Desert Flower

“I go to film a move in Australia for two months and suddenly, you’re engaged! What happened to us being best friends? I thought we were soul sisters!” Cleo flailed her arms over her head. “You couldn’t pick up a phone? Matt didn’t even ask me if it was okay to marry you. Who the hell does he think he is?”

“Well, he thinks he’s my fiancé. It was a rough two months while you were gone, love,” I said,
“I got laid off, found a new job, got engaged the day I was fired, and then finally met Matt's family. Sorry if I forgot to call you!”

Cleo rolled her eyes and hugged me. “Let me see your ring.”

She grabbed my left hand and examined the engagement ring. It was a silver band with three stones. The middle stone was a watermelon tourmaline and on each side was the traditional diamond. They were all princess cut and fairly small, but that’s what I loved. My hand was too small for a large gemstone.

“Oh my god, he chose the perfect ring for you! Okay, he’s forgiven,” Cleo said, “But, I’m totally helping you plan the wedding.”

I hugged her. “I’d expect nothing less.”

We spent the next two hours talking about everything under the sun: her movie, the wedding, how Matt proposed, her and Brian, and just about everything else that popped into our heads.

“So let me get this straight: you actually hit your co-star when you weren’t supposed to?”
Cleo laughed nervously. “It was an accident! I was supposed to use a book, and I hit him on accident. He got quite the bump on his head. I didn’t stop apologizing until the last day of shooting. Poor guy.”

Before I could answer, my phone rang. I picked it up and saw my friend’s number on the screen. Caleb and I had been friends since college. After we graduated, he had joined the National Guard. Caleb was one of my best friends, and it was nice to hear from him after months of no communication.

“Hang on, Cleo. I haven’t talked to Caleb in ages,” I said and answered the phone.

She waved me off and went to the kitchen, probably to get water. Our talks often made both of us hoarse.

“Hello?” I said into the phone.

“Hello. Is this Evangeline Wallace?” The voice on the other line wasn’t Caleb.

“Yes. May I ask who I am speaking with?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I’m Caleb’s mother, Lucy.” She sounded sad, like she’d been crying for a long time. I had met her once before, and she didn’t strike me as a crier. “I’m afraid I’m calling with… horrible news. Dear, you should sit down.”

My mind raced with the possibilities of what could have happened.

“Yes, ma’am,” I said and sat back down on the couch.

“Evangeline, this is very hard for me to get out and so, I’d only like to say it once. My son Caleb, as you know, served in the National Guard. He was just finishing up his second tour when he…” She broke off into sobs. “Oh, Caleb’s dead, honey.”

My heart started to race. I couldn’t believe it. Tears started to form in my eyes and slowly spilled down my cheeks. One of my best friends was dead at twenty-five. He would never be a husband or a father. He wouldn’t be able to do the things he had dreamed of.

“I’m sorry, Evangeline,” his mother said, “He left a letter for you. His body will be here next week, and I’d like to invite you to the funeral. He’d love to have you there. Would you like to be there?”

A sob stuck in my throat. How could his mother be so strong? “Yes. I’m sorry for your loss. Caleb was a good friend and man.”

“That he was. I’ll give you the letter when you arrive. The funeral is going to be in Dallas at three p.m. at the Grove Hill Memorial Park.”

“Thank you for calling,” I said softly, “I’ll be there.”

We hung up and the tears fell faster and faster. I curled into a ball on the couch and rocked back and forth. Sobs echoed in the living room, but I couldn’t stop the tears.

Cleo walked back into the room and looked at me. She didn’t say anything, just came and sat next to me. She rubbed my back and tried to soothe me with words. Cleo said nothing, asked nothing as to why I was crying. She never did; she was just there for me. This was why she was my best friend. As always, she was here to help me when I needed it most.

“I’m calling Tally and Leah. I think we’re all going to need to be here for this,” Cleo said and gently rubbed my back some more. “Let it out, Evie. Let it all out.”

Three knocks came from the door, and Cleo left me to answer it. She came back with Leah and Tally. If I wasn’t so upset, I would smile at the sight. They had all met four years ago when Tally and I had graduated. Cleo and Leah had been fast friends, and Tally looked at them as her own kids, like she did with me.

Tally was a tall woman, standing around 5’9”, and she had short, red hair and wore round glasses. She was pale, but not as pale as me. She was wearing her classic overalls and boots. Her wedding band flashed on her left hand as she stared at me with her hands on her hips. We had been friends for six years, after I became a resident assistant. I had been a bridesmaid at her wedding.

Cleo was staring at me too. She had long, wavy brown hair and hazel eyes that had more green in them. She was about three inches taller than me and had lightly tanned skin. We’d been friends since the tenth grade and told each other everything.

Then there was Leah. We met when I was an RA and she was a resident. We had become fast friends. She was Mexican-American with dyed purple hair and coffee brown eyes. She was a little shorter than me and covered in tats, just as I was.

These three women were my best and truest friends. They had been through a lot with me and me with them. And they had all become friends with one another. I loved them like sisters and cared for them like I did my former residents.

“Oh, sweetie,” Tally said and approached the couch. She sat down next to me. “Is it okay if I rub your back?” She remembered I didn’t like being touched. I nodded my consent.

She started to rub my back. “What happened, Evangeline? Cleo said you were fine until you got a phone call.”

“It’s pretty bad if she called both of us,” Leah said and sat on the other side of my curled form. Cleo sat on the table in the middle of the living room. “You’re lucky we all live so close to each other.”

“My friend Caleb… he… he” I was hiccupping now. “He died overseas.”

Tally pulled me in for a hug, and Leah wrapped her arms around me as well.

Cleo said, “Wasn’t he your first kiss? You guys became friends during your last semester of college, right?”

I nodded and started sobbing again. “He wanted to make sure my first kiss was with someone I cared about and who cared about me. It was weird but nice. His funeral is next week.”

Tally smiled softly. “I remember Caleb. He joined you and Chris as running buddies. The three of you were as thick as thieves. They were your protectors. Does Chris know?”

I shook my head, unable to talk anymore. He had met Hunter last year and actually liked him. The two of them loved to pick on me, and when Chris got involved, they picked on me with such gusto, I couldn’t help but do it too. Caleb was a good man. It was so hard for me to think he was dead.

“You don’t have to talk, love. Just be sad,” Leah said and patted my back. “Just be sad.” I woke up laying on Tally. We had all fallen asleep on the couch, but someone had covered us with blankets. Cracking my neck, I covered Tally with the blanket and stood up. The girls moved a little but stayed asleep. It was too late at night for me to wake them up.

Matt walked into the room and looked at me. “What’s wrong, desert flower? I came home and all of you were cuddling and asleep.”

“One of my friends died. His funeral is next week. It was Caleb,” I said. My voice was hoarse and tears were filling my eyes again.

“Come here,” he said and beckoned for me. He grabbed me and pulled me to his chest. “It’s okay, Evie. It’s okay.”

It wasn’t, and no one could tell me otherwise. One of my best friends was dead, someone I thought would always be in my life. I had no idea how he died or why, but I knew the world had lost a good man. Caleb was a good man, and someone who cared for me. I cared for him too. He and Chris were my protectors and now one of them was dead.

Matt picked me up and took me into our bedroom. He pulled the covers over me and clicked off the lights. I felt him pull me close to him and then I fell asleep.

Notes

Finally back in Texas. Spent the week with my mom.