One of her lady friends from her Saturday meeting sidled up to Jane, eating vegetables and dip from a small paper plate.
“It really is a lovely backyard, Jane,” she said.
“Oh, thanks, Rachel. It was all Caleb’s doing.”
“I’ll bet it was,” she said. “I’m just surprised you let him find any time to get the work done.”
She bit into a carrot and winked.
Jane laughed.
“He is really cute, isn’t he?”
“Cute? He’s fucking gorgeous. What I want to know is, does he have a brother? Or even his father might do.”
“I’m afraid you’ll have to find your own,” Jane said.
She excused herself and went to see how Grace was doing.
“You look a little flushed over here, Grace,” she said, joining her and her husband at the table. “What are you really drinking in that iced tea glass?”
Grace smiled conspiratorially and sipped her tea.
“Are you enjoying yourself, Bob?” Jane asked.
Before he could answer, Grace said:
“He’d probably be enjoying himself more if there was rum in the tea. Wouldn’t you, Bob?”
Bob ignored his wife’s comment and answered Jane:
“It’s a fine party, Jane. I love what you’ve done back here. And Caleb seems like a stand up fella, too. I had no idea he was from Spokane. Did you know I went to Gonzaga University?”
“I didn’t know that,” Jane said. “A Spokane boy, huh? I never would have guessed you were Catholic either.”
“Well,” he laughed, “I’m a recovering Catholic.”
“Glad you’re recovering from something,” Grace said.
Bob went on, ignoring her again:
“Good people over there. That’s a plus for Caleb. Anyway, I hate to dash, but I’ve got to be on a two-thirty to Pittsburgh.”
He stood and kissed his wife on the head, smiled at Jane, and walked off.
“Don’t text and fly,” Grace called after him. Then she cocked an eyebrow at Jane and said: “You’d be surprised what they do up there when they should be flying.”
“Things okay between you two?” Jane asked.
Grace rolled her eyes and sighed.
“This is your day to celebrate. Let’s not spoil it with the boring details of an old married couple’s petty grievances.”
“Well, it was nice of him to come by.”
“Yes, it was. Now tell me how things are going with Caleb. And give me details. You know all the ladies are talking about him. They think you’re the luckiest woman on the island. Of course, I happen to think it’s him who’s the lucky one.”
“That’s very sweet of you to say. But I do feel lucky. And he’s ... well, he’s just about as wonderful a man as I could have wished for. Last night he played his guitar and sang to me while I took a bubble bath. Does it get better than that?”
“Come on,” Grace said, “that’s not all he did.”
Jane dropped her jaw, mocking exaggerated shock.
“You dirty, dirty woman, you.”
“Just tell me—is he as good in bed as he is with that grill?”
Jane couldn’t contain her grin.
“Even better.”
Caleb walked over to the table, carrying a plate of steaming meat in one hand and a plate of grilled corn in the other. He set them on the table and leaned down and kissed Jane. Then he smiled at Grace and winked, as if he’d guessed what they had been talking about, and said:
“I hope you both like meat.”
Grace blushed and fanned her face with her hand.
“Oh, aren’t you just a tease. I like him, Jane. I think you should keep this one around for a while.”
“What do you mean: this one?” Caleb asked, pouting.
“She’s only kidding,” Jane replied. “There haven’t been any other ones. I was a virgin before I met you.”
Grace slapped Jane’s knee playfully.
“You mean you’re not a virgin? I knew you two were living in sin. Caleb, I guess you’re going to have to make an honest woman out of her now.”
“Oh, God, Grace,” Jane said. “It’s 2013, already.”
Jane was happy when their playful banter was broken up by her guests flocking to the table in search of the food.
Caleb was a perfect host, making sure everyone had cutlery and napkins and something cool to drink. They’d brought out all the chairs from the kitchen to add to the patio furniture, and a few camping chairs from the garage. Those who couldn’t find a seat ate their lunch sitting in the grass or with their feet swinging off the bridge. The kids had hardly eaten when they were up again and organizing a game of tag.
