He realized, on an unconscious level, that it was even more than that. He had liked her from the first, maybe even loved her from the first. She was totally different than anyone he had ever met in his life. Most of the girls he had met, and all of the guys he had worked with, or hung around with, which in truth were not very many, had seemed shallow and uncaring. Joe would not have termed himself as a romantic person, but the things he longed for out of life were, nevertheless, along romantic lines. He wanted a wife who would love him, not the pretty girl to show off to all his buddies. In all of his dreams of life he had always wished for a woman who could feel the same way he did. Not someone who was only interested in material things, or money to buy them with, but someone who was interested in life, and what it held. It seemed to him that what Arlene wanted out of life paralleled his own desires.
Arlene felt the same way. In a world that was constantly cruel to her, she had held out hope that it would not always be that way that somehow, someday, she would meet that one special person who would care about her. It was a pretty unlikely dream for her to have, and she had almost given it up several times. This, however, was even better than she had dreamed. She didn't have to pretend about her past, he knew, and he didn't care at all. She didn't have to be anything, or anyone, other than who she had always wanted to be, herself, the woman that she had buried deep within her. The one who was not so much concerned with what went on, on Beechwood Avenue, but the one that had waited and waited for someone to come along who could love her. The age difference didn't seem to matter to Joe at all, and her past definitely didn't matter to him... maybe?
She was happier than she could ever recall being in her entire life. It was as if she had been blind, and now through some unimaginable miracle could see. It was so much and so many different feelings that it threatened to overwhelm her.
Joe spoke as they finished eating. He had been thinking non-stop about everything that had happened, in just the last few days, and he was no longer certain he wanted to risk what he had just found, and continue onward across what was left of the United States to find Frank Morgan.
"Arlene?" he began, not quite sure how to proceed with what he had been thinking. "Do you want to go? I mean, do you want to go all the way across this country to find Frank? It's just that, well, I'm not as positive as I was that it has to be done, or that we should."
She thought for only a brief second before she answered him.
"I think that we have to, Joe. It's not a question of whether we should. We have to," she paused. "I knew we had to when you told me. Do you know that I've wanted to meet someone like you forever? I mean that, at least it seems like forever. I think you feel the same way, Joe, and I don't want to lose us any more than you do, but if you think about it, who put us together? Who sent you to me? You see?" she reached out and took his hand as she spoke. "If we don't go, it might be the worst thing we could have ever done. Not just to us, but to whoever else needs us to come. It may only be Frank, but I don't think so, I think you know that too. It's more than that even. Joe, if God hadn't sent you, we wouldn't even be here discussing this right now. I know it may be dangerous, and I suppose it could mean that we may even die, but to me it would be worthwhile. To me it would be, because if He hadn't sent you there would be nothing to discuss at all." Arlene locked her eyes on Joe's as she finished speaking, waiting for him to respond.
Joe thought over what she had said. It was not really a decisive thinking though, as he knew she was right. It was more of an acceptance of a decision he had already made, and not really wavered from. Now that she had spoken the words out loud, he felt them in his own heart the same way that she did. They had to go, not a forced going, but they just had to. If they didn't, he felt that he would be turning his face against God, and now that she had made him look at it, he realized that he couldn't do that. She was right.
His thoughts were suddenly interrupted when Arlene shouted excitedly beside him.
"Joe! Joe!"
He looked towards her, and then shifted his eyes to follow her gaze. It was full dark now, and he could just barely make out an approaching figure through the trees. He quickly looked back at Arlene. He thought that she might be frightened, even though he realized that he himself was not. Instead, although tears were spilling down her cheeks, he realized that she was happy, that they both were. He turned back and watched as the figure moved into the shadowy light the still burning fire provided.
"Lord?" Arlene said, asked. To her he seemed much as he did to Joe, although he did not appear in long flowing robes as he did to
