They Never Turn on the Porch Light

They serve the minister lemonade with ice and watch as he draws swirls in the sweat on the glass. He wonders at the curious sensation of their eyes on him. Both of them silently regarding him in the yellow light. He searches for something to say, awkward and eager to fill the silence. Finally he explains that he wanted to see how they were getting along and stumbles through an apology for not visiting sooner. They nod to him as a pair. Tony not so much mimicking Emily’s grace and ease of silence as absorbing it from the woman and letting it flow back out of her. After an hour of companionable silence, which he attempts to fill with confused and cluttered speech, the pair nod goodnight from the porch with the dog by their side, watching him disappear into the darkness. He looks backs when he reaches the street, watches their faces highlighted by the soft glow from the open front door, notices their bare feet for the first time, and realizes that this is the first he has been to the little white house since it sat empty waiting for Emily to adopt it all those years ago.

-from Ashes