Lucas
Sheila drove a four-door Jeep Wrangler soft-top with a red body so scratched and dented it had obviously been driven on beaches and through the moors for years.
“Hi, sweetie pie,” she said.
Part of him wished he’d fall out of love with her, because frankly, being in love with her this way was just so hard.
He did have self-respect, he didn’t want to seem like a silly boy with a hopeless crush, and now two years had gone by and last night when they walked around town, he still knew it wasn’t the right time to kiss her.
At the moment, Sheila was focused on steering the Jeep along the narrow, curving lanes that were a kind of shortcut to the ’Sconset road.
The streets were overhung with enormous ancient maples and hollies and oaks, which meant that the brick sidewalks broke into a tricky jumble that had been pushed up and out by roots or that the thick bulk of the tree extended just slightly into the street, making it impossible for cars to pass each other.
Finally they came to Old South Road and then the rotary and then the straight shot to ’Sconset.
“How is it going at home?” Sheila asked.
“It’s been dramatic.” Lucas was entranced by the sight of her—while she looked out the windshield, he could look at her, memorizing the curve of her cheek, the arch of her eyebrows, the curly thick mass of her dark hair—he could only imagine what a woman with hair like that could be in bed.
“Dramatic how?” Sheila spoke without looking at Lucas. The two-way road went for only six miles, but during the Stroll cars were almost as numerous as during the summer. There were few streetlights on the road so approaching headlights flashed like fireworks.
He forced himself to stop staring at her. “Dad told my grandfather that I was going to be a nurse, and he almost passed out.”
Sheila chuckled. “As your grandfather, he’s allowed a few opinions.”
“I feel guilty but also angry,” Lucas confessed. “I mean, come on. Why is it so bizarre that I want to be a nurse?”
“Because it is. If not bizarre, at least unusual. I think only twelve percent of all nurses in the United States are men.”
Lucas took a beat. Traffic was thinning out and the road was dark. They were halfway to ’Sconset, to Sheila’s friend’s house. He would have to sit in the backseat like a gentleman. He didn’t want to spend his time with Sheila complaining about himself and his family.
“But a good thing happened!” he said. “A really good thing! Florie’s boyfriend, Daniel, proposed to her in front of the Christmas tree.
He’s a poet who’s been a guest lecturer at BU this year.
He’s going to teach at a university in Milwaukee next fall, so they’ll be moving there when Florie graduates. ”
Saying the words out loud made it all seem real. He added, half speaking to himself, “Damn. I’m going to miss her.”
“She’s a sweet girl. And Milwaukee isn’t the moon. I’m sure she’ll come back to the island and you can always fly out to see her.”
“I suppose.” Lucas sighed. “Plus, Lydia brought home this rich Finn guy. He doesn’t speak much or have any facial expressions.”
Sheila laughed. “He must do something right. Lydia’s a babe.”
He had to stop whining. “How’s your family?” he asked. Tell me everything, Lucas thought, tell me what I can do to make them want me for their son-in-law.
“Oh, we’re a sad little trio. Mom and Dad have no other kids, and they’re longing for me to have children so they can have grandchildren.”
“I could help with that,” Lucas offered, hoping he sounded jokey even though he meant it and she knew he meant it and—
“WHOA!” Sheila cried, slamming on the brakes.
Lucas felt the Jeep crash into something big and hard and immovable.
His seatbelt bit into his chest. A loud thud as the vehicle hit something made the Jeep shudder.
Lucas’s heart raced. There was a bike path next to the road, and people often biked even in winter because they didn’t have a car and couldn’t afford an Uber and they didn’t wear helmets or reflective gear and what if some idiot had cut across the road—
Lucas could see that the hood had buckled. The engine was still running steadily, the Jeep rumbling quietly.
Lucas unsnapped his seatbelt and turned to Sheila. “Are you okay?”
Sheila seemed dazed. She gazed at Lucas with wide eyes. “A deer. I think it was a deer.” Tears were welling in her eyes. She was shaking. “It was a deer.”
“I’ll check.” Lucas opened the passenger door and stepped out.
The night was dark and cold, with a sea breeze salting the air. Lucas shivered.
By the Jeep’s headlights, Lucas saw a large animal sprawled, its back to the Jeep, its four legs sticking straight out along the pavement. It had the beginning of antlers. It wasn’t moving.
Lucas stuck his head back into the cab of the Jeep.
“Sheila, you were right. I don’t know if it’s still alive—”
“Oh, no!” Sheila burst into sobs. “I killed a deer!” She put her hands to her face and shuddered as she cried.
