Crunch by Leslie Connor

thought they were both going to hyperventilate.
    “Robert, are you staying for dinner?” Eva asked.
    A beat went by before Lil said, “You’re welcome to stay.”
    “Great, then!” I said. I decided to answer for him.
    “Don’t forget,” Lil said. “The laundry and the pit. Pretty quick now.”
    Vince had a flame going by the time I’d cleaned up and brought the laundry basket to the picnic table. I set the mountain of clothes down gently.Balanced it with my hands. Robert snapped a T-shirt off the top.
    “No, no, no.” Lil picked the shirt out of his hands. “You can’t fold our laundry.”
    “Bet I can,” he said.
    Lil smiled only slightly. “But you may not ,” she said.
    It turned out he might not chop onions, carrots, or green peppers either. I thought she was making a stupid show of the whole we-can-do-it-on-our-own thing.
    Way to make the “comfortable sort” uncomfortable, Lil.
    Robert didn’t linger after supper. The minute he was far enough down our driveway to be out of hearing range, Lil turned to me. We were still working on the laundry. She shook a pair of my own boxers at me.
    “So, Dewey, what gives with Robert being in the shop all day?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Is he playing Mr. Good Samaritan here? Does he think he’s rescuing us?”
    “Rescuing us from what?” I said. “He’s learning stuff. And he’s pretty good, too.”
    “Look, I know you are managing the Bike Barn, but you need to talk to me about changes like that.”
    “Like what? Letting a guy hang around and help for the day?”
    “Yes.”
    “Okay. Um…he’s coming back to hang around tomorrow,” I said.
    Vince cracked up.
    “You!” Lil pointed a finger at him. “Go get Angus and Eva started on dishes. And tell them I said not too much soap. The counter was all slippery this morning.”
    Vince took a stack of clean clothes into the house with him. Lil sat, giving me a piercing look from across the table.
    “What?” I said.
    “I’m serious,” she said. “You’re in charge of the shop, but don’t forget I’m in charge of everything .” She drew a wide circle in the air with a sweep of her arm. “So I can’t ignore what’s happening inthat barn. If Robert’s coming back, then let’s be clear that he’s not babysitting us, and we’re not his community-service project. We are doing just fine.” She snapped a towel out of the laundry and gave it a firm folding. “He’s a bike mechanic. And you need to pay him.”
    I think I was probably curling a lip at her, just trying to wrap my head around all those words. I shrugged and answered, “Okay.”
    “Good. Next thing,” she said. “All those bikes in the shop and the paddock…everywhere. It looks like it’s gaining on you. Maybe it’s time to slow it down.”
    I stared back at my sister. “You have got to be kidding me.”
    “Think about it. Vince has been stressed out—”
    “He was! But I made an adjustment for that!” I stood up. “Besides, I don’t make him work,” I said. “Not ever.”
    “Right. But he feels like he’s supposed to be there whenever you are. That’s most of the time. Also, do you know what day it is, Dew?”
    I probably gave her a blank look while I thought about it.
    “Friday,” she said. “And Sea Camp’s over. Angus and Eva will be home all day from now on. I’m not doing all their care by myself.”
    “So! I’m ready for that,” I said. (I wasn’t.)
    “Dewey, I think Dad is worried about you and the shop.”
    “He said so? To you?”
    “He said it to you . Didn’t you hear? He wants you to back off and be a kid! Have a little bit of a summer. We’re going to be okay. The work will still be there when Dad gets back to help you.”
    “Right! So why not log it in? Most of those bikes aren’t rideable anyway, Lil. People don’t like the wait. But they can’t walk those heaps all the way to Bocci Bike and Rec in Sand Orchard. When Dad gets back, we’ll get through the orders all the