waiting for her husband. He never understood how she always managed to be there when they pulled up on these nights. Blue never called her on the way and she couldn’t possibly sit there twenty-four hours a day,
just in case.
Or maybe she could.
After a couple of lifetimes, a day or two here and there probably doesn’t make a whole hell of a lot of difference. An ordinary day was twenty-four hours, but eternity time was probably something else all together.
8
J ust as General had predicted, Regina was sitting in the window when the big car glided around the corner, came to a stop in front of the house and cut its lights. The smoky, tinted windows didn’t let her see who was inside and her heart fluttered a little bit in spite of her best efforts to think only positive thoughts and banish from her mind even the possibility that things had not gone as planned. The driver’s-side door opened and General stepped out with the grace that always reminded her of a tiger: large and dangerous.
“Please, God,” she whispered. “Please.”
General opened the back passenger door and her husband stepped from the car into the darkness. Regina’s eyes filled with tears of relief, but she quickly blinked them back. Blue said a few quiet words to General, who nodded and got back into the car. Only then did Blue look up to where she was sitting in the darkened window. He raised his hand in a small wave of reassurance. She raised her hand, too, and he disappeared into the small apartment that was one of the features that had sold them on this house.
That was the last she would see of Blue until morning. Although she longed to run outside and throw herself into his arms, she knew better. This was the hardest part of the complicated ritual they had concocted, but she had to respect it. She never knew the details of where he went or exactly what happened when he got there. She didn’t want to know. Early on, she had told him she admired what he was doing, but confessed almost apologetically that it frightened her. That’s when he promised to do everything he could to keep those parts of his life separate from his life as her lover, then her husband, and, one day, the father of her children. That’s why she couldn’t see him until morning.
At first, she had argued against the self-imposed separation, but he had gently insisted. As she tried to talk him out of it, something in his eyes flashed, something that let her know there were parts of him not meant for her to see.
Ever.
She had felt a small chill at the back of her neck and agreed to his suggestion, which was this: They were allowed only a wave when he first returned home from these missions. Then he would disappear into another part of the house until morning, when she would literally wake up and smell the coffee. She would then slip on a robe and go downstairs to the kitchen, where Blue would be scrambling eggs or mixing up a batch of waffles from scratch or frying bacon and handing her a mimosa like any other attentive husband who intended to woo his wife with breakfast before taking her back to bed for a more private welcome-home celebration.
Suddenly Regina was exhausted. She yawned wide like a tired toddler, brushed her teeth, and slipped into bed. Outside, she knew General was sitting in the front seat of the Lincoln with the window cracked, only the glowing tip of his cigarette visible in the darkness. On these strange nights, he was always there, just in case trouble had followed Blue home. In the morning, he would be gone.
9
B lue waited until he heard Regina running a bath at just before six the next morning before slipping on a pair of white silk pajama bottoms and heading for the kitchen. At six feet even, Blue was not a big man, but his slender body was strong and supple and his powerful arms were proof of his improbable prowess as a deep-sea fisherman, a hobby he and Peachy had enjoyed for years. Keenly aware that his enemies were always watching him for any
just in case.
Or maybe she could.
After a couple of lifetimes, a day or two here and there probably doesn’t make a whole hell of a lot of difference. An ordinary day was twenty-four hours, but eternity time was probably something else all together.
8
J ust as General had predicted, Regina was sitting in the window when the big car glided around the corner, came to a stop in front of the house and cut its lights. The smoky, tinted windows didn’t let her see who was inside and her heart fluttered a little bit in spite of her best efforts to think only positive thoughts and banish from her mind even the possibility that things had not gone as planned. The driver’s-side door opened and General stepped out with the grace that always reminded her of a tiger: large and dangerous.
“Please, God,” she whispered. “Please.”
General opened the back passenger door and her husband stepped from the car into the darkness. Regina’s eyes filled with tears of relief, but she quickly blinked them back. Blue said a few quiet words to General, who nodded and got back into the car. Only then did Blue look up to where she was sitting in the darkened window. He raised his hand in a small wave of reassurance. She raised her hand, too, and he disappeared into the small apartment that was one of the features that had sold them on this house.
That was the last she would see of Blue until morning. Although she longed to run outside and throw herself into his arms, she knew better. This was the hardest part of the complicated ritual they had concocted, but she had to respect it. She never knew the details of where he went or exactly what happened when he got there. She didn’t want to know. Early on, she had told him she admired what he was doing, but confessed almost apologetically that it frightened her. That’s when he promised to do everything he could to keep those parts of his life separate from his life as her lover, then her husband, and, one day, the father of her children. That’s why she couldn’t see him until morning.
At first, she had argued against the self-imposed separation, but he had gently insisted. As she tried to talk him out of it, something in his eyes flashed, something that let her know there were parts of him not meant for her to see.
Ever.
She had felt a small chill at the back of her neck and agreed to his suggestion, which was this: They were allowed only a wave when he first returned home from these missions. Then he would disappear into another part of the house until morning, when she would literally wake up and smell the coffee. She would then slip on a robe and go downstairs to the kitchen, where Blue would be scrambling eggs or mixing up a batch of waffles from scratch or frying bacon and handing her a mimosa like any other attentive husband who intended to woo his wife with breakfast before taking her back to bed for a more private welcome-home celebration.
Suddenly Regina was exhausted. She yawned wide like a tired toddler, brushed her teeth, and slipped into bed. Outside, she knew General was sitting in the front seat of the Lincoln with the window cracked, only the glowing tip of his cigarette visible in the darkness. On these strange nights, he was always there, just in case trouble had followed Blue home. In the morning, he would be gone.
9
B lue waited until he heard Regina running a bath at just before six the next morning before slipping on a pair of white silk pajama bottoms and heading for the kitchen. At six feet even, Blue was not a big man, but his slender body was strong and supple and his powerful arms were proof of his improbable prowess as a deep-sea fisherman, a hobby he and Peachy had enjoyed for years. Keenly aware that his enemies were always watching him for any
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