Lucas had never seen Sheila like this. He hadn’t imagined she could ever be like this. She was exploding into full-scale sobbing.
He looked up and down the road. No cars were coming from either direction. He climbed back into the Jeep, checked the dashboard, and turned on the hazard lights.
Sheila was so hysterical, Lucas couldn’t decide whether to hug her or slap her.
“Sheila, it’s not a person. It’s only a deer.”
“But I love animals,” Sheila cried. “I love them more than people. I’ve never killed an animal before.” She faced Lucas, her eyes streaming tears. “What if it had been a dog?”
Lucas took Sheila in his arms, which was awkward in the front seat of the Jeep. She was completely falling apart, trembling, wailing, soaking his coat with tears.
“It’s all right,” he said, although he didn’t know why. That was just what people said in times like these.
“I wanted to be a vet!” Sheila blubbered. “But I couldn’t bear the sight of an animal suffering and I could never put one to sleep!”
Lucas pulled back a little. “That’s why you became a nurse?”
She nodded. “When people die, they go to heaven. But deer don’t.”
He wanted to ask her how she knew that, but maybe now was not the time.
“Maybe there’s a deer heaven,” Lucas said reassuringly.
“Listen, you know the island has too many deer, don’t you?
There are so many that a lot of them don’t have enough to eat.
And they’re ravaged by ticks and other insects.
Hunters come over the moment November hits to take home deer for venison in their freezer. And we want them to come over.”
Sheila nodded and pushed into him again, obviously finding comfort in his arms and his words.
“Maybe it was a really old deer,” Lucas suggested.
Sheila sniffed and took deep breaths.
Lucas was glad he’d showered earlier.
“Maybe it was an evil deer,” Lucas said, hoping this wasn’t going to upset her again.
He felt her smile. “Deer aren’t evil,” she said, and she was calmer now.
“Then why can’t they get into heaven?” Lucas asked.
Bright lights flashed as a large pickup truck rolled up behind them. Doors slammed. Two giant guys stepped out and walked toward the Jeep.
Lucas gently extricated himself from Sheila. “I’ll talk to them.”
The other men wore jeans, work boots, and baseball caps. They smelled like beer and gasoline and looked pretty old. Their voices were gravelly.
“Problem?” It was the bigger guy, wearing a flannel shirt, who asked.
“We hit a deer,” Lucas replied.
“How long ago?” The other guy, sporting a long beard, walked past Lucas to where the deer lay.
“Just now. Maybe ten minutes ago.” Don’t call the police, Lucas silently prayed. Then who should he call, he wondered. The vet? A tow truck?
The two guys bent over the large animal and prodded it, muttering to each other.
“We’ll take it,” Flannel Shirt said.
“What?” Lucas wondered how much he was going to have to pay to have the deer removed from the road. Merry Christmas, he thought.
“We can dress her,” Beard Guy said. “Unless you want her.”
The moment was so unreal, so unusual, that for a moment a vision of the deer outfitted like Mrs. Claus flashed through his mind.
“No, no, thanks,” Lucas said.
The two men headed back to their truck, not bothering to look into the cab where Sheila sat blowing her nose.
Lucas has never conducted such a major transaction with so few words spoken. “Um, would you like some help?”
“Nah,” Flannel Shirt called. “The Ram has an electric liftgate.”
What? It took Lucas a moment to sort the meaning in those words, which sounded like some peculiar kind of passcode.
Before he could respond, the men jumped back in their Ram, pulled up in front of the deer and the Jeep, and jumped out again.
As Lucas watched, one backed up the truck while the other yelled directions and then the liftgate hummed to the ground.
The men grabbed the dead deer’s legs and, on the count of three, hoisted the animal onto the liftgate.
“Got it!” Beard Man called as he banged the liftgate shut.
The men hopped into the Ram and slammed their doors. No other cars were on either side of the road, so the Ram backed up until it was even with the Jeep. One of the guys yelled, “Thanks, Sheila!”
The Ram sped away. Lucas got into the Jeep.
“You know those guys?” he asked Sheila.
By now, Sheila had pulled herself together. “I don’t know them as much as they know me,” she said. “I probably gave them a tetanus shot or a Lyme antibiotic.”
“Are you okay now?” Lucas slid closer to her in case she needed another cuddle.
“I’m good. I’ll wait until we’re in town to check out the damage to the front of the Jeep, but it’s still rumbling smoothly.”
Then she surprised Lucas. She reached out and laid her hand on his cheek. Her skin was so warm, especially on his half-frozen face.
“Thanks,” she said.
Before he could try to kiss her, Sheila scooted back to her seat and put the Jeep in gear. They headed to her friend’s house.