Frost Heaves

"Look... I'm sorry," I said sheepishly. "Didn't mean to come off so miserable. Guess I'm a little more messed up than I thought."

"If you need anything, I'm down the hall," Callie said. "Bathroom is to the left and I'm to the right."

Callie headed out the door but I reached out and tried to grab her. Even though my weak reach didn't stop her, she paused at the doorway.

"Callie please," I said meekly. "I'm really sorry. You've been so nice to me - guess I'm not used to it. Thank you."

"Want to show appreciation, lift the seat when you go," Callie said gruffly, but that little smirk appeared in the corner of her mouth, making me feel better immediately.

I let my pants fall to the floor, kicking them over to the side, and even though I had pajamas in the suitcase, I was too tired and aching to bother. Instead, I eased myself into the soft bedding and pulled the sheet up, smelling the freshness of the pillow as I fell asleep almost the second my head made contact with it.

...

Chapter Seven: Nature calls.

I awoke with a start, for the moment forgetting exactly where I was. In the semi-darkness, things began to make sense to me, and I propped myself up on my elbow. From somewhere down the hallway, I heard the sound of water being turned off, the loud thump of the pipes reverberating throughout the house.

The reason for my waking up became clear to me, as my kidneys were sending me that familiar signal, but it was not at a crisis point yet so my head went back down onto the pillow. I waited for an appropriate amount of time to pass before heading out to use the facilities, and may have even dropped back to sleep for a moment, before coaxing my sore body up out of bed.

Treading quietly down the hallway, I saw the door that must be Callie's bedroom open on the right side. The light was on, and so I didn't do more than just peek into the room as I passed by it, my objective being a few steps past and to the left.

I stopped abruptly at the doorway, frozen at seeing the room occupied, despite the door being wide open. Part of me wanted to quickly turn away and head back to my own room until Callie was through. The other part of me refused to cooperate, and so I stood there and stared.

Callie was at the other end of the bathroom, brushing her hair with a vigorous intensity as she looked in the tiny mirror. The brush crackled with static electricity as it sped through her short strawberry blonde locks with quick strokes. I spent little time watching her brush her hair, however, as I found other areas to occupy my attention.

Callie was naked.

With her back to me, I was treated to a sight that I found enthralling. Could this be the same women I had spent the conscious parts of my day with?

Callie's body glistened with moisture from the bath she had emerged from, and her skin was smooth and pale, except for her calves and her arms from her biceps down, which were lightly tanned.

Callie was no dainty little flower, and that was something I already knew even through her bulky clothing. If I had spent any time picturing her naked, and I admit to have invested a few moments in that endeavor, just I did most women I came in contact with, this was not exactly what I had expected.

Callie's shoulders were broad, and as she moved the brush through her hair I marveled at the way the muscles over her upper back and shoulders rippled with the movements, and her biceps bulged with definition. Not outrageously like a weightlifter, but more like a woman in great physical condition, and the sprinkling of freckles on her shoulders gave a nice feminine touch.

From her broad shoulders and back, my eyes traveled downward, enjoying the way her waist tapered down rather dramatically. From there, her hips flared out nicely, and although I have never been that big of a derriere aficionado, it was difficult not to appreciate Callie's full yet firm looking buttocks.

Finishing my visual inspection after admiring her shapely legs and the calf muscles that exposed themselves as she moved from side to side, for a moment I longed to have her turn around so I could fully appreciate her beauty.

Then I abruptly came to my senses, wheeling around quickly and padding quietly back down the hall to my room. While my description certainly took up more time than the actual event, it was still way more than an accidental glance, and it would not be very proper to have a guest caught drooling at his hostess like a pervert.

Therefore, I went back and sat on the edge of my bed and drooled in private. After hearing Callie moving around and the sound of a door clicking shut, I peeked around the corner of the doorway, and after seeing her bedroom door closed and the bathroom door open, with the light considerately still on, I ventured back to do my duty.

I lacked a whole lot of dexterity, what with my wrists being rather useless, and as I tugged my underwear down, there was a noticeable problem that made a successful process impossible. Waiting for moment, I tried to think of things besides Callie, so that my equipment would not be staring upwards toward me.

