It was cold enough that the machinery had to work extra hard and a thin layer of frost had formed on Jeff’s eyelashes. He hated working after dark.
“Could be worse,” he thought. “I could be Phil, hauling grain here to be cleaned on a Sunday night.”
Once Phil drove off and Jeff had the durum running through the cleaning plant, he headed for the house.
Inside, Elaine was at the kitchen table with their son Connor while their daughter Jenny coloured in the living room. Elaine and Connor had red and white papers spread all over the table. Connor’s face was screwed into a pout that looked like it might last all week.
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“Come on,” Elaine was saying. “Just five more.”
“I hate this,” Connor said, giving his mother a stink eye that could have scared any sane person into never having children.
Jeff considered going back outside. Surely a little frostbite was better than whatever was going on in here.
“I’m not torturing him,” Elaine explained. “I wrote on the envelopes. All he has to do is write his name on Valentine’s cards for the kids in his class.”
“I feel for you, kid,” Jeff said. “That’s the kind of thing only girls like. You know, your grandma used to make me write my name and the other kid’s name on every card.”
Connor’s eyes widened at the horror.
“It’s Valentine’s Day tomorrow already?” Jeff asked. How had February gone by so fast?
“Tuesday,” Elaine said. “He has to print six letters on 24 of these things. I thought we’d need two nights.”
“I’ll leave you to it,” Jeff said, ignoring Elaine’s glare as he went to the office and closed the door.
Last year Elaine had surprised him with a great homecooked meal, new workboots, and a half a dozen new songs on his iPod. Jeff had tried to pretend he hadn’t forgotten by quickly ordering an online gift certificate, which didn’t fool Elaine at all.
This year would be different. He didn’t want to let Elaine down. She was a great mother, she was an important part of the farm, and his whole family loved her almost as much as he did.
Jeff thought a minute, then Googled the number for Elaine’s favourite restaurant. It was in Regina. “We’ll spend the night,” he thought. His parents could watch the kids. “The Hotel Saskatchewan,” he thought. She loved it.
He called the steak place first.
“I’m sorry sir. We’ve been booked for months.”
“Months?” Jeff answered. “People plan that far ahead?”
Undaunted, Jeff tried Elaine’s second favourite restaurant. But the call to the Greek place went exactly the same way.
The woman on the phone at the third restaurant gave the same answer, but at least she was apologetic.
“Fine,” Jeff thought. “We’ll order room service at the hotel.”
But the call to the hotel was no different than the previous calls.
“I’m sorry, sir. But a lot of people reserve rooms here for Valentine’s Day,” the reservations clerk said.
Then Jeff had an idea. “Surely you hold back a few rooms… in case any important clients come in? Maybe for a… special tip… we could have one of those?”
“I could never do that, sir,” the clerk said. “Especially not over the phone.”
After breakfast the next morning Jeff told Elaine he was going to Regina.
“I thought you had Phil dropping off more durum today,” Elaine said.
“I put him off until after lunch. I need parts for the auger.”
“You can’t get them in Weyburn?” she asked.
“Nope. I called last night,” Jeff said.
“I wondered who you were calling while I was in Valentine’s hell,” Elaine said.
On his way to Regina Jeff stopped at the Weyburn bank for two crisp hundred dollar bills. Then he called his mother. “I know you and Dad have only been home from Arizona for a couple of days, but would you mind coming across the yard to stay with Connor and Jenny tomorrow night?”
“Of course,” Donna agreed. She knew that many of her farm-wife friends would give their right arms to have a daughter-in-law like Elaine.
Jeff drove toward the city, grinning.
On the afternoon of February 14 Elaine was in the office reconciling their bank accounts when Donna knocked on the door.
“Jeff left his balaclava in the shop,” Donna said. “I just wanted to drop it off.”
“I’m glad you’re here,” Elaine said. “I can’t figure out this line item on the fuel bill. Can you explain it?”
“Those bills are always confusing,” Donna said. “I had to phone that company every other month when I used to do the books.”
Then Donna took a look at Elaine, and realized her daughter-in-law was wearing some old yoga pants and a cardigan with a hole in it, and her hair was up in a coil that looked like it could use some work.
“Do you want me to watch Jenny so you have time to get ready to go?”
“Go where?” Elaine said, still studying the fuel bill.
“Well, Regina. Jeff said you were leaving around 2:30.”
“I wasn’t planning to leave until 4:30. Cindy can’t get here to look after the kids until… ” Elaine stopped talking and her jaw dropped. “Wait. How does Jeff know we’re going to Regina? I was planning to surprise him!”
Donna realized her mistake. “I thought you knew!”
“Knew what?” Elaine asked.
Donna forged on. There was no point in stopping now.
“Jeff has plans to take you to Regina. You have to act surprised.”
Elaine smiled, and pressed Donna to tell her the details.
“You go home,” Elaine said. “I’ll hop in the shower. When Jeff comes in, I’ll pretend I haven’t heard a word about any of this.”
After Donna left, Elaine couldn’t stop smiling. She had the best husband in the world. And they were definitely two of a kind — they’d made almost exactly the same plans.
She called the steak restaurant to cancel the reservation for two she’d made months ago.
“Are you sure you want to cancel, ma’am?” the host asked. “We have a long waiting list”
“I’m sure,” she said.
The clerk at the Hotel Sask was just as surprised when she called cancelled their room.
Elaine’s friend Cindy, who had no kids of her own, was a little disappointed when Elaine said she didn’t need her to spend the night with the kids after all.
“Don’t worry… another time,” Elaine laughed.
Then Elaine scrambled to get ready. She showered and straightened her hair, put on makeup, then dressed in a pair of old blue jeans and a sweater, so Jeff wouldn’t realize Donna had filled her in on his plan.
Then, she waited.
Two-thirty came and went, but Jeff still hadn’t come in.
When he wasn’t in the house by three, Elaine assumed something had gone wrong in the cleaning plant.
He finally came in just after three-thirty.
Elaine looked at him, waiting.
“What’s up?” he asked.
“Nothing,” Elaine said.
“Okay. Should we have some coffee?” he asked.
When Elaine and Jeff were both sitting across the table from each other with coffee mugs, she realized he didn’t look as happy as she would have expected.
“Plans for the rest of the afternoon?” she hinted.
“Not really,” he said. “Your hair looks great. You aren’t going out, are you?”
“Um…” Elaine said. “I guess not.”
Jeff was silent, until Elaine finally cracked.
“Are we going to Regina?”
“What?” Jeff said.
“Your mom told me. By accident. She didn’t mean to spoil your surprise.”
“Oh no,” Jeff said. “I forgot to tell her. We can’t go.”
“Of course we can,” Elaine said. “Your mom told me how you drove all the way to Regina to make plans.”
Jeff sighed. “All of your favourite places are incorruptible. I couldn’t even bribe my way to a table next to the bathroom in that steak place or a cot in the hall at the Hotel Sask. I’m so, so sorry.”
Elaine laughed, telling him about the reservations she’d cancelled until the school bus pulled into the yard and Connor raced in yelling. “Mommy! Daddy! It was Valentine’s Day!”
