Chapter 4: A Morning Walk

It was 6 o’clock in the morning.  The fog that had settled in the cornfield behind the house was thick, and the ground was wet as if drenched with rain.  Todd and Abby walked down the dirt path that led around the small garden directly behind the house and out past the field of corn that was behind it. 

            Their neighbors, who owned an equestrian school, could be seen preparing for the long day ahead of them.  They would often watch them to see how they began their morning.  It was apparent that they had a routine.  Pam did the same thing every morning as did her husband Billy.  Todd could almost time his walk based on what they were doing at the stables.

            The air was always moist in the morning.  Whether there was a fog or not on the ground, the air was always moist.  That didn’t matter to the two of them, though.  They were out there every morning, weather permitting, just to be together for a little while before their days at work began.

            Abby was a very spiritual person.  Not fanatically religious, but rather, spiritual.  She seemed to be at one with the way the world around her seemed to negotiate itself.  She liked to walk with Todd in the morning.  It gave her time to not think about being at school all day with the kids.  It gave her mind a fresh start.  But most of all, she was able to walk with her husband and simply hold his hand.   

            Sometimes she would walk barefoot, letting the sandy soil come up between her toes.  On days when the fog was thick, her long brown hair would take in the water and by the time that they returned to the house, it would be soaked.  She didn’t care. 

            There was innocence to her that Todd couldn’t live without.  He knew it was a cliché, but he just couldn’t imagine her any other way.  Whenever he was with her, it felt as if the burden of all that he had on his mind was lifted and taken away. 

            “Only two more weeks of school,” said Abby.  She couldn’t wait.  It had been a long year. 

            Todd smiled at her and squeezed her hand three times.  “I know you can’t wait to get out of there.”  It was going to be nice to spend three months with Abby.  They had been unable to spend much time totally together since they had moved to Vanceboro.  They had the usual school breaks, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter, together, but that was usually also spent in the company of most of Todd’s family.  The summer was going to be different.  There would be no family around, except for the occasional visit, and they would be able to do just as they pleased for the next three months.

            “I called Mr. Johnson yesterday afternoon about getting the condo at the beach for a week in August.  He said that it shouldn’t be a problem.”

            “Thank you,” Todd said, surprised.  “I was going to take care of that this morning, but I guess that you beat me to it.”

            “If I have to wait for you to call, we may not have a week at the beach for five or six years,” Abby shot back.

            “Just for that comment, you will try some seafood this time.”  He had been trying for the last three years to get her to try seafood.  He couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t even eat the ever so tasty crab cakes from Maryland.  This trip, though, he was determined to make her at least try shrimp.

            “You go on thinking that.”  She curled up her nose.  The thought of it made her shiver and let out an overly exaggerated yech!

            “Oh, it’s not that bad.”

            “Umm, yeah.”  She was dead set against the idea.

            As they passed the first cornfield, the tractor path veered to the right and up to the large tobacco field at the very end of their property.  When he used to farm with his grandparents, they used to call the area, appropriately, back-of-the-field. 

            They walked along the path, all the while holding hands. 

            “It was interesting meeting the Clemmet’s,” Todd said. 

            “They were nice.”

            Todd watched along the side of the path.  Occasionally, on really damp and foggy morning, a snake would slither next to them as they walked.  Most of the time they were little garden snakes, but that really didn’t make a difference to Abby.  A snake is a snake and the only good snake is a dead snake. 

            They rarely said anything to each other as they walked each morning.  It was a time for both of them to clear their mind.  There was a breeze this morning that gently brushed all of the plants against each other.  The soybeans and corn made a light whistling sound.  The tobacco, a soft sound, almost like brushed leather rubbing against itself.

            Abby thought of the beach vacation that she had just planned.  It was going to be nice to get out of Vanceboro for a week.  At times, she resented the place.  Everything was so slow.  She was used to the bustling comings and goings of Washington-Baltimore Corridor.  Vanceboro, in stark contrast, was almost a standstill.

            But Todd liked the town.  He liked being able to go Vera’s Diner for lunch and talk with everyone.  It wasn’t a place that you really had to know everyone.  But, it was a place where it felt as if you did know everyone. He liked to swing by Pat’s Soda Shop, and pick up orangeades for the both of them.  He liked the ambiance of the place.  Perhaps, it was nostalgic to him.  She wasn’t quite sure.

            She reached her hand out and put his hand in hers.  She held it tight.  He looked at her and smiled and then looked back to the path continuing to walk.

             He was so quiet, she thought.   He had been that way as long as they had known each other.  She often wondered what he had going on inside of him.  His free-lance writing for various outdoors magazines meant that he was at home, or at least in the area most of the time.  His job fit him perfectly.  He loved the outdoors.  To write about what he truly loved was just as fulfilling for her as it was for him.  The thoughtful introspection that he saturated his pieces with gave her insight into his mind. 

            She looked at his hair gently being tossed by the breeze and smiled to herself.  She leaned over and quickly gave him a kiss on the cheek.

            “What was that for?” he asked?

            “I have to have a reason for giving my husband a kiss?”

            He smiled at her.  “Well, no.”

            “I was just thinking about you.”

            “What about?” he asked.

            “Just about how much I love you.”

            He stopped and put both of his hands around her waist.  “I love you too.”  He pushed the hair that had blown into her face, away.  He looked into her eyes.

            She closed her eyes and waited for him to kiss her.  

            He kissed her softly on the lips. 

            “I do love you, Abby.” 

            She opened her eyes back up.  He was staring at her still.  “I know you do.”  She kissed him back.  She put her hand back in his and they continued walking.

            They walked ahead to the end of the path and then turned around, back towards the house.

            “What do you want for dinner tonight?” he asked her.

            “I don’t care, it’s up to you.”  She laughed to herself. 

            “What’s so funny?”

            “How can you think about what we are having for dinner this early in the morning?”

            “Well, dinner is the most important meal of the day.”

            “I thought that breakfast was.”

            “Maybe for you,” he winked at her.

            She slapped him on the arm playfully.  He laughed at her and quickly jerked his hand away from hers and started tickling her.  She ran ahead trying to escape.  When he caught up with her, she tried to tickle him back, but it was useless, he wrapped his arms around her, preventing her from getting him back.