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Joe s me well”

“I want to be sure you keep up your strength”

“Seriously, Devil, what is the surprise, and how long are we going to be—”

“Eat You’ll be less cranky after”

I kept driving as we ate Neither of us said much When ere both done, Joe collected all the trash, stuffed it into the bag, and put it down by his feet I took his hand, and we continued in co for about thirtyfarther and farther outside town, Joe spoke up I’d knownto protest the long drive

“Where are we going? What kind of surprise is all the way out here?”

“Well, you see… I’led sound, and I was glad I hadn’t told hi

“Vermont? You can’t just—”

“I can do anything I want to”

“Why do we need to go to Vermont?”

“For our honeymoon”

“What the fuck, Devil?”

“I found a cabin that will remind you of the one your foster faround now, and I’ll play in it with you I made sure there was a sled at the cabin, and I’ht The cabin has a gorgeous fireplace, so after we’ve been out in the cold, we can curl up in front of it”

I glanced over and saw hi at me in disbelief

“You’re fucking kidding me”

“You toldout in the country in the snow, so I—”

Joe sighed loudly and dropped his head back against the seat

I had known better than to think he was going to take this well, but once ere there, I would make sure he had the best week of his life

I wanted to tell hi to be perfect I wanted to convince him he needed this—we needed this—but I forcedI’d learned about Joe was that he needed tiu at once There’d been a few times when I’d just held him down and made him listen, but I couldn’t do that now I had to drive

“You wanted to go someplace tropical for our honeyet married someday”