by Jillian Dagg
"What a nice man,” Eva said. “And he thinks the world of you."
"Does he?” Cally asked, helping her mother put away the clean warm dishes from the dishwasher.
"Oh, yes. But Essie mentioned he was going overseas for a while."
Cally clutched a plate. “Yes. He is."
"Absence makes the heart grow fonder, you know."
"Or you forget a person,” Cally said.
Her mother nodded. “Or that. But if it's real love it will survive."
"Are you suggesting I wait?"
"If no one else comes along, waiting won't be difficult.” Eva smiled. “Your father worked overseas quite a bit when we first met. I went with him a couple of times before Matt was born. Then luckily he was offered a more stay-at-home position. His traveling was limited to this country, which made life much easier for us all. Still, he wasn't home as much for the boys and Essie as he was for you. But that's another story. You're lucky, in some ways, you have the same career as Luke. You can go places together if you want."
"I'm not that serious with him yet, mother,” Cally said, but she knew she was. Her family knew she was.
They'd met Luke. They knew. And she'd likely have to forget him.
Four o'clock Sunday came quickly and Luke was there ten minutes early. They began the trip on time, the Mercedes eating up the miles in the dimming late day sunshine. They joined the incoming trucks and cars of the other crew when they parked. Karl turned and raised an eyebrow at her when she stepped from Luke's car. Cally decided she was going to make things better at the site now.
She smiled. “Did you have a good weekend, Karl?"
"Pretty good,” he said cagily, his eyes shifting to his brother-in-law. “How about you?"
"I went home to my family. It was great."
Karl hesitated for a second, and then said, “I was home with my family as well. With the kids and ... my wife."
Cally could tell it had taken a great deal for Karl to say that, especially in front of Luke.
"Did you have a good time?” Cally asked.
Karl's grin came suddenly, as if it dawned on him that he did have a good time. “Yeah, we took the kids for a picnic at a spot on Lake Superior. It was quite a success."
"I'm pleased to hear that, Karl,” Luke said from behind Cally.
Karl pressed his mouth together in a wry expression. “I'm sure you are. Mellie says hi and thanks."
"Great.” Luke looked pleased. He glanced at Cally. “See you later, Carolyn. Karl."
Cally walked beside Karl as his unit was on the way to hers.
He said, “Sorry about that night, Cally. I was messed up. Luke told you about the situation?"
She nodded. It didn't matter who had actually told her. “I wouldn't have gone out with you if I'd known you were married."
"I know that. I should never have asked you. But things are better now."
"That's good.” She gave him a thumbs up sign. “See you later."
Feeling relieved to have less antagonism in her life, Cally walked into her unit, dumped her bag on the bed, and realized there were only two more weeks left here at Tall Pines. She actually felt sad.
* * * *
Roaring engines, the aroma of tar, mens voices shouting to one another. Cally dreamed about her long days and stumbled out of bed each morning to continue the journey toward finishing the project before September first. Luke was tense, his jaw firm and hard most of the time, as he drove his crew to their limits.
"I think I'm going to be a secretary,” Loretta said to Cally one morning as they waited for Vince to pull up in the truck.
Cally laughed. “Can't take it?"
"Don't want to take it more like it. At least, I want to stay in an office."
"Have you heard from any of your job applications?"
"Yes. Mom phoned last night when you were at the store and told me someone had phoned for an interview."
"That's great, Loretta."
"It's the neat little office near the water. Remember?"
Cally nodded. “That will be a nice place to work."
Vince's truck pulled up beside them and they climbed in. Another hot day in the sun, Cally thought, holding her hard hat and gloves on her knees. But there was only one more week left. Kevin had told her he would come up and fetch her if Luke wasn't available to bring her home. She glanced back at the motel surrounded by pine trees. The lake glistened in the morning sun. She actually felt nostalgic for the place. Maybe because this was the summer she felt she'd grown up and fallen in love for the first time.
The week went by fast. The big equipment was loaded on trucks and removed. The road was completed. Traffic rushed by on the smooth surface. They all ate dinner together at the motel the last night and toasted a successful project with their beer or soft drinks. When Luke walked into the restaurant, Karl rose from his seat.
