Following his familiar figure down the front hall toward the kitchen, Dora thought of the countless times he’d walked this path back into the kitchen when he returned home from work. He’d loosen his tie, drop his briefcase, give her a peck on the cheek, and turn to the fridge for a beer. Tonight he’d brought wine, she noticed. A drink she preferred. While Cal made himself at home opening the kitchen drawer for the bottle opener, Dora went to the fridge for the bag of green seedless grapes she had brought with her. While she rinsed the fruit at the sink, she watched Cal deftly turn the screw into the cork and remove it with a gentle pop.
They carried the wine and grapes to the dining room, where they shoved aside the plastic tarp to sit at the table. Night was falling and shadows played on the walls. Dora turned on a few table lamps. Soft yellow light flowed across the floors, but the mood was hardly one of romance or even reconciliation. It was strangely awkward. She took a seat, thinking how odd it was to be sitting with a man she’d lived with for so many years and feel as if they were strangers.
“The air-conditioning is out,” Cal said, stating the obvious.
“Yes. I’ll give the repairman a call tomorrow.”
“Let’s just pray the whole system doesn’t have to be replaced. It’s got to be over twenty years old now.” Cal didn’t need to say add it to the list, because they both knew the other was thinking the same thing. He leaned back against the chair and let his gaze wander the room. “Well, looks like the painters got started.”
“No surprises. Yet.”
“Good to see the roofers have gotten started, too.” When she nodded, he added, “You have to stay on top of them, hear? They’ll take forever if you let them, and we want the house to go on the market as soon as possible.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Then there’s the garden,” he continued. “The real estate agent was clear it needs attention. It’s completely overrun. I don’t know why you started that butterfly garden. It’s all weeds now.”
“It was for Nate,” she replied, irked that he didn’t remember. “For his science lessons, remember?” Nate had been fascinated with the caterpillars. Monarchs, swallowtails, Gulf fritillaries—they’d brought them indoors and raised them, watching them go into chrysalis and later change into butterflies.
Cal snorted derisively. “It was an expensive lesson. It’s a jungle out there now. You let the whole thing go.”
“I don’t have any help here, Cal,” Dora said quietly.
“The real estate agent said you’ll have to do something to make it look better. Whatever is cheap. Hire someone to just mow it back.”
Dora clutched her glass and sipped her wine, saying nothing.
“How’s Nate been handling the racket of all the repairmen?”
She was glad he’d finally thought to inquire about their son. “He’s not here.”
This caught Cal by surprise. “Where is he?”
“Out at Sea Breeze with Mamaw. We’re staying there for the rest of the summer.”
“The entire summer?” he asked, incredulous. “When did you decide this?”
“Last month. I told you we were going.”
“For your grandmother’s birthday. Not for the summer.”
“Mamaw invited us”—she raised her fingers around the word “invited” to make quotation marks—“to stay for the whole summer. In fact,” she added with a short laugh, “Mamaw told us we had to stay the summer or we were out of the will.”
Dora held back a smile at seeing his stunned expression, remembering the same looks on her sisters’ faces when Mamaw had dropped that bomb.
“The old battle-ax,” Cal said. “That’s pretty high-handed, if you ask me. Even for her. How did she figure you could all just pack up and go away for the summer like you did as little girls? Your sisters have jobs, and you . . . you have responsibilities here, to this house. What about all that’s going on here?” He waved his arm, indicating the work being done at the house. “You can’t leave now.”
Dora felt her spine stiffen at the audacity of his command. First he insulted her efforts with Nate, and now he was ordering her around? She recalled Mamaw’s admonition to channel the Muir spirit and lifted her chin.
“You forget, Cal. I can just up and go if I want to. I no longer need to consult you, or ask your permission. You’ve changed things between us.”
She paused, acknowledging his tightening lips and flushed face. His eyes looked as if they were about ready to explode, but he pulled himself together.
Cal cleared his throat. “Dora, be reasonable . . .”
“I am being reasonable,” she said with a forced smile, chafing under the implication that she was once again being emotional. She sat straighter in her chair and began to explain her decision, trying to keep her tone level.
“I thought this through carefully. It makes sense for me to stay with Nate at Sea Breeze while the work is being done here. The men will be working round the clock. Nate wouldn’t be able to tolerate the hammering, the strange smells, the heat. He’d also be spooked by having strangers around him all day. We’re lucky to have Sea Breeze to go to! Of course, you could stay at the house during the renovations. To keep an eye on things,” she added with a sweet smile. There, not the least bit emotional, she thought with smug pleasure.
Cal’s face tightened but he didn’t respond.
“Plus, I want to spend time with Mamaw and my sisters again. Mamaw intends to sell Sea Breeze. It’s our last chance to be together again.”
Cal’s gaze sharpened. “She’s selling Sea Breeze?”
Dora wasn’t surprised that this tidbit caught his attention. Sea Breeze was worth millions on today’s market. “Yes.”
“That should bring in a pretty penny.”
Dora merely shrugged. She could almost see the numbers rolling in his brain.
“I reckon I can see how you could decide to stay,” he said, considering. “You don’t have a job. Now don’t get your back up,” he added, raising his palms in an arresting gesture. “I meant a real job, at a place of business. What I don’t understand is how your sisters manage it. I mean, who can just up and leave for three months? Even for them . . .”