. He got out a glass for Timmy and poured him some milk. He carried it back to the table, noticing Jeremy had thrust his foot out nonchalantly. Owen sidestepped the foot and placed the glass on the table.
They sat at the table and ate their meal. Timmy regaled them with stories of school and Jeremy sat in stony silence, shooting hateful glances in Owen’s direction when his mother wasn’t looking.
Owen was determined to win the boy over, or die trying. He was pretty sure that Jeremy would be fine with the second alternative.
~ * ~
Bella served up the brownies after the awkward dinner. She was going to have to talk to Jeremy. He’d been borderline rude to Owen at every opportunity. She was at her wits’ end with the boy. She knew he was just fighting back from all the changes in the last few years, but that didn’t excuse rudeness. She wasn’t exactly sure why it was okay for Rick to remarry, but wasn’t okay for her to date Owen.
The phone rang and she got up from the table to answer. “Hi, Lilly. Everything okay?” She kept an eye on Jeremy at the table as she spoke with her shop worker.
She listened for a few moments as Lilly explained that she needed to go home. Her son had fallen and needed to be checked out. “I’ll be right over and I’ll close up the shop tonight.”
She checked her watch. Another thirty minutes until closing time. She’d just run over there and by the time she’d finished up with the end-of-day chores, it would be time to close. Owen looked up at her.
“I need to run over to the shop for about thirty minutes. You think you could stay with the boys?”
“We don’t need him to stay with us.” Jeremy clattered his fork to the table. “I’ll watch Timmy.”
“We’ll be fine. I don’t mind at all.” Owen smiled at her, but she could see the almost imperceptible look of desperation in his eyes. She didn’t blame him a bit. Jeremy had been acting like a spoiled rotten kid. She was going to have to sit him down and have a long talk with him. But right now, she needed to run over to the shop.
“The shop closes in thirty minutes. I’ll be right back then.”
“Take your time. The boys and I will do the dishes and clean up the kitchen, won’t we boys?”