Chapter 6

Bill and Annie were finishing an excellent dinner at the best restaurant in town. They both ordered fillet mignon, baked potato and steamed asparagus with a cheddar cheese sauce, and between them, they polished off a bottle of excellent pinot noir. Annie rarely drank and was feeling a pleasant buzz.

As they sipped their after dinner coffee, Bill took her hand and said, "You really look lovely tonight, Annie. Thanks so much for coming out with me."

"Thank you for the compliment, and accepting your invitation was my pleasure. The dinner was wonderful and I loved the wine. The company isn't bad either. I hope the movie is as good as advertised."

"Bogart and Hepburn! It's gotta be good. From what I've read in the paper, 'The African Queen' has been getting rave reviews."

"You know, I haven't been out since the war, and now I'm wondering why."

He chuckled, "Probably because you've been preoccupied with being a top-notch English teacher and saving troubled young men from the terrible fates that befall them."

"That may be part of it, but I think it's mostly because I was afraid of any kind of involvement. I know it makes no sense, but I think I would have felt like I was somehow being untrue to my late husband, Jerry."

"Well," Bill said with a wry smile, "You may be surprised to hear that I knew Jerry. Not well, but we'd met on a few of occasions during and after high school. He was a year behind me. Then when the war came along, he signed up to defend his country and I was allowed to enroll in college, thanks to my flat feet and a slight curvature of my spine. Remember I told you I was an unwanted child? Malnutrition, just like Caleb. Like I said, I didn't know Jerry very well, but I thought he was a class act. I also envied him having such a pretty girl for a fiancée, namely you. I can only imagine how devastated you were when you got news of his death during the Utah Beach invasion."

"Yes, that took a lot of getting over. I'm sorry but I don't remember meeting you back then. Did I?"

"Not really. Since you were already spoken for, I chose to admire you from afar. I didn't trust myself not to be a cad and try to beat Jerry's time. Anyhow, it wasn't long after that I got engaged myself. Unfortunately, I didn't choose as well as Jerry did."

"I won't pry into you divorce, but I hope it was at least amicable."

"Um, not so you'd notice, but that's no topic for tonight. How's Caleb doing? Has he worn out the tires on that bike yet?"

She laughed, "Almost! The morning after his birthday party, I bet he rode to and from the highway at least ten times. You know, that poor kid has never had a single worthwhile thing to call his own. The model ship you gave him keeps him holed up in his room for hours."

"Yeah, I picked the one with the most pieces just for that reason. He seems like a great kid, and it's obvious he absolutely adores you."

"Maybe more than is good for either of us." The cryptic remark slipped out before she could catch herself.

But the attorney in Bill caught it and he zeroed in. "What do you mean by that?"

A little sigh. "Oh, it's just that Caleb is so insecure. When I told him we were going out, his first fear was that you were going to take me away from him. I had a devil of a time calming him down. He actually cried like a little boy!"

"Yeah? Well I'm not really surprised, are you? I mean, the kid gets to be almost fifteen years old and he's never had anybody in his life that even gave a damn about him. You're his lifeline, Annie. You love him, you treat him like a human being, you go out on a limb and make an incredible commitment to his future by becoming his foster mom. Of course he's going to be suspicious and resentful of anybody, especially any man, who competes for your time. He thinks I might take away the only good thing he's ever known."

"I know you're right, Bill. I see it in his face every time I go somewhere without him. He looks at me like he thinks I might not ever come back again. I suppose it will get better with time, but right now he's terrified of being abandoned again."

"Look, Annie, how about I come over and spend some time with him every once in a while? I could take him fishing, or we could go bowling, maybe take in a movie and stop off for an ice cream; try to broaden his world a little bit. He might feel more comfortable it he sees me getting involved in both of your lives instead of just yours. You think he'd go for that?"

Annie reached across the table and took his hand. "Oh, Bill, would you? I think he'd love that! He wants to like you, I can tell, but he's afraid of any relationship we might develop."

Bill Simpson smiled. "You think we might develop a relationship? Because I'd sure be mighty pleased if that were the case."

