Mary looked down and smiled again. “I guess you do,” she replied and let the sheet fall away. Thad carried the tray over to her and placed it on her lap. “This looks really good,” she said as she picked up the fork.
“I hope you like it,” Thad replied as he leaned over. Mary looked up and he kissed her.
She looked around and asked, “Where’s yours?”
“I could only find one tray. Mine is on the table out on the patio.”
She looked at the tray, “This is very nice,” and then added, “but I’d rather eat with you. Take it out there and I’ll get dressed and join you.”
Thad nodded. “That was my first idea. But I thought this would be nice.”
“It is nice. Very sweet of you,” Mary replied and held the tray up. “Take this out there and I’ll be right out.” As Thad took the tray, she grabbed the coffee cup, “I’ll keep this.”
Thad smiled, “I’ll wait for you.”
Mary jumped out of the bed, sipping on the coffee. The sheet trailed behind her, falling away as she made her way to the bathroom. Thad stood for a minute watching her bare backside until she closed the door behind her. He then carried the tray back out to the patio and waited for Mary. It didn’t take her long. She came out of the house in a small thin sun dress and sat down closely beside him.
Taking a bite from a piece of bacon, Mary smiled at Thad, “This is wonderful.” She looked around the yard and added, “It’s better than the other house.”
Thad sipped his coffee, “It was kind of crowded there. You really like this house?”
She nodded eagerly, “Yes! Very much. I like the back porch and the house is nice and small. It won’t be hard to keep clean.”
“It’d be better if we had some power,” Thad said.
Placing one of her eggs on a piece of toast, Mary replied, “It would be. But it’s fine for now. Now that they have power to town, maybe we’ll get some too.”
“Morgan said they were going to run it out here. He told them there wasn’t any hurry. But they said they’re going to do it anyway.”
“Morgan should just let them do what they want. He always seems worried about other people doing things for him, like he doesn’t deserve it or something,” Mary replied.
Thad mopped an egg yolk on his plate with a piece of toast. “That’s Morgan. He’ll go out of his way for anyone but doesn’t want anyone to do it for him.”
“He always seems worried,” Mary added.
Thad finished his breakfast and took a sip of coffee. “That’s just his way. If anything bad happens, he beats himself up over it. Like it was his fault. Like all this is his fault. He needs to relax a little.”
Mary tapped Thad’s mug with her own, “I agree with that. He certainly needs to relax.”
Thad stood up and took the plates. “What do you want to do today?” He asked.
Mary rocked her head back and forth. “I don’t know.” Then she gave him a devilish smile. “We could go back to bed if you want.”
Thad smiled and looked at the plates in his hands. “Should I wash these first?”
Mary stood up and whispered into his ear, “They’ll wait.” Thad left the plates on the kitchen counter and followed Mary back to the bedroom.
The other newlyweds had also chosen themselves a place to live. It wasn’t the best choice tactically, and Aric had been told so by several people. It was on the back road of the neighborhood, past Danny’s house. His was the closest to it and it was still a fair walk to get there. If something happened, they would be on their own until help arrived.
But Fred liked the house. It was a small log home, single story with a loft. The house had an open design and full porch wrapping all the way around it. This allowed the windows to be open all the time, as direct sunlight never came in them to heat up the interior. In northern latitudes, you wanted a southern exposure to allow this light in to warm the place in winter. You didn’t need that in Florida. Any benefit from a southern exposure in winter was trumped by the broiling heat it created in summer. And summer lasted a lot longer than winter down in Florida.
The little house had wood floors, which had obvious advantages when there was no electricity. A broom still worked. Aric had spent time cleaning the place up. Whoever had lived there had left a long time ago, and when he first went in, it was like looking at a snapshot of a life interrupted. Dirty dishes had been left in the sink. A pile of dirty clothes sat in front of the washer. All the cabinets in the house were open as a result of the several trips made through the house in the months after the Day. But nothing had ever been damaged because the group that went through the houses was always very careful. At the time, open windows that rain could blow in through were closed, as were doors that had been left standing open. The houses were secured in the thought they may be needed later; and that turned out to be really good foresight.
This morning, the morning after her wedding, Fred wasn’t feeling well. She was still in bed and Aric checked on her occasionally as he tended to chores around the house. He’d helped Thad put the water drums on the roof of his house and Thad was supposed to come down sometime today and
