Max slowed his jog down the staircase and walked through the living room to the office. He turned on the light and saw the fat envelope of documents from C.C.
"Ug," he whispered to himself. He didn't want to think about work but knew he was probably going to have to make a little time for dealing with it. He just didn't know when. He walked around his desk, sat in his chair, and retrieved his address book from the drawer. He began flipping through it to a section reserved for psychotherapists- mostly the ones that Gracie had seen over the years. A lot of them were specifically pediatric psychologists and therapists, but there were a few names of family counselors as well. He pulled out a notepad and flipped to a fresh page and copied down the names and addresses of several family counselors, including the one who he had gone to see himself not too long ago when Fran insisted, after things had fallen apart with one of his new shows in pre-production and he had been lashing out. He wasn't certain if he wanted to involve that particular therapist in this new matter. He was still uncomfortable with virtual strangers knowing too much about his personal matters, even though the confidentiality within a doctor-patient relationship was way more secure than the chain of gossip among his social circles. He looked over the names he had written down, wondering if he should start calling before Fran got there. She seemed to trust him to find someone to go to. After all, she would be going with him. He picked up the phone and dialed the first number on the list and a woman answered. He asked if there were any appointments available within the next few days for an urgent matter, and the woman couldn't get him in any earlier than the following week. He told her if he couldn't find something sooner then he would call back. He hung up the phone and jotted down a note on the notepad, putting an "X" next to the first listing. He cleared his throat, then tried the next number.
"Hello, I just had a question- if I might possibly be able to get in to see the doctor this week, it's a bit of an urgent situation, so I'm trying to find something as soon as possible." He waited as the woman who answered put him on hold to see if she could find a spot for him. He saw Fran appear around from the hall near the staircase with her hands full of snacks and drinks as the woman on the phone came back.
"I'm sorry, sir, it looks like the earliest I could get you in would be late monday afternoon. She is fully booked and also has some hospital duty this week. Would monday be too late?"
"Yes, I'm afraid so, we wouldn't be able to come in then. That's alright, I do have another therapist I can check with. I know it's rather last minute, but it is a bit of an urgent situation. But thank you for checking." He hung up with the woman as Fran came into the office.
"Any luck?" She asked, setting down a bottle of tea in front of Max.
"I'm afraid not. I've tried the first two on this list, and nothing before next week." He opened the bottle of tea and took a sip, then set it down on the table. "There is this other therapist, the one I went to," he tapped on the pad of paper for the last name and number he had written down. "I haven't called there yet. I kind of wasn't sure if we should call someone I went to before, or if it should be someone new."
"Well, I imagine none of them would know too much about either one of us, so whoever it is would probably need a bit of a back story. I mean, we wouldn't be going there with Gracie, so it wouldn't be one of her therapists."
"True."
Fran sat down on his desk and set down the snacks she brought next to the fat envelope of documents. "Is this the stuff from Ms. Babcock?" She asked.
"Yes. I don't really want to look at them either." Fran looked at the envelope, then back at Max. He seemed to be trying to stifle a little anxiety.
"You want me to call the next one? I don't mind."
"You don't have to, I mean, I don't mind, but I can call- I mean- whatever you want."
"Here, gimme the notepad. What did you say? That we need something right away?"
"Yeah, that it was sort of an urgent matter, if they had something this week."
"Okay. You called the first two, I can call this one, sweetie." She smiled at him and he instantly felt less anxious. He reached for her ankle dangling next to him and gave it a squeeze, and kept holding on to it. She picked up the phone and dialed the number. "Oh, hello, yes- I was wondering if you might have any slots open this week, it's a sort of urgent matter. It would be for two of us- for her to meet with the both of us. Yes, a couple. We've sort of had an urgent matter come up, and well- we really need to speak with someone as soon as possible, and were hoping she might have an opening. Okay, thank you," the woman put her on hold to check the schedule while Fran waited. "She says there might be one," she whispered to Max," She's checking the schedule to see if she can get us in."
"Oh, great!" Max said, reaching for the piece of banana bread on a napkin in front of him. He pinched off a corner and popped it into his mouth.
"Hello, yes, I'm here. You do? Tomorrow? What time?" Max nodded in agreement when Fran looked at him for approval. "Yes, yes, put us down for that. Can you put it under Maxwell Sheffield? He's been there before, but this will be for the two of us. My name is Fran Fine. One o'clock. Thank you so much! Thank you! Goodbye!" She hung up the phone, and Max stood up in front of her.