She shot him a wicked grin and said coyly, "Anything's possible. How about coming to dinner on Sunday? I already told Caleb I might ask you and he seemed OK with it."

"What time and what do I wear?"

"Say four o'clock and wear your play clothes."

When Bill took Annie home and walked her to the door, every light in the house was on, so they knew Caleb was up and probably waiting anxiously for her to come home.

Annie asked, "You want to come in and say 'hi'?"

"Um, I'm betting he only wants to see you coming through that door. Thanks so much for a beautiful evening."

"Thank you for asking me. See you Sunday?"

"I'll be here. Shall I bring anything?"

"I enjoyed that wine. Maybe something not too expensive that goes with Italian?"

"I know just what to get. Good night, Annie. May I kiss you?"

"I'd be disappointed if you didn't."

It wasn't a wet, passionate kiss, but it was a very pleasant, soft, gentle kiss, held long enough that they both knew it meant something.

Bill turned to walk back to his car, and as Annie reached for the doorknob, she heard footsteps hurrying away across the room. Caleb had been eavesdropping. She tried not to laugh as she stepped though the door.

"Hi, sweetheart! How was your evening?"

He was sitting cross-legged on the couch with one of the Jack London books in his hands. It was upside down. "It was OK, I guess. I didn't really do nothin' but read and work on the ship some. How was your date with Mr. Simpson?"

"Very pleasant, Caleb, very pleasant indeed. We had an excellent dinner and then we went to a movie, 'The African Queen'. It's a great movie. I'll bet you'd like it. Actually, Bill's coming over for dinner on Sunday. Won't that be nice?"

His "Yes'm" lacked enthusiasm, but she wasn't worried. She trusted Bill to gain the kid's trust and respect. Maybe his love, eventually.

"Well, I'm pooped, so I'm going right to bed. It's pretty late, so maybe you should do the same."

"Yes'm. Um, did he kiss you?"

As she walked by the couch, she tousled his hair. "I believe you were standing just on the other side of the door when he did that, so I'm thinking you already know the answer to your question, don't you?"

He just looked away and grunted something unintelligible.

Sunday dinner was a dinner for men with big appetites; a mountain of spaghetti and meatballs, garlic bread and a big salad fresh from their garden. Bill brought a bottle of good Chianti. Caleb was allowed half a glass, but he took only a sip. He didn't like it. He did like the spaghetti and meatballs, though, and ate until Annie thought he was going to burst.

"My gosh, Caleb," she commented when he filled his plate for thirds, "Where are you putting it?"

"It's good!" was his only answer.

"I'm with Caleb," Bill agreed. "This marinara sauce is excellent. Tastes homemade."

"With tomatoes and herbs fresh from our garden. All I had to buy was the olive oil," Annie beamed proudly. "And I've got vanilla ice cream and pizzelles for dessert. Those are anise-flavored cookies, for you uneducated types. Sorry they don't have the fancy designs on them."

Bill held up his hands and begged off. "Maybe in a couple of hours. I'm stuffed!"

Caleb swallowed his last mouthful and said, "I'm ready for dessert!"

Annie laughed and kidded, "You were born ready for desert. How about we hold off for a while and have desert out on the porch? Tell you what, you guys should take a walk to work off some of that starch while I clean up in the kitchen." She and Bill had worked that out ahead of time to get the two of them off alone somewhere for a nice talk.

Bill agreed, "Sounds like a great idea." Turning to Caleb, he said, "Annie tells me you guys have a nice swimming hole not too far down the road. Wanna show it to me?"

Caleb wasn't excited about the idea. "It's just a swimming hole is all. Nothin' special."

Bill insisted. "I'd still like to see it. Come on, it'll give us a chance to visit and talk about man stuff."

"Um, OK."

As the two of them ambled down the dirt road in the warm late afternoon sunshine, Bill probed for ways to get the boy to open up, express his feelings. Caleb wasn't unfriendly, exactly, but he wasn't particularly forthcoming, either. It wasn't until they got to the creek and were sitting in the tall grass by the swimming hole that Bill was able to nudge him into a real conversation.