At least that still worked, I thought to myself, after the mental rehashing of a conversation with my ex brought my excitement level down considerably. For whatever that was worth, I added in a whisper to myself while flushing the commode.

...

Chapter Eight: The rooster crows.

Not exactly a rooster, although that would have made for better story. More like the sound of a tractor in the distance, and as my eyes adjusted to the sunlight streaming through the curtains, I noticed the clock.

Ten thirty? I was usually up at six every morning, and my head reminded me that these hadn't been much of a usual 24 hours that had just passed. My body ached as I struggled to put on my pants, and I hobbled to find the bottle of aspirin at the best speed I could muster.

Out in the kitchen, I squinted out and saw Callie riding a tractor, doing something to part of the field close to the house. She looked so different to me now as I watched her bobbing slightly up and down on the seat. Guess that's what happens after you've seen somebody naked, or at least naked from behind.

There was a coffee pot still on, with a clean cup next to it that I took for an invitation. The coffee was strong but tasted great to me, and I felt my stomach grumble as the coffee woke it up. I poked around a little bit, hoping to find something to snack on, like a pop tart or something quick, but came up empty.

I did find the bread box, and threw a couple of slices in a toaster that was almost as old as I was, hoping Callie didn't mind me making myself at home like this. The toast came out as perfectly browned as I had ever seen, and tasted even better than it looked, so I patted the toaster apologetically before cleaning up after myself.

I wandered into the living room and saw the television set in the corner. A brief look around for the remote proved fruitless, and when I saw the rabbit ears on top of the set, I figured out that there was no cable TV. No dish either.

I turned on the set, and judging by the age of the set I wasn't sure what would appear; Shari Lewis, Sid Caesar, or maybe Kukla, Fran and Ollie. Instead, I found a blurry image of Bob Barker coaxing people to bid on a showcase filled with goodies. A manual trip around the dial led me to stop at Andy Griffith taking Opie down to the fishin' hole, and since the picture was relatively clear I decided to sit down and relax.

I woke up to the sound of pots and pans rattling out in the kitchen. My shoulders screamed as I lifted myself out of the comfy old chair, and I waddled out to see what was going on.

"Hi," I said to Callie, who was busy cooking at the stove. "What's for lunch?"

"Tomorrow, you mean?" Callie said.

As my eyes began to focus I looked at the clock on the wall.

"Six o'clock?" I said in shock.

"Always do this much napping?" Callie said as she looked at me cautiously, almost as if I looked as woozy as I felt.

"Like to get all my naps in before I go to sleep," I told her, and in reality I felt like going to bed again.

"Hope you like meat loaf," Callie said.

"Sure," I told her, and tried to be of some help by setting the table for her. Not an easy thing to do when you don't know where anything is, and when you have to keep asking it takes as lot of the help factor out of the equation, but Cassie was good natured about it.

Callie could surely cook, and her meat loaf was something like I hadn't had in years, and my appetite was apparently back in full force. Callie seemed to enjoy watching me wolf down her cooking.

"Been quite a while since I had a meal as good as that," I told Callie as I helped her clean up.

Doing the dishes by hand was also a nostalgic experience, and as I awkwardly dried them with immobile wrists, I began to think of ways I could repay Callie for her kindness. Maybe a dishwasher would be something she'd appreciate. That or a television set. I knew I would have to get her something for all she had done for me.

"The garage called," Callie said. "They came and got the car, and Jeff said that the insurance company is coming by there tomorrow to get a look at what's left. He thinks they might total it, but it's hard to be sure because the car's so new. He said he would call and let you know when they tell him."

"Figures," I said. "Look, I can't be putting you out like this while they play around with my car. I've got to be back to work tomorrow, or call them up and let them know what happened. Maybe you could take me to the garage tomorrow and I could rent a car from the guy."

"Be glad to take you," Callie said. "Don't know as if he's in the rental car business though. If it's worrying about getting in my way that's bothering you, don't. Couldn't even tell you were here today at all, except when you ate. You're welcome to stay here David, until whatever happens, happens. Maybe I'll put you to work when you feel better."

