Marriage Matters

Fifty-two

June sat on a chair in her bathroom, watching as Charley buried his head under the faucet of her bathtub. The faucet had been dripping for weeks, with an annoying, plink-plink sound against the smooth porcelain of the tub. She had been doing a decent job of ignoring the sound, but Charley had spotted the small rust-colored area surrounding the drip site the moment he went into her bathroom. He insisted on fixing it right away.

After a quick trip home, Charley returned with a box of tools and a can of Comet. He turned off the water in the bathroom and went about disassembling the faucet as easily as laying out parts to make a sandwich. June was very impressed.

“I think it’s remarkable you know how to do that.” This was said from her perch on a wooden chair, which she had dragged in from the bedroom. June had done this because she was not about to sit on the toilet in front of her fiancé. Discretion was the key to a happy marriage. “Chloe claims anyone can learn how to fix anything with the assistance of the Internet, but . . .” She waved her hands, dismissing the idea. Even though she knew her way around YouTube, watching a how-to video sounded like some sort of a punishment. Old clips of Murder, She Wrote were much more her style.

“Chloe’s a smart one,” Charley said, his voice muffled. “Are things still going well with Geoff?”

“As far as I know,” June said. “I have made an effort not to meddle.”

Charley stopped working. Sitting up, he gave her a skeptical look. “You have?”

“Of course,” she said, surprised that he was surprised. “Charley, I made you a promise. I don’t plan on breaking it.”

At this, his face softened into a look of appreciation that she had come to love. “Thank you,” he said. “That means a lot to me.”

Even though leaving her family to their own devices had already proven to be incredibly difficult for her, June did plan to honor Charley’s request. In her opinion, the reason that she and Eugene had always had a happy marriage was because they’d respected each other. Yes, they’d gotten on each other’s nerves now and again, but if there was something the other felt strongly about, they would do their best to abide.

As Charley went back to fixing the faucet, she said, “Besides, I think everything will be just fine. Chloe can handle herself. She’s a smart girl.”

“She’s very good in school, isn’t she?” Charley asked, his voice once again muffled.

“Yes.” Ever since Chloe was a little girl, she’d always had her nose buried in some book or another. “I thought it was wonderful that she cared so much, but on the other hand . . .” June sighed. “Kristine and I really would have liked to see her try and enjoy herself more.”

Chloe had always been more interested in reading a book by herself, learning how to throw a football with her father or playing video games with Ben than participating in all of the things that made it fun to be a young girl. Dance recitals, parties, dressing up . . . She simply wasn’t interested. It was only when Ben turned into an attractive young man that June saw her granddaughter start to struggle with the fact that she wasn’t like the girls he was dating. It was obvious that Chloe had developed a crush on her best friend, and it broke June’s heart to see that those feelings were never returned.

June was thankful when Chloe finally went to college. There, her tomboy tendencies weren’t enough to stop a crop of boys from beating down her door. In spite of her sloppy ponytail, baggy sweatshirts and jeans, Chloe had turned into a tall, willowy knockout. Even though she’d never taken anything but her career goals seriously until Geoff, June hoped that time had at least given her granddaughter some confidence as a woman.

“Either way,” June said, “she’s certainly turned into a remarkable young lady.”

Charley nodded. “When she meets Harriet, I think those two will really hit it off.”

June had seen pictures of Charley’s granddaughter, a fiery-looking thing who worked for the Peace Corps. She was living in a hut somewhere in West Africa. When Kristine heard this, she’d pumped Charley with so many questions about his granddaughter that June finally had to intervene, saying, “You can ask her when you meet her.” She wouldn’t be able to get home for the wedding but would come to visit in the spring.

Charley’s son, on the other hand, would be at the wedding. June had seen pictures of him and he was the spitting image of Charley, with bright blue eyes and a perfect smile. He worked as a schoolteacher in Michigan and had been married as long as Kevin and Kristine.

“Alright, June.” Charley held up a warped piece of plastic. “How long has it been since you’ve had this washer changed?”

