CHAPTER 47 HELLO OPERATOR
HELLO OPERATOR
Caleb
“Hey, Mom. How are you?” Caleb answered, twirling the cord attached to the old-fashioned handset Sascha had purchased for their shop.
“I’m well. Thank you. I’ve just spoken with your brother and I’m sharing the same reminder with you.”
“What’s that?” he asked.
“Have you forgotten? Easter with your aunt and uncle and cousins, at their shore house. Make sure you’ve booked both days.”
He suppressed a groan, sinking into the black vinyl armchair, its fluffed surface sighing under his weight.
He stared at the pinup calendar on the wall. “Okay, I’ll be there, Mom.”
“Good.” She paused a moment. “I’m a little worried about Phoenix.”
“Oh yeah? What’s the matter?”
“He doesn’t tell me how he’s really doing. Have you seen him recently?”
“Yup. We had lunch at his office.”
“Well, that’s nice. How is he?”
“He’s the same stubborn person he’s always been.”
“He sounds a little down to me.”
“Of anyone I know, he’s got a right to be down.” Caleb shook his head, imagining how he’d feel in Phoenix’s situation.
“But it’s more than his injuries. He told me he broke up with his girlfriend.”
“When I saw him, we had an argument over a girl,” Caleb said, thinking of Orchid even though Mom’s comment referred to Rina.
“Uh oh, you’re not—”
“Oh, c’mon Mom, of course not. You guys are never going to let me live down a couple of stolen girlfriends,” he complained. “It’s just he’s got some crazy notion, like he needs to be perfect, and he’s not good enough for any woman. That accident messed with his head.”
“He’s always held himself to such high standards. I don’t know where he gets it from.”
“Really?”
She ignored the sarcasm. “Are you bringing anyone, dear? You know Harry’s invited Lucy.”
He thought for a moment, an idea striking him. “Yeah, maybe I’ll bring a girl, too.”
“Is it Sascha? She was good for you.”
“Yeah, she’s good for me. But she’s not coming.”
“Why not?”
“It’s a long story, but you know we broke up a while ago.”
“So, should I ask your Aunt Betsy to put you and your friend in the same room or separate rooms?”
“Separate rooms. Definitely.”
“Oh, is she not pretty enough for you?”
“She’s a pretty one alright.”
“If she’s not your type, maybe your brother would be interested.”
“You’re closer to the truth than you know, Mom.”
“Now I’m intrigued. Who is this mystery woman?”
“Wait and see, Mom. You’ve always said patience is a virtue.”
“Good news,” Caleb growled.
Orchid stared at her phone’s screen, surprised to see Caleb’s name. “Yeah, what is it?”
“You wanna see Phoenix?”
“You know I do.”
“For a whole weekend?”
“Wow, really?”
“Yeah. There’s an annual Easter weekend with my aunt and uncle. You want to go as my guest?”
She paused. This wasn’t exactly the intimate one-on-one she’d imagined. “So who’s going to be there? Besides your aunt and uncle.”
“My cousins.”
“Yeah.”
“My mom.”
“Oh, no! I’ve never met her. From what I hear she’s tough.”
“You want this chance or not?”
“Um, yes.”
“Pack light. We’re going on the bike.”
“On your motorcycle?” she shrieked.
“What do you think? That I’m picking you up on my high school ten-speed? Yes, of course, on my Harley.”
Orchid hung up the phone and started planning.
What was she going to wear? Never mind that, what was she going to say?
The thought of apologizing for hurting Phoenix with her callous remarks made her feel a little sick.
Could he forgive her for being so thoughtless?
She’d have to be brave because this might be her only chance.
An hour and fifteen minutes under a helmet was plenty of time for her carefully smoothed hair to grow damp and lifeless.
Orchid spent the time on the back of the bike hanging onto Caleb, and thinking about Phoenix.
She imagined him with her. What adaptations would he use to operate a motorcycle?
Is he driving himself today? When she’d asked Caleb about his brother, the taciturn twin’s answers were less than illuminating.
“He’s fine.”
She pictured how she’d greet Phoenix. Hurtling sixty miles an hour towards him, an epiphany gripped her; he needs reassurance that being with him is no compromise. That, despite my unthinking remarks at the hospital, I see nothing ugly in him.
Familiar streets passed by. They drove past the kitchenette where she and Phoenix had eaten and romped in the water last summer.
As Caleb slowed the Harley in front of the Victorian house facing the water, the plump woman Orchid had seen in pictures emerged from the house. The cousins whom she’d met on the Fourth of July, Harry and Stew, followed.
The woman tiptoed up to kiss Caleb on the cheek. “You beat your brother here,” she said.
“Well, there’s a first.”
Then she turned to Orchid. “Betsy,” she trilled. “Caleb’s aunt.” They shook hands.
Harry and Stew, finished greeting their cousin Caleb, came over to Orchid.
“Hey, stranger,” Stew said. “What, did you switch sides?”
“No switching sides . . . and don’t go starting that rumor. My big brother seems to have lost his mind, so we’re just trying to help him remember what he’s given up,” Caleb answered for her.
Orchid looked at him with gratitude, then turned to kiss both men on the cheek. “How’s your girlfriend?” she asked Harry, remembering his stories from their July Fourth outing.
“Lucy’s upstairs,” he responded. “She’s a talker, I’m warning you.”
While they chatted, Stew picked up Orchid’s bag. “I’ve got this,” he said.
“Thanks,” she said.
The house opened to a series of bedrooms and a laundry room on the ground level.
Betsy pointed out the room she’d set aside for Phoenix, then led them to up two flights of stairs to a bedroom that Orchid remembered from the previous summer.
While Stew deposited her bag and Betsy led Caleb down the hall to his room, Orchid looked out the framed window at the view she and Phoenix had admired together.
Nine months ago, he’d cared for her here when she’d cut her foot. Now it was her turn.