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wouldn’t have known how to ask, but most of the time, I didn’t
even know what it was that I wanted. All I knew was that I was at
the end of my rope, and to continue the metaphor, for a long time,
I was barely hanging on. I mean, all at once, I had to take care of
two young kids as well as the store, and the kids were younger
then and needed even more attention than they do now. And then
one day, Joyce showed up.” He looked at her. “Have you met
Joyce yet? Works a few afternoons a week including Sundays,
older lady, talks to everyone? Josh and Kristen love her.”
“I’m not sure.”
“It’s not important. But anyway, she showed up one afternoon,
maybe around five or so, and she simply told me that she was
going to take care of the kids while I spent the next week at the
beach. She’d already arranged a place for me and she told me that
I didn’t have a choice in the matter because, in her opinion, I was
heading straight for a nervous breakdown.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to stifle the memory of
those days. “I was upset about it at first. I mean, they’re my kids,
right? And what kind of father was I to make people think that I
couldn’t handle being a father? But unlike anyone else, Joyce
didn’t ask me to call if I needed anything. She knew what I was
going through and she went ahead and did what she thought was
right. The next thing I knew, I was on my way to the beach. And
she was right. The first two days, I was still a wreck. But over the
next few days, I went for long walks, read some books, slept late,
and by the time I got back, I realized that I was more relaxed than
I’d been in a long time…”
He trailed off, feeling the weight of her scrutiny.
“I don’t know why you’re telling me this.”
He turned toward her. “Both of us know that if I’d asked if you
wanted the bicycle, you would have said no. So, like Joyce did
with me, I just went ahead and did it because it was the right