“Come on. Go be a lifeguard.”
I cursed the day I’d left those empty packing crates in the garage. Instead of being able to drive my car inside it, so Sebastian could make a discrete exit from the house, I had to reverse the car right up to the front door so he could sneak in the passenger side with the least chance of being seen. By now it was broad daylight and I was anxious. I tried to come up with some excuses just in case: some reason as to why Sebastian was in my house at this time in the morning. Nothing sounded convincing. I just crossed my fingers. How very mature.
Luckily, very luckily, we got to the park without incident.
“Text me later?”
“Okay,” he promised. “See you tonight. Love you!”
He slammed the door and sketched a wave. I watched him jog across the park and with a last glance, I made an illegal U-turn and headed off to the store. I wanted to make him something special for our last night together. And to buy some chocolate.
I’d just parked outside the store when my phone beeped. Sebastian hadn’t wasted any time before texting me. But when I checked the message it was from David.
Flight lands 2115. I need dress uniform dry-cleaned for formal on Monday.
And hello to you, too.
The message put me in a bad mood, reminding me that by tomorrow evening I would have to be that person again: loyal wife, spineless factotum. I didn’t know how the hell I was going to do that.
“Hello, Caroline. How are you? You look a little tired.”
Donna stood behind me with a piled up cart and a kind smile on her face. She patted my arm as my brain attempted to click into gear.
“I know, dear,” she said. “I never sleep well when Johan’s away either. I think I miss his snoring!”
I tried to smile and her face creased with concern.
“Are you alright?”
“I’m fine, thank you, Donna. I just got a message from David: he wants his dress uniform dry-cleaned for Monday. Now I’ll have to go back to the house to get it.”
“Oh my. Did you forget to look at the schedule again?” she teased me.
I couldn’t help laughing.
“Yes! You’d think I’d have learned by now.”
“Well, I’m glad I caught you. I was wondering if I could ask you to bring something for the picnic tomorrow. Maybe some of your delicious cold pasta? Just for our group.”
“Oh, of course! I was going to bring some sandwiches, too, if you like?”
“How wonderful! Yes, please. I think it’s going to be a fun day, and it looks like we’ll be blessed with the weather. Would you like me to pick you up? There isn’t a huge amount of parking, and the organizing committee has asked us to car-pool. Besides, you haven’t met my boys yet. They’re back from college now.”
“Oh, yes, that would be lovely,” I stuttered, feeling under pressure. “Thank you!”
“I’ll pick you up at 11 AM then. And do try and get some sleep tonight, dear. You’re far too young to look so tired. You don’t want to end up with bags under your eyes like mine. Well, I have suitcases rather than bags.”
Truthfully, I wasn’t planning on getting much sleep during the night, but maybe I could take a nap later. I wondered briefly if I should let Sebastian get some more sleep: he’d probably only had about four hours last night and he was working all day. But then again, he was young – and I couldn’t imagine him agreeing to sleep when I was fairly certain he would have other things on his mind. The thought made me smile.
Damn it! I’d forgotten to ask Donna how many people were part of the ‘group’ that she’d mentioned.
Moving slowly up and down the aisles, I filled the cart with focaccia rolls, cold cuts and some fresh pasta. I felt a bit guilty buying store-made pasta but figured no one but me would be any the wiser. I also bought some lamb chops, potatoes and salad for Sebastian. And a jar of chocolate sauce. Although that was more for me.