Ignoring the slippery snow and patches of ice beneath her feet, and with heart pounding against her chest, Eleanor hurried down the driveway. She approached the vehicle, and both Vic and Tom got out.
“What in the world were you thinking?” Vic shook his finger in his coworker’s face. “When we neared our driveway, I told you to slow down. If you hadn’t been drinking—”
“I can handle my liquor just fine,” Tom said with a sneer. “The slippery road was the problem, not my beer.”
Drinking? A chill ran down Eleanor’s spine, and she knew it wasn’t from the cold. It was not safe for her husband to be riding with a man who drank alcohol while driving.
“Are—are you okay? Were either of you hurt?”
Vic and Tom both shook their heads.
“Just shook up a bit,” Tom said.
“One of your headlights is busted, and it looks like some damage was done to your fender.” Vic looked at Tom. “You just missed our mailbox before you hit the tree.”
Vic’s grim expression let Eleanor know that he was quite upset about this unexpected mishap. She couldn’t blame him, given how anxious she felt. If the accident had occurred because of the slippery road, it would have been understandable. But Tom had no business drinking alcohol while driving his truck. Maybe he drank too much at home. She wondered if that might have been a factor in his wife leaving him.
“Don’t worry about your mailbox. If I’d wrecked it, I would have given you some money to buy a new one.” Tom waved his hand. “Right now, I need to get my truck away from that tree and head for home.” He studied his vehicle. “I won’t worry about the fender yet, because it doesn’t look too bad, but I’d better get a new headlamp before this day is out. Sure wouldn’t want to get pulled over for driving with only one light.”
“You’re right. That wouldn’t be good,” Vic muttered. “And you’d be in big trouble if the officer who pulled you over took a whiff of your breath. He’d haul you straight to jail for driving under the influence.”
His words resonated in Eleanor’s ears as she stood beside him. Maybe a night in jail would be what Tom needs to help change his behavior.
Tom shrugged. “I’ve gotta go. See you tomorrow morning, Vic.” He got into his truck, backed it up, and headed on down the road.
“I’m sure that hitting the tree sobered him up a little, but he’ll probably have another beer before the night is over.” Vic shook his head. “He needs to get his life in order.”
Eleanor drew in a deep breath in an effort to calm herself. The thought of her husband riding in Tom’s vehicle again caused her to shudder. Next time, it might be more serious than running into a tree and breaking a headlight. Another accident due to bad weather or Tom’s drinking could leave Vic or his coworker seriously injured.
Vic slipped his arm around Eleanor’s waist and pulled her close to his side. “Don’t look so worried. If Tom stops for a beer after work tomorrow, I’ll find another way home, even if I have to walk.”
“You can’t do that. It’s too far and too cold. I think you should see if one of our drivers can take you to and from work from now on.”
“That’d be okay in an emergency, but it’d be too expensive to hire someone to drive me to and from work every day—especially with the higher rates most drivers are charging these days—thanks to the price of gasoline going up.” Holding on to Eleanor’s hand, Vic began walking toward the house. “Don’t worry, dear wife; things will work out.”
Eleanor waited until they entered the house and had taken seats in the living room to ask a question that had come to mind. “I’d still like to see about getting a job, Vic. We could use the money I earn toward the expense of hiring a driver for you.”
Vic’s facial muscles visibly tightened as he shook his head. “You have enough to do here at home, and I won’t have my fraa working at some job so I’ll have enough money to pay a driver.” He looked deeply into her eyes. “Besides, if you were working in town, then you’d need a driver to take you there and back home. Basically, the only thing you’d be working for is the money to pay both of our drivers.”
Eleanor blinked rapidly. She hadn’t thought about that. “Maybe I could find a job close to home so I could walk to and from work.”
“Walk to work and back home in the cold, snowy weather?” Vic’s brows lowered. “And what about spring when it rains, or summer’s heat and humidity?” He shook his head. “That’s not reasonable, Eleanor, and I think we should end this conversation.”
I used to walk to school in the same kind of weather, and it wasn’t that long ago. She lowered her gaze so he wouldn’t see the tears that had gathered in her eyes. “I’m going to get supper started now.” Eleanor hurried off to the kitchen. Why does my husband have to be so stubborn? Shouldn’t I have the right to get a job if I want one?
She went to the sink and poured a glass of cool water because her throat felt parched after their conversation. There was a housekeeping job available just down the road from them. The elderly couple had been asking around the neighborhood and even put an ad in the paper. Eleanor felt compelled to go speak to them.
She finished her drink and set it aside. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to stop in and inquire about the housekeeping job. You never know; since their place is so close to our home, Vic might change his mind.
“I see you got your headlight fixed,” Vic said after he’d climbed into Tom’s truck the next morning and shut the door. At least in the mornings his coworker didn’t have a beer in his hand.
