A Family Affair by Robyn Carr

Author:Robyn Carr
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: MIRA Books
Published: 2022-01-28T02:25:05+00:00

* * *

The early October sun was bright and warm on Saturday. Joe got up early to make the drive to Mill Valley to pick up Anna. The afternoon before he bought a few snack items and drinks at the grocery store and assembled them in a basket and cooler for the road.

He called her from the car. “I realize I’m a little early and I don’t want to rush you. Just let me know when you’re ready.”

“I’m ready!” she said. “I can’t wait.”

And Joe realized they’d never spent a whole day together since they had attained this new status. When she opened the door for him, the bright shine of happiness on her face just melted his heart and he grabbed her in an embrace and kissed her till she laughed against his lips.

“I looked forward to this all week,” he admitted.

“Should we put together a little something to snack on while we drive or if we should stop?”

“I’ve already done that,” he said, grinning like a boy.

“What a guy. Then let me get my purse and let’s head into the hills.”

They chose to drive through the coastal towns north of San Francisco and into Sonoma where there were plenty of vineyards and restaurants because eventually they’d want to stop for a meal. The scenery was amazing on this bright fall day and they encountered dozens of groups of cyclists enjoying the cool fall air. The hillsides to the east of them were starting to color beautifully.

But the best part of the drive was being together in the car. When they crossed over some road construction, they had a conversation about infrastructure and what it might entail in California. When they saw a group of about a hundred cyclists gathered in a park as a resting stop, they talked about what they might have in common when it came to outdoor exercise. When they were driving through Sonoma, they talked about vineyards and wine and even stopped at a winery to buy a few bottles for later.

They talked about their parents, their kids, their jobs. They even spent a few minutes discussing catalytic converters on cars. They pulled into a rest stop but passed the picnic tables and opted for a grassy spot under a big tree.

“I feel like I’m getting to know you all over again,” Joe said.

“After we’ve been on the phone for an hour or spent an evening together, I wonder if there will come a time when we have nothing to talk about. It doesn’t seem so today.”

“There will never be a time we have nothing to say to each other, but I look forward to the time we can be quiet together. I read all the time and so do you—you can’t talk while you’re reading. But you can be together just the same. I’ve been divorced for a long time, since my kids were little, but that’s something I never had with my wife. We never had companionable silence.”

Anna laughed. “Nor did Chad and I.

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