T
he next day, Jane called Shelley to borrow Shelley's son, John. "Sure. What for?"
"I need to get all the stuff in the other half of my garage either thrown away or put into a shed at the side of the house. I want John and Todd to go with me to Home Depot and Sears to pick one out."
"May I come along?" Shelley asked. "I fancy I'd be good at picking out a shed that looked nice."
"Sure. The more the merrier. I want whoever will put
it together for free."
When they were ready to go, and told the boys about the project, both of them said, "Putting a shed together is
easy. We can do it for you. Also pick up another trash bin to throw out the junk."
It was, naturally, Shelley who took a measurement of how much width could fit between the fence and the
house. "And you need two big doors that open out," she said as they took off at warp speed in her minivan.
Todd and John didn't seem to mind riding with Shelley at the wheel. Jane thought it was because they were too
young to contemplate imminent death in a fire-engulfed vehicle. Or simply because they had male genes.
They found a perfect steel shed that met the requirements and could be delivered and stacked in the driveway the next day. In the meantime, Jane went out to buy a new trash bin and started filling it. It would probably take two weeks to get everything disposable in the garage into it.
Jane then turned her attention to making an office for Mel. She hadn't consulted him yet. But she called her honorary uncle Jim. He'd had a room tacked onto the back of his house three years earlier. He was close to retirement
and wanted to set up a woodworking room with lots of windows for good light.
"Don't mention this to Mel yet. I want to tell him about it and figure out how much room he needs."
Jim said, "You'll need an architect to draw up tentative plans, and get the township's permission. I can help you
with that. I've been through it, and know the ropes and the right people to hire."
"Uncle Jim, you really are a treasure."
"I'm looking forward to the wedding. I haven't seenCecily and Michael for two years." Uncle Jim had been a long-term Chicago cop. Before that he served as a bodyguard for five years when Jane's parents traveled to different countries. They'd always been close to him.
"We scheduled the wedding around their timetable."
Jane had already called her son, Mike, to tell him she was getting married. His response was merely, "It's about time, Mom. You're not getting any younger."
Katie was slightly less enthusiastic, but pretended prettily that she was pleased.
Todd had taken the news easily, "Cool, Mom. Somebody else to take out the trash every week."
Thelma took it very badly. "At your age, you're getting married? What's the point in doing something so foolish?"
"That's my business, Thelma. It's not your concern."
Jane went on to explain that the real wedding was going to be in a judge's chamber with just her family and Mel's. "You're welcome to attend if you wish. Mike and Katie and Todd will all be there, as well as my friend Shelley and Uncle Jim."
"I'll have to think about it. Issue me an invitation and directions," Thelma snapped and hung up.
Jane let out a long sigh. Why had she ever even considered inviting Thelma? She should have known she'd be nasty. Just not quite as nasty as she had been.
She'd send the invitation and just hope the old tartar wouldn't show up and be rude to Jane and everyone else. The next day, four big boxes appeared in her driveway.
She assumed they were the pieces of the shed. If not, she couldn't imagine what else would come in such big boxes. She called Shelley and told her to get the boys ready and asked if she had a box cutter with a fresh blade. She wasn't surprised that Shelley had one handy. The boys were excited. They'd already dug up the grass and leveled the area where it would sit. Todd had found an old painting tarp with pink paint speckles. Whatever was it doing in the garage? Jane wondered. Nothing in the house had ever been painted pink. They'd put it on the ground and set all the bags of screws and handles in the right order.
Jane and Shelley decided to watch the process. They took two patio chairs out on the lawn. The boys moved the table and the umbrella for them, in a bit of a temper because it was slowing them down.
The boys did a good job. They, unlike Jane, read all the directions before starting. Jane never read the instructions until she realized she'd done something wrong.
Late in the afternoon, she called Mel and said, "I'm making chili this evening. I know it's winter food but I have a craving for it. I want to show you my new shed as well."
"A new shed?"
"To clear out the other side of the garage for your car," r she explained. "All the big stuff is already in there and most of the rest is going out in the trash."
She didn't mention the pictures she'd found of Mike and Katie going camping as little kids with their father. They grabbed at her heart. He was a good dad. Just not a faithful husband.
Mel looked a bit wrung out when he arrived for dinner. "Your mother?" she asked.
"Yup. I won't even tell you what she said."
"It was probably as bad as what my mother-in-law said to me yesterday. Forget it. I'm sticking to my guns about the rules. No matter how mad your mother is, does she understand that I mean it?"
"She does. But I need to reinforce it several times
before the wedding."
After the chili was chowed down, she called for Todd and John to come show off their work. Even Mel was impressed. "Now let's see the garage." He was pleased.
Jane said, "Wait for what will impress you more. Let's sit outside for a while."
When Mel had carried the table, umbrella, and chairs back to the patio, and they'd taken their coffee cups and some store-bought chocolate chip cookies to nibble, Jane sprang her plan on Mel.
"I'm building you an office just behind the dining
room."
"Jane, you can't do that. You don't know how, in the first place, and it would be too expensive. You could just clear out that big closet-sized sewing room."
"It's too small. And where would I put my sewing