"Good news?"
"Yep! One o'clock tomorrow! She reserves wednesday afternoons for urgent appointments only, and I guess we are the only ones. It's for one o'clock, she scheduled us for two hours but said if for any reason it needs to go longer, then that's fine. So this is good, anything we need to work on then, we can." She wrapped her arms around Max's neck and kissed him. "You okay with that?"
"Yes, I know it needs to be done. It's just- two hours of talking. You know?"
"I know- but it's not constant talking. She'll ask questions. And it wouldn't surprise me if she ends up wanting to talk to us separately, you know. Like the way that doctor did with Gracie."
"True," Max thought. "Well, that's sorted then. We'll head over there after lunch tomorrow, I guess. Oh- let me write down that address too. we'll need to make sure the driver knows how to get us over there in time." Max copied the address over from the address book and tore out the paper from the notepad, then tore off the top two therapists and tossed that into the garbage. He put the paper in his pocket and wrapped his arms around Fran. They rested their foreheads together and Max kissed her softly. "Thank you for doing that. I was feeling a little awkward, I guess. I know it sounds stupid-"
"It doesn't, Max. I know you aren't really used to making those sorts of appointments, it can feel a little weird."
"Yeah, but it shouldn't. I mean, Gracie's had so many of those appointments, and she's my daughter, I should be able to take care of that sort of thing a lot more easily."
"Well, were you thinking about it like it was a difficult thing? I mean, maybe not so much making the appointment, but maybe it was more about the kind of appointment it was going to be?" Fran had a way of seeing through him.
He squinted his eyes at her and she raised an eyebrow. "Maybe."
"It's okay, sweetie. It's all okay." She let him hug her tight and she kissed him repeatedly all over his cheek. He chuckled. "You wanna go in the kitchen and get away from that big fat envelope?"
"Yes, please!" They grabbed their drinks and snacks and headed out of the office, Max shut the light off on their way out. Fran pulled him by the hand through the living room and he jogged up beside her to put his arm across her shoulders. He felt so much better now that they had the appointment scheduled. Even though he was still a bit nervous about the thought of talking to a therapist, he was glad to have an appointment ready for them. He did feel that it was probably a good idea for them to talk to a therapist because of the nature of the situation. So much had happened in just a matter of days that it felt like it had actually been months. But he still hadn't had enough time with Fran. Not even close.
They entered the kitchen and Niles had the small TV on on the counter. He was working on a shopping list and was checking through the cabinets and the fridge, jotting things down as he went.
"Hello! I can turn that TV off if you'd like, or if you'd like to watch something else. I'm just making the grocery list for the next week, so if there's something you'd like, just let me know."
"Okay, Niles. You can leave the TV on. We're just finishing our snacks," Fran said.
"Oh, Ms. Fine, Mr. Sheffield- I meant to ask you both, if there might be anything in particular you might need or want for, you know, when you come back from the hospital. Or maybe before. I wasn't sure if they might have you on dietary restrictions or anything, or if you even knew yet."
"Oh yeah, I hadn't really thought about that yet. Well, for when I come back, I bet it will be soft foods at least for a while. No big meals. I'm not sure exactly what would qualify. But maybe we can ask on friday when we go in for that appointment, unless they will tell us. But this weekend, I think I have to probably go on liquids again, but I'm not completely sure. But maybe, can you get more of those shakes? Even if I only need them for a couple of days, that would be helpful to have some of those on hand."
"Oh, absolutely! I'll put that down. And I'll see what else I can find at the market, and maybe you can ask the doctors before I get any of it. I can always run back over there to get anything we don't have. And I was wondering about the children, and you too, Mr. Sheffield. If there might be anything different you all might want to eat? I thought maybe we should steer clear of getting take out every day, and only do that if it was absolutely necessary. Do you know if you will be staying with Ms. Fine in the hospital? Or if they will let you?"
"Well, they better let me, because I'm staying! I mean, I would think they would have some expectation of someone staying if a person has to be there overnight. We'll ask on Friday. But yes, the children will need something. We should ask them tonight when they get back. And maybe- maybe Sunday we can do an early dinner with Fran, just to make sure we're all together. I know Fran might not be able to have much, but we can all have a light meal with her." Fran tugged on his arm.
