It rolled around on its own time, just as Tuesdays always did. Autumn went upstairs and got dressed, feeling a bit fluttery because Michael had called the store that afternoon and said, “Can you pack an overnight bag?”
“Um, sure,” she’d replied. “I thought we were going to dinner.”
“We are,” he told her. “But I have a surprise planned.”
“Okay,” she said. She might have probed further, but she figured that any “surprise” from Michael that included staying overnight was all right by her. Luckily, the store had been dead all day on Tuesday, as usually seemed to be the case after a holiday weekend, and she had no reason to believe Wednesday wouldn’t be exactly the same. It probably wouldn’t be a big deal for her to come in late.
“Great,” Michael said. “I’ll see you in a few hours.”
Now sh
