Many Waters

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  I got up earlier than usual the next morning, determined to get all my chores done and make sure things looked nice by the time Lisa got there.

  The first order of business was to finish fixing the tractor, if possible. I threw myself into it with a will, and by the time the sun was well up I’d found that the ignition module itself was burned out. There was no way to fix that except to replace it, so I put it aside for the time being and climbed up on top of the barn to have a crack at replacing two pieces of sheet metal which had come partially loose. I definitely wanted to get done with that job while it was still early; it looked like it might turn out to be another scorching kind of day later on.

  I spent most of the morning finishing the barn, and by noon I was done with that project, too. I climbed down with a sigh of relief and put away the ladder and the metal screws, and then went home to clean the house a bit and wash some clothes; something I normally do only when I run out of socks and underwear.

  Mama noticed me unloading the dryer.

  “What’s the special occasion?” she asked, looking askance at the basket full of clean laundry.

  “Do I have to have a special occasion to wash my clothes?” I asked innocently, and she only laughed.

  “Yes you do, as a matter of fact. So what’s going on? Unless I missed a news flash, I don’t think the world is coming to an end today, is it?” she asked.

  “Well. . . I kind of asked Lisa to come over for supper tonight,” I admitted, knowing full well what kind of response I was inviting. But I couldn’t exactly keep it a secret, now could I?

  “Really?” she asked.

  “Yeah, she’ll be here about five or six,” I said.

  “Well, that’s wonderful, Cody! You should have told me sooner. I’ll have to put a brisket on the grill and make some fresh tea,” she said. I think Mama worries sometimes that I’ll end up an old bachelor one of these days, so she’s always pleased when she thinks I might be going out with somebody. I couldn’t help smiling at her enthusiasm, even if it was completely misplaced.

  “We’re just friends, Mama, that’s all. You don’t have to make a big production out of it,” I told her.

  “I can if I want to,” she said, with a touch of asperity.

  “All right, then. If that’s what you want,” I said, and kissed her cheek.

  She immediately fired up the grill in the back yard with charcoal and hickory chips, not wasting a second. By the time I got back from taking my clothes home she’d already put the brisket inside to start cooking, and there were two jugs of tea already sitting on the picnic table to brew in the sunshine. Mama can be awfully efficient when she wants to be, and anything that involves my so-called love life is sure to get her energized like nothing else.

  I had to get online to order a new ignition module for the tractor, which I did while I finished my lunch. When I was done with that, I idly looked up Christopher Marlowe out of curiosity. I only found a single poem of any importance, it seemed, and I read the words to myself quietly.

  Come live with me and be my love,

  And we will all the pleasures prove,

  That hills and valleys, dale and field,

  And all the craggy mountains yield. . .

  It went on for a good bit longer, but I finished the whole thing. I don’t normally read things like that, partly because poetry is not my thing and partly (if the truth be told) because it makes my heart ache. I don’t like to be reminded of impossible wishes.

  Mama came up behind me, and I quickly deleted the website so she wouldn’t catch me reading such a thing. I’d never live it down in a million years.

  “There’s a tree limb down on the fence by the gate, son. You might want to go out there and fix it while you’ve got time, so the cows don’t get loose,” she said, and I nodded. One more thing to take care of.

  I quickly cut up the branch and put it behind the house in the woodpile, and then grabbed a hammer and a bag of nails from the storage shed to get the fence rails put back up. It was blistering hot outside by then, but I consoled myself with the thought that at least I’d get to take a nice cold shower and put on some clean clothes before Lisa got there.