Janice scatters the birds with a slide of her metal chair. She says, “Well that was fun.” Her pale bare feet plop onto our glass tabletop. “I think we all needed that lunch, Fred. It’s so easy to forget our coworkers with how busy the shop has been.”

The shop is Jones’ Home Supply. We started there after college. Lumber and pest sprays in no way factored into our degrees, but I don’t know that our hearts ever left this town. Janice returned home for every band concert, and I heard about every party even after graduation. Plus, we never got a career going in our field. She never saw the point of the networking stuff, and none of my internships stuck. We just ended up at Jones’ one Monday after a prayer for employees on Sunday.

I stare past the cups and plates into our yard. No one bothered to take anything inside, but that’s okay. I say, “You’re right, Janice. I’m grateful that they all came. It was nice to take advantage of the store being closed. If business stays like it has, we should think of doing this more often. I know our employees have families, but we might offer a Sunday brunch every now and again.”

Thoughts of our family distract me for a moment. Janice and I met in high school. We both lingered far too long at the front door of a dance. She waited for a drum major, and I expected a girl from a party the week before. Neither of them showed up. We struck up a conversation that keeps going. Still, we had plans, which delayed our marriage until after college.

Janice yanks me back to our conversation. “Oh, that is a lovely idea, Fred. Maybe we could invite those family members too?” Janice says as she takes my hand.

As we quieten down, the birds return. They peck about the freshly mowed yard for goodness knows what. I hope they find their daily bread.

I say, “I don’t know about it. Billy’s kid sounds like a handful. I wonder if our yard is big enough.” The mess on the table reclaims my attention. “Well, we can work that out for next time. Looks like we still have work to do here.” I say with arms spread over the table.

Janice leans against her chair; she seems to ignore my last comment. She says, “Oh, I don’t know. Billy sounds, to me, like he’s doing an amazing job. I’m sure the pressure from work makes raising children more difficult. I’ve been really impressed with him these last three months.”

I stack a few of the plates nearest to me. Janice makes no move toward her side of the table. She’s much better at break time than me. I wager that’s one reason management keeps us together. She’s good at rest, and I make sure the work gets done. We do have the rest of the afternoon to clean the mess.

“And Angela said more today than I’ve ever heard from her.” I say as I settle back into my seat.

Janice laughs with enough volume to scatter the birds again, but the squirrel just looks at her. Janice says, “That’s because you intimidate her.”

“What?” Now, I send the squirrel running.

“Oh, yes. You tower over her, and you always have a job for her. So, she doesn’t know how to approach you. I wager you did a good thing breaking down that wall today.”

I raise an eyebrow in Janice’s direction. “Let’s hope so. I think she could be great for the shop.”

Janice’s earthy brown hair swipes her shoulders as she turns to the table. “I suppose that we really should clean this mess,” she says.

“Actually, I was enjoying the break,” I say. “We had a nice little lunch with both of our staff members. And, that is a few more people than I am used to around our home. After all, we do have the rest of the afternoon. Have you seen our family of cardinals in the yard?”

“No, I haven’t, Fred. I hate that I missed them though. I usually enjoy watching them. They look like such happy birds. I hope they’re enjoying this warm day as much as we are.” Janice says before turning her chair to face me.

We continue to share our stories from lunch. I mention that Janice found a new friend in my guy, Jeff. Janice tells me about the softer impression I made for her team. I compliment her on the meal, and she applauds my efforts to get everyone through the buffet. We fall silent, holding each other’s hand, and staring into the yard.

The first fly lands on the stack of plates in front of me. “All right, then. I do believe that is our sign. If we do not get started, we’ll be overrun.” I say swooping up the plates.

Our conversation continues as we clean the table. We split the job without any comment. Janice and I simply take care of our side of the table. The topic moves to our curiosity about the shop’s remodel. Dishes vanish into the house, and we question the other as we pass in the doorway. Our only struggle is hearing the answers from inside the house.

I bring in the last of the dishes, and Janice already has the sink going. She rinses the dishes and passes them to me. I load the dishwasher with a champion of Tetris’ skill. All the while, Janice and I talk about the projects we have for this house. I don’t know whether my desire for a new door to the patio or her desire for a more open floor plan is higher on the list.

Janice hands me the last cup and says, “We did it. That didn’t take as long as I thought. What’s next?”

I walk over to the fridge. “I see everyone left us a couple beers. I say that we just go back to the porch.”

“Great idea. I’ve got the bottle opener.”