“This is really great, Jane,” one of the husbands said.
“Thanks, Earl. I’m glad you and Judith could make it.”
“Yeah, the last time we were here was ...”
He smiled uncomfortably and clucked his tongue, as if to chastise himself for having misspoken.
“It’s okay,” Jane said. “It was Melody’s thirteenth birthday party, if I recall. That was one of the good times, and I like to remember as many of those as I can.”
Everyone nodded, and a kind of hush fell over the table.
“So,” Earl said, turning to Caleb and changing the subject. “Jane tells me you might be willing to rent out your goat.”
“You mean, old Bill Clinton?”
“Is that really his name?” another man at the table asked. “I thought the Democrats’ symbol was a donkey.”
“Maybe it ought to be a goat,” someone said, “considering all they do is eat and shit.”
“Hey, now,” Jane jumped in, “No politics and no religion.”
“Well, what are we supposed to talk about?”
“The only thing any of us is qualified to talk about,” Jane answered. “Ourselves.”
Caleb set his corn down, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and glanced over at the goat.
“I’m not sure about renting him,” he said, “but I might sell him to a good home. He did a lot of work around here and was a big help, but we don’t have enough pasture for him.”
“Why, hell,” Earl said, “we’ve got two solid acres just over the bridge, west of Poulsbo. He’d be in goat heaven over there. And we welcome Democrats and Republicans just the same. As long as he isn’t Mormon.”
Everyone at the table laughed, except one woman.
“Hey, what do you have against Mormons?” she asked.
“Nothing,” he said. “I was just playing with Jane is all.”
“I’d sell him to you for three hundred bucks,” Caleb said.
“Three hundred? Does he eat grass and shit gold?”
“You know,” Caleb said, “I never thought to check.”
“I’ll give you one fifty.”
“One fifty? I could scoop his shit and sell it for fertilizer and make that off him in a year. Not to mention he’ll clear just about anything you set him on to eat for you. How about two-fifty, and you promise to treat him right?”
“Two hundred even, and we’ll treat him like a member of the family.”
“Sold,” Caleb said, shaking his hand.
Earl turned to Jane.
“You’ve got yourself a real shrewd negotiator here, Jane. I think he might give my guys at the shop a run for their money.”
“He’s a musician, Earl. Not a tractor salesman.”
Earl turned to Caleb.
“Is that right? I should have brought along my banjo and we could’ve had a go at entertaining everyone after we eat.”
“You play a five or a four string?” Caleb asked.
“Five string, of course. You play?”
“I can pick a little.”
“Jane, I really like this guy.”
Jane smiled.
“Yeah, me too.”
After everyone had eaten their fill, they gathered around the fountain. It had been Caleb’s idea to dedicate it, and at his request Jan
e had asked everyone to bring a bottle of water filled from the tap in their house. He said it would bring good luck to have all her friends’ energies mixed together. She thought it was a little quirky, but then that was one of the things she loved about him. Those who had remembered retrieved their bottles and poured their water, one at a time, into the fountain until it was full. Then everyone circled around it to watch. Jane stood near the house with her hand on the breaker switch.
“Ready when you are,” Caleb called.
Jane threw the switch and nothing happened. She watched as Caleb stood there with a puzzled look on his face. Then a small sputter erupted from the fountain’s spout, followed by a stream of water. Everyone clapped.
Shortly after dedicating the fountain, Grace came up to her and said she wasn’t feeling well and needed some rest.
“You want me to drive you home?” Jane asked.
“No. You enjoy your guests. Liz is going to take me.”
“Okay. Just don’t take any of those Ambien. That one you gave me made me down an entire bag of Doritos.”
Grace laughed.
“I guess I forgot to warn you about that.”
As the afternoon wore on, the guests began to depart by ones and twos, each of them going out of their way to lavish thanks on Jane and Caleb for such a fun day. Several of them even remarked on how great it was to have something to do where there wasn’t drinking involved.
Despite Bill Clinton’s protestations, Caleb put his collar back on and led him to the street and helped Earl load him in the bed of his pickup truck. Jane stood in the driveway and watched as they tied him to cleats on either side so he couldn’t jump out on the short trip across the bridge.
“Try not to keep him on a leash,” Caleb said. “He can get a little loud about it.”
Jane watched as Caleb scratched the goat’s head one last time, even rising up on his tiptoes and leaning to quickly kiss it on the cheek. She knew he’d grown to love that silly goat.
Earl helped his wife up into the cab, then paid Caleb his money and shook his hand again. As the truck pulled away, Caleb stood in the street watching after it, and Jane stood in the driveway watching him. She loved how sensitive he could be.
“You’re going to miss that goat, aren’t you?” she asked, as he walked back up the drive and joined her.
“Are you kidding me?” he asked back. “That damn thing was gonna eat me out of all my pay.”
Jane laughed.
“Well, at least you turned a profit on him.”
They walked arm in arm toward the door.
“I might miss him just a little,” Caleb said.
Jane gave him a squeeze.
“I knew it.”
After they had seen the last of the guests off, and cleaned up most of the mess, Jane and Caleb sat alone in the backyard and listened to the fountain.
“It sure is beautiful,” Jane said.
“Yeah, you picked out a good one.”
“No, I meant the yard. You did a great job, Caleb. Better than I could have expected.”
“If you give me a list of what you want in the garden, I’ll pick up some seeds tomorrow at the hardware store.”
“Is that going to cost me extra?”
Caleb looked over at her and smiled.
“I can think of a few ways you might work it off.”
“You’re a naughty man,” she said. “And I like it. You were quite the hit with all the ladies today. Their husbands and boyfriends too, actually. It seems everyone loves you.”
“I must have won them over with my cooking.”
“Yeah,” she said, “I’m sure that was it.”
They were quiet for a long time, just sitting side by side and looking at the yard. Jane reached over and took his hand in hers. The sky eventually faded to blue, the air took on a chill.
“Should we go inside and get warm?”
“I like the sound of that,” Caleb said.
He stood and took her by the hand and led her toward the house. He stopped short of the sliding door, bent and scooped her up in his arms and lifted her off the ground.
“Hey, what are you doing?” she asked.
“I’m carrying you inside.”
“Did we have a wedding here today that I missed?”
“No,” he laughed. “I’m just making sure you don’t trip.”
He carried her to her room and laid her gently on her bed. Then he lay down beside her and caressed her cheek. Evening had come, and blue light was spilling through the window. He looked at her for a long time, his eyes cast in shadow, and she wondered what it was he saw when he stared at her like that. He might have told her, but there were no words for it, not in this language or any other.
He kissed her—so tenderly that she felt like a China doll beneath his gentle lips, as though he were afraid he might break her. He carefully unbuttoned her blouse. She arched her back so he could unclasp her bra. He unzipped her pants and peeled them off her, his fingers grazing her inner thighs and sending a shudder up her spine.
“Are you cold?”
She shook her head.
He stood and undressed himself slowly, folding his clothes and setting them aside. When he had finished he was standing before her completely naked, and his normally tan skin shone white as alabaster in the dim blue evening light—he looked to Jane like a newborn god. He crawled on top of her, never once taking his eyes from hers. She opened for him like a flower. He was gentle, so gentle that she hardly knew when he had entered her, and he moved inside her like a man conjuring love from secrets hidden in the rhythms of his heart. And as he moved, she moved, and she watched his face in the blue shadows and he merged into an amalgamation of every lover that had ever come to visit her in dreams. She loved him more than she had thought it possible to love.
He brought his face closer to hers, and his hair fell forward and tickled her cheeks. Their lips were close but not touching. She could feel his breath, and she could smell his skin.
