Free Desert Gift by Sally John Page A

problem for her.
    Viv sighed. Young people were a challenge. Not having a child of her own, she had never developed the gift of patience. She enjoyed her many nieces and nephews on her husband’s side. Long-distance, she adored Jill’s son, Connor. He was a good kid, but when he was little, she’d made a tongue-in-cheek pact with God. She would be a nice person as long as He kept Connor’s parents safe. If Jack and Jill’s will ever went into effect and she became Connor’s guardian, she could easily become a very, very difficult woman.
    She walked out to the front office of her small tour agency and watched through the large windows as Dustin drove off in her sunshine yellow van. The lime green lettering on its side caused the usual fluttery catch in her throat. Encircled with palm trees, sun rays, and foamy ocean waves, it read “Vivvie’s Tours ~ Adventures for the Young at Heart” along with the phone number, 1-800-VIVVIES.
    She had come a long way. She was married to a great guy and had her own small business. Not only was it a hoot, it had just paid for her very own minibus to be delivered next week. Life was good. What did it matter that her sister was married to the sweetest man on earth and had a loving son and owned a big house and had met Oprah and was becoming famous for speaking Christianese? What did it matter that Jill was two hours up the coast and had not called yet and probably would not find time to come by the office? None of that should matter.
    But it did. It always did.
    * * *
    Seated in his recliner, feet up, Marty shifted his gaze from the television to Viv, who stood beside it. He said, “Why does it matter?”
    “It doesn’t.” She had just unloaded on her husband all the angst about her sister that had been building since early that morning.
    “Sounds like it matters.” His eyes strayed toward the screen again. The Lakers game had been muted for her whiny speech but Marty didn’t need audio to follow any athletic event. “Block it. Yes! What! What? Foul? Are you kidding me? Foul? Idiotic call, ref! Idiotic.” He turned to her. “Viv, you know Jill loves you. She’s just different.”
    “Then you’re fine with her and Jack staying here instead of a hotel?”
    “Sure.”
    “For four nights?”
    Marty’s double take made her smile.
    He said, “They never stay that long.”
    “No. But this trip is a huge deal for them. Besides the book tour, they’re celebrating the anniversary of when they met up in Hollywood twenty-five years ago.”
    “Who celebrates when they met ?”
    “My sister. I think it’s partly an excuse to get Jack to join her. It’s been more than two years since we’ve seen him. And they haven’t vacationed since I don’t know when.”
    “Jack’s a good guy.” Marty tucked in his chin and grunted a short hm , his announcement that he’d reached a decision. “Sure, four nights is fine with me.”
    “You’re a peach.”
    His nod swung into a vehement shake at the television. “No way!” He turned the sound back on.
    Marty loved his sports almost as much as he loved his work. He built ships, big ones that the Navy bought. He was a welder—one of many, of course, but he spoke of it with such enthusiasm that she almost believed he was responsible for the entire enormous vessel. He looked capable of such a feat with his square frame that remained as rock solid as the day she first saw him.
    Like him, she adored her work. Somewhere in between their other passions she and Marty loved each other. It drove her sister crazy how they lived their marriage. Viv knew without reading Jill’s book that her and Marty’s relationship would not be touted as a model.
    “Oh, rats rats rats,” she muttered. Had theirs been used as an example of how not to do it? She really should read the thing before Jill showed up.
    “Vivian.” Marty muted the volume again. “Wanna go out for dinner?”
    She stared at him, wondering if she heard correctly.
    His face