Save Me Once

CHAPTER

CHAPTER

Perfect. Absolutely perfect. That’s how this night had to go. For Caroline, there was no other way. She’d prayed too hard. Pleaded with God too much for him to allow a single hair on her graying head to fall out of place.

She stared at herself in the mirror. If Calvin’s type was young, blonde, and buxom, he’d be disappointed. But then again, Caroline had never deluded herself into believing he’d married her for her looks.

Good thing, too. She sighed as she dabbed a little concealer over the wrinkles that spread out from the corners of her eyes like cracks in the desert sand.

A second later, her husband opened the bathroom door, announcing dryly, “We’re late.”

That was her Calvin. Always punctual to a fault. Punctual, stubborn, and looking surprisingly handsome in his navy-blue suit.

She gave him a slight smile, forcing herself not to react when he didn’t return it. She’d promised herself not to get into any fights. Not tonight. She’d waited over half a year for this conference, and up until she and her husband actually passed through security at Logan Airport, she doubted he’d follow through.

And yet here they were. Truth Warriors Ministry held conferences at locations all over the country, many of them significantly closer to Boston, but over thirty years ago when they were just newlyweds, Calvin had promised to take her to Las Vegas.

So here they were.

And she wasn’t about to ruin this perfect evening by fixating on her husband’s stoic expression. This was Calvin, after all. When did he ever stop looking stoic?

“Ready?” he asked, twitching his upper lip.

She sucked in her breath. Gave herself one more tentative glance in the mirror. She didn’t look quite as elegant as she imagined when she chose her outfit, but another thirty or forty minutes to primp and preen wouldn’t make any significant difference.

Certainly not significant enough for her husband to notice.

She smoothed out her hair. Forced herself to meet Calvin’s eyes.

“You look nice,” she told him, her heart speeding up at such an unfamiliar set of words. Ordinarily, she would never say something like that, but today’s speaker at the conference had convicted her. Caroline complained all the time that her husband didn’t care for or appreciate her, but when was the last time she’d paid him a compliment?

Calvin c****d his head to the side. Maybe he felt as out of place as she did at this new conversational turn. Would he come back with something biting?

He cleared his throat and glanced at his watch. “Guess we’re not that late.” It wasn’t exactly a compliment, but she decided it was the best she could hope for.

Small steps. Isn’t that what this marriage conference was all about?

“Do you have the hotel key?” she asked as Calvin stepped aside for her to pass out of the bathroom.

He grunted a reply, and Caroline was ready.

She gave him another smile. Perhaps a tad forced, but considering where their marriage had been when she booked their tickets here, she was ecstatic.

Baby steps.

Small progress.

That’s what today’s speaker had said.

And that’s exactly what Caroline was going to focus on.