a fair bit of gardening with water-thirsty shrubs near the foundation. He planted perennials and accepted his mother’s offered help of watering them until they were established.
“I’m so proud of you,” she said. “Proud that you’re taking this on. You’ve done so much work in the last month. And I heard from Harold that you’ve been getting some help. Is that right?”
“Uh….” Luther pulled the hose away from the spiraea and set it at the base of the barberry bush. “That’s Erik.”
“Friend from the oil field?”
“Yeah.” Luther felt his face brighten with a smile and saw his mom scrutinizing him, so he turned away and deadheaded a few of the blooms in the flowerbox so she couldn’t see his expression.
“I talked to Gloria Jenson, Sarah’s mom.”
“Oh?”
“Sarah just moved back to town. Such a lovely girl.”
“Ma—”
“I don’t know why you two ever broke up. Anyway, she divorced a few years ago and has the most adorable little boy. Blonder than you were at that age. You and Sarah were such a beautiful couple.”
“Mom….”
“Luther, don’t waste the best years of your life digging for someone else’s fortune in the shale. I know it’s good money, but it’s hard on your health breathing in all those toxic chemicals, and you want to have kids when you’re young and healthy, not sick. Find a nice girl and settle down. The house is well on its way to being fixed up. All it needs now is a woman’s touch to make it feel like a home.”
“I don’t need a woman’s touch to make my life worth living, Mom.”
“You’re just going to be single forever?”
Luther didn’t respond. There was nothing he could say that would make her understand anyway, so he tore open the last bag of mulch and spread it under the shrubs.
She backed off then, returning to the chore of watering and eventually heading inside to make a quick meal. His dad joined them for supper out on the back deck.
After eating, he waved at his parents as his dad drove down the driveway, then wandered around the side of the house, studying the plants. It looked good, better than it had since he was a kid, back when his grandma spent hours in the garden. His mom was right: he and Erik had done a lot of work, and they’d already made some damn good memories here.
He was starting to see his grandparents’ home as something new, he realized as he stood out on the dock and sipped a beer while the stars started lighting up the indigo sky. He could see the potential in the house now, and he had a better understanding why his grandparents had decided to stay here year round rather than using it as only a summer home like most of the lake folk did. He loved the peace and quiet the sparsely populated shore offered. School would start soon, autumn would arrive, and only a few families would stay on for the winter.
He had to make a decision, but he wasn’t ready yet. His mom and dad had harped on him over supper to sign the papers. Could he leave the oil boom? Right now he was young. He was fit and able to work long hours. But how much longer would the boom last? It was eventually going to go bust or the government was going to wake up to how dangerous fracking was to the environment.
“Just five more years,” he said to the brightest star in the sky. “Five more years, maybe seven, and financially I can be set for life.” He could rent this place out in the meantime, and when he was ready, he could move in. Maybe his parents would retire down in Florida or Arizona by that time, so he wouldn’t have them showing up on his doorstep every few days. Then he could live the life he wanted. Sure there would be gossipers, but if he kept to himself and stayed out at the lake rather than socializing in town, he could easily avoid that. His mom and dad being gone would ensure that the local chatter stayed to a minimum as well.
“Yeah,” he said through a sigh. “I can’t live here until they’re
“I’m so proud of you,” she said. “Proud that you’re taking this on. You’ve done so much work in the last month. And I heard from Harold that you’ve been getting some help. Is that right?”
“Uh….” Luther pulled the hose away from the spiraea and set it at the base of the barberry bush. “That’s Erik.”
“Friend from the oil field?”
“Yeah.” Luther felt his face brighten with a smile and saw his mom scrutinizing him, so he turned away and deadheaded a few of the blooms in the flowerbox so she couldn’t see his expression.
“I talked to Gloria Jenson, Sarah’s mom.”
“Oh?”
“Sarah just moved back to town. Such a lovely girl.”
“Ma—”
“I don’t know why you two ever broke up. Anyway, she divorced a few years ago and has the most adorable little boy. Blonder than you were at that age. You and Sarah were such a beautiful couple.”
“Mom….”
“Luther, don’t waste the best years of your life digging for someone else’s fortune in the shale. I know it’s good money, but it’s hard on your health breathing in all those toxic chemicals, and you want to have kids when you’re young and healthy, not sick. Find a nice girl and settle down. The house is well on its way to being fixed up. All it needs now is a woman’s touch to make it feel like a home.”
“I don’t need a woman’s touch to make my life worth living, Mom.”
“You’re just going to be single forever?”
Luther didn’t respond. There was nothing he could say that would make her understand anyway, so he tore open the last bag of mulch and spread it under the shrubs.
She backed off then, returning to the chore of watering and eventually heading inside to make a quick meal. His dad joined them for supper out on the back deck.
After eating, he waved at his parents as his dad drove down the driveway, then wandered around the side of the house, studying the plants. It looked good, better than it had since he was a kid, back when his grandma spent hours in the garden. His mom was right: he and Erik had done a lot of work, and they’d already made some damn good memories here.
He was starting to see his grandparents’ home as something new, he realized as he stood out on the dock and sipped a beer while the stars started lighting up the indigo sky. He could see the potential in the house now, and he had a better understanding why his grandparents had decided to stay here year round rather than using it as only a summer home like most of the lake folk did. He loved the peace and quiet the sparsely populated shore offered. School would start soon, autumn would arrive, and only a few families would stay on for the winter.
He had to make a decision, but he wasn’t ready yet. His mom and dad had harped on him over supper to sign the papers. Could he leave the oil boom? Right now he was young. He was fit and able to work long hours. But how much longer would the boom last? It was eventually going to go bust or the government was going to wake up to how dangerous fracking was to the environment.
“Just five more years,” he said to the brightest star in the sky. “Five more years, maybe seven, and financially I can be set for life.” He could rent this place out in the meantime, and when he was ready, he could move in. Maybe his parents would retire down in Florida or Arizona by that time, so he wouldn’t have them showing up on his doorstep every few days. Then he could live the life he wanted. Sure there would be gossipers, but if he kept to himself and stayed out at the lake rather than socializing in town, he could easily avoid that. His mom and dad being gone would ensure that the local chatter stayed to a minimum as well.
“Yeah,” he said through a sigh. “I can’t live here until they’re
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