29
Richard was waiting for us at the motel, as expected. It only took me a few minutes to gather my belongings and check out. It helped that a teenager with no inclination for conversation more stimulating than “credit or debit” was behind the desk instead of Mrs. Waters. I set my bag on the ground between Mike’s and Richard’s vehicles until we decided where I was going to spend the night.
They both offered their homes, which I vetoed immediately. If there was some danger to me, I certainly didn’t want to bring it home to Richard’s family. Then I said that after three bottles of wine, I might try to take advantage of Mike. That wasn’t exactly true, but I did think it would be too weird to stay with a single male friend I’d known for less than two weeks. Besides, I didn’t know how long I’
