“I told you why I left. I won’t do it again.”
He saw tears fill her eyes. Damn, he loved her. But at times he still had nightmares about her leaving them. He couldn’t forget that pain, that fear of not knowing where she was or if she was safe.
“And we believe you,” Dan said. “But that feeling I got when I realized you were gone, when you didn’t come back, I don’t ever want to feel that way again.”
“I’m going to come back. Please, just trust me.”
Jake sighed and looked at Dan. “All right. But, you’re only to go for four hours. I want you back for a nap here by 3pm and I’ll be ringing you to make sure you’re here. You take your cell phone and you promise to ring if you feel at all unwell. Okay?”
Mari hugged him tight.
*****
Mari shoved her shopping into her car and climbed into the driver’s seat before looking at her watch. Damn it, she was running late. She was never going to be home by three. She could only hope that her husbands were running late as well.
At 3:05 her cell phone rung. She bit her lip but knew better than to answer it. She was only half way home and she couldn’t pull over safely here. She decided it was better to get home and then call them.
Her cell rang once more on the way home. As she ran into the house, the phone was ringing.
“Hello,” she said breathlessly.
“Where the hell have you been?” Dan yelled and she let out a deep breath.
“Sorry, I couldn’t answer my cell phone. I was driving.”
“Well, thank God you have some sense. What time were you supposed to be home Mari Cassandra??
?? he asked sternly.
“Three,” she replied in a small voice.
“And what time is it now?”
“Twenty past three.”
“Get your butt into bed now,” he ordered. “I’ll deal with you when I get home. Oh, and Mari?”
“Yes?”
“I love you, baby girl.”
“I love you, too.”
Mari carried her shopping up the stairs; she should have been filled with dread or annoyance.
Instead she had a huge smile on her face.
There was no place like home.
Epilogue
Smack! Smack! Smack!
Mari squealed, attempting to wiggle out of the way of the heavy palm setting fire to her butt.
“Dan, it hurts!”
“It’s meant to hurt,” he replied without sympathy, his hand landing again and again on her bottom and thighs as she lay on his lap, her legs kicking uselessly.