Ignoring her, he walked over to the cart corral and used a little more force than necessary to push his cart into the line. When he turned back around, Cynthia still stood there.

“What voice mail?” he asked as he ripped his car door open.

“The one I left you weeks ago.”

He shook his head. “I’ve been out of the country since mid-April. I just got back to Kentucky last night.”

“I knew that.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “I just assumed you’d listen to your voice mail when you got back.”

With a frown he demanded, “What did it say?”

“Could we get together somewhere private? I’d like to talk to you somewhere other than the PX parking lot.”

He mulled over his response. So many options came to him. Finally, he said, “Do you have a car here?”

“Yes.”

“Is your number the same?”

“Yes.”

“Come over for dinner. I’ll text you my address.”

The relief that crossed her face twisted his heart in a physically painful way. “Okay. I can do that.”

Dahlia frowned into the phone’s camera. “Why are you going to his house? Why can’t he come to yours?”

Cynthia leaned forward and carefully applied her lipstick. “Because,” she said, pressing her lips together gently and then rubbing them, “he doesn’t know I have a house here. That’s part of that conversation.” She sat back and primped her hair. “How do I look?”

“Like a million bucks. You’re going to knock his poor socks off.”

She stood and twisted in the mirror. She had on a pair of plum-colored pants and a black tank top. She’d left her hair down and loose and wore a pair of black dangling earrings. “You think I should have gone for the red dress?”

“Nah. Too dressy. Save that for when he falls back in love with you and takes you out somewhere for dinner.”

She picked up the phone. “Kiss Theo for me. Thank you for your help.”

“I’m just happy to see it finally coming together. Call me. Not tonight. In the morning!”

Cynthia double-checked the address on her phone. When Rick had sent it to her, she couldn’t believe it. He lived just a street away from her. She wondered what he’d say when he found out about that.

She grabbed her purse and went out through the back door, crossed her backyard and into the next yard, and came out onto his street. Standing there, she could see Rick’s car about four driveways down.

Little nervous flutters began in her stomach. What would he say to her?

Putting her chin up, she refused to be afraid. He’d listen to her and let her talk. She believed that. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have asked her over. Then his answer would be either yes or no. At least she knew the possibilities.