It's endearing that they talk about each other as brothers, considering Seth was adopted as a teenager, if I remember correctly, and I imagine it confuses people who don't know their backstory. Despite Seth's summer tan, there's no way he's passing for a biological member of this family.
"What do you do for work?" I ask, expecting Seth to say something construction related.
"I'm a paramedic."
I remember the bumper sticker on the pickup truck.
"Who's in the Marines?"
"I was." Seth stops his work to look up at me, then goes back to it without further explanation.
"We have a huge Marine base here in North Carolina at Camp Lejeune," Michael says, "but Seth asked to be stationed in California."
Seth corrects him, "I asked for Hawaii. California was my second choice. No point in joining the military and ending up a couple hours from home."
I try to imagine Seth in Hawaii, shirtless with a surfboard tucked under his arm. It's a pleasant image, considering the muscles that are visible on him already, but feels incongruent to the person sitting in front of me. He's as uptight as Keanu Reeves at the beginning ofPoint Break.
"Were you in California the whole time you were in the Marines?" I ask.
Seth sets down the corncob he's been working on, and it's completely clean, not a single silk caught in the kernels. He picks up another cob and gets to work, slowly and precisely.
"No," he says. "I was deployed to Afghanistan eventually."
"Wow. That must have been..." I can't find the right words to complete the sentence, and Seth doesn't rush to help me.
A full minute later, he says, "I was ready to go. You do all that training, and it feels pointless not to use it."
Being a teacher, I know that the kids who enlist are usually the ones who have few other options. I wonder about Seth and why he joined up, but it's too personal a question to ask someone I just met.
I watch as he peels down another strip of the husk. It's kind of zen, the way he carefully removes each stiff leaf and drops it into the paper bag.
"I've never seen anyone shuck corn so meticulously,” I say.
He doesn't crack a smile when he responds, "I take my work very seriously."
Michael chuckles. "Wait until you see how long it takes him to eat that piece of corn."
I've torn through my three ears of corn by now, and Seth catches me assessing his progress.
"Are we racing?"
"If we are, I guess I won."
"Congratulations," he says dryly, but his eyes light up a little.
Michael finishes his last corncob, places it on the table, then slaps his thighs.
"Time to put on the steaks."
Michael steps outside, and I’m curious to see what happens when Seth and I are left alone. I'm someone who can carry on a conversation with almost anyone, but I'm also good with silence. Seth's taciturnity isn't going to bother me. In fact, it will be fun to see how long we go before one of us speaks.
There's something weirdly sexual about watching his hands strip away the husks, then gently remove the silks, first taking them off in bunches, then removing the last ones thread by thread. Michael's comment about Seth lingering on each bite of food, makes me wonder if he takes his time with every activity. A man who moves slowly in the bedroom would be a nice change. My ex-boyfriend Kirk used to act like someone was timing us with a stopwatch. Foreplay accomplished in under five minutes and the crowd goes wild! From all appearances, Seth seems like he would take his time with everything he does. I'll never find out though. Even if I weren't here on serious family business, I can't imagine dating an ex-Marine whose commitment to silence is unnerving. Also, there's the fact that he seems more interested in that ear of corn than he is in me.
The dog in the corner snorts himself awake and wanders over to Seth. When he realizes there's a new girl in town, his brand of welcome is to jet over to me, wagging his tail furiously, and bury his nose in my crotchal region.
"Mutt, no," Seth barks at him.
Mutt pulls back to a more respectful distance, but continues to pester me for attention. He acts like he'll sit at my feet and worship me forever if I just keep petting his ears.