“Yep. Took care of it after I left your place yesterday.” Tom pulled out of Vic’s driveway and headed down the road. “And the fender doesn’t look too bad, so I won’t worry about getting it fixed right away.” He gave the steering wheel a thump. “I don’t want to put in a claim with my insurance company, ’cause I might get canceled.”
Vic cleared his throat in preparation of the question he was about to ask. “Are you going to stop drinking while you’re driving home after work?”
Tom jerked his head and glared at Vic. “You ain’t my mother, you know.”
“I’m not trying to be. Just don’t want to put my life in jeopardy. If you’re not going to stop drinking while driving, I’ll need to find another way to and from work.”
Tom grunted as he turned back to face the road ahead. “As if you have so many other options. Did you forget that none of the other fellows who work for our boss live close to you?”
“I’m well aware.”
“Then what are you gonna do—travel by horse and buggy? There’s no place to keep a horse at the boss’s shop while you’re out on jobs all day, so I don’t see how that idea could work.”
Vic clamped his teeth together with an audible click.
“Well, you’re not saying anything, so guess I got you on that one, huh?”
“If you insist on drinking and driving I’ll have no other choice but to hire one of my own drivers.”
“Oh yeah? And what’s that gonna cost?”
Vic was about to respond, but Tom cut him off. “Have you forgotten that I have not charged one red cent to haul you back and forth to work with me?”
“I’m aware, and I appreciate it, but if you’ll recall, I have offered to pay for the gas on several occasions, and you’ve always declined.”
“That’s true. I was trying to do you a favor.”
Vic crossed his arms. “The biggest favor you could do me is to stop drinking alcohol when you’re behind the wheel of your vehicle. If you must drink, can’t you wait till you get home?”
A few minutes passed before Tom gave a nod. “Yeah, okay. Guess that’d be the best thing all the way around.”
Vic drew in a quick breath and let it out slowly. “Thank you.”
After Eleanor did the breakfast dishes and cleaned up the kitchen, she sat down at the kitchen table and wrote a letter to Doretta. She thought awhile about the things she planned to say but felt certain that her friend could be trusted not to repeat any of it. Vic wouldn’t appreciate it if he knew she had discussed their private life with Doretta or anyone else, for that matter.
Eleanor started the letter by telling her friend about the weather they’d been having. From there, she moved on to describe what had happened when Tom’s truck hit the tree near their yard.
Eleanor paused long enough to pick up her mug of warm apple cider and take a drink. When she took up her pen again, she mentioned in the letter that she’d like to get a job to help with the expense of hiring a driver to take her husband to and from work each day.
“But he doesn’t want me to work outside the home!” Eleanor added with an exclamation point. “Our place is as neat as a pin, and there’s not that much to do around here. I wish he wasn’t so stubborn.”
She went on to say that it concerned her that Vic was riding to and from work with a coworker who drank beer while he drove. Although there was nothing Doretta could do about the problem, it felt good to write down her frustrations and ask for prayer.
When she’d finished writing, Eleanor folded the letter and placed it inside the prepared envelope. She put on her jacket and scarf and went outside to mail it.
Checkers followed on her heels and barked until Eleanor picked up a stick and threw it. After the letter had been delivered to the mailbox, she headed back to the house. The chill of winter made her wish for an early spring, and she was eager to see the first flowers poke through the soil. Eleanor had planted daffodils in one bed and red tulips in another. It would be a friendly reminder of being back at home, where her mother’s well-tended flower beds bloomed every spring.
Eleanor missed Doretta, but it would be a while before she’d be able to go back to Grabill for a visit. If she could keep busy here, there wouldn’t be as much time to dwell on feeling homesick.
Eleanor pondered the idea of talking with Vic’s mother about the situation with Tom and mentioning that she wanted to get a job. Perhaps Susie could convince her son that it would be a good thing if Eleanor earned some money so he could hire a sensible driver.
By the time she reached the back door and took hold of the knob, Eleanor had changed her mind. If she told Vic’s mother and the woman brought up the topic to Vic, he would know Eleanor had talked with her about it behind his back, and that would not go over well at all.
She had recently made the acquaintance of a young, newly married woman named Mary Petersheim, but Eleanor didn’t think she ought to start dumping heavy topics onto her new friend right away. Besides, she did not know Mary well enough to be sure she could be trusted not to repeat anything Eleanor said. And she certainly couldn’t tell her own mother about the situation. Every time Mom learned that Vic had done something off-key, she’d go on and on about it. Eleanor had already been through enough stress with her mother’s attitude toward Vic. She wanted her husband to be accepted fairly. There was no point in giving Mom something else to dislike about him.
I guess for now, the best thing I can do is quit asking Vic about getting a job. I just need to pray for God’s will to be done.