Free The Last Bachelor by Judy Christenberry Page B

test?” Daisy asked. “Like the one in that movie about getting a green card? I rented the video a couple of months ago. It wasn’t hard. They asked personal questions, that’s all. If your marriage is real, it won’t be hard.”
    Ginger smiled, as if she hadn’t a care in the world, while she frantically thought of all she didn’t know about her husband. She would never pass such a test. In spite of Joe’s promise, she realized again that she could be sent back in three months.
    When two o’clock rolled around, it seemed very strange to walk out of the club. Joe was there waiting for her in the parking lot.
    â€œReady to do some shopping?” he asked, smiling at her.
    â€œYes, of course.” That was why he had told her she needed to get off early. And she could study for her test after the grocery shopping.
    They started down the long drive to the main highway. “By the way,” Joe said, “we’re going to install more lights in that back parking lot.”
    â€œThat’s good,” she agreed. She tried to avoid thinking about the attack on her, when she thought she was going to die. The realization that she wouldn’t be working nights, which meant she wouldn’t have to get home in the dark, felt good.
    In the grocery store, Joe pushed the cart and told her to put in whatever she wanted to cook.
    â€œFor tonight?”
    â€œFor three or four days, at least.”
    She bought a lot of pasta, some peanut butter and crackers, two cans of tuna fish and one box of microwave popcorn after some hesitation. “Is this all right? I always wanted to try this.”
    â€œOf course it’s all right. What else?”
    She added some fresh vegetables so she could make sauce for the pasta. Then she stopped. “That’s all.”
    Joe grinned at her. “Sweetheart, I don’t mean to complain, but I like steak. And we’ll need eggs and bacon for breakfast, bread and ham for sandwiches. For dessert, maybe a cake, more ice cream. Can you make peach cobbler?”
    â€œYes, I think so,” she said hesitantly. “But that will all be expensive.”
    â€œI know, but I need a lot of food to keep me going. I’m not little like you.”
    They made another tour of the store and filled the cart. While Ginger delighted in such freedom to buy so much, she began to worry about eating it all.
    Together they unpacked the groceries when they got home. Ginger discovered doing chores together was a lot of fun, though a little slower than doing it alone. But she enjoyed herself. She immediately opened the cake mix to make dessert. Then she planned dinner itself.
    Joe had some things to do and left her to her planning. He began pulling out some papers from his briefcase. After weeks of not knowing what he wanted to do—return to Chicago or stay in Mission Creek—he’d made up his mind. He was staying there as long as Ginger needed him. He’d promised.
    Which meant he needed to open his own office. While he’d thought about his future, he’d surveyed the business spaces available in Mission Creek.
    He was studying the brochure for the site he’d chosen when the phone rang. He picked up the receiver and said, “Joe Turner.”
    Silence.
    He hung up the phone after trying to find out if anyone was there.
    The phone rang again.
    â€œJoe Turner.”
    â€œIs this…Joe Turner from Dallas, Texas?” a female voice asked.
    The voice sounded vaguely familiar. “No, I’m sorry. This is Mission Creek, Texas. Are you trying to reach Dallas?”
    Before he finished his question, the phone went dead. He stared at it, telling himself it was probably a stranger, though trying to place the voice.
    â€œJoe?” Ginger asked from the kitchen door. “Do you like baked potatoes or mashed?”
    â€œI—Ginger, does your mother’s voice sound like yours?”
    â€œYes, I suppose, except