That raised a laughter from him for sure! “You’re a dork. But don’t you dare change.” He put on his sunglasses and looked around out his back window. He beckoned her with his finger. She came closer, and he pulled her gently for a sneaky kiss out of sight. The only neighbor she had was Joshua and his wife Sarah, and none of them would be able to see anything if she had leant her head in far enough.
Caleb stroked her hair. “Take care, gorgeous. And I’ll come back out and take care of your yard. It looks like shit.”
“Joshua usually helps me with that, but I’d rather have you do it,” she kindly replied. They said their farewells to one another. He closed the door and took off down the driveway.
All that day, he had something within him he had needed for so long. If only he had had that love when he came home from deployment, when he lost a sale as a realtor, when he was sick and overwhelmed with the kids and the constant bombardment of being told he was a failure as a husband and a father.
Afather.
As he drove down the road heading for the highway home, he thought back to a horrid memory of Ashley screaming at him,how dare you drink in front of our kids? What kind of a lousy father are you? If you actually took your therapy sessions seriously!
Take a man’s dignity by any other means necessary and he could live with that. But being told he was a failure as a father never escaped him. And then every time he went to the bar, it was guaranteed someone with good intentions would come up to him and ask, “Coping?” Just because he was having a beer.
Later, while he watched his daughter canter on a cute plucky horse, the instructor’s husband, Jeff, asked him outright, “You look like you’re in the best mood of your life, Caleb.”
“Yeah, I’ve been working on some stuff.”
Jeff grinned, taking a drag of his cigarette. “I bet you got another girl in your life already. What’s her name?”
He shook his head and moaned in a slightly agitated smile. “No, I don’t have another girl in my life, Jeff. I’ve straightened some things out.”
“A divorce will do that to you. That shit straightens everything out. But I know that look. Come on, what’s her name?”
Caleb laughed. “I don’t have a girl in my life, Jeff.”
“That’s a shame.”
Every time evening came around, it was a wonderful thing. It was when the day was over for him and he could watch his kids play outside while he sat on the porch and watched the sun set. That is, when he had his kids. It was his special moment, especially when he got them on the weekends. To sip a beer, a fine glass of whiskey on ice, play his guitar, watch Charlie scamper in the yard. Then when supper was served to his kids and they were tucked away, he texted Evie to see if she was okay.
While he waited for her reply, he checked her active Facebook story and saw that she had a successful workout at the gym. Her selfie was cute in her obnoxious pink leopard print leggings and her hot-pink tank top. But he smiled while the screen glowed against his face, and he loved it anyway and responded, “Your gym outfits are always so loud. Great job today!”
Evie was in the middle of trying to research how many gallons of paint she’d need to redo that awful bubblegum-pink color in the bathroom. She loved pink, but notthatmuch nor in that color. Her phone lit up, and as she looked at it, she jumped out of her chair to see it was him. There was no one around to call her childish for acting so giddy, but the reason for her giddiness was clear. He actually cared and kept up with her. He didn’t ignore her and move on, leaving her suffocating with confusion or worry.
She responded, “What can I say? I’m a pretty fashionably loud kinda gal!” She topped it off with a winky emoji. She asked about Olivia’s horseback riding, and it made his heart swell that she even cared to ask about his kids. He loved talking about them to her. After talking about Olivia’s riding lessons and Zack’s love of football, Caleb asked her what she was doing. The texting carried on with him telling her he alreadyknew exactly how much paint to get and that one gallon would be sufficient.
It relieved him how she didn’t act like a know-it-all.
And it relieved her how much he didn’t talk to her like she was stupid. Evie’s father wasn’t exactly Mr. Fix-it. He worked in finances, and so she had been left in the dark about certain things. Their texting lasted for hours. He stayed awake texting her until she needed to go to bed. Now the only thing to keep him company was his acoustic guitar. He picked it up and walked out to the garage to let his kids sleep easily, and he sat down in his workshop with a truck still in stages of repair. He tuned it and put a capo on the second fret. After a few strums, he began to sing.
Dad? Daaad? I’m here.
“Dad?”
Caleb turned around and saw Zack staring at him. Zack was only nine, but he wasn’t naïve to what had happened. Caleb swallowed. “What is it, bud? Have a bad dream?”
Zack walked over and leaned in for a hug. His dad put the guitar down and hugged him close. “What’s up, bud? What are you doing outta bed?”
“Are you okay?”
Caleb paused. “I am. What’s up?” He combed his son’s hair back with his fingers.
“You were crying.”
“I was?”
It happened. Again.
“Yeah, Dad. Are you okay?”
