Hope Read Free

and asked, “Really? I don’t believe that for one second. You loved your reality shows, and I swear you went through withdrawals without your Starbucks macchiatos.”
    “Reality TV, no, but yes, I do miss my Starbucks.”
    “I miss ice cream. I can see it now; hell, I can taste it when I think about chocolate peanut butter Haagen-Dazs.”
    “And that, I miss that too,” Karen mused and drew closer.
    “Does it sound odd to say I miss McDonald’s French fries?” Neal joked.
    “McDonald’s? When did you eat McDonald’s?”
    “Well…”
    “Secrets? Now I hear about dark secrets?”
    “I wouldn’t call grabbing a large fry now and then a dark secret.”
    “What else have you kept from me?” Karen prodded.
    “Besides all my mistresses, nothing,” he joked.
    She jabbed him in the side with her elbow. “You better be kidding.”
    “Ouch, I am, geez.”
    “Anything else?”
    “No, no other secrets.”
    “Not that, anything you really miss.”
    “A good sci-fi movie.”
    “I miss pizza. Don’t ask me why, but a nice thin crust with roasted garlic, sausage, onion and mushroom sounds good right about now.”
    “Pizza at three a.m.?”
    “Anytime, God, my mouth is watering thinking about it.”
    Neal leaned close and gave her a full kiss on the mouth.
    She returned his kiss and began to caress his body. She stopped, pulled away slightly, and said, “I don’t miss the spare tire you were carrying. You look and feel good,” she purred.
    “If only I knew the apocalypse diet was the one way to bring back my lean and mean twenty something look, I would’ve done it long ago.”
    She ran her hand across his chest and belly. “Wow.”
    He leaned in and kissed her again, this time more firmly and passionately.
    “I’m scared,” whispered Beth from the doorway.
    Neal and Karen jumped.
    “What is it, sweetheart?” Karen asked.
    Beth pushed the cracked door fully open and entered the moonlit room. “I had a bad dream.”
    Karen got out of bed, approached Beth, and gave her a warm embrace. “Come on, honey, let’s get you back in bed.”
    Beth stood firm and asked, “Can I sleep with you and Daddy?”
    Karen looked towards Neal, who sat up and shrugged his shoulders.
    “No, honey, you should sleep in your own bed,” Karen replied. Normally Karen would have said yes, but tonight she hoped to return and continue the intimate moment she and Neal had been having.
    “No, Mommy, I’m really scared,” Beth resisted.
    “Come, Beth, let’s go back to bed. It was just a bad dream.”
    “I dreamed you died,” Beth cried out with tears following.
    Karen knelt and gave her another embrace. “It’s okay, sweetie. It was just a bad dream, nothing more.”
    “I saw you, you were there, dead,” Beth said, pointing towards the bed.
    Karen petted her hair and attempted to comfort her.
    “Your eyes were open, but they just stared. You were dead, Mommy, you were dead,” Beth cried.
    “Karen, it’s okay. She can jump in bed with us,” Neal said softly.
    “Come on, baby, jump in bed with us,” Karen said, taking her by the hand and escorting her to the bed.
    Beth and Karen both got in the bed with Beth snuggled between them.
    Neal leaned over and gave Beth a dozen small kisses on her cheeks and forehead. “So, Mommy and I were talking about what we’ve missed since the power stopped. So far on the list we have ice cream, sci-fi movies, French fries, pizza…”
    Excited to take part in the conversation, Beth blurted out, “Mac and cheese.”
    “Yeah, mac and cheese, I miss that too,” Neal said.
    “But not with any of that yucky stuff you put on it,” Beth countered.
    “What yucky stuff?” Neal asked.
    “The hot sauce,” Beth replied.
    “You just need to acquire the taste, that’s all,” Neal said, defending his use of Tapatio hot sauce.
    Karen tickled Beth and said, “I agree with you, yucky.”
    “Whatever, all I know is hot sauce is proof that God loves us.”
    Karen rolled her eyes even