June laughed. “Since Reagan was in office. Or maybe Nixon.” Fiddling with the tiny pearls surrounding her watch, she said, “Charley, what on earth made you fall for an old woman like me?”

He thought for a moment. “The rabbits.”

“Be serious.”

Charley chuckled. “I am. It was the rabbits that did it. I fell in love with you the day you dropped those rabbits in my backyard.”

Biting her lower lip, she dared to ask, “Were they terribly hard to catch?” June had experienced many hours of amusement in the days when she disliked Charley, imagining him chasing those rabbits around the yard with a net.

“Not really. Rabbits like carrots.” He smiled. “And flowers.”

June tsked. “I was certainly a terrible person before I fell in love with you.”

“Truth be told, you were the worst neighbor I’d ever had.” Charley gave a very manly grunt as he turned the wrench. “But I liked your spunk. I think that’s what I really fell in love with. Watching you out there in your garden. The way you managed it . . . You were a species of woman that I didn’t understand.” He smiled as she opened her mouth to protest. “One that I never fully expect to understand.”

“Did you understand Claudia?” She thought of the brief moments she had met Charley’s wife, out on the sidewalk or in passing at the local market. June remembered her as pretty and petite, dressed in proper sweater sets and pearls.

“Oh, I tried. But I failed, more times than not.” Charley’s eyes were wistful. “She was a wonderful woman. I miss her every day. Sometimes, I think that the reason this thing between us works so well is that you two are opposites. I certainly didn’t plan to get married again. The idea felt disloyal. But you are . . .” He rested the wrench on the edge of the bathtub. “You are a different woman entirely.”

June nodded. “I know what you mean.” Even something as simple as watching Charley down on the floor in the bathroom, changing a washer instead of placing a phone call to get it done, demonstrated the marked difference between Charley and Eugene. “Eugene didn’t like to get his hands dirty,” she said. “Not in the yard, not in the kitchen . . . not anywhere. But he was so good with people. I always admired the way the man could talk to a brick wall.”

Charley’s eyes sparkled. “You have that talent as well, June.”

“Oh, not always.” She thought back to Eugene’s incredible ability to hold court at whatever dinner party, event or dance they attended. He had a gift for making everyone in the room feel special, her included. “I was such a shy little thing, just like Kristine when she was growing up. I had no idea why someone like him could possibly be interested in someone like me. He probably thought he could get away with talking all the time. I had to learn to speak up. It was my only defense.” She was quiet for a moment. “He was a wonderful man.”

“He’d have to be,” Charley said, “to pick you.”

“I was so lucky. And now to have you . . .” June shook her head and looked up at the skylight. The sky was bright blue in the afternoon light. “Sometimes,” she admitted, “I don’t think that it’s fair that I should have so much.”

With careful hands, Charley replaced the final piece of the faucet, turned the water back on and tested it. The dripping had stopped. Getting to his feet, he wiped his hands on the roll of paper towels he had brought up from the kitchen. Then he walked over and knelt on the floor in front of her, taking her hands in his.

“June,” he said, “I believe we’re meant to have good things in this life. We’re not meant to be unhappy.”

“I am happy,” she said, surprised. “I have such a wonderful family, my history with Eugene, this beautiful house and now you. I just . . . It all makes me feel rather guilty. That’s all.”

“Why?” Charley’s handsome face was troubled as his blue eyes searched hers.

“Because I haven’t done anything to deserve it. I haven’t given anything in return.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that.” His eyes crinkled around the corners. “I can already think of a couple of people in this world, myself included, who would say you do quite a bit in return.”

“I do donate to several charities,” she clarified. “Every year, I—”

“That’s not what I meant.” He looked up at the skylight and smiled. “Sometimes,” he said, “I can’t help but wonder if Eugene and Claudia are up there together. Conspiring to make us happy.”

June tsked so that he couldn’t see he’d almost made her cry. “Charley Montgomery,” she said, pulling him in close. “Sometimes you do say the most foolish things.”