Father & Son: Book two of the Jensen Family Series (13 page)

“I appreciate your honesty and I won’t
push you on this at the moment, you obviously have things you need to work
through but bear this in mind while you deliberate, I love you and I will be
here when you decide what you want but I won’t wait forever.

“I understand.” He nodded.

In between amusing the boys and finishing
the garden, they spent an excellent morning together until the phone rang with
the result of Carmen having to cover a shift for one of the weekend teachers
who had called in sick.

“Sorry, it’s my turn on standby.” She
explained as she readied herself to leave.

“It’s ok, these things happen.” Paul
answered.

“We’ll be fine Carmen, honestly.” Helen
assured her as she walked with her through the house.

“You’ll be nice to him?”

“In light of his admission earlier, yes. I
can see he’s confused and needs to work things out. I am only looking out for
you when I say the things I do.”

“I know. You are such a good friend Helen
and I don’t want us to fall out, even over him.” Carmen hugged her friend, “See
you in the morning.” She called as she left.

Returning to the garden, she couldn’t help
but smile as Paul rolled a ball to his own son and was attempting to teach Luke
how to catch the one he threw in his direction.

“I’ve been trying to teach him to catch
but he’s happier picking it up from the floor and throwing it back, he seems to
have mastered that bit.”

“Yeah he has. I’ve been thinking that the
garden’s a little bare for these guys. How do you feel about getting some age
appropriate garden toys in?”

“I’d love to but I can’t afford it.”

“Helen, can I give you a tip?” Paul asked
and waited for her nod. “When I’m making suggestions about getting things for
these guys, it generally means I want to do it and that includes paying for it
so with that in mind and money not being an issue. How do you feel about
getting some age appropriate garden toys in?” he grinned when Helen actually
laughed.

“I think that would be an excellent idea.”

He bounded to his feet, “Sweet, hold that
thought, I need to make a call.”

Paul disappeared into the house, returning
a few moments later sporting a broad smile as he plopped back down onto the rug
and tickled his son.

“What are you up to?” she asked.

“I put in a call to one of my guys up
here. They have just finished the landscaping for one of the local parks and
have a contact in the area of children’s play equipment; he’s on his way over
with the catalogue.”

“Nothing quite like striking while the
iron is hot.”

“Exactly.”

“What happens when they outgrow it?” Helen
asked.

“Well, if you approve of what I have in
mind, bits can be added and changed as they grow so it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“You seem to have thought of everything.”

“I want the best for my son.” He shrugged.
“Whilst we are on the subject of kids. It was noticeable yesterday when Luke
wasn’t here. Gavin was a bit of a handful without his partner in crime. It got
me to thinking; I’ve set up a trust fund for Gavin so that he’ll have his own
money when he’s older or if anything happens to me, he’ll have financial
support when it’s needed. With your permission, I’d like to do the same for
Luke.”

“Why?” She asked, sceptical.

“It’s clear, even at this age that they
are close and I  imagine that bond will only increase as they grow, it’s almost
like they are brothers.” He paused and sat up from his prone position. “Ok,
cards on the table Helen. Money is no object for me. My businesses are going
well and I have another venture in the pipeline which has the potential to make
me a very rich man. I want the absolute best for Gavin and I’m fortunate enough
to be able to provide that. However, I’m aware that you are in the unenviable
position of providing for your son from pay day to pay day. I’d rather Luke
didn’t grow up envious of Gavin and everything he has and trust me, he will
have everything. They are being raised together and I’d like them to be treated
the same, to have the same advantages in life that are going to come naturally
to Gavin. I don’t want Luke to be the poor relation, always on the sidelines
looking in and wondering what if.”

“Oh, wow.” Helen just stared at him.
Clearly there was much more to this young man than met the eye, his perception
and deep thinking absolutely floored her. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Yes would be a good start.” He said
softly. “Your friendship and support means the world to Carmen and it doesn’t
matter to me that you and I don’t always get on, this isn’t about us in the
long run, we are all trying to do what is best for our kids. That having been
said, I don’t want you or Carmen to ever worry about money, don’t ever be
afraid or too proud to ask.”

“I see now why Carmen likes you so much.
Aside from your obvious physical attributes, you are actually a kind and
insightful young man. It would ease my mind a lot if I knew that Luke would be
provided for in the event of something happening to me. Carmen has already
promised me that she would raise him and care for him as her own in that event
but for him to have financial stability would be marvellous.”

“Is that a yes?” He smiled.

“Yes and thank you.” She leant in and
pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Doesn’t mean I’ll let you hurt Carmen though.”
She warned.

“You wouldn’t be much of a friend if you
did.” He came to his feet as a male voice called him from the gate at the side
of the house.  “Helen, this is Art, he’s my foreman here, Art meet Helen, she
and Carmen share the house and raise the boys together.

Introduction made, Art hunkered down onto
the rug and proceeded to guide Helen through the range of suitable play
equipment while Paul amused the boys.

Pausing to take a drink, Art observed his
boss with the two young boys, “He’s good with the kids.” He turned to Helen and
smiled thinking that she was very pretty if a little on the skinny side.

“Yes, he surprises me every time he is
here with just how in tune with them he is.”

“I thought he only had the one, I didn’t
realise he’d had one before Gavin.”

“Oh no, Luke is my child, my ex husband,
Luke’s father, left shortly after he was born but Paul treats both boys like
they are his which I appreciate.”

“I see. My wife left me within two years
of our son being born, not that I blame her; I was a bit of a twat if I’m
honest, I see my boy once a month, not by choice you understand but she has
re-married and lives a fair distance away and while Paul is very generous with
time off, when I’m not working, I’m not earning and I like to treat my son when
I see him, it’s a double edged sword.”