"Yes, sir, that would be nice. I can ask the children if they have any requests. But- do you have any requests?"
"I don't think so, Niles. It might be difficult for me to eat much until we get Fran back home." He looked at Fran and she smiled. They sat at the kitchen table and worked on the rest of their pieces of banana bread and bottles of tea.
Just as Fran popped the last bite into her mouth, Maggie bounded into the kitchen, back from her afternoon class.
"Oh Fran! I'm so glad you're here! You won't believe what I just grabbed on the way back from class! Daddy, can I steal Fran away for a little while? I need to show her some stuff."
"Well, don't ask me, ask Fran. I'll still be here, I'm not going anywhere."
"Well, sure, I guess Mags. What do you need to show me?"
"Come here! Come upstairs with me!" She grabbed for Fran's arm and Fran grabbed her bottle of tea as she jumped up from the table.
"Easy does it! No running or anything, Margaret! Take it easy with her."
"Oh! I'm so sorry Fran! I just got so excited!"
"It's okay, Mags! Let's go. Show me what you're all freaked out about. I'll be right back, sweetie," Fran brushed her hand across Max's shoulder and they hurried out of the kitchen. Max looked forlorn after she left. He was missing her already.
"I'm sure they'll be right back, sir. You know how they get when they're excited about something," Niles said, shutting the fridge and setting his grocery list on the counter.
"What? Oh, yes. I just-"
"I know."
Max was confused for a moment, then picked up on what Niles meant. He smiled and looked down at what was left of his banana bread and popped it into his mouth, then washed it down with some of his tea. He stared at his tea bottle and turned it around and around in his hands, then picked up the napkins, wadded them up, and got up to go throw them in the garbage. "Oh, Niles, we'll be needing the car after lunch tomorrow. Could you arrange that? Fran and I need to be somewhere before one."
"Oh, yes sir, absolutely. I'll make sure the driver is here for you. Do you know what time you'll be leaving?" Niles asked.
Max took the paper out of his pocket to look at the address. "Um, it might take fifteen minutes or so to get there. Maybe if we left here by 12:30? It's over on 52nd. I don't know if there are any traffic issues out that way, do you?"
Niles thought a moment. "Gosh, I don't know. But the driver might. I can give him the address ahead of time if you'd like, so he can check. Do you have an appointment you need to make? Or- it's probably none of my business…"
"No, it's alright, Niles. I guess it's okay if you know. In the spirit of not keeping so many secrets or being afraid to talk about things, we have an appointment with a therapist. Fran thought it would be a good idea. You know- with all that's happened in such a short time, and with other things- you know- from the past. I guess it's easy for things to be triggered, especially with me, you know? Similar things from the past, bringing up a lot of stuff…" Max's voice faded.
"Oh. Yes. Well," Niles grew somber. He knew what Max meant. "Yes, I guess it might be a good idea to speak with someone. To make sure you both are on the best footing to start this relationship."
Max looked up at him, then smiled. "Yeah. It's still hard to believe it. That she's my girlfriend. My fiancée." Niles nodded.
"And it's about time! But I also think maybe now was exactly the right time. Maybe you both had a few things to learn first. And with all this- other stuff- happening, it helps you realize how much you need each other."
Max leaned on the counter. "Yeah. Maybe. I do need her, Niles. So much. She's an incredible woman. And the children love her so much, too. But I still regret not doing something sooner. Not letting her know I really had feelings for her. I feel like I lost too much time with her. I don't want to lose any more time."
"Sir, you didn't lose any time. She was always here. You've seen each other every day. And all that time- you both needed to get to know each other. Really know each other. Can you imagine if the two of you had tried to date each other right away? I'm certain you both would have screwed it up, no matter how strong the attraction."
Max almost blushed, but then thought about it. Maybe they did need the extra time to really get to know each other. She did challenge him at every turn, and he was pretty sure she was constantly frustrated by his stuffiness and unwillingness to budge. He probably did need a slow hand. Maybe in some way, she did too. "Yeah. Yeah. You're probably right, Niles."
"This is just one of those things that happens, that you get through. It makes you stronger. Makes you appreciate things more. Appreciate each other now, in the moment, but let yourselves look toward the future, too. You've got a wedding to get ready for." Niles smiled at him, getting a little choked up himself.
