Wait. Is it possible that maybe Jeff made love to me while I was out? No, he wouldn’t. It was a dream. Wasn’t it?

Shrugging it all off, she went to the bathroom, took three aspirin and showered.

Jeff sat at the kitchen table dressed for work, welded to his phone while drinking coffee.

Lisa had put on shorts and a polo shirt and pulled her hair into a ponytail.

“Did they catch Loften?” she asked from the counter where she poured coffee from the glass carafe into her cup. “Want some more?”

“I’m good, thanks. No arrest yet.”

Lisa dribbled milk into her cup. “Have you heard from Vida on the job possibilities you arranged?”

Jeff’s jaw muscles pulsed. He kept his attention on his phone. “Not yet.”

“This whole thing scares me.” She stirred. “We have to do something.”

“Like what?”

“With Vida threatening you and Loften on the loose, you should tell people. Tell Leland Slaughter, and tell the detectives before something bad happens. You promised me you would.”

“I did and I will, but there’s still time.”

“For what, Jeff? Time for what? What the hell’re you waiting for? I feel like something is going to explode.”

“Lisa, I can’t wave my hand and tell everyone, ‘Hey, there’s an unstable woman spewing lies about me, who I think is connected to a fugitive criminal.’ Don’t you see how that would play? How that would unfold?”

“But, Jeff, I’m afraid of those people. Loften was in our home!” Her voice broke. “You know what he did, what he said!”

“I know. I know. I’m uneasy about all of this, too. But we’ve got security, extra patrols and assurances he’s headed out of state.” Jeff softened his voice. “Listen, we have absolutely zero evidence that Loften is connected to Vida in any way. And I’m working on getting her a job. It’s coming together.”

They paused, reading the uncertainty in each other’s eyes.

He reached out and took her hand. “Look, this whole thing will pass if we just wait it out.”

Her thoughts spinning, Lisa shook her head. She couldn’t argue with him anymore. She peered into her coffee for a long time, deciding on how to ask him something she needed to know.

“That was some night last night,” she said.

“Sure was,” he smiled.

“Did we have sex last night?”

He looked at her, not comprehending the question.

“You don’t know if we did or not?” he asked.

“No, I drank too much, and I was exhausted,” she said.

“If we did, I was too wasted to remember,” he said.

“Do you remember me telling you I was pretty sure I was ovulating?”

“Yes.”

“Maybe you went on autopilot and tried to make a baby, because I had this wild dream that you made love to me.”

“Oh, really?” Jeff smiled. “How was I?”