“Dez, where are we going to live?” Matt had been so silent all day. They both had been silent. Only a word or two as they worked clearing up her sister’s orchard. It was hard work, picking up windfall apples, mowing between the rows of trees, weeding where the mower had missed. No time for conversation. To herself, she had been wondering the same thing. It didn’t seem right that he would move over here. He had his life on his farm. Her’s was here in the duplex that she rented from Martha. It seemed transient even to her. She hadn’t been living out of a suitcase but it felt temporary. She’d lived in so many temporary places. When she was young, it was just part of her life and many times exciting. Over the years, each place felt like it could be home until there was some upheaval in her life. When the pandemic took over everyone’s lives, she had almost been homeless if it hadn’t been for her sister. Estranged for a decade, neither had expected it to last, but had to at least until the pandemic was over. It was a struggle, but they had managed. They had more than managed, but restored and repaired their relationship. Em was remarried and had taken ownership of the Estate as she hadn’t prior to the lockdown. But Dez thought, she didn’t mind that she still felt like a wanderer. Until now. She and Matt were a couple. She’d had boyfriends over the years, been a single more times than not, but with Matt it was different. Dez pulled a particularly stubborn weed out from the base of what she hoped was the last tree. It came out with such suddenness that it sat her back on her heels, landing her in the grass, wet with early evening dew. She landed with a thump, the dirt from the offending root spraying up on her face as it flipped up from the damp ground.?!” He had just turned off the trimmer when he heard her land. Throwing it down to the ground, he was over to her in two strides. She reached up, grabbed his hand. Instead of being pulled up, he slid on the wet grass and fell on top of her. They lay sprawled and laughing together, Matt’s face in the grass. He turned his head, and between gasps said “We have to get up, Dez. It’s wet down here ~ and cold.” She tried to push him away. “You’ll have to get off of me first.” Starting to get up, he turned and gently brushed the dirt from her face. “Hey beautiful, your face is dirty and your hair is a mess. We’re done for the day here, let’s go back to the house and clean you up.” She took his face in her hands. “Now we match ~ you’ve got a dirty face too.” They both shivered and held one another.
~~~~~
Hot showers and dry clothes on, they were in the kitchen having supper. There wasn’t much in the fridge but eggs, tomatoes and odds and ends of leftover meals. So scrambled eggs, warmed up sausages, tomatoes and hot coffee fit the bill for them. “Do you know the answer yet?” Matt helped himself to more eggs, got up for more coffee. “What answer?” He filled both mugs. “The one I asked you in the orchard. You don’t remember? Did the shower take everything out of your head?” Teasing her, he ruffled her still damp hair. “Remind me. I did think I heard you say something about where we would live. If that’s it, I don’t know for sure but here doesn’t seem right, and living away from the Estate doesn’t either. I have to be here to take care of not just the orchard but the bees.” Matt stirred the remains of his eggs around. “What kind of an agreement do you have with your sister? About the orchard?” Dez didn’t have to think long. “Just a verbal agreement. We talked about getting something on paper but never did. I don’t want to give it up, It’s the first big thing I’ve ever been responsible for and I really like working with the trees, and learning about the bees.” She grew quiet. “I may not own it like you own your farm, but it is mine. Em says she’s never cared much about the orchard. ‘it’s just there’. I really want to keep up my commitment to her. It’s important to both of us.”
Matt cleared the dishes from the table, putting them in the sink. His silence bothered Dez. This was the first time they’d really talked about the Beaufort orchard, her commitment to her sister and her time. When she had taken it on, getting into a relationship had not been on her mind. How could she juggle both of them, and be a good partner with Matt? Getting married was not as easy at it seemed when he had been down on one knee. Matt had had relationships previously, in fact had divorced only two years prior. He had two sons who counted on their dad’s home. It was their family home. They seemed to like and get along with Dez, but how would they feel if she became their stepmother? He still had his own orchard and apiary to look after. A much larger operation, it supported his sons, paid his alimony and paid his bills. “Looks like we can’t give up either one, Dez. Does Em pay you? Do you have an income from it?” Dez took a soapy wet plate from him, rinsed it and dried it. “I’ve been able to take any proceeds from the orchard and the honey for myself, Em pays for whatever the orchard and bees need from Estate funds. I have a little money from my parents when they passed, and a TFSA that I use from time to time. Living here, my bills have been limited. So, Matt, you’re right. It looks like we can’t give up either one. We’ll have to work together to maintain both properties. Can we make it work without going at each other and ruining our relationship?”
~~~~~
Cleaning up the little kitchen, checking to make sure all taps were off in the bathroom and windows closed, they turned out all but the light outside the front door. “Let’s go home.” Without saying where home was, it had been decided that home was at Matt’s farm. Here would always be a temporary place to come when it was time to take care of this property. That was a discussion for another time. If there were changes to be made, they would work together.
~~~~~
“The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of
two chemical substances:if there is any action both are transformed.”
~ Carl Gustav Jung
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