"Hey, here's the boss. Great summer, Luke."
"At least we did it,” Luke said with a smile all around. “Dinner's on me tonight."
They all laughed, because dinner had been on the Stanford Construction tab every night.
After the meal was over, Cally went down to the lake. She perched on the top of the picnic table, her feet resting on the seat and looked over the shimmering water. Not long now and there would be a frost, then the first snow, then the ice and the winter freeze up. She would like to come up here in the winter and walk by the lake in the crisp white snow. The city snow always turned black and ugly.
She sensed Luke, rather than heard him, and she turned around.
"How are you getting home?” he asked, hitching his hip onto the table beside her.
"Kevin will come if I call."
"Don't bother him. I'll drive you."
"Thank you,” she told him, because that was what she wanted. “What happened with the job?"
"I go for a final interview next week."
"That's great."
"When do you start your job with your brother?"
"Kevin said I could have a couple of weeks at home first. Mid-September."
Luke nodded. “That's great as well."
They were becoming like strangers. Already the scene was set when they would part. She might come in contact with Luke again one day. Stanford Construction was a big company. Cally looked over the lake and had to grit her teeth so she wouldn't cry.
Instead she jumped from the table. “I have to pack,” she said. “Check I won't leave anything behind."
"Fine. I'll just sit here for a while."
Cally cried a little as she cleared out the drawers and closet and pushed everything into her big suitcase and the overnight bag she had used on the trips home on those weekends that seemed long ago now.
She sat on the side of the bed and wiped her tears with her fingers. She had enjoyed this summer, she realized. Despite the little aggravation with the men at the beginning, she'd had a good time, a great time.
And she'd met Luke. So what she wouldn't have him. At least she had met him. But he'd be her measure against every other man she ever met. If she ever fell in love again, the man would have to be another Luke.
In the morning she went for breakfast to discover only a handful of the crew left. Most of them had taken off last night or before sunrise this morning. Loretta had left early with Vince and the two women had hugged and agreed to keep in touch.
After eating, Cally went down to the lake and just for the hell of it she hollered her name across the water and she heard the echo.
Luke was pretty silent on the way home and Cally felt the finality of their relationship. He'd made his decision to go away and that was fine. If she were him, she would go as well. There was no point in discussing a dead end.
He dropped her off at Essie's declining her polite offer to stop by for a while.
"No,” he said. “But it's been a great summer Cally. I've changed my opinion of women on the crew. You and Loretta were an asset to the crew. And if it hadn't been for you, I don't think
Karl would have seen the light so to speak."
Cally shook her head. “I'm not so sure about that. You helped him out and it straightened him up."
"He's got a couple of job interviews this next week, so hopefully things will stay straightened out."
"That's good."
He made to leave the car. “I'll carry your luggage in."
He left her luggage in the hall beside the antique table. He lifted her hand at the door and kissed her fingers and she felt the sensation slide around inside her.
"Bye, Carolyn."
"Bye. Good luck, Luke."
"You too.” He dragged his eyes from hers, strode down the pathway, and climbed into the car. He was gone quickly.
Cally closed the door, turned into the empty house and looked at her luggage sitting there. She was home ready for the next stage of her career. Her life.
That life returned to normal pretty swiftly. Essie was in and out, busy with her work, Paul, and running the house. Cally took her vacation and then went to work in Kevin's office. It was a bright pleasant office with a balance of men and women on the staff doing planning and engineering work on some local architectural projects. Cally, who had computer training from college, was assigned a work station and soon began to get involved in the project she was given to work on.
She heard from Loretta, who told her she was working in that lovely little office by the lake, and the situation seemed to be similar to Cally's. Busy and pleasant.
And that was about the only description Cally could put on her job. It was nice enough. There was plenty of work. Kev was a great boss to everyone. But the back and forth routine to the office each day wore Cally down. This wasn't what she really wanted, she thought. She'd enjoyed this summer, really enjoyed this summer, out on the construction site. That she would eventually get to oversee a project or two might be the answer, but that possibility seemed years away with all the people in front of her still young and eager.
