Nancy was almost done with her lunch when Frank called the next day to check in.
Lunch was more of a tea, she told him. A tea that went late, and they never did eat, and it was getting to be seven thirty! The rain was still coming down, she said—harder now. But she was going to drop by Taco Bueno on her way home, get some takeout to eat while watching television.
If there’s one good thing about all of Frank’s traveling, it’s that she gets to catch up on all of her shows.
As she drove, Nancy thought about how right she’d been to get Frank into marriage counseling. Lord knew he hadn’t wanted to go. But now—especially now, with Frank agreeing to cut back on his traveling—she really could see what a fresh start would mean for them both.
At Taco Bueno, the girl behind the counter screwed up Nancy’s order—twice. Tried to give her a can of Coke instead of the sweet tea she’d ordered. A side of salsa and chips instead of guacamole. Nancy didn’t care. She was smiling, still thinking of Frank. She was thinking of how good he’d been when he saw how upset she had gotten over the phone call he’d taken right in the middle of dinner. How sweet the make-up kiss he’d given her had been. Frank really was paying attention to her now, after so many months of seeming far away.
Nancy tipped the girl generously. Back in the car, she turned the radio on and sang along to the Christian rock station.
Six days. That’s how long Frank’s trip to Tampa was going to take. Six days of meetings. Six days she’d be lonely. But she had almost a week now to research vacation spots for them. St. John was Frank’s idea. He always did love the water. Nancy had already been to South America. But that trip had been a mission for her church, and South America was so big, and so beautiful.
Maybe they could split the difference—fly down to the Virgin Islands for a week, then spend another week in Buenos Aires. Nancy would call the travel agent, work out flights and prices, before Frank got back. She’d surprise him, too, with the new calico curtains she’d had made for their bedroom and with the carpet swatches she had picked out for the den.
It was a lot to think about. A lot to juggle. But thinking about it made Nancy happy. It distracted her from thinking about how lonely she got when Frank wasn’t around. And, as she drove, Nancy was so distracted that she did not notice the car that had been following her in the rain, tracking her from the church parking lot, down to the Taco Bueno, and all the way home, where that car sits now, engine idling, just outside Nancy’s driveway while she pulls into her garage.