Distant Shores

"Shit. "

"Your bags are in the car, dont worry. I packed everything. All you have to do is drive us to the airport. "

The door to his office smacked open. A young woman in a gray knit dress and knee-length boots ran into the room. "Youre not going to believe this," she said, rushing forward. She got halfway across the room before she realized that Jack wasnt alone. She stopped, smiled pleasantly at Elizabeth. "Im sorry to interrupt. But this is big news. Im Sally. "

Elizabeths smile was cinched tight. She was too angry with her husband to be sociable. "Hello, Sally. I believe we met at the stations Labor Day picnic. "

"Oh . . . yeah. "

Clearly, I made an impression.

"Im sorry to interrupt, Jack, but I knew youd want to see this. " She handed Jack a sheet of paper. "Three more women filed complaints against Grayland. "

"Have they arrested him?"

"Not yet. Coach Rivers said--and I quote: In this great land of ours, a man is innocent until proven guilty. "

"In other words, Drew plays until they shut the prison door on him. "

"Exactly. But heres the really great news: I just took a call from one of the girls. Shell talk to you. On camera. "

"Meet me in the lobby in thirty minutes. Well come up with a game plan. "

"You got it. " With a hurried nod to Elizabeth, Sally left the room. The door banged shut behind her.

Elizabeth looked at her husband. "Let me guess. Youre not coming with me. "

He took her in his arms. "Come on, baby," he murmured against her ear, "you know how much I need this. Like air. "

And your needs are always important, arent they, Jack?

It pissed her off that she couldnt say it aloud. At what age would she finally learn to speak her mind?

"Ill make it up to you," he promised. "And Ill be at your dads before Christmas Eve. "

His voice was as soft as silk, seductive. She knew he had no doubt at all that hed get his way. Her acquiescence on all things was expected, a support beam of their sagging marriage.

They were close enough to kiss, but she couldnt imagine any more distance between them. "Mean it, Jackson," she said.

"I do. "

The two words reminded her of all their years together. She wondered if hed chosen them specifically. "Okay, honey. Ill go on ahead. "

He kissed her hard and let her go. She stumbled backward, off-balance.

"I love you, Birdie. "

She wanted to answer, but couldnt. He didnt seem to notice anyway. His mind had already followed young Sally out the door.

Later, as she walked through the stations empty parking lot, she wondered--and not for the first time--how often could a woman bend before she broke?

Elizabeth hated to fly alone. It made her feel like a stick of licorice in a bowl of rice. Noticeable and wrong.

She didnt say a single word except "thank you" on either of the flights, just kept her nose buried in a romance novel.

At the rental-car agency in Nashville, she chose a sensible midsized white Ford Taurus and filled out the paperwork. Amazingly, shed never done this before. Shed always stood silently by while Jack did all the writing. Her job had been to keep the documents in a safe place until they turned the car back in.

When everything was finished, she got into the car and drove south.