“That is a shame but at least you do get
to see him.”

“Yeah, don’t get me wrong, he’s far better
off with his mother and the new husband treats him well, it would be nice to be
a bigger part of his life but its getting easier as he’s getting older, she’s
letting him spend a few weeks with me over the summer holidays, he wants me to
teach him to fish, I can’t tell you how much I am looking forward to it.” He
smiled at the thought.

Helen returned the smile. She wasn’t one
to make snap judgements on people but she liked this man, the more he spoke,
the more she liked him. “Sounds like you two will have a fantastic time.” She
said, she looked away from Art and over to her son who was currently riding
Paul around the garden like a pony whilst Gavin sat on the lawn, podgy legs
spread out in front of him and roaring with laughter at the antics of the other
two. “What’s Paul like to work for?” she asked.

“When he first bought the company we all
thought it was a joke, this young kid in charge of us but he didn’t come in ham
fisted and start giving orders, he took his time, got to know each and every
one of us then he pulled on his work gear and mucked in, which was what finally
won us all over. We were used to being given orders and told to get on with it
and then in comes this young upstart who is more than prepared to get his hands
dirty with the rest of us, spoke volumes about his character. I mean yeah, he
gets annoyed and raises his voice when something goes badly wrong but that’s
only happened once and like he says, we’re only human, we make mistakes, most
of the time he just goes, “What will it take to put it right?” and gives us the
go ahead to do it, he’s a good kid, he definitely has my respect.”

Art grew quiet as Paul approached, Gavin
on his hip and his hand wrapped firmly around Luke’s.” I think he might be
hungry.” He said as he dropped to his knees and placed Gavin on the rug.
Delving into the wicker basket, he pulled out a knife and an apple and began
cutting slices off, sharing them between the two little boys. “Have you decided
what you want?” He asked Helen.

“I think so, I didn’t realise there would
be so much to choose from, Art has marked the pages of the things we will
need.”

Paul passed the apple to Helen and reached
for the catalogue, flicking though the pages to see the marked items. “Can you
get this ordered for me and supervise its construction?” He asked Art.

“Of course but won’t that put the other
job back a bit?”

“Building this will take what? Two days at
the most? I think the other guys can manage for that long Art, besides, by the
time this stuff is delivered, the other job should be winding up, I may even
have you all here building it rather than use the installers.”

“Won’t you be here?”

“I might be for the tail end of it but I
have something else I’m working on that’s going to require my attention for a
few weeks. How long do you think it’ll take to get it here?”

“I’d say a week to ten days, depending on
stock.”

“OK, call me when it’s here and I’ll see
if I can shuffle some things around to be here, I may even bring the other crew
up with me and we can have ourselves a good old fashioned barn raising.” He
grinned.

“Yeah ok boss, whatever you say.” Art
chuckled. “I’m going make a move; I’ll order this on Monday.”

“Cool, oh and Art?” Paul waited for the
older man to turn back to him. “Put in a time sheet for today, you’ve been on
the clock.”

“That’s not necessary, I wasn’t doing
anything today anyway, it was nice to have some company.”

“You were here in an official capacity and
I interrupted your weekend so you’re going to get paid for it.” He stepped
closer so only Art would hear him, “Use the extra cash to take Helen for a
drink perhaps?”

Art scowled at Paul but it quickly turned
to a smile, “How very perceptive of you to notice that I like her.”

“From the way she was giving you googly
eyes, I’d say the feelings mutual and she hasn’t even got the excuse of having
to find a baby sitter.” Paul nudged Art, “What have you got to lose?”

“Alright, whatever, see you later Paul.”
Art was sporting a grin worthy of a Cheshire cat as he strolled to his car.

It was morning when Carmen returned home.
Dropping her bag in the hall and carefully hanging her keys on their designated
hook, she kicked off her shoes and made her way to the kitchen. Not immediately
being spotted by her friend, she took the opportunity to observe her with her
young son, noting the boy’s development and resemblance to his mother but she
knew from experience that Luke looked a lot more like his absent father than
Helen liked. If Luke continued to develop and mature as she suspected he would,
he eventually would end up tall, big boned and completely drop dead gorgeous.

“Oh Hi, I didn’t see you there.” Helen
started at Carmen’s presence.

“Sorry, I was daydreaming. Where are Paul
and Gavin?”

“Still in bed. Gavin was very restless
last night; Paul was up with him for most of it.”

“Any idea what was wrong?” Carmen asked as
she made her way to the door.

“I think he may have a new tooth coming,
his left cheek was very red.”

Carmen made her way upstairs and to the
spare room, what she saw there warmed her heart. Paul had his back to her, his
arms wrapped around their son. He had at some point, pushed the bed against the
wall and as she leant over, she saw the pillows pushed into the gap between the
mattress and the wall effectively cocooning Gavin between himself and the
pillows ensuring that he couldn’t fall out of the bed.

Leaving them to sleep, she ran herself a
bath and relaxed back, washing away the classroom smell from the previous
evening, sighing as the warm water enveloped her.

Gavin was awake and Paul was beginning to
stir by the time she had finished her bath and returned to the room. Gavin
smiled and gurgled at her as he tugged at Paul’s hair. She was just about to
lean over the sleeping teenager and pluck her son from the bed when Paul opened
his eyes and looked at the smiling face of his son.

“You’re happier this morning little man.”
He murmured his voice husky from sleep.

“Good morning.” Carmen stroked his hair
from his face as she sat on the bed. “I hear he was not one for sleeping last
night?”