Just One Thing Read Free

between the three of them, I’m on a first-name basiswith all the staff at the emergency room. If I take them in too many more times, someone’s going to call Children’s Services. I mean, when I have to tell the nurse that a child rode her bike into a parked car, it sounds lame, even to me.” Gracie still had a slight scar below her lower lip from where she’d put her tooth through it. Her face had left a slight dent in the car that belonged to one of the college kids renting the house down the block. It was a clunker and he’d said of all its dents, that one would be the most interesting. Lexie smiled as she remembered and wondered what he was doing now.
    Lee laughed as he hugged her. “I used to spend my summers at my grandfather’s. Grandma would let me and John out after breakfast, then let us back in at bedtime. We did all sorts of things that would have turned her hair grey, but she never asked and we never told, so it all worked out.”
    “I’m not sure the neighbors would appreciate me just turning the heathens loose on the neighborhood for a whole day. Mrs. Mickey, next door, already calls me every other day to complain that the kids’ balls are in her backyard.”
    “I was thinking maybe we should buy some land and have a summer cottage. The kids could run the woods to their hearts’ content and there’d be no neighbors to complain. And might I add, no very tempting garage roof.”
    Lexie knew her husband and so knew that glimmer in his eyes. “You’ve been thinking about this.”
    He nodded. “There’s almost twenty acres I’d like to go look at. I thought we could pack up the heathens and a picnic and make a day of it.”
    She smiled and nodded her head. Lee looked relieved.
    “Don’t mention buying it to the kids,” she warned. If they heard that, they’d never stop pestering about it.
    Lexie packed an impromptu picnic, then herded the kids into the car.
    “Mom, she’s not bringing that old thing,” Constance whined.
    Gracie clutched her beat-up orange blanket closer and staunchly defended its inclusion. “It’s a picnic. We need blankets to sit on.”
    “She’s right.” Lexie winked at Gracie, who smiled. That was Gracie . . . smiling seemed to be her default expression. She was sitting in the center of the backseat with Conner and Constance on either side. They say twins have a natural closeness, but Lexie’s two Cons always seemed to be at odds with one another. They picked and prodded until someone was screaming.
    Lee used to tease that the universe had given them Gracie a year after the twins were born to serve as a buffer.
    He drove about a half hour from Erie through the small, picturesque town of Waterford, with its small shops and statue of George Washington. Then through the town of Lapp Mill up a long hill. From there, he drove on a winding dirt road, dust plumes kicking up behind the van. Light filtered through leaves. Farmhouses and fields dotted the landscape. They passed an Amish buggy, much to the delight of the kids. Conner asked if they could trade in the van for a buggy. Connie told him he was stupid. Gracie pointed to a field of cows and distracted the twins from their potential fight.
    Lee pulled over on the dirt road in between a stand of pines and a field that was dotted with weeds and wildflowers. He opened the door and looked out into the field. “Here it is.”
    Lexie got out of the van as well. “You’re sure this is it?” There was no sign, nothing to declare that the property was for sale.
    Lee pointed to the ones on the right side. “This is mostly pine, but according to the seller, if you follow the path back, it’s all hardwood farther in. The field is part of the property, too. The owner rents it out some years to neighboring farmers. There are a lot of Amish farmers out here. He didn’t bother this year because he planned on selling the plot. Oh, and he said there’s a barn back there somewhere. We’re welcome to hike it and see what we