PART 2
The following Saturday, someone knocked on my door.
Chase stood there with the old red mower.
He looked exhausted.
“I know you told me not to come back.”
“I did.”
“I want to explain.”
I stepped aside.
“Then explain.”
He entered my living room but refused to sit. Instead, he twisted his baseball cap between his hands.
“The man driving the SUV was my dad.”
I waited.
“I live with my mom. The court says I have to stay with him every other weekend.”
“So the expensive clothes?”
“They stay at his house.”
He gave a tired little shrug.
“I call them my weekend clothes.”
I didn’t say anything.
“My dad likes people to think he takes care of me.”
“Does he?”
“He buys expensive things.”
Chase stared down at his cap.
“But I’d trade all of it for him showing up to one baseball game.”
The room went quiet.
Then I asked the question that had really been bothering me.
“Why were you mowing my lawn?”
Chase closed his eyes.
“Because I wanted to be here.”
When he opened them again, there were tears in them.
“My family used to own this house.”
Everything suddenly made sense.
“The garage.”
He nodded.
“My grandfather built the workbench inside. He taught me to fix bikes there. I learned how to ride on that concrete floor. When it rained, we’d sit inside and listen to the water hitting the roof.”
His voice cracked.
“After Grandpa died, everything fell apart. Mom couldn’t keep up with the mortgage. We lost the house.”
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
“And your father?”
“He wasn’t around.”
I thought about the black SUV.
“He had money?”
“He always had money. He just fought Mom about helping us. By the time the court finally ordered child support, we’d already packed everything.”
Chase swallowed.
“I used to ride my bike past here after we moved. Then I saw the For Sale sign. When you finally bought the place, I thought…”
He looked toward the backyard.
“…if I couldn’t live here anymore, maybe I could still take care of it.”
“You didn’t actually need a mowing job.”
He shook his head.
“That wasn’t the real reason.”
“What were you looking for?”
His answer came quietly.
“Home.”
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then I asked about the day I’d caught him inside the garage.
“I wasn’t stealing anything,” he said quickly. “I just sat at Grandpa’s workbench. I remembered where his tools used to hang and where our bikes stood. When I walked up that afternoon and found the garage open…”
He stopped himself.
“No. That’s not true. I found a way in because I knew the old latch. And when I was inside, I forgot for a few minutes that it wasn’t ours anymore.”
Those words landed harder than I expected.
“I forgot it wasn’t ours anymore.”
“You didn’t take anything?”
“I didn’t want anything. I just missed my grandfather.”
I believed him.
“You should’ve told me.”
“I was afraid you’d tell me I couldn’t come back.”
“I probably would’ve.”
“I know.”
We both laughed, and some of the tension finally disappeared.
