the little things

Eli could smell her presence in the house. She smelled of summer – wood smoke, with a hint of coconut and sea spray. Looking up, he saw her face and he smiled. His gaze settling on her pale blue eyes. He loved her eyes – spaced just slightly too far apart which made her face interesting. But it was her freckles he loved best. They were stardust, sprinkled across the bridge of her nose as if heaven itself had underlined her eyes. His Audra. “Hello, Beautiful.”

“Eli, love, I didn’t hear you come in.” She rises and kisses him softly on the cheek. “I didn’t expect you home so soon. Let me get some coffee going.”

Eli follows her to the kitchen and sits at the far side of the table so he can watch her work. She dances through the world, so gracefully. Her long arms arcing around her as she gathers all the necessities for coffee and places them on a tray. “Here I come. Make room.” He moves over a seat and she slides into the place he just vacated.

“I talked to Bennie today. He and Leanne are going to come by this weekend for lunch.” Audra pauses as she cools her coffee off with a small puff of air. Sensing him tense, she continues, “Seems they’re out this way visiting Leanne’s cousin. He said something about two birds. Tell the truth, it was hard to hear him as he was driving during the call.”

Clenching and unclenching his fists, Eli gathers his thoughts before he proceeds, “Well Audra, I’m not sure that’s a good idea…” Audra puts her cup down with a little more force than necessary. “Don’t take that tone, Audra. I know my own mind.”

 Slowly sipping her coffee, she looks over the rim at him and arches an eyebrow. “You don’t want my opinion, Audra – so stop asking for it. You’ve already made up both our minds and damn if I’m going to make it easy for you to boss me around. Look at that, will you? My coffee’s gone cold.” Audra rises and takes his cup to heat up his coffee.

“Now don’t try getting on my good side. My good side took the day off ten years ago and never came back. I’ll give you a choice: I’m going to be grumpy now, or I can be grumpy at lunch with Bennie and Leanne.” Audra places his cup down and kisses his cheek, “You can be grumpy both times if you want, that choice is yours. The rest of us non-grumpy people will still sit with you on the back patio and enjoy the sunshine whether you, dear, are grumpy today or grumpy tomorrow. Whether you’re grumpy in bed or grumpy in the shed. Whether you’re grumpy on the patio or grumpy doing cardio. We all love you regardless of your grumpiness.”

“Don’t you try to get me to forget that I have been bamboozled. You, dear Audra, are a terrible liar. Leanne doesn’t have a cousin out this way. Heck, she doesn’t have any cousins at all. For all the grief I get for not paying attention, I happen to know that Leanne is an only child of only children; therefore, there are no ‘cousins’ for Leanne to have.” Crossing his arms over his chest he gloats.

“My goodness, Eli. I guess an old dog can learn, after all.” Audra smiles enigmatically. “To think I honestly thought I could get away with my deception. You, dear man…” she leans in and kisses him softly on the cheek, “…are always a step or two ahead of me.” Eli couldn’t shake the feeling that he has been completely and totally bamboozled by his wife.

 “Dad, Dad…” Bennie shakes his father trying to wake him. “Dad… are you awake?” He asks as he shakes a bit harder.

Rousing slowly, Eli shakes his head to clear the dream from his mind. “Bennie? I’m awake. What are you doing here? Where’s mom? I was just talking to her.”

“I live here. Remember, you came to live with us after…” he trails off at the end.

Eli closes his eyes again and wishes for his dream to resume.