The accompanying silence surrounded both men like the palpable warmth of the sun overhead.
Cal nodded at Joe before slowly disentangling himself from behind the steering column and climbing down to the freshly plowed earth.
“Agent Gunther,” he said, wiping his hands on his jeans as he approached.
“Mr. Cutts,” Joe said, returning the courtesy.
Cutts reached the fence and stopped. Neither man extended a hand in greeting. “What can we do for you?”
“Nothing I can think of,” Joe answered. “Just dropped by to see how you were all doing.”
It was the kind of statement Marie Cutts would have treated like a grenade pin, but Cal merely shrugged and answered, “Feeling a little caught between a dog and a tree, but I guess we’ll sort it out.”
“The farm?”
“Always. The insurance turned out to be even less than we thought, and Billy dropped his offer to where it didn’t make any sense. Looks like it’s back to life as usual.”
They were standing side by side with the fence between them, both facing the distant mountain Joe had admired on one of his first visits. Calvin’s last comment didn’t seem utterly delusional, as it might have from someone else facing his reversal of fortune. Instead, it came across as a simple statement of fact, and, for all of that, Joe was hard-pressed to doubt it. He and Cal were not entirely unalike, after all, from their parentage and age to their general stoicism.
“Could be worse,” Cal added. “Some foundation-run by that John Gregory’s brother-said they’d help out-pay for Linda’s kids’ education, replace the herd. Marie didn’t want it, of course, but we’ll take it-for all our sakes. Still,” he continued, “it’s not that we couldn’t still sell. Jeff could make more money someplace else, and I could even retire, more or less, given my needs.” He paused to rub his chin with one rough hand.
“But,” he added, “it just wouldn’t feel right.”
“What about Marie?”
He nodded. “Well, that’s part of it, of course. Farming’s what she knows. It would be a bad time to uproot her.”
When he left it at that, Joe asked, “How’s she doing?”
Cal kept his eyes on the horizon. “Not too good. Hasn’t said a word since it turned out the way it did-losing both her kids, one way or the other. It’s pretty clear Linda won’t be getting out anytime soon.”
“I am sorry about that,” Joe said gently.
Cal finally looked at him with a sad smile. “So am I. You have kids?”
“No.”
“It’s interesting,” he said philosophically. “They sure can surprise you.” After a pause, he added, “But they give you something to love all the way to the end.”
That made Joe think of Linda’s family. “Is Jeff going to stay put?” he asked.
“Far as I know. I suppose that’s the funniest part of this whole deal, when you think about it. He only really stayed because of Linda. Now it’s just him and me, basically. A couple of guys doing what they can-like shipwrecked sailors, when you think of it.”
He shook his head slowly, as if countering an argument. “No, best to keep things the same. Linda’ll know where we are that way, wherever she might be, and Marie can use the familiar routine to get better. Won’t hurt those kids, either, knowing we stuck it out.”
He bent down and retrieved a clod of earth, which he held in his hand like a talisman. Joe wondered if the gesture would result in some comment combining both insight and hope.
In the end, he wasn’t sure it didn’t.
“Guess I better get back to work,” Cal said.