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HARPER
*
FOR TWO WEEKS, WILDFIRES had ravaged the nearby hills. Rowley had been putting in loads of overtime, and I barely saw him.
Since I had no job to occupy myself with, I tried to plan my days so that I didn’t get too accustomed to a life of leisure.
Today, I made myself another pot of coffee and opened up the website for the school I'd be attending. I stopped on the page for the Contemporary Restaurant and Bakery course. There was a study trip scheduled a few weeks in advance of the semester start date. How had I missed that? I obviously hadn’t read the brief overview when I’d chosen the course.
The trip involved a week touring kitchens in Las Vegas. The itinerary was online.
It was a pretty interesting line-up. First stop was the culinary institute’s sister campus. The rest of the schedule was jam-packed. They would be visiting a few upscale restaurants, a casino kitchen, a chocolatier, and a bakery that supplied desserts to the local cafes. I carried over the small desktop printer, hooked it up to the laptop, and printed out the itinerary.
Bus transportation was included in the tuition, but the motel stay was not. I clicked on the link to the suggested list of motels and put a deposit down to hold my place.
I returned to the class page and opened the syllabus and made a list of the items I'd need for the basic culinary skills course.
After spending the afternoon purchasing technical books and utensils for home practice, I went shopping. I tooled around the store with my cart, taking time to read the labels on products. Just a newlywed seeing to the weekly grocery shopping, I thought, as I pushed the cart down the aisles and inspected the prices and the nutritional labels on products. I felt pleased with myself, like I’d accomplished things today.
***
ROWLEY FINALLY HAD a night off.
I'd never been so eager for a Saturday night in my life. I'd never expected to miss someone this much.
He'd be exhausted, no doubt, and probably too tired to notice but I’d bought a flirty dress for the occasion. And I picked up food to make one of the recipes in a book recommended by the school I'd be studying at.
I cleaned the already clean house and then sorted through the mail that had accumulated on the counter. It was mostly junk. I stopped at an envelope with a fancy gold seal, with gold embossing. He'd torn the end off, obviously not caring about the fanciness of the printing. Curious, I peeked inside to find an invitation to the Fireman's Ball. He hadn't bothered mentioning it to me. It was only a week away, the Saturday before I’d be leaving on the course trip to Vegas.
Had he RSVP’d? Maybe he didn’t think his new wife was ready for primetime.
I propped the invitation up against the bowl of fruit. Then I placed the itinerary for the Vegas field trip beside it.
I heard his truck on the drive, and bent down and took a quick peek at myself in the toaster’s reflection. I wiped away a smear of mascara under my eye and then straightened and turned to wait for him.
The screen door shut and there he was, looking gorgeous in his uniform. I loved seeing him in it, but unfortunately I’d come to realize that when he wore it home it usually meant he would be returning to work. I was so disappointed I wanted to cry.
I caught the glint of the platinum band on his left hand as he stepped into the kitchen. My heart swelled at the sight. It had been his choice. He’d insisted on wearing one. I knew he took it off at work for safety reasons, but he always put it on before stepping into the house.
"Can only stay a couple of hours," he said.
He walked over to me and pulled the oven mitt from my left hand. He was actually checking to see that I was still wearing my ring.
On the way out of the kitchen, he picked up the invitation I'd propped so conspicuously against the fruit bowl then set it back down without saying a word about it.
He hadn’t even glanced at the itinerary so I used a magnet to stick it onto the fridge so he couldn’t miss it the next time he was home long enough to grab a beer. I didn’t want it to be a surprise. I knew Rowley would not appreciate me going on a trip so quickly after our marriage. I wondered if he would ever be okay with it, actually. How many years would I have to be a devoted wife before he would stop worrying?
He scanned the front room before striding through the hallway toward the bedroom. I followed him.
He slid open my side of the closet. He wasn't being the least bit subtle. He was taking inventory, checking to see that my clothes were still hanging there. Don't make a fuss. Let him do it if it makes him feel more secure.
He moved to the dresser and pulled out the top drawer on my side. Finding it full, he closed it and began unbuttoning his shirt.
"Take a shower with me."
I was all dressed and made up. It had taken me a good half hour just to curl my hair and pin it up with rhinestone clips, not to mention the eyeliner I'd taken pains to put on precisely. But he gave me that look like no wasn't really an option.
His shirt was gaping and I wanted to nuzzle against his naked powerful chest. "Let me just turn the oven down."
***
I ATE DINNER WITH WET hair wearing only a t-shirt and panties. The casserole had not gotten better with time.
"This is great," he said as if he sensed me waiting for a compliment. He was eating it by the hefty forkfuls but I wasn't sure he was really tasting it.
He wiped his mouth with a napkin and rose from the table. "Got to go." He kissed the top of my wet head, grabbed his truck keys and was out the back door.
A few seconds later he ducked back inside. "Almost forgot. You need to get a dress for that." He motioned toward the invitation.
"You're inviting me?"
He looked at me like I was nuts.
"I don't need to ask you. You're my wife. Baby, you go where I go."
My caveman husband then slapped his credit card down on the table before leaving.