“Hand me that hammer,” I say to Caleb, steadying myself on my ladder. “The claw one . . . yeah, and the box of nails?”

“Sure,” he says. The two of us are up on my mom’s roof repairing some old shingles. We’re supposed to be getting ready for our trip in two days, but Mom said she had a leak. The weather reports say that there’s a good chance of heavy rain in the next two weeks, and I’ll be damned if I come home to find she’s been flooded out of her own kitchen. Mom’s stubborn. Oli and I could easily upgrade her living situation, but she refuses. She loves this place and is intent on staying.

A droplet of sweat runs down my forehead, stinging my eyes. The sun is high in the sky and bearing down on us with unbearable heat. Caleb tosses the hammer as I’m wiping at my eye. Thankfully, I catch it, barely keeping it from cracking my front teeth. “What the fuck, dude? You trying to make me look like the Joker?”

Caleb shakes his head, sweat trickling down the side of his face as he grips his ladder. “Sorry, man. I almost lost my balance and sorta had to wing it.”

“It’s all good,” I reply. I shake my head, aligning a shingle and picking a nail out of my pocket. “You know, I still can’t believe my brother hired you. What do you know about property research or contracts or any of that shit?”

I still don’t know how I feel about going to Hawaii. Oli put a lot of weight on my shoulders with this Hawaii deal. But after our talk, I want to prove him wrong. I’m not fucking up. The past few deals were a fluke.

“Not a damn thing,” Caleb admits. “I think he’s trying to help me out. That, and he thinks I can help keep you on task.”

I drive the nail into the shingle, grumbling. “So you get to be a personal watchdog. Great.”

Caleb shakes his head and slides the fresh box of nails over to me. “Tony, you’re a grown ass man. I’m not going to step in your way of having fun. Hell, I hope I have some fun too. I do have some negotiating experience, so I can help with that at least.”

“Oh, yeah?” I ask. “You just said you don’t know a thing about negotiations or persuasion.”

Caleb nods, getting all the way on the roof and opening a fresh pack of shingles. “I once told a girl she was a demon succubus bitch from hell and she believed it. Got her to put on horns and a little tail and try to suck my soul from me through my cock.”

I laugh. “You are so full of shit.”

Caleb laughs. “Okay, maybe the horns and tail part is a lie. The truth is, I was in a rut and Oli offered me a spot with Steele Solutions. I don’t want to step on any toes.”

“You’re fine,” I reply, chuckling. “I guess I’ll just have to see it as I get my own little Padawan following me around. But you can’t start calling me Yoda.”

Caleb chuckles. “You’re too tall. And not smart enough.” He checks out his arms and shoulders. “Well, at least we’ll have the tan already, eh?”

“Yeah,” I agree, driving another nail, “but I’m starting to feel like fried bacon out here. We need to hurry up. Grab shingles and start laying them out for me?”

Caleb squints against the glaring sun and then begins to lay out the shingles, making sure to overlap them to match the pattern with that of the existing roof. “Looks like we almost got this section done though. If you want, I’ll grab the other hammer and start from over there. We can get it done quickly.”

“Thank God.” One of the reasons I brought Caleb up here today with me is that he’s always had this knack for fixing things. I mean, I’m okay. I could do a good job on this patch by myself, but Caleb is a jack of all trades. Fix a wonky computer, tinker with a car, figure out what’s causing the toilet to gurgle, all that shit. I like to call him Mr. Fix-it. I would’ve just hired someone, but Mom doesn’t like strangers around the house unless there’s no other choice. She’s always been that way.

“Good. Cause I’m about ready to pull out the hose and douse our asses,” I say, wiping at the sweat on my face before hammering another shingle in.

Caleb grabs a half dozen nails and starts on his end. “Next time,” he says as he drives a nail, “buy or rent a damn nail gun or industrial stapler. You’ve got the money, you know.”

“You boys okay up there?” I hear Mom call below us.

“We’re making it!” I call down. “Just a few more minutes and your roof will be like new.” I glance over at Caleb, who’s driving nails with two swings of his hammer like he’s Bob Vila or some shit. “Good point. I’ll remember that for next time.”

“Finished!” says Caleb a moment later with a sigh after driving his last nail. We both scale down the ladder quickly, glad to be off the roof where the heat was baking off the shingles. They might reflect heat for Mom, but when my happy ass is right on top of them, I’m more than happy to be back on the green grass.

