"Come help me in the garage."
Clare's heart sunk. There was no please, this was not a request from Matt. She closed the message on the phone, knowing he'd know she had already read it and would be ticking away the time it took her to respond. Instead of replying she set the phone on the table and walked to the garage door. It would take her less time to get there, she reasoned, if she just obeyed his command without answering.
She already knew she was in trouble, she'd known it all day long. Today had gone off the rails first thing and this had hung over her head ever since. She was glad he wasn't waiting to clear the air, just get it over with as soon as he got home. A warm blast of outside air hit her face as she opened the door. Matt was standing by his workbench with his back to her, looking down at his phone. Waiting for her to answer. She closed the door behind her quietly.
"Yes, my love?" She asked.
He turned to face her, setting his phone on the workbench, screen down. God he was so handsome, even when she was dreading seeing him, her stomach filled with butterflies as he held his arms open to welcome her. She crossed the floor and allowed him to engulf her in his embrace. He lowered his face to her head and breathed in the scent of her. She knew she should say something but her tongue stayed fixed against her teeth. She couldn't make any words form. Finally Matt lifted his head and held her body slightly away from his so he could look into her face. She kept her eyes downcast, filled with shame at the stupid mistake she'd made that morning, she couldn't bear to look into his eyes.
"How fast were you going Clare?" He asked. She shook her head slightly, he probably already knew the answer, so she'd better give him the one he was looking for.
"Seventy-two." She answered softly.
"Hmmp." He grunted. She could feel his disappointment all the way to her soul. "That's a 55 zone through there Clare, you're looking at a Reckless Driving charge." He stated plainly. She had no idea how he knew she had been pulled over, or where he got the details from, but somehow he'd found out before she even had a chance to tell him about it. She had to assume he knew everything. "Why were you driving so fast? You left in plenty of time to get to work without speeding."
"I didn't mean to, the cruise control was set. I just didn't realize where I was and that I had already passed where the speed limit drops to 55." She answered, trying not to sound defensive.
"Where is your ticket?" He asked. She finally looked at his face
"He didn't write me." She answered. Slowly it dawned on her what must have happened.
As the deputy returned her drivers license and registration papers and informed her he was letting her go with a warning he delivered a message: "Lieutenant Bryant says to tell you to 'slow the fuck down' Ma'am." He'd said before walking away from her window.
Lieutenant Tim Bryant to be specific. The husband of one of her best friends, and also a good friend to her and best friend to her husband. "Tim." She thought silently, now she knew exactly how Matt found out about it so fast.
He'd messaged her as she was pulling into the parking lot at work, "Are you OK?" She figured he was worried because she hadn't messaged him to let him know she'd arrived at work safely as she did every day. Being pulled over hadn't caused her to be late for work, but it had made her arrival at work later than the normal time, and Matt would have realized it.
She replied with a quick "Yes my love." And then put her phone away. It was true, she was fine. She hadn't lied. Now she wondered just how much she would come to regret that half-truth.
There had been no further messages from Matt all day, she assumed he was busy, and pretended she was too busy as well, but she knew that no matter how busy his day was, he could have squeezed out a message or two if he wanted to. That he didn't spoke volumes.
"How much trouble am I in?" She finally managed to say. She knew whatever he'd decided her punishment should be she would just accept it without defending herself. Instead of answering her question he pushed her body away from him.
"Take your panties off and hand them to me." He ordered. She flushed at the command, but quickly moved to comply, slipping the thin fabric down her legs, stepping out then handing them to him. He crumpled them and stuffed them into his front pants pocket.
"Well, Clare, that's up to you. How you conduct yourself at dinner tonight will tell me a lot about what needs to happen to correct your lead foot." Matt said.
"Dinner tonight?" She was puzzled, what does dinner tonight have to do with anything.
"Yes, Clare, I am taking you out to dinner, and the deputy who pulled you over this morning will be meeting up with us so you can apologize to him for your behavior and assure him you will not be speeding anymore."
Clare's heart sunk. She was never good with apologies, especially to people she didn't know, and now it was a command performance. Her brain was absolutely going to fuck this up, she just knew. Her tongue suddenly felt heavy in her mouth. This was not going to end well. Matt was still looking down at her, waiting on her response. "Yes love." She finally answered.
*******
The restaurant was crowded and loud as Matt pulled her chair out and waited for her to be seated. She was glad they hadn't been given a booth, she loved having him assist with her chair, even though it seemed like such an old fashioned tradition. "His momma raised a perfect gentleman." She thought as a smile crossed her face. "Thank you." She said as she settled in. He leaned down and gave her a quick kiss before seating himself.
Suddenly the chair across from her was being pulled out and her friend Shannon was facing her. "Hi Clare!" She said brightly. Clares face flushed pink as she realized that Tim and Shannon were being given front row seats to her humiliation. Tim held the chair his wife was settling into and smiled his big smile in her direction.
"Clare." He said giving his standard nod in her direction.
"Hi Shannon. Hi Tim." She said hoping she didn't sound as strained as she felt. Tim passed a large brown bag to Matt before taking a seat himself.
"What's in the bag?" Clare mouthed to Shannon, confused about the exchange between their husbands.
Shannon shrugged. "Tim said Matt was borrowing some tools or something, I don't know." Clare thought that made a lot of sense, they were almost brothers, and were constantly trading things back and forth. It was consistent with their relationship. Suddenly Tim was on his feet again, holding his hand out to shake the hand of a man who had approached their table. Matt stood as well and shook the strangers hand. Then Clare realized this was not a stranger, this was their dinner guest. Shannon looked up and said "Oh hