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When he gently peeled Lucy off his leg and set her on the sofa to continue her nap, he pushed to his feet and walked his bottle into the kitchen. It clinked into the recycling cabinet in the pantry and I heard him muttering to himself as he walked back down the short hallway.
“Wouldn’t sit on that one too long, if I were you.” He snagged his heavy sweatshirt from the back of the chair and zipped himself into it. “If I was just twenty years younger I’d have her locked down in a heartbeat.” His smile was weird. “You’ve got a chance, kid. Don’t waste it.”
The door squeaked as he climbed into his battered old pickup truck, and the engine rattled and clanked when he turned it over, a noise that made me wonder if squirrels had been storing nuts and bolts in the engine compartment. I made a note to myself to add that to my list:Do an inspection of Dad’s truck.Bring WD-40 and a head lamp.
He backed down the short driveway and as the truck rattled and chugged away, he held one arm out the driver’s side window in a lazy wave. He couldn’t see that I waved back, but I did.
The next few days dragged, and if I was going to admit anything to myself, it was because I couldn’t wait to see Madelyn on Sunday night. The little bit of verbal sparring we’d done…some of the looks she’d been giving me…she wasn’t like that with every guy, was she? This felt like something could be there, and for the first time in as long as I could remember, I wanted that. I wanted that connection to a beautiful woman who seemed to find me equally fascinating.
By the time Sunday rolled around I went out to Dad’s place to help with winterizing the house and to take a look at his truck. I was there early, checking for cracks field mice could squeeze through, making sure the windows sealed tight, hauling up one wheelbarrow of split logs after another to stack in the lean-to alongside the house in order to make their trips out for fuel a little easier. Then I cleaned out the Russian oven they used to heat the house and performed a detailed inspection of Dad’s truck.
After oiling the door hinges, replacing the spark plugs and a couple gaskets and changing the oil, it was as good as it was going to get, and I sent him for a trip around the block to make sure she was functioning well.
Hailey, my stepmom, came out to stand beside me while she watched Dad bump down the dirt driveway in the old pickup.
“I hear you have a dinner date,” she teased, leaning into my side and I wrapped an arm over her shoulders. She was tiny and younger than Dad, so I teased him mercilessly that he’d robbed the cradle. For a long time after they were married people thought she was his daughter.
“Just Madelyn.” The pounding started in my ears almost immediately, because the downplay felt like a lie.
“Just Madelyn.” She scoffed. “You mean the sweet girl you’ve had a thing for for the last twenty-five years? The VanBuren girl being the only Madelyn I know of, of course.”
“Eh…” I had no response I could put into words, and nothing that made me look anything less than completely guilty. “Just dinner with her. I stitched up a gash in her forehead, so she said she’d take me to dinner. Payment instead of copay, I suppose.” I shrugged lamely.
“Well, Casanova…” Hailey’s smile was wide and evil. “It’s about time you pulled your head out of your butt and spent some time with a decent woman.”
The insinuation seemed to be that either I wasn’t spending my time with decent women, or I wasn’t spending my time with women at all, which was the truth.
“Define decent,” came tripping out of my mouth, and I flinched. Hailey would sure as hell take that bait and run out the whole bail before she let me reel the conversation back in.
“An adult,” she said firmly. “Someone who’s seen things just like you and that puts her on even footing. You’re a tough man to live up to, Mr. Beckman.” She squeezed me affectionately. “It’ll take a strong woman to put–and keep–you in your place. Lucy’s up to the task, I’m sure, but she’s not enough.”
I made a scoffing noise that came out of my nose as a snort. “You act like I need to be whipped into shape, like I’m difficult.”
“Difficult?” She shook her head. “Not the word I’d have chosen. Set in your ways, maybe, and stubborn as all get-out, but you’ve got a big old heart in there.” She patted my shoulder as she said it, like she was consoling me. “It’s about time you found the right woman to take care of it.”
“Don’t need a woman to take care of it,” I huffed. “I’m fine. Me and Lucy are just fine.”
She chewed on her lip for a moment like she was trying not to laugh and I could hear Dad’s noisy truck coming back up the street.
“Lucy doesn’t cook or clean. She may welcome you home, but a man needs ahome. He needs love to come home to and a home is created by his woman, the one who warms his bed and his heart.”
I wanted to gag. This was a disturbing conversation to be having with my stepmother. The thought of her warming Dad’s bed made me feel a little green, even if they had been married for nearly four decades.
“Dad said Jess keeps in touch with you.” I wanted to throw her off just a little.
“She knows what she lost,” was all Hailey said, her lips set in a flat line like the subject was upsetting. “Madelyn’s been writing to me almost eight years now.”
Why that made a little thrill flip-flop its way through my stomach, I wasn’t exactly sure. If Madelyn cared enough to keep up with my parents, maybe it meant it was a way for her to keep up withme.
Dad pulled back up the driveway, a broad smile on his face. “Running like a champ, son. Should keep her going for some time yet.”
“You’ll want to change the filters this spring,” I called to him as he pulled it up to the garage, and he nodded. We both knew I’d be the one changing the filters in the spring.
Hailey was a great cook and when she dragged us into the house for lunch, I kept myself from filling up on her homemade lasagna and garlic bread, wanting to save some room for dinner with Madelyn.
By four I hugged them both and got into my own truck. Dad tucked Hailey under his arm and she cuddled into him as I backed down the driveway and headed home.
They were good together, Dad and Hailey. He was quiet and easy going. Mellow. She was talkative and sociable, seeing to his every need before he knew he had one. And for that, for her care and thoughtfulness, I loved her, even though she liked to drive me crazy with her meddling. Dad needed her long before they’d met, and it had occurred to me more than once that her love had been what saved him. She’d clearly been the one to save me.
