Shoe Strings

thing.”
    “Honey, you can weed my garden any day, but you may want to
borrow some gardening clothes next time.   I’m sure there’s something of Ellie’s in the house you could wear.”
    She looked down at her soiled jeans, if that’s what you even
called the rhinestone covered denim things she wore.   He’d never seen anything like them.  
    “Oh, well, that might be a good idea.”   She clapped her palms together to
dislodge most of the dirt and pointed to his hand.   “What ya got there?”
    Cal looked at the forgotten bottle cradled in his arm.   “Wine.   Can I interest you in a glass?   It’ll give your hands something to do.”
    “Yes.”   She took
a look at the mostly weeded garden.   “Yes, I think I’d like that.”
    “I’ve got a great view of the sunset from my porch.”   Cal held out his hand to help her up
from the ground.   “Looks to be a
good one tonight.”
    “Perfect.   Give
me five minutes to change and I’ll meet you there.”  
    ***
    The nights bordered on frosty in the mountains, so Lita
rooted through the dresser for the mittens and warm sweater she’d found in one
of the dresser drawers.   The sweater
smelled of cedar and both the smell and the appearance of them reminded her of
the ski trip she’d taken two years ago.   What a disaster it had been.   While Lita could walk for miles in three-inch heels, she couldn’t go two
feet in skis without falling over.   She’d spent more time on her backside than the last time she and Sophie
had gone to a spa.  
    Cal was right where he said he’d be, gently swaying in one
of the four rockers on his front porch.   He greeted her approach with a smile.
    “Show’s about to start.”   His grin widened as she took a seat in
the rocker next to him.   He handed
her a glass.  
    “Thanks.”   She
sipped and closed her eyes as the warm red coated her throat.   “Ummm.   What a way to end the day.   You’re a lucky man, Cal.”
    “Most times I’d have to agree.”
    He didn’t sound like he felt too lucky or even like he was
in the mood for company.   She
wondered if she’d overstep her bounds by asking why he seemed so glum.   But when she considered the fact that
he’d invited her to join him, she thought maybe he wanted to talk.
    “So how was your day?”
    Cal looked a bit surprised at her question.   “Good.   My day was good.   Did some work on the other cabin.   Had a pipe burst this winter and messed
up the floor in the laundry room.   Just about got it all back to rights.”   So that explained the smell of
turpentine she’d whiffed earlier.   “Caught the last half of Ty’s baseball game.   Look’s like they may make the playoffs
again this year.”
    “Ty?”
    “Oh, cripes, I forgot you don’t know all the players around
here.   Ty’s my grandson.   You’ll meet him soon enough.   He’s fourteen, almost fifteen now.   He helps me out around here when he’s
got the time or, more accurately, when he needs cash.”   Cal pointed to the sky.   “Just look at the way the sun’s glow
sets the mountains in relief.   Looks
like a painting, doesn’t it?”
    Lita rocked and sipped, lulled into relaxation by the
kaleidoscope of colors in the sky and Cal’s melodic voice.   She could hardly remember being quite so
content.   “So do you have other
children, besides Jesse?”
    “No, just Jess.   Ellie and I tried for years and never did have much luck.”   He gave Lita a sly grin.   “We sure had fun trying, though.   We never got caught up like people
today, with all the fancy tests and whatnot.   Figured if God wanted us to have another
baby, he’d have given us one.   Course, we practically raised Ty when he was a baby, so I guess he was
saving us.”
    Lita’s mind was doing quick calculations as the sun slid
slowly toward the earth.   Jesse
couldn’t have been over thirty, but if he had an almost fifteen-year-old son,
he had to be.    She could have
sworn he was no older than her twenty-seven.   “Jesse has a son?”
    Cal’s laugh brought Lita to attention.   “Hard to believe, having met him the way
you did, that he’d be somebody’s father.   But yes, he was only seventeen when he got Kerri Ann pregnant.   Boy, Ellie and I were spitting mad.   Jess had scholarship offers trickling in
already, both for baseball and football.   That all went by the wayside.   Course, when we got a look at the little guy, couldn’t say God didn’t
have