CHAPTER 3

Jeremy goes back to camp in a foul mood. He works hard and tries not to think about Candy. At quitting time, the brothers meet in the tent. Jeremy plops down on his bed laying on his stomach, feeling tired, angry, hungry, and depressed.

Jason says, "Jeremy, you and your crew really saved our butts today. I don't think I've ever seen you work that hard before."

"Glad we could help," he mumbles.

"Another two or three days with work like that, we should have this contract finished," Jason remarks.

"Good. Then we can tell Stempel where to stick it," Josh says.

"Tired are you?" Jason asks Jeremy.

"More than you know," Jeremy replies.

"You not heading home?" Jason asks as he sits down next to Jeremy. He can tell there is something wrong with his little brother besides being tired.

"No!" he snaps.

Jason and Josh look at each other. "Why not? Trouble in Paradise?" Josh chuckles.

"For your information, yes, there is. Candy kicked me out. Said I wasn't treating her with love and respect. Can you believe that?" he says angrily.

"Why? Just because you missed a supper and didn't meet her friend?" Josh asks.

"Yeah, that. And she said I don't keep my promises anymore. Well, I promised to marry her and I did," he snaps angrily.

"Are you regretting marrying Candy?" Jason asks.

Jeremy raises his head and looks at Jason like he's crazy. "No, I don't regret marrying Candy. I love her whether she believes it or not." He lays his head back down.

"So, Candy regrets marrying you, then," Josh comments.

"No. Yes. Maybe. I don't know. All I know is she's not happy with me right now," Jeremy replies.

Slapping Jeremy on his shoulder Jason says, "Well, let's go to Lottie's and have some supper and a cold beer. That'll perk you up."

"You two go ahead. I'm not hungry," Jeremy says as Josh says, "That sounds good to me."

"Jeremy, you have to eat something. You haven't eaten hardly anything all day. We need you on top of your game in the morning," Jason tells him.

"I will be. Just for right now, I want to be alone."

"To feel sorry for yourself?" Josh asks.

"I have a lot to feel sorry about, don't you think?" Jeremy complains.

"Jeremy, you do have a lot on your plate what with our business, your marriage, and taking on the responsibility of raising Candy's little siblings. You have a lot of people depending on you. That's enough to stress anyone out, let alone a young man like yourself who always tries to do too much," Jason states.

"Well, things should be easier now that your marriage is over," Josh says.

"I didn't say it was over!" Jeremy shouts as he rises from his bed. "I just said she kicked me out for now! I'm not quitting on our marriage. Not now and not ever!" As he goes out of the tent, he says, "I'm going to Lottie's. You comin'?"

X X X

For the next couple days, Jeremy stays so busy that he hardly has time to think about his marital problems. But at night when he lays down to sleep, that's when it all comes back and hits him in the face. One more night of this and then I can go home. Oh, I miss her. I never realized I'd miss her like I do. I wonder if she misses me. Hopefully, just a little bit. How do men do this? Have a career and a marriage and yet find time to spend with their brothers. I'm going to have to figure this out. I can't lose Candy, not after all we've been through together. Goodnight Candy. I love you. See you soon. He closes his eyes and drifts off to sleep.

Candy sits in the swing that is on their front porch. She's been doing that a lot lately. She tries to stay busy so she doesn't think of Jeremy so much, but when she gets the supper dishes cleaned up and her brother and sister go to bed, that's when Jeremy fills her mind. Oh Jeremy, when will you come home? I miss you so much. Do you miss me? Or are you having so much fun with Jason, Joshua, and the men that you don't even think of me. Why did I tell you not to come home until that contract was finished? Me and my big mouth. Why did I tell you to go off by yourself and think about what you really want? What if you decide you don't want to be married any longer? We've only been married a little over three months. That's not long enough to decide you made a mistake by marrying. Is it? Jeremy, please choose me and this life we've started together. All we need is to sit down and talk to each other. Talk about what is good in our marriage and what we need to work on. We can do this. I know we can. She sighs wearily. Goodnight Jeremy. I love you. I hope to see you soon. Candy stands up and slowly goes inside to get ready for bed. Their empty bed.