She felt restless for something she didn't have. It was the same feeling she'd experienced by the lake back in July, the feeling that had been erased when Luke came into her life. Now it had returned with a vengeance. But she didn't want to pine over Luke. He was doing what he wanted to do and she couldn't fault that. She was pleased for him. He hadn't led her on in any way. He'd said he liked her and it had probably been obvious to him that she'd liked him, but they'd left it at that. There had been no clinging or weeping. They'd parted on a mutual understanding that now was an awkward time for a new relationship for both of them.
"All you do is work,” Essie said one Friday as she got ready for a date with Paul. “Want to come to the party with Paul and me?"
"Third wheel. No,” Cally said. She was wearing old jeans and a big sloppy sweater, clothes she changed into as soon as she got home from work. Outside the weather was already frosty. Minnesota winter was fast approaching. She thought of Luke working in the desert in the scorching sun.
Essie tucked a wisp of hair into her upswept do. “You won't be third wheel. It's a party. There will be other people there. Come on, get out of those sloppy duds and get in gear."
"Essie. No."
"Cally. Yes."
Looking at her sister, so glamorous in a black skirt and silver top, Cally felt maybe she should make the effort and go to the party. She might meet someone to replace Luke in her heart. Because he was the root of her dissatisfaction. She wanted to be with him, wherever he was.
But she knew she wasn't ready for any parties, or Luke replacements. “No. Maybe next time,” Cally said. “Go on. Don't keep Paul hanging."
Essie picked up her purse. “All right, but don't blame me if TV is boring."
Laughing, Cally closed the front door, pulled the lock and returned to the den where the TV was babbling aimlessly. She shut it off with the remote control and went to the kitchen to pour herself a glass of pop. She emptied a bag of potato chips into a bowl. Then she sat at the kitchen table, sipping the drink, munching on the chips, thinking she was a right twit but she had this deep feeling that she should phone Luke.
She had his phone number from one of the weekends when they'd come home together. Naturally, he wasn't there now, though. He'd gone overseas by now surely. It was almost November. But Cally wanted to dial the number anyway, just to see for sure. Even the person who had rented his house, if that was the decision he'd come to, might know how he was doing. That's all it was really. She wanted to know how he was doing.
As if another brain other than her own was pushing her forward, she ran upstairs, found her address book that contained Luke's number and went into Essie's bedroom where there was a cordless phone.
She sat on Essie's big satin-covered bed with the phone and punched out the number.
After two rings an answering machine came on:
"Luke Stanford isn't home. Please leave name and number after the beep. I'll get back to you."
Her arm shaking upon hearing his voice, she almost hung up but said instead, “It's Carolyn Creighton” and gave Essie's number.
She expected him to call back. She didn't know why. He was overseas. The message might flash on his machine for another year. Or maybe until Tom came to check on the house, if that had been Luke's decision instead of renting. How she wished she knew.
She went to bed with the feeling that life might never return to normal. For the rest of her time here on earth she would carry the memory of this past summer in her heart. She'd carry Luke to her deathbed.
Why had she fallen in love with him?
Then in the early morning, when Cally was still dozing, the phone rang through the house. Essie, tousled in a white gown, came into Cally's bedroom with her cordless.
"It's for you, C.C. Luke."
Essie closed the door and Cally struggled upright in the bed. She spoke into the phone. “Hello."
"Is it too early?” he asked.
"No. It's fine. Where are you?"
"In an air-conditioned hotel with the sun beating down on the desert outside the window. You thought it was hot out on the highway this summer, you should come here."
She bit her tongue on, I'd love to.
"Tom told me you phoned when he went to check the house."
"Yes. I just wondered...” She pleated a peach rose on her sheet.
"It's not going bad, and I get a ton of leave. I'm coming home for Thanksgiving. I want to see you then.
I've tried to write a letter but I'm not much good at putting the words together. Not that I'm much better in person."
"Thanksgiving is fine,” Cally said softly. “It's only about three more weeks."
"I'll call you when I get in. You can meet my parents this time."
"I'd like that. I really would."
"Great. See you then, Carolyn."
Cally tossed the phone and screamed with joy. Her wish had been answered. She knew he was calling her last night in his mind that's why she'd phoned. She squashed all her doubts that he wouldn't call her when he did come home, that he'd change his mind, that he might not even come after all, that the plane could...