“But can’t that be expensive?”
“Possibly. But you’re worth it and need it. I won’t be able to sleep at night thinking you could be getting into a worse condition.”
“Can we do half? I know I don’t make much money, but I can’t possibly ask you to fork out a lot for me. You bought my lunch already.”
“I’ll go down to your basement. We’ll start there, and then if it’s below $600, you can take it. I’ll cover any differences.”
She shook her head. “Why are you being so nice to me?”
He slowly smiled and tilted his head and reached for a brownie. “You know how you keep saying you want to help me and to know more about me?”
She perked up. “Yes, absolutely.”
“Well, you’d be surprised what a pretty face and good company can do for someone. Let’s just say that.”
By saying so little, Caleb had said a mouthful. There was no way Evie couldn’t understand now. Like a sparrow knowing what branch to land on instinctively, which one would hold its weight, Evie knew now her lover was someone who wanted to possiblyforgetcertain things in order to feel the wholesomeness of something new. And if she kept bringing up the topic of wanting to learn about him, it could have possibly been opening up a scar each time.
She swallowed hard and steadied her breath. She touched his arm affectionately, which was once again something he wasn’t used to. Ashley and he had made love dozens of times. But dozens of times in the span of being together for nearly twenty years wasn’t a lot. It wasn’t like he never loved Ashley, but the torment of being deployed left a heavy strain on their love life. And then there were other things.
When he came to that thought, he pulled away and led her to the basement. Evie followed and listened to everything he said. She turned on the lights and gave him the pad and pen he’d requested to make the notes he needed. It only took him a few more times before he had to go to his truck to get a few more tools.
She waited in the basement and sat on the rickety steps. It was dank down there, and she had been so afraid of basements ever since her brother teasingly locked her in a dark one once. Therefore she never went into the basement again after the showing. But it was dank, dark, and musty smelling down there. While she sat, she thought about his action and how he pulled away from her. This time, she didn’t care.Let him pull away, she thought to herself.Let him do what he must do.It was all so true. A smile crept upon her lips and was felt in every inch of her body.
She didn’t want to reopen those scars. She wanted to heal them. She still believed even the physical, emotional, and psychological pain could all be healed. Some could call her naïve, but she simply believed. Andeven if they ended up never healing, she believed no one should suffer alone.
So, fuck it. She no longer cared if she couldsavehim, if he actually needed saving. But if he did have hurt, she didn’t want him to go through it alone.
Something scurried across the floor and caught her eye as Caleb was heard upstairs coming in through the door. Her eyes peered a bit more, and she lifted her chin from resting on her hand. “Caleb!” she called upstairs.
“Yo!”
“Can you bring Teddy down? I have a mouse down here.”
He brought the big fat orange cat downstairs all cradled up in his arm with the fat falling over his forearm. “I think you feed this Jabba too much.”
She laughed and stood. “Yeah, he keeps sneaking into the cat food.”
He plopped Teddy down on the floor and saw the mouse in question far off in a darker corner. It was huddling.
Caleb began his search and saw Teddy being absolutely useless. He joked, “Man, even the male animals in your life can’t pull their weight.”
Evie crossed her arms. “Oh, he’s useful in his own way.”
“If you have mice, there’s a good chance there are foundation issues. I’ll wait until tomorrow when I can come over with all my stuff and do a good thorough check, because if you don’t need an inspector, I don’t want you paying for one.”
Evie thanked Caleb for his work and went upstairs to leave him to it and also to cook dinner. He was staying the night, and so she felt that after all the yard work he did, the least she could do was prepare a good, home-cooked meal. She thumbed through her favorite country cookbook and deliberated which recipe would entice a busy man like him. She settled on pork chops with seared mushroom and olive salad with a good fat pile of mashed potatoes. Something filling, something zesty and new, and something comforting. Before she did any chopping, she went into the only bathroom she had and laid out fresh towels for him on the bathroom sink.
After his work was through, he showered using his own products hehad brought, and the faint scent of sandalwood and amber lingered in the air.
Dinner was absolutely splendid in both food and company. Caleb shared a lighthearted fishing story of when his bloodhound seemingly pushed him into the lake. On the heavier side, Evie described being forced against a wall in Los Angeles as a man groped down her pants.
By the time their plates were empty, the sun dipped low in the sky. Caleb looked at her as she refrained from crying. It was a hard thing for her to do now. She didn’t want to cry in front of him anymore. She’d done enough of that.
“Why did you let me pin you against the car if you had that trauma?” He sat back and stretched hands on the table. His gray t-shirt had the sleeves ripped off, and his sandy-brown hair was fluffy now that it had dried. “I kinda feel terrible for doing that to you now.”
“Please don’t. There’s a difference between consent and non-consent. I told that man five times to leave me alone. When I threatened to call the cops if he didn’t stop, that’s when he slammed me into the wall.”
Caleb listened sympathetically, slowly rubbing his lips with his thumbs while his elbows rested on the table. Evie’s eyes couldn’t resist from watering. Every single touch a man gave her was violent, lecherous, selfish, and immoral. The air was still. Not even the traffic outside down near the road was heard. He could see the hurt building in her eyes.
