Pine Trees

It’s a beautiful early morning; the sun is already high in the sky, providing warmth on my morning bicycle ride. I enjoy the fresh, crisp air as I ride through the empty streets. I hop off my bike as I approach an old Victorian style home. I park my bike next the wire fence and walk up the front porch steps, holding the strap of my backpack.

“Beautiful morning, isn’t it Larry?” I ask as I walk past the old man reading the newspaper.

“Eh.” Larry responds, and I let out a small giggle. He never looks up from his newspaper. I wonder if he has ever seen my face.

I walk straight to the kitchen, where old Ellie is sitting drinking a cup of hot tea. “Good morning, Ellie.” I say and kiss the old woman on the cheek.

“Ah, hello dear. Beautiful day, is it not?” She says, her sweet French accent always makes me smile.

“Indeed it is.” I reply with a warm smile. “Any special requests for me today?” I ask as I begin fetching cleaning supplies out of the closet in the laundry room.

“Not today, love.” She says and sips her tea. I laugh to myself as I gather the cleaning supplies into a bucket for easy transport.

I clean for a couple of families around my town. The Williams are my favorite, or at least Ellie is. She always has a story to share. She’s an 86 year old woman who came from Paris to marry the love of her life, but that was over forty years ago and her husband died in a car accident so now she’s married to Larry.

A few months ago, Ellie was feeling especially sharing and shared to me, some old photographs of herself and her first husband, Maxwell. He was very handsome, and they were married young. It was an admiral love story. He was stationed in Paris during his years in the army and they were married in secret when Ellie was only seventeen and he twenty-three.

Ellie’s parents, being wealthy aristocrats, never approved of the marriage and had threatened to send Ellie to boarding school if she didn’t leave him. So they ran away together, back to America. They were happily married for twenty-four years before he died. She married Larry only two years later.

Larry has also been a man of few words. He keeps to himself, always reading the newspaper. I hadn’t spoken more than a few words to him, and he has never said anything to me.

“I’m going to get started upstairs,” I say to Ellie as I grab the bucket of cleaning supplies and disappear upstairs.

I fish my iPhone out of my pocket and I plug my headphones in, sticking one of each into my ears. Today feels like a good day to jam out to some Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. I click on my Spotify app and find my Tom Petty playlist. I hit play and let the music flow through the tiny little speakers.

I pull my wavy red hair into a bun a top my head and start with the bedroom. I empty the small trashcans and dust the night tables and dressers. I change the bedding and gather the laundry. I open the bathroom door, intending to drop the clothes down the laundry shoot, but as I open the door, steam flows out and I am faced with a tall pale body, wrapped in nothing but a towel.

“Ah!” I squeal, and step back, stepping on the corner of the sheet that was overflowing out of my small arms, causing me to trip and fall back. The laundry flies all around me. The guy in front of me begins to say something, before noticing my headphones and stopping. I quickly pull them out of my ears and mumble a quiet “sorry.”

“It’s usually polite to knock.” He says and offers a hand towards me. I gratefully take it and helps me back to my feet.

“I’m so sorry. There’s usually no one here…” I explain as I begin picking up the laundry.

“Yeah, there usually isn’t. Who are you?” He asks and hands me a dirty shirt.

“Oh, I’m Logan. I’m kind of like the housekeeper?” I offer and scoot past him to drop the laundry down the laundry shoot in the bathroom.

“Kind of?” He asks.

“Well, I am.” I shrug. “You know, I would really feel much better if you were dressed…”

“Right, sorry about that.” He says with a chuckle. I guess I was a little distracted by his tall, boney, pale body to notice his perfect smile. His hair was long and brown, and dripping onto his chest and shoulders. His eyes were a shade of the prettiest brown. “Um, I’m going to go change now.” He says pointing towards the hall way. I hadn’t noticed I was staring, but I’m sure he did. I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks and quickly ducked into the hallway, and head down the stairs.

“You didn’t tell me you had guests!” I complain to Ellie, who responds with a chuckle.

“I suppose it slipped my mind.” She says laughing as I glare at her.

“Would’ve been nice to know before walking in on him in the shower!” I shout as I cross my arms. This only makes Ellie laugh more.

“I’m sorry, dear. Come, have some tea.” She says and gestures to the seat next to her. I roll my eyes, and sit next to her hesitantly.

“That’s my grandson. He’s just going to stay with us for a while.”

“Great! As if seeing him naked wasn’t awkward enough.” I say with another eye roll.

“Nearly naked.” The boy says as he walks into the kitchen. “I’m Jude by the way.” He says.

“So nice to meet you, Jude.” I respond, emphasis on his name. He gives me a funny look, then turns toward the fridge for something to eat.

“I’m just going to go back to cleaning.” I say and dash for the stairs.

“She’s kind of weird, Grandma.” Jude says, probably thinking I was out of earshot. I glare, though he can’t see me. I’m not that weird… Am I?