An Ounce of Prevention

It had occurred to her that Alex might be more interested if they took a flight to Arizona and then rented a van. She had looked into that possibility as well. Looked was all she did, though. No matter how often she told herself that flying was safer than driving, she still had a phobia about it. Even though it wouldn't be her first flight, she remained afraid of flying. It was an unreasoning fear. She could talk herself into it and think she was fine with it, but the minute she saw the airfield, she was terrified. She couldn't remember anything traumatic in her childhood that had made her so frightened. It was one of the many things she would like to ask her parents, but they had both died before she met Alex.

Driving to Arizona made more sense anyway. First of all, they would see more than Arizona. They would see the states between as well. Second, if they flew, they would have to purchase all their camping equipment when they got to Arizona. It would be cheaper than purchasing it here and paying for the extra baggage. Of course, then they would have to sell it or pay again to bring it back. Third, as Katie had mentioned, if they rented a van and a pop-up camper, they wouldn't have to drag their luggage from one hotel to the next. They were all good solid logical reasons she could give Alex for not wanting to fly - except he never asked for a reason.

In the morning, Alex was silent over breakfast, apparently preoccupied with work again. Carmen let him ponder for a while, but it was their time to be with each other, so she finally interrupted his thoughts with something she was certain would get his attention.

"You were great last night."

His eyes riveted on hers and a twinkle came into his eyes. "So were you."

"It's nice to have some time to ourselves, isn't it?"

His expression became guarded. "You don't have to drive a thousand miles away to be together."

She smiled at him. "We won't have much time to ourselves on the trip. Is that what's eating at you?"

"Nothing's eating at me."

"Oh." She stood. "Would you like more coffee?"

"Sure." He leaned back in his chair and watched her pour coffee into his cup. "Have you got someone lined up to take care of the safari while we're gone?"

"Yep." She replaced the coffee pot and sat in her chair again. "I've had that lined up for months now. Vacation is only two weeks away."

His laugh was a short forceful exhale of air. "Is that what you call it - vacation? I thought a vacation was when you relaxed."