Mom is waiting for us, hands on her hips. Over the years, she’s managed to keep herself up and looks even better now that she’s finally stopped smoking. Thank God for small miracles. “My, you boys look thirsty. Would you like some lemonade?”

I nod while Caleb speaks up. “I’d love that, Ms. Steele.”

She shakes her head, a flush coming to her cheeks as Caleb wipes at the sweat on his brow. “Caleb, you are one tall order, and you’re certainly filling out from the beanpole you used to be.”

Caleb chuckles, and I think he blushes, but that might be the heat. “Thank you, I guess, Ms. Steele.”

“Y’all come on inside,” Mom says. “It’s much cooler. And Caleb, I could use your help with something in the kitchen.”

“Of course, Ms. Steele,” Caleb says as he follows Mom inside.

I’m about to head inside after them when the backyard gate bursts open and I hear screaming.

“Uncle Tony! Uncle Tony!”

I turn to see two kids tearing across the grass, my nephew in the lead while his sister, Leah, is right behind him. “Hey, squirts!” I greet them, sweeping Leah up into a hug while Rafe clings to my leg. “Y’all keep growing so fast!”

“Looks like I got here too late,” Oli says, walking in with a pretty sweet tool belt around his waist, wearing a tank top.

I wipe the sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand. I can’t resist this chance to rag on him. “Yeah, right, I know your game. You timed it just right!”

Oliver scowls at me. “Don’t start, Tony.”

I laugh. “How’s Mindy?”

“Fine. Just at the cafe, training up some new staff. She wants to be sure she’ll be able to hand things over when she has to slow down with the new baby.”

“I understand that,” I reply. “She’s really taking care of the place.”

Oliver nods, looking up at my repair job and nodding in approval. “Where’s Mom?”

“Inside with Caleb,” I answer. “Something about tasting her apple pie.”

He makes a face. “Jesus, Tony, really?”

I laugh. He thinks I’m half serious. “She needed help with something.”

“Okay,” Oliver says, scratching his jaw while the kids go over to the tire swing that we put up for their visits to Grandma’s. He watches them for a moment, then crosses his arms over his chest. “Look, about . . . I don’t want you to get the wrong idea about the other night.”

I shrug. I don’t know what else to do. Oliver isn’t the type to apologize much, though he usually doesn’t have a reason to. “It’s no big deal.”

Oliver shakes his head. “I just wanted to let you know how serious this is and that I believe in you.”

“I know, and thank you. I won’t let you down.”

Oliver lifts his chin toward the roof. “And I really appreciate your helping Mom.”

“Yeah, about that,” I reply, “Caleb says if it happens again, it’d be a lot faster and easier if we get a couple of those big industrial staplers.”

Oliver reaches into his tool belt and pulls out a stapler, holding it up. “You mean like this one? Don’t tell me you hand nailed all those shingles.”

“Asshole,” I grumble. “And yes, I did.”

Oliver chuckles, then stops. “Well, you got it done. Hey, you got all your shit ready for the trip?”

“Gonna pack my bag tonight,” I say. “I’ll be ready for the ride to the airport.”

The back door to the house opens and Mom comes out with Caleb, who’s carrying a big glass of lemonade in each hand. “Oh, great, now I gotta go back and enjoy the AC again to get more glasses.”

I laugh as Caleb hands me one of the glasses and offers the other to Oli. “Nah, I’m good.”

“Phew, now I don’t have to hide the vodka in it,” Caleb jokes. Mom, on the other hand, has ignored the three of us to go over and hug her grandchildren, who are super excited to see her. Caleb chuckles. “She always do that?”

“Ignore us?” I ask, and Caleb nods. “Yep. One time, I damn near bled to death in the kitchen because she was so busy playing peekaboo with Leah.”

“Oh, stop,” Oli says, laughing. “You nicked your finger with a knife. You didn’t even need stitches.”

“Yeah, but I got salt and lemon juice in the cut,” I add. “You know how much that shit stings?”

We all laugh, but then I make a serious face. “Hey.”

“Yeah?” Oliver asks.

I look across at Rafe and Leah, who is laughing her head off as Mom pushes her in the tire swing. “Don’t worry about Hawaii. Consider it taken care of.”