“None of us ever do.” Jasper embraced him briefly and slapped his back. “At least you’re showing yourself brave enough to drive forward instead of staring in the rearview mirror.”
Before getting in the car, Roman saw something on the ground. Bending down, he scooped up two acorns on a twig. He gave them to Grace after she fastened her seat belt. “For your collection.” Punching the starter, he put his hand on the back of her seat as he backed out.
Chet, Susan, and Jasper stayed outside, waving as Roman turned onto the main road. Grace waved back and then closed her window. Roman glanced over. “They sure took to you fast.”
“I like them.”
“I think they’re hoping you’ll end up more than my personal assistant.” He saw the pink rise into her cheeks. “I told them you’re dating a youth pastor.” She didn’t say anything to correct him. He concentrated on the road. “Did you get ahold of your aunt?”
“She’s busy this morning, but said she’d be home after one. It’s okay if you’d rather keep going. She won’t mind.”
He knew what she hoped he would say. “We have plenty of time.”
“We should have lunch before we go.”
He got the message. Don’t expect my aunt to give you so much as bread and water. “We can pick up sandwiches and have a picnic somewhere.”
They didn’t speak for a while. Roman could tell she was distracted by more than the scenery out her window. “What’s your aunt like?”
“She’s a good person. She made sure I had everything I needed. She never asked me to do anything more than she did herself.” Grace folded her hands. He’d noticed she did that when she was tense. “She told me to do the best I could at anything I did. She’s very hardworking and dedicated to her job.”
“Doing what?”
“She was an executive at the IRS.” She smiled slightly. “No need to worry about that. She now has her own business as a forensic tax consultant.”
He gave a slight laugh. “I’ll try not to get on her bad side.”
“It might be safer if we skipped the visit altogether.”
“Nice try, Grace. Tell me more about her. Is she a Bible-thumper, too?” He hadn’t meant to say that.
“Aunt Elizabeth took me to church every Sunday, but no, she doesn’t thump a Bible. Nor did my Sunday school teacher. Miranda Spenser might come over while we’re there.”
Roman sensed there was more she could tell him, but figured he’d find out what he wanted to know soon enough. They stopped and bought sandwiches, water, and a pink-and-blue hydrangea as a gift for the aunt. Grace gave him directions to Woodward Park, where they found a bench beneath an oak, near a pathway along the lakeshore.
“Did your aunt bring you here for picnics?” Roman took a bite out of his po’boy.
“No, but I came with Patrick. My ex-husband.” Grace folded the paper carefully around her turkey croissant. She seemed to have lost her appetite. She looked away. “I wish we had time to go to the Shinzen Japanese Friendship Garden. It’s really lovely.”
Another place she’d been with her ex? He uncapped his bottle of water. “I can imagine you on a cross-country trip. You’d want to stop at every weird tourist trap: tepees in Arizona, space alien museums in Roswell, New Mexico, a roadhouse with a bucking bull in Texas.”
“And you’d just want to keep moving.” She gave him a sad smile. “You’re right. I would want to make a lot of stops. Did you know there are over twenty national parks and monuments in Arizona alone, and another eighteen in New Mexico? I have maps.”
He grinned. “I’m sure you do, and the routes all neatly marked in red.”
“Everyone has a dream.”
“I don’t.”
“That’s depressing.”
Roman finished his water. “Tell me about it.”
Grace took the plastic water bottle from him, gathered everything, and threw it in a trash can. “My aunt hates it when people are late.”
Roman looked around as Grace gave him directions. She’d grown up in a nice, middle-class neighborhood. The tract houses looked the same except for the front yards, all well tended. Grace pointed out the house, which turned out to be the nicest one on the block. It had enough curb appeal to be a Realtor’s dream. The red front door could be a welcome or a warning.
Grace didn’t produce a key from her purse. She rang the bell and took a step back like an unwelcome solicitor preparing to have the door slammed in her face. Roman wanted to put his hand at the small of her back, but thought better of it.