The Mystery of the Missing Contractor: What Happened to Lenny on 'Good Bones'?

Mother-daughter home renovation duo Karen E. Laine and Mina Starsiak Hawk have been rebuilding homes from the ground up in Indianapolis, Ind. for four seasons with HGTV on the show Good Bones. After several seasons of the show, it seems like Karen and Mina's company, Two Chicks and a Hammer, stopped using their trusty contractor Lenny.

Not only was Lenny their contractor, but he was also part of the family, so it was extra strange when he was silently left off the show and no one talked about him anymore. 

To understand what happened to Lenny, first, you need some background on Karen and Mina's family tree, which is more complicated than most, to say the least. In fact, they made a whole video just to illustrate their family connections. 

But here are the basics: Karen married Mina's dad Casey, had three kids, and then they divorced. Casey married a woman named Cheryl, who had previously been married to Lenny. After having two kids together, Cheryl and Casey divorced, and then Cheryl remarried Lenny. 

Lenny of course, was the Good Bones contractor and kind of sort of part of the family. 

Cheryl has since passed away, and Lenny is now remarried to a woman named Ginger. There is way more to the family tree, including three or four marriages on Karen's end, but for the purposes of finding out where Lenny went, this is all you need to know. 

While Good Bones has been going strong for several seasons now, Lenny, who was once an integral part of the show, seems to have disappeared completely. According to RealityStarFacts.com, Lenny simply got too expensive for Two Chicks and a Hammer to continue using him. 

Apparently being tenuously connected through multiple branches of a family tree doesn't guarantee you a discount on contractor services.

It is unclear if there was anything beyond cost that resulted in Lenny no longer being used as a contractor, but one thing is certain: Karen and Mina's connection is all that really matters. The pair is inseparable, not just mother and daughter and business partners, but also friends and neighbors. 

"We live next door to each other," Mina told IndyStar. "We're mom and daughter and friends as well." And while they've worked so well together for so long, it's almost time for Karen to slow things down a bit and reduce her involvement in Two Chicks and a Hammer.

According to Deadline, although Good Bones was renewed for a fifth season that will air in 2020, Karen has decided to take a step back from the company. But never fear! She will still be involved in the show, "focusing on DIY projects rather than renovating entire homes."

No word on if someone will take her place for big-picture stuff. Seems like a good opportunity to bring back Lenny... but who am I to make that call?