Free Emmitt's Treasure: Judgement of the Six Companion Series, book 2 by Melissa Haag Page A

close as I worked.  They helped when I asked them to, but otherwise stayed quiet and out of the way.  If it would have been Jim and me at that age, we would have been all over Uncle Grey or Dad.
    “How long is this going to take?” Aden asked, a hint of impatience in his voice.  I laughed.
    “It’ll go faster when Jim gets home in a few minutes.  He’ll be able to hold the support beam in place.”
    Aden bounced on his feet a little when he heard the distant rev of the motorcycle.
    I turned to watch Jim drive my bike down the gravel drive.  His devil smile told me he wanted to pull something, but he saw the swing set and seemed to change his mind.  He parked, then came over by us.
    “You need to hold the beam,” Aden said.  Liam tried to shush him, but Aden gave his brother a quick scowl and moved closer to Jim.
    “Liam, think you could hold these bolts for me while Jim and I lift the beam?”
    Liam nodded and solemnly came forward to help.
    We’d just gotten the beam in place when Winifred called us to the house for dinner.
    Jim made a game out of who could take bigger bites between him and Aden.  Aden giggled through most the meal.  Michelle didn’t say much, just stayed focused on her food then helped clean up when she was done.  She was more relaxed with us, but still so detached.  I knew not to push her...yet.
    After eating, Jim and I worked slowly on the swing set, spending the majority of our time teasing the kids.  We even took a small break to show the two how to play catch.  When Liam’s eyes rounded at a high jump I executed, Jim and I quickly went back to the swing set.
    “You’re going to get us in trouble,” I said for his ears only.
    “I wasn’t the one that jumped to catch the ball.”
    “You threw it too high on purpose.”
    “Start giving them hints now, and they won’t be so freaked out when they learn the truth.”
    “I’d rather just tell them the truth.”
    Jim shook his head. “They aren’t ready.”
    After the kids and Michelle went upstairs to get ready for bed, I paced Jim’s living room.  She didn’t trust me because someone else had given her a reason not to trust.  I needed to give her a reason to trust me.
    Despite Jim’s advice, I felt the truth was the key.  Trusting her with my secret would show her she could trust me.  One, it would be telling her the truth about me before we went any further in our relationship.  Not that there was a relationship, yet.  But, the truth might make that more possible because she would see that I could protect her against anything.  Which would be the second reason to tell her the truth.  Sure, she might freak out a little like Jim said, but Mom had learned to accept Dad.  Michelle could accept me.
    Nerves and anticipation kept me up most the night.  When I heard the boys moving upstairs, I quickly showered and went outside to start working.  It didn’t take much time before the boys joined me.  Michelle came out and sat on the porch, watching.
    It took me longer than it should have to put the set together.  What-ifs and doubts clouded my mind.  The bottom line was that not telling Michelle what I was felt like a lie.  And, I wouldn’t lie to her.  I couldn’t.  That didn’t mean I embraced telling her the truth.  What if she ran without giving me a chance?
    It was well after lunch when I finally secured the swing set to the ground and gave the boys the go-ahead to play.  They raced for the tower and started climbing up.
    Letting out a long breath, I turned and joined Michelle on the porch.  She kept her eyes on the boys as they played.  I sat next to her and watched them, too.  I realized that in order to tell her about me, I needed to separate her from her brothers.  I didn’t want to scare all three of them.
    “I bought a movie when I went to the store,” I said.
    I felt her turn to look at me.  She quietly studied me for a while.
    “Would you like to watch it with me?” I asked.
    “I can