“Yes,” he said, not looking at the crowd. “Interesting, isn’t it?”
“I don’t understand,” she said. “Wouldn’t they want to be over here, asking questions about what we’re doing? That would be more normal.”
“Or maybe they already know,” Rodney said in a hard voice. He looked at Tucker and said, “Stay here.” And he turned and joined the group.
“Does he think somebody here might know something?”
“It’s hard to imagine what anybody will know in this scenario,” Tucker said. “This is obviously the vehicle that was used.”
“And left behind because it was stolen,” she said with a nod.
“It is one way to get rid of a stolen vehicle, isn’t it?” he said.
“Very strange day,” she said with a yawn.
He looked at her with concern. “You shouldn’t have come with me,” he said.
“Of course I should have,” she said. “My life would be completely boring without all this.”
He burst into laughter and said, “You’re handling it well.”
“I haven’t been handling things very well in a long time,” she said. “Seeing Bernie here, free and doing what she was meant to do, points it out for me.”
“Hey,” he said, “don’t start getting depressed.”
“I think it’s too late for that,” she said with a small laugh.
“Do you want to go home?”
“Soon,” she said. “It has been a long day.”
“Are you going back to your sister’s?”
“Hell no,” she said forcibly. “I won’t contact her voluntarily for quite a while,” she said. “I need time and distance from that too.”
“And unfortunately,” he said, “that’s what your parents have been doing too.”
“I know. It’s the same old thing. I was trying very hard way back then,” she said, “to deal with them and my sister. I don’t feel like I did a very good job now.”
“And that’s probably how they feel. Unfortunately, once you give your power away to a person or persons,” he said, “it’s very hard to get it back.”
“That’s what I did, didn’t I?” she asked in a soft voice. “I let her become the bully that she is.”
“That’s on her,” he said in a firm voice. “What’s on you is your reaction and how you handled that. You gotta stand up to bullies.” Addie nodded, her expression grim. “Let me tell Rodney that we are leaving now.”
Addie found the return trip just as comfortable as the initial trip and got even more familiar with him and Bernie as they made the long journey back. They stopped several times. Once just to get out and to stretch their legs, another to pick up coffee and snacks, and, when he suggested a late dinner out, she immediately agreed. Anything to keep this relationship ongoing.
She didn’t know what would happen when they got back to Miami, but she didn’t want to lose track of Tucker. Maybe that was just selfish of her, but she also didn’t want to lose track of Bernie. The thought that the dog had the same name as her sister was now an irritant more than anything because, every time she saw the dog, she was thinking of her sister and her horrible behavior. “Do you think my sister is still a threat to Bernie?”
“I would hope not,” he said, “but your sister’s an unknown quality. I don’t know how far she’ll go to get her way.”
At that, Addie frowned. “Well, I hope not this far, because, well”—she shook her head—“I just don’t know. I just don’t want any more of this. I want it to be done now.”
“So maybe she’ll have learned something about this scenario and will want it over too.”
“I hope so,” she said. “Are you looking forward to the wedding now?”
“Well, I’m better prepared for the wedding since saving the dog, visiting the fire site, and finding the vehicle used in the arson,” he said. “The rehearsal’s tomorrow—Friday afternoon—with the dinner that night,” he added. “I always think of it as being the wedding, but it isn’t. Obviously the wedding’s on Saturday.”
“How big is the wedding?”
“They told me that it wouldn’t be very big, so I don’t know,” he said. “I haven’t been very good about asking for any details.”
She nodded. “Of course not, if you’ve been trying to avoid the whole thing.”
“And that’s probably wrong of me too,” he admitted. “Sometimes there are just more to family needs than you expect.”
“Particularly if you came close to dying,” she reminded him.
He nodded. “And I do tend to forget that. Because I lived it and survived, I figure everybody else lived and survived it too and have moved on. But my sister still gets pretty emotional about it.”
“Also she and Rodney have had a long time to get to this point,” she added, “and she’s waited until you were back on your feet. So it matters to her to have you there.”
“Do you think they didn’t get married all this time because I wasn’t on my feet?” he asked, turning to frown at her.
“It would make sense to me. If it was just the two of us, I would want my brother there too.”
“I didn’t even consider that,” he confessed. “That makes me feel even shittier.”
She laughed. “You’ll make up for it by being there,” she said with a bright smile.
He nodded. “And if I can help my brother-in-law, then I’ll do that.”
“And you already talk to him as if he’s your brother-in-law, which I find interesting.”
“Well, he’s been in the family for a long time now,” he murmured. “I can’t see that the wedding certificate will make any difference.”
“I like that,” she said. “It’s nice to think that he’s already so accepted that the adjustments have already been done.”
“Well, I imagine there are plenty more adjustments to expect because I did hear from various people that having that wedding certificate does make a difference, although I don’t quite understand how or why.”
“I imagine it makes some difference, just like everything in life does. There’s a sense of reverence about making a commitment like that. Or at least I feel like there should be.”
“Agreed.” Tucker pulled into the restaurant’s parking lot and escorted Addie to the entrance.
The hostess greeted them and directed them to a table.
“Have you ever been here before?” she asked, looking around.
He shook his head. “No, I haven’t,” he said. “The food looks good though.” He tapped the menu.
“And I’m hungry,” she said. “Lately I haven’t been eating much.”
“Too much upset going on in your world,” he said.
“I guess,” she said. As they sat here, waiting for their order to come, they carried on with the same easygoing conversation that they’d started. Finally she pointed it out. “You do realize how well we’re getting along and how easy it is to talk to you, huh?”