A Fine Mess by Kristy K. James

brow with his shirtsleeve. Although he’d been at it for about an hour and a half, only about two-thirds of the acre the house sat on was finished. As he crossed the lawn, rubbing his tingling palms on the legs of his jeans, he decided that a riding mower was going to be the number one priority when they went on sale next spring.
    “Good morning,” Paul called as he opened the door to help his wife out of the car. “Looks like you’re hard at work already.”
    “Growing grass waits for no man,” Ian sighed, walking over to his mother-in-law and kissing her cheek. “How are you feeling today, Maddie?”
    “Excited,” she answered, slipping her hand in the crook of his arm. “Your house is lovely! I can’t wait to see inside!”
    “Then let’s not keep you waiting,” he said, grinning down at her.
    “Where should I put Jack?” Paul wanted to know, opening the back door.
    Jack.
    Ian still wasn’t sure how he felt about having a dog. From what he gathered, Jack was an inside dog, as opposed to one that could be kept in a dog house outside. But Annie loved him, and already had beds set out in her room and the kitchen for him, so what could he do?
    “Bring him in, I guess. Annie’s been about beside herself waiting for him.” Realizing how that might have sounded, he added, “And the two of you, of course. She’s making breakfast for all of us as we speak.”
    “Do we have a few minutes?” Maddie said enthusiastically. “I’d like a tour before we eat.”
    The short trek to the front door was a slow one. Maddie didn’t seem to have an abundance of energy that Ian had ever seen. But then again, from what he understood about chemo treatments, they tended to drain the victims. And victim was the only word he could think of to describe the people undergoing the treatment. Maddie was nothing but skin over bone with dark shadows beneath eyes that seemed to large for her face.
    “We have all the time you want, Maddie.”
    Ian glanced down when he heard her gasp as they entered the foyer, relieved that it was from pleasure and not something else.
    “Oh! It‘s beautiful,” she breathed, looking at everything from the louvered closet doors stained to match the honey colored railing on the stairway. Which matched all the hardwood floors and woodwork throughout the rest of the house.
    “Shall we start upstairs first?” Ian asked, smiling gently at her pleasure. “Paul, you could take Jack out to Annie and then join us. The kitchen is straight down this hall.”
    “I’ll be right there then.”
    “Okay.   Now, Maddie, if you don’t mind-” Ian quickly, and far too easily, lifted her in his arms and started up the first five steps, turning to the right and continuing up the rest of the way to the second floor before setting her gently on her feet.
    “Thank you, Ian. I was wondering how I was going to manage,” she said, flushing.
    “As your personal tour guide, it’s my duty to see to your every need,” he said suavely, bowing at the waist. “Now, if you’ll give me your hand,” he tucked into the crook of his arm again, “we’ll continue. To your right you will note the linen closet. Probably built sometime after the completion of the first floor, it is more than adequate to store all of the sheets and blankets required by the residents of the house…”
     
    ~~~~
     
    From the kitchen, where Annie was kneeling on the floor to welcome Jack, she heard her mother’s laugh and wondered what Ian might be up to now. He had, over the course of the past three weeks, made it his mission to bring as much joy as he could into Maddie’s life. Something he seemed to excel at.
    “She sounds happy,” Paul said softly, a tender look in his eyes as he looked toward the doorway.
    “I know. It’s hard to believe how well she and Ian get on together.”
    “Tell me about it!”
    “Jealous, Dad?” she teased, getting to her feet and showing Jack where his feeding dishes were before washing her hands and