Max cleared his throat. "We sure do." Max picked up his tea and the newspaper from the kitchen table and swatted Niles on the shoulder with the paper. "I'll be in the living room." Max headed out of the kitchen and back through the dining room. Niles smiled and brushed a tear from the corner of his eye, sighing deeply. He picked up the cordless phone to arrange the driver for the next day.
Maggie dragged Fran to her bedroom and pulled a stack of travel catalogs and brochures out of her bag, and then reached into another pocket and pulled out more for wedding ideas, bridal listings, and local wedding planners.
"What! Oh my gosh, Mags! Where did you get all this?" Fran exclaimed.
"Well, I was at a cafe having lunch before I had to run to class, and I saw this travel agency- and I think it was sort of an information place, too, because they had all kinds of brochures and catalogs lining this one wall, like for tourists to New York, and even stuff that looked like it was more for residents, but directories for things that maybe even residents don't know about. And they had all this stuff for things like wedding venues, and where to find the most obscure things in the city, and they even had flyers for all kinds of places, like local businesses that give them their cards and flyers to help drum up business. Like maybe it was almost a chamber of commerce or something, but for hospitality kinds of things. I thought maybe all this stuff might come in handy, for planning things for a wedding, and maybe we can go back there if you want in case you need more, or if they add anything new. And this travel stuff, I was thinking if you wanted to look at it to maybe plan a honeymoon, or even any other trips. We haven't been to any of these places. I might even have to swipe some of these and plan some trips with my friends!"
"Oh my god, Maggie, thank you so much! Look at all this! My mother is going to literally wet her pants!" Fran sat down on Maggie's bed and Maggie sat next to her. Fran flipped though all of the brochures, almost getting overwhelmed.
"I thought, maybe we can make a notebook and put these things in some plastic sleeves, so any time you want to work on some ideas, you can just get the notebook and everything will be there in one place. Like this- if you decide to use a wedding planner, you can have this to show them the kinds of things you want. And you know, we can go to the bookstore and get all the magazines and books and maybe when you're recovering, you can make sort of like scrapbook pages and cut out all the pictures you like and glue them onto the pages. That might be fun. Gracie and I can help, if you want."
Fran got tears in her eyes, and then wrapped her arms over Maggie's shoulders and hugged her. "Yes! I would like that very much! I'm so happy your daddy asked me to marry him, Mags. I just love him so much!"
"Oh, I know Fran! We're all really happy for you guys! Now we can really be a family!" They hugged each other some more. "Fran, I have some old notebooks from school- do you want me to get one of them for you to keep all this stuff in? And I can run out and get some plastic sleeves and some pages with holes to put the pictures on. The bookstore at school has those kinds of things."
"Okay, Maggie, next time you go there. That would be great. And yes, when I'm recovering this will be a great project to work on, and I want you guys to help, okay? And Ma, too. Of course, we have to make sure she doesn't try to take over. But I think she'll love to work on a wedding notebook, too. This will be really fun! Thank you! Can I look through this stuff some more? I want to go show your father, too!"
"Of course! here, let me put it all in a bag for you." Maggie jumped up from the bed and grabbed a paper sack from her desk, then they began stuffing all the flyers and brochures and catalogs into it.
"You coming back down? I want to go find your father."
"I'll be back down in a while. I have to get some work done for class tomorrow, and I want to watch TV tonight so I don't want to do it then. I'll be down in time for dinner."
"Okay, Brighton and Gracie should be back soon. We picked up a bunch of food at the deli in Queens today, so we'll be having that for dinner. It's gonna be good!"
"Oh, yum, deli? Please tell me you got some of that potato hash-"
"Two kinds!" Fran squealed. Maggie clenched her chest and closed her eyes, leaning her head back.
"Yessssss!" They both laughed and Fran got up from the bed, then hugged Maggie again.
"I'll leave you to your homework, then. And thank you again, Mags. For thinking about me, about your father and I. And the wedding!"
"You're welcome, Fran. Just let me know if you need anything I can get at the bookstore. I can swing by there tomorrow."
"Okay. See you in a little while." Fran headed back downstairs to find Max.
Max sat on the couch with the newspaper on his lap, holding open a section as he read through it. Fran came from the kitchen, padding in her slippered feet, past the stairs and into the living room where she found him.
