The Magnolia Cafe(3)
It kicked him in the gut that Kevin was gone. They’d been friends since grade school. He missed the guy. He could only imagine how much Natalie missed Kevin.
Hunt had been thrilled when Natalie and Kevin had hooked up after high school and gotten married less than a year later. It had given Hunt peace of mind to know Kevin would be looking after his sister while he, himself, was off roaming around the world, taking his photos. Besides, Hunt had proven long ago he was a horrible caretaker, unable to keep people safe and well. Kevin had done a great job with the responsibility of a family. Well, until he’d died and left Natalie to deal with everything.
Hunt strode up the front steps to the front door. Jamie, Jackson, and Jesse came rushing at him. “Hey, you said you’d be gone thirty minutes. It’s been an hour.” Jamie had learned to tell time, obviously.
“Sorry, kiddo. I had to stop and fill up the truck and had a few errands to run.”
He stopped in the kitchen, poured the soup into a bowl, and popped it into the microwave. Now, heating things up in the microwave, that he knew how to do.
He opened and closed cabinet doors until he found a tray. He loaded the tray with the bowl of soup, a few crackers, and a glass of water. He carried it out to the family room with Jamie in his wake.
“You didn’t have to do all this, Hunt. I’ll be fine.” Natalie huddled under a quilt on the couch. He looked around the brightly lit room. A room that begged a person to come in, sit down, relax. He was sure his sister could turn any space into a home. The boys’ things were spilled around the room. An overstuffed chair set diagonally across the corner with a bright reading light beside it. Next to the chair was his sister’s ever present knitting bag. She was always working on something. He’d a stack of sweaters to prove it.
Over the couch hung a water color painting of an Adirondack chair at the edge of the ocean. A straw hat with a bright pink ribbon was lying in the sand beside the chair. His sister loved the ocean. She had a set of three framed photographs he’d taken of beaches around the world. Her touch was everywhere, from the vase of flowers on the end table, to the braided rag rug on the floor. How she’d gotten the make-a-house-a-home gene, he’d never understand.
Hunt crossed the room. “Well, it’s not like I know how to make homemade soup for you. Hope you can keep this down. You haven’t eaten in days.” He turned to the boys. “Aren’t you boys supposed to be getting ready for bed?”
“It’s too early for me to go to bed, Uncle Hunt.” Jackson gave him a look of disdain.
Jackson had not been impressed with his uncle’s parenting abilities. Well, Hunt wasn’t trying to parent. He’d settle for uncle-ing. Now what was he supposed to do? Was Jackson testing him yet again?
“Okay then. How about this? Jamie and Jesse, you go get ready for bed. Jackson, you go get ready, but you can come back downstairs and watch TV for a bit.”
“I’m not going to bed, if Jackson’s not.” Jesse stood with his hand on his hip looking so much like Kevin that it sucked the air right out of Hunt’s lungs. He struggled to regain his composure.
“That’s it,” Natalie interrupted from the couch. “Everyone upstairs and in their jammies. Uncle Hunt will be up to tuck you in. Jackson, you can read for half an hour, or go on to bed now. Your choice.”
“Mom…”
“Don’t Mom me.”
The two older boys headed up the stairs. His sister made it seem so easy.
Jamie tromped over and hugged Natalie. “’Night, Mom. Hope you feel good soon.”
“’Night, sweetie. Sleep tight.”
The boys all clomped up the stairs and Hunt could hear them scuffling around as they got ready for bed. “I’m not sure how you do it, Nat.”
“Do what?”
“Handle those three boys, the house...”
“I don’t really have a choice.” She sighed. “It’s been hard. I miss Kevin. And I’ve got to get a job. The bills are piling up.”
“I’ll help out with the bills and I’ll stay as long as you need me.”
“I’m not going to be your burden.”
“You’re not a burden. I want to help. Besides, I miss the boys. And you.”
“The boys are beasts.” Natalie grinned and took a sip of the soup.
“That they are.”
He went upstairs and tucked the boys in. Jamie gave him specific instructions on what all was involved in the process. Tuck in the covers, read him one short book, turn out the light, leave the door halfway open and the hall light on. Who knew it was such a complicated business to put a kid to bed?