She whispered to him:
“I love you, Caleb.”
Her words drew his lips to hers and they kissed.
She moaned and arched her back, pressing her breasts into his naked chest. He moved faster. She felt his heart beating in time with hers—two life forces conjoined. She had never felt so vulnerable and yet so safe. It was intoxicating. She let go a moan into his mouth and felt herself tighten against him—a spasm of pleasure so great it erased every thought from her mind. He let himself go with her, his lips never breaking away from hers, and in that moment she knew they were one.
When he finally fell beside her, he brought her head to his chest and wrapped his arm around her. His hand tickled her shoulder, and she thought he might be strumming a melody there the way his fingers moved.
“You know something, baby,” he said, turning his head to look at her, even though it was now almost fully dark. “When I hear you say you love me, it almost makes me cry.”
“Why?” she asked.
“Because it plays in my head in such beautiful colors. Like a rainbow in heaven or something.”
Jane smiled and said:
“I love you. I love you. I love you.”
She felt his chest drop beneath her head as he sighed.
“There aren’t the right words to say it, Jane, but I need you to know just how much I love you.”
“You promise?”
“With everything in me I swear it’s true.”
“Lucky me,” she said.
“Lucky you? If I believed in luck, I’d have you beat hands down as the luckiest man that ever lived.”
“Maybe we’re both lucky,” she said.
He smiled and kissed the top of her head.
Chapter 19
“ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT ME TAGGING ALONG?”
“Tagging along?” he asked. “Half the reason I said yes to this gig is so I could show off for you.”
Jane smiled and opened her trunk for his guitar.
They stayed in t
he car and listened to classical music on the radio as the ferry carried them across the bay. Caleb said the colors cleared his mind. It was Friday night, and the other cars onboard were filled with mostly couples, some young, some old, but all of them done up for a night out in the city. Jane watched as six teens dressed for a dance spilled out of an SUV and escaped their chaperone chauffeur, if only for a few minutes until the ferry reached Seattle.
“Did you ever go to school dances?” Jane asked.
Caleb laughed.
“Me? No way. Did you?”
“I went to senior prom with Ralph Estes. He cut my lower lip with his braces and it wouldn’t stop bleeding. Got all over my white dress, too.”
“I don’t like to think about you kissing another man.”
“Oh, trust me, Ralph Estes was hardly a man.”
“Maybe,” he said. “But I still don’t like it.”
Jane smiled. She liked seeing him jealous.
The ferry docked. She drove them up Queen Anne hill, past trendy neighborhood coffee shops, and boutique groceries where the meat market was still going strong, even though the butcher shop had closed for the night. As they crested the hill, Jane saw Seattle spread beneath them, the iconic Space Needle hovering above it and lit up like some space-age monument.
They drove past the Paradigm Pub, turned off the main drag, and found a spot on the street to park.
Jane popped the trunk and they got out.
“At least it isn’t raining,” she said.
Caleb stood over the open trunk and looked up at the sky.
“Sometimes it’s busier when it rains.”
“You worried there won’t be enough people?”
“Nah,” he said, grabbing his guitar and closing the trunk. “The Paradigm’s always packed.”
The doorman asked Caleb for ID, but let him pass when he held up his guitar. Jane paused to dig her license from her purse, but he didn’t even bother looking at it as he waved her through. She tucked it back in her wallet with a frown.
The small restaurant bar was just making the transition from the after-work-dinner-and-drinks crowd to the serious partiers who wanted to get lost in shots and live music. Jane was bombarded with the sounds of excited chatter and clinking glasses, and the air smelled faintly of beer and marijuana. Most of the patrons appeared to be in their twenties, and as they passed an especially young girl, standing blurry-eyed and already drunk at the bar, Jane noticed a diamond stud in her nose. She couldn’t help but think of her daughter, and she found herself wondering if Melody had ever been here before.
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