"There you are!" She said, rounding the corner towards the couch.
"Hello, gorgeous!" He said, folding over the section of the newspaper and setting it in his lap as he watched her come towards him.
"Hello, cutie!" She said, kneeling onto the couch, one arm full with the bag of brochures and catalogs and the other hand reaching for his chest to steady herself. She leaned over and kissed him before resting down next to him.
"Hey, I need another one of those…" Max said, leaning in for a followup kiss.
"Mmmm!" Fran mumbled, letting him kiss her slowly. Max's lips parted with hers and they smiled at each other.
"So what have you got there?"
"Maggie gave me some goodies! Look at all this stuff!" She stuck a hand into the bag and pulled out a pile of brochures and spread them out for Max to see. "Look! All these places with wedding-related services, and dress shops, venues, and then all these places to travel to- vacations, honeymoons, you name it! And she's going to get me some stuff to make like a big notebook and idea book to sort out things for the wedding! Isn't it wonderful?"
Max smiled at her. "I love seeing you get so excited, Fran! That makes me so happy." He put his arm around her and rubbed her back.
"Aw!" She leaned her head into his shoulder.
"So where did she find all of these?" He asked.
"She said there was a place near school, near where she had lunch. I guess it looked like a travel agency, or like some kind of visitors place- like they have for tourists? So she went in and she said the place was just full of all of this kind of stuff. Flyers and catalogs- like it was a place to help local businesses or something- connecting them to customers. Just full of things like for people who were planning weddings or parties, and look- this brochure- it has listings for wedding planners around the city! And all of these others are for scenic venues. So much stuff!" She was getting excited looking through all of it.
"Wow- that'll keep you busy!"
"Yeah. I figured that right now I'll just try to organize it all somehow, and then when she gets me the notebook, I can separate it in there and be able to look up whatever we need to later. This stuff should help a lot. And Ma is going to go crazy over it!"
"I bet!" Max laughed. "What are the big ones? Catalogs? Or are they for travel?" He pushed some of the brochures around to look at the cover of one of the larger books.
"Yeah, it's more than just places around New York to go to. I'll separate those ones from the other wedding stuff."
Max poked through a few other travel brochures. "Hey, babe?" He looked at Fran and put his hand on her back.
"Mmm hmm?" Fran said, smiling as she looked through everything. She turned to look at his to see why he was quiet.
"Remember how we were talking about a vacation? You know, once you recovered? That maybe we could go some place…"
"Yeah…" Fran said, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, when you look through all of that, if you find some place that maybe you think you'd like to go to, you know- not as a honeymoon, but as a trip for the family- then maybe keep that one aside and we can look into it. Whatever kind of place you think you might feel up to going to. Some place maybe that we haven't been before." He rubbed her back and she leaned against him.
"Okay. I think I can do that. Was there- some sort of time frame you were thinking of?"
"Well, the children have spring break. That way it wouldn't cut into school. And then, that way there would be enough time to have all the wedding things planned, so maybe- once the school year ends- maybe we could have the wedding then? And of course, the honeymoon…" He smiled and looked at her lips.
"Why, Mr. Sheffield! You're gonna make me swoon!" Fran grinned and Max laughed.
"You know, I swoon every time I look at you. I really like thinking about doing all of this with you- vacations, the wedding. Making plans for our future." They kissed each other softly and Fran tugged on his shirt.
"I love you, Max."
"I love you, Fran."
