This Close to Okay(45)

The clouds had reluctantly revealed a gray-white hint of sunlight, a break in the rain again. Emmett clapped the ladder against the house and began scooping out the wet leaves from Tallie’s gutters. He scooped and slapped them down onto her grass and bushes. Scoop and slap, scoop and slap. He got so in the zone that he was genuinely startled when he heard a woman’s voice below him, saying hello.

“I’m Tallie’s mom, Judith,” the woman said, smiled.

Emmett looked down at her, at the pumpkin and bucket of wine-dark chrysanthemums in her arms.

“Hi,” he said, before politely asking her how she was. She stood at the bottom of the ladder, told him she was fine.

“Tallie’s so smart to get you up there cleaning out those gutters. Feels like the rain will never end, although I guess technically it did, for a little bit. It’s supposed to start up again this afternoon, I heard. Y’know her husband used to clean the gutters out, but now they’re divorced. Her ex-husband,” Judith spilled, her brain-to-mouth gutters clearly cleaned out.

Emmett came down the ladder.

“She may still be sleeping, Miss Judith,” he said with his feet on the ground. “Can I get those for you?” He took the bucket of flowers, walked them up the steps to the porch, and put them there. Judith followed him with the pumpkin, which he also took from her and put on the steps with the other ones.

“Thank you so much. What’s your name?”

“My name’s Emmett,” he said, drying his hand on his jeans before holding it out for her. Judith took it and shook.

“Nice to meet you, Emmett.”

He told her the front door was unlocked before he went to the ladder, moved it, climbed up, continued the wet scoop-and-slap. In his periphery, Judith took a long look at him before disappearing inside.

*



When Emmett finished cleaning out the gutters and bagging the leaves, he washed his hands in the sink of Tallie’s laundry room. When he emerged in the hallway, Tallie was standing by the couch, folding her knitted blankets. Judith’s voice lifted up from the kitchen. Emmett wasn’t sure how Tallie wanted to play this. He was fine with Judith thinking he was a random handyman, stopping by on Halloween morning to clean out Tallie’s gutters. He could walk in there, let Tallie pretend to pay him, leave, go up the road, find a distraction until Judith left. Then he remembered that he’d left the couch half looking like a bed, left the pillow there on the edge, the blankets strewn and looping like soft cursive. And there was no work truck in the driveway he could claim was his, but Tallie could take care of it, tell her mom whatever she wanted.

“Thanks for cleaning out the gutters, Emmett,” Tallie said with a completely normal amount of earnestness that gave him no clue what she was truly thinking.

“My pleasure. No problem.”

“You’ve met my mama,” Tallie said as Judith stepped into the living room with a mug of coffee, both cats trailing behind her.

“You look so familiar to me, Emmett. Are you from Louisville?” Judith asked.

“No, ma’am. I’m from Clementine.”

“Clementine. Clementine? That’s—” Judith sat on the couch, tucked her feet beneath her.

“Southeastern Kentucky,” Emmett finished, nodded.

“Emmett, do you want a cup of coffee?” Tallie asked.

“Uh…yes. Yes, please,” he said as Tallie headed to the kitchen. He followed her, passing Judith flipping through a magazine, drinking her coffee next to the cats. She smiled up at him.

Tallie mouthed good morning to Emmett once they were alone in the kitchen. He touched her shoulder, leaned down to whisper in her ear. Her hair smelled like his: orange blossom and neroli, a lemon tree by the ocean.

“Do you want me to act like I’m only here to clean out your gutters?”

Tallie put surprise on her face, shook her head.

“She’ll assume you’re some secret new boyfriend I haven’t told her about. It’s kind of exciting,” she whispered, smiling and lifting her shoulders in a precious, childlike way. She poured his coffee, handed him the mug.

“Your secret new boyfriend who sleeps on the couch?”

“I know it’s weird, but trust me…this is how she works.”

“So it’s okay if I make breakfast? Boyfriends make breakfast,” he said, still whispering.

“Yes, they do,” Tallie said.

“Apologies again…about last night.”

“No need. You’re feeling okay this morning?”

“I’m okay.”

“You’re sure?”

“I’m okay,” he said again.

Emmett stepped into the kitchen doorway and asked Judith how she liked her eggs.

*



Tallie and Judith were on the couch, and Emmett was in the kitchen, finishing up breakfast. In addition to the eggs, he fried bacon, put orange slices in a bowl, made eight biscuits from scratch.

“Wow, you’re kidding me. Look at this,” Judith said as she sat at the table. Emmett had plated their food, placed Judith’s over-easy eggs and everything else in front of the chair. He’d put Tallie’s scrambled eggs and the rest of her breakfast next to it and took a seat across from them, ready to follow Tallie’s lead about who he was and what he was doing there.