"Okay... well, I'll call work tomorrow and extend my vacation a bit then," I thought aloud.

"Good," Callie said. "Kinda nice to have somebody around the house anyway. Makes me feel less weird than talking to myself. I'm going out on the porch. Grab another glass of lemonade if you'd like, and if you want to join me outside, feel free."

....

Chapter Nine: Callie's life.

Callie was sitting in a tattered old chair at the end of the porch, which was as big a porch as I'd ever seen, easily thirty feet long and half that wide. She looked tiny sitting down there with her drink on the railing, looking out at the sun which was sinking fast in the sky.

"Quiet out here" I said softly after settling into an old but surprisingly comfy sofa that creaked in protest at being used.

"Not like the city I suppose," Callie said, never taking her eyes off the sunset.

"No, but this is nice," I admitted.

I supposed that a little bit of this quiet and solitude would be refreshing, but I couldn't imagine a lifetime of this seclusion, and wondered how Callie could.

"Seems like it would get a little lonely out here though," I said tentatively.

"It does," Callie said after a minute. "Of course, I've got Gordon and Ellie and all the others to keep me company."

Gordon was the horse I had seen on the way in yesterday, and Ellie was the cow I hadn't met yet. Callie explained this all to me after I gave her my puzzled look.

"I can't believe you take care of this farm all by yourself."

"Well, when the corn's ready I get a couple of kids from Starkville to help me," Callie explained. "Frankly, there ain't much farming done on this farm anymore. Least, not like it once was... before Carl passed."

"Your husband?" I asked, and Callie nodded.

The darkness had enveloped us almost like someone had hit a switch, and the chirping sounds grew louder and louder with each second. It had started with a solitary chirp, and within seconds it had become a symphony.

"Wow!" I said as the noise enveloped us.

"Peepers," Callie explained. "They really get going, don't they?"

"He seemed young... your husband," I said.

"Thirty seven," Callie said. "He had a heart problem since he was young, and one day it stopped being a problem."

"Oh God."

"One minute he's out there on the tractor waving at me, and the next minute he's slumped over the wheel with the tractor going in a circle and his leg jammed up on the gas." Callie said with a weary shake of her head.

"Gee."

"Carl would have gotten a kick out of it himself, if he had seen it," Callie said, tossing her head back. "What would you call that - a metaphor of our life? Always going and going and never getting anywhere."

I didn't know what to say and so just sat there and sipped my lemonade while Callie continued.

"I didn't really know what else to do, so I decided to try and stick it out here. What else could I do? High school diploma doesn't get you anywhere these days, and all I really knew was farm life. It's how I grew up, and how we had always lived."

I jumped a little bit as a cat rubbed up against my leg from out of nowhere, and I reached down and scratched his head as Callie continued.

"I didn't know half as much as Carl did, but what I didn't know I learned. Carl had some insurance from his days in the service, so I could at least pay off the mortgage and keep up with the taxes, but there was no money for hiring anybody or getting things fixed, so I had to learn it myself."

"Amazing," I said in admiration. "Seems like it would have been real easy to just quit."

"I did, many times," Callie admitted. "I'd sit here and cry my eyes out at night, hurting and tired and scared, and swear that I'd put the place up for sale and move out the next day. Then, come morning, I'd be up with the sun, doing what had to be done."

"There aren't many people like that these days," I said ruefully.

I wasn't, I said to myself. I had quit on life when things went bad, and felt ashamed after listening to Callie.

"People do what they have to do," Callie said.

....

Chapter Ten: Helping out.

I had started to feel really guilty about watching Callie doing all the work, and me just laying around like a piece of furniture. My shoulders still ached, but the pain had dulled somewhat, becoming more of a constant throbbing. My wrists were still a bit of a mess though, and I hated using my hands for anything.

Still, when I saw Callie working on the fence and struggling a bit, I couldn't just look out the window, so I hustled out to join her and see what I could do.

Callie was trying to do three things at once; lifting up the top rail of the fence and holding it up while trying to tie wire around it to keep it in place.

"Hey, let me give you a hand," I said as I joined her at the fence.