They kissed again and Fran pulled herself further up onto the couch, so she could sort through the pile of brochures and catalogs in her lap. She leaned against his arm as he continued reading the newspaper, and she began separating all of the things in her lap into stacks, then put the stacks of wedding-related information back into the bag. She kept out the travel catalogs and brochures and began reading through them. A lot of them were for island getaways- to the Caribbean or Hawaii, so she separated those and put them in the bag with the wedding stuff. She thought it might be nice to have an island getaway alone with Max for the honeymoon. But where could they go with the kids? If they only had a week off from school, it might be a good idea to stay in the states, and maybe go someplace where they could get a direct flight. She started thinking about what places to eliminate, like Florida and most of California. Maybe stay away from beaches, because she wasn't sure what her scars from surgery might look like, and she might want more time for them to heal. She should be fine to do more active things like hiking and walking, but she also thought she might want to go some place that was great for relaxing. Should they go to the mountains? Would it be too cold in the mountains at that time of year? Maybe it would be. But Max would keep her warm. Maybe the desert? They hadn't been there before. And there were a lot of places they could go that the children might like to see. Maybe the kids could go on bike tours, or they could see the Grand Canyon, maybe Monument Valley. Maybe stay some place like Taos and see the stars at night. That might be nice. It should be fairly warm in the daytime out that way, and be colder at night. Maybe they could sit in front of a fire pit together, and see the stars. Maybe even some shooting stars. Maybe Brighton might like taking pictures out there. She smiled as she thought about it, and started going through all the brochures. She separated out all the east coast beaches, west coast beaches, gulf coast beaches. Separated the big city trips. Skipped over the ski resorts and places like New Orleans, Seattle, Nashville. Then finally she found a catalog for New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah. She set the full bag of papers on the coffee table, and then the other stacks of travel brochures on top of it, then leaned back against Max to go through the catalog.
Max glanced down at her to see what she was looking at, then set his hand on her thigh and went back to reading the newspaper. He smiled to himself. He enjoyed the feeling of her leaning against him- happily absorbed in her travel catalog. He was content. He wondered what kind of trip the family would end up going on, and how much more important it would be for all of them. Not just that he and Fran were engaged to be married, but that she would have gotten through her surgery then and would have healed, and they could all really spend time with her- appreciating her. Loving her. He gave her thigh a squeeze and she kissed his shoulder. This time with her felt so nice. He wanted to remember it forever. He was having a harder time paying attention to the articles he was trying to read, and then it sort of dawned on him that the articles didn't matter. It was just his habit to read through everything. None of that information mattered to him- right now, here- with Fran next to him. So instead of reading through everything, he just glanced over each page, and even paid attention to the advertising in case he saw an ad for anything that could help for the wedding, or travel agencies, and so on. He had just set one section aside and was about to work on another when Niles came into the room.
"Pardon me, I don't mean to interrupt, but I just wanted to let you both know that I called over to the newspaper to find out when an engagement announcement had to be submitted, and they said if we can get the announcement written up and a photo to them by Thursday morning, they can have it in this Sunday's paper! And I thought that would be fantastic if we could do that, but we don't have a photo of the two of you and I didn't know if you wanted to have one done somewhere, or-"
"Or what?" Max asked.
"Or maybe, if that might be something Brighton might be able to do? I mean, I can go run and get some black and white film, and maybe, well maybe even in the morning when the sun is a bit over the back terrace, maybe that might be a nice place for photos? I mean, unless you'd prefer to have some done in a studio or something…"
Max and Fran looked at each other, then thought for a moment.
"You know, Max, that might not be a bad idea. I mean, we'd have to ask Brighton, but I don't think he'd say no. Maybe we can get it done before he goes to school, then Niles can rush over to get the film processed. We can pick out a picture for Niles to take to the newspaper the next morning." Fran sat up in her seat and looked at Max. He looked at Niles and then back at her.
"Why don't we? Niles- can you run out right now for the film? And maybe get him a pack of color film too, in case he wants to start going out to do some street photos. Yes, why don't we do that?" Max smiled.
"Absolutely, sir! Let me go run out and do that now, and you can talk to him when he gets in! And once I get back I can start heating up everything for dinner! Oh, this is fantastic!" Niles rushed out of the room back to the kitchen.
"Oh, this is going to be so nice!" Fran said, squeezing Max's arm. "But now we have to figure out what to wear in the pictures!" They both laughed and Max kissed her.
"Well, hey, it will probably be just from the chest up, so maybe you can stay in your pajama bottoms and fuzzy slippers!" He laughed. Fran kissed him.
"Well, if I was taking the pictures, I'd tell you you don't need any pajama bottoms at all!"
"Why Ms. Fine, are you flirting with me?" He grinned.
"Oh, I'm totally coming on to you. But we can't follow through right now, the kids might be home any minute, and Maggie's upstairs."
"Oh, darn," he said. "Well, we'll save it up for tonight then!"
"Mmm hmm!" She said, and kissed him again. "Oh- before you open that section of the paper- I want to show you something. I think I might know where I want to go for our trip." Max set the paper down and put his arm around her as she scooted close to him and showed him the travel book. "Have you guys ever been to the desert?"