“Was there something on your shoes?”
“Yes, it came from the back door mat. Why would you ask that?” asked Wallis.
“I didn’t think they’d be interested in just the shoes. Maybe I’ll take a look at the mat tomorrow, just to be sure,” he said, his face calm.
“I already dumped the car mat.”
“Good thinking,” said Norman, smiling just a little.
“I got invited to a tea,” said Wallis. “Apparently that’s how they cast out their net for possible recruits. Sorry, ladies only.”
“I have never regretted your gender,” he said, sliding a finger under the silk strap on her shoulder and tracing the outline of the curve of her breast.
“You’re making it difficult to care about telling you what I know,” she said as he rolled toward her, putting a leg between hers and reaching around, unhooking the bra.
“Will it still be going on an hour from now?” he asked, tossing the bra in the direction of the floor behind Wallis as he pulled her up against his chest.
“An hour? You’re very ambitious,” she said.
Later, Norman finally got up and turned off the light, crawling back into the bed, reaching out for her body in the darkness.
“Come here, love of my life,” he whispered, pulling her close again, spooning behind her, their feet entangled. Wallis reached down for the sheets that had been forgotten at the bottom of the bed, pulling them up over their bodies, settling back in against Norman, letting herself fall off to sleep in his arms.
“I love you, Norman,” she whispered as she drifted off to sleep.
The alarm startled her awake at six o’clock. Norman was still asleep, curled up behind her. She gently rubbed his shoulder and leaned over to kiss his forehead.
“Norman, wake up. Morning,” she said, “and thank you.”
He smiled without opening his eyes and reached out his hands, searching for her. He brushed a hand against her belly as she turned and pulled away, feeling for the step with her foot.
“No time for that now, husband of mine. It’s another work day, although the shower’s kind of roomy.” Norman smiled and opened his eyes. He sat up and stretched his arms over his head.
“I love being married to you,” he said, in the middle of a yawn. She smiled as she looked at the slight paunch he had started to develop lately.
“Any chance you and I can grab coffee together this morning, outside of our usual haunts?” asked Wallis.
Norman stopped stretching and looked at Wallis. “Still worried?”
“Yeah,” she said. “But maybe if I can explain it all to you, you can tell me why I shouldn’t be. Maybe Shoney’s? Not too many people there after nine.”
“Okay,” he said, swinging his legs out of bed, “then it’s a date. I’ll warm up the shower.” He ambled toward the bathroom, absently scratching his back, the hair on his head pushed forward, exposing the growing bald spot. Wallis felt a sudden rush of love for him and was grateful that at least everyone in her small nest was safe.
Ned bounded out of the car at school that morning, spotting a cluster of his friends and quickly forgetting even a goodbye for Wallis. She watched him hurrying over to his friends, grateful it was so easy for him to set out without her but feeling a momentary tug. She watched him telling them all something in a rush of words, remembering when he used to talk to her that way, as he gestured with his hands. She smiled as the car behind her honked and she waved in their direction, reluctantly pulling away from the curb.
Norman was already at the Shoney’s settled in a table near the back. None of the nearby tables were filled.
“I requested this particular spot,” he said after the waitress deposited the menus and left to get their coffee. “Although it doesn’t seem upscale enough to hear a good conspiracy.”
“I know you’re smiling on the inside,” said Wallis, sliding over on the padded red leather bench.
“My game plan is to not worry until I officially see reason to worry. So far, I’m good.”
“Okay, well you let me know before we leave if we’ve moved up to an amber alert.”
“Those things don’t mean anything, anyway,” said Norman, “except who’s up or down in the polls.”
Wallis pulled out the manila folder and opened it between them, showing Norman the charts of boys in different age groups.
“Where did these come from?” asked Norman.
“Off a thumb drive that the late Kristen McDonough stole from her Watcher. The drive has music on it, but Stanley said that somehow Ray Billings figured out there was something else there and came up with all of this.”
“Who was Kristen McDonough?”
“She was supposedly a mother in the program. Remember that freak accident a while back where the two semis crushed the minivan? So much for the McDonoughs,” said Wallis, pushing her palms together.
“Ooooooh,” said Norman, wincing. “That has to be a coincidence.”
“Not according to Stanley.”