They walked out from under the eaves, where bare yellow fluorescent tubes threw jaundiced beams toward the pavement. The sodium vapor street lights did not quite meet half way, which left Vance’s Miata in a no-man’s-land of inadequate illumination. He couldn’t tell if Vance had parked here to protect the car or to hide his shame at no longer leasing a BMW. The nice thing about the convertible, however, was that Vance could leave his hat on in the car, delaying the inevitable revelation of his bald spot.
They pushed the cart through the heavy air which reminded him of Vietnam. Or what he imagined Vietnam to be like, since he was twelve when the war ended. Some of his older brother’s friends had gone and had stories to tell. As far as he was concerned, Vietnam was anywhere that was not “here.” When he was 12, anywhere but “here” sounded pretty good, especially when, if his brother’s friends were to be believed, there were loose women involved. Girls or no girls, though, he was game for any place that was new.
So even 28 years later, an unfamiliar, hot and sticky place was Vietnam. Since they usually were in Garden City, or Pauley’s Island, he could not remember ever being in this store. Back when Vance and Anne were married, she would have termed a trip to this place “an adventure.” She was always fun to have at the beach for a lot of reasons, not the least of which being how she looked in a bathing suit. He had tried not to stare, but she did catch him on occasion. It did not seem to bother her.
As far as he knew, Ginny had not caught him. He had to admit that he probably would not have known. Ginny would have been mortified to say anything, and he would have felt guilty as hell if she did. It was one of the many small graces in their relationship that she tended to let that sort of thing go. He tried not to abuse the liberty, or to dwell too long on any one slender ankle. Perhaps because he had lingered more than once on Anne’s ankle, Ginny did not seem as torn as he though she might when Vance told them about the separation.
Or maybe Ginny had seen it coming and was prepared to deal with it. She was always better than him at reading the signs, and so many things that shocked him appeared obvious to her. In most situations, he could see in hindsight what she had seen all along. He had learned to listen closely when she talked about the state of their or friends’ marriages. She would state clearly things to which he had been oblivious.
Like Vance’s cheating. Ginny knew long before he brother admitted it. She saw it in the way he stood next to Anne, in the way they addressed each other first thing in the morning. Ginny was not surprised at all. He was, though. He couldn’t see how anyone, especially someone as obviously in need of a solid partner as Vance, could cheat on someone like Anne. But he had. What else was to be revealed? As he clamored into the passenger side of the Miata, he wondered where they were really headed.