It was a warm afternoon, but not unpleasantly so, and the sun was refreshing to feel. Callie was wearing her jeans and a red flannel shirt that had the sleeves torn off, or worn off.

"I've got it," Callie said as she struggled to hold up the wooden slat, which wasn't so much heavy as it was awkward to deal with.

"I know you do, but it's got to be easier with an extra pair of hands."

"You'll get your bandages all messed up, and I'm not sure if I have any more or not," Callie protested, but I was intent on doing something - anything, to help, so I grabbed the slat of wood and held it up. It hurt, but not as much as standing idly by would have.

"Can't just keep laying around here watching you work," I said as Callie finally released her hold on the plank to me and began to secure it with the wire.

My eyes took in Callie as she worked intensely. She could have - would have, done this by herself, but I think that more than being a help I found myself just wanting to be around her. Something about being around her made me feel better.

My eyes admired her forearms, bronzed and beautiful, with the veins bulging slightly with her exertion. Traveling further up, her pale biceps also showed the signs of her struggle, as the muscles tensed with each movement.

I was startled when, as I was giving Callie my visual inspection, I noticed a little spray of golden brown hair nestled in her exposed armpit. Why this surprised me, I don't know. The modest wisp of hair was both perfectly natural and rather attractive on her.

As my attention was focused under Callie's arm, my mind went back in time to my teen-aged years, recalling with fondness the girl who took my virginity that night in 1970. Back then, the sight of an unshaven armpit was not startling, but more an expression of one's independence. What had happened to Doreen? What had happened to me?

"You do like to watch."

I woke up from my daydream at the sound of Callie's voice. She was staring at me with an amused look on her face as I tried to pretend that I hadn't been staring at her underarm while she worked.

"Uh - sorry," I said, looking out over her shoulder at the field. Anywhere but at her face.

"See a whole lot of things out here that you don't see in the city," Callie said with a chuckle, clearly enjoying my discomfort.

"Guess I was daydreaming," I said sheepishly.

"Curiosity killed the cat," Callie noted.

"Didn't something bring it back though?" I asked hopefully.

"First nine times, probably," Callie noted. "Don't know about after that. I think he ran out of luck."

I chuckled at that, and followed along as she moved on down to the next section of fence, as Callie became resigned to the fact that I was going to help her no matter what.

"You staring off like that," Callie continued as I held up the next piece of wood for her. "Maybe that accident did more damage than you thought."

"Actually, I feel better today. Much better."

"Maybe that's just your nature, being curious. I noticed you doing some staring the other night. In the hallway."

I felt my face flush as I figured out what Callie was referring to. Me staring at her in the bathroom.

"Sorry," I said, my embarrassment level rising once again, and I shook my head at my repeated apologizing. "I say that a lot these days."

"No need to be sorry," Callie said with a big grin. "Now, if you had gotten sick, or screamed out in horror, that would have been something to apologize for. Even now, you can always say that you are still in shock after the accident and don't even remember what I'm talking about."

"No, I said slowly, not wanting to be sounding too forward, but unable to resist a little additional comment. "I remember that quite well."

"Just having fun with you, David. My fault for leaving the door open. It's tough to get used to closing doors after all this time."

"I didn't realize you had noticed me," I told Callie, enjoying the playful conversation as her Ivory soap freshness caressed my nostrils.

"You stared just long enough to make me feel good," Callie said. "And speaking of baths, you're going to need one yourself."

I had begun getting dirty from the little work I was doing, and had to agree.

"We'll take care of that tonight," Callie said. "Maybe I'll get to watch this time."

....

Chapter Eleven: Bath time.

I looked at the ancient bathtub warily, towel in hand. There was a curtain that was hung on a metal frame around the perimeter of the tub, and a portable shower head that could be connected to the faucet. While I stood there and figured out the options, Callie tapped on the door.

"I'm decent," I called out, wrapping the towel around my midsection quickly.

"Figured you might need some help," Callie said as she came into the room with another towel and soap.

"Trying to figure out how I'm going to manage this," I said. "Tough to manage without getting these bandages wet."

The bandages on my wrists had just been changed by Callie that morning, and I had noticed that she had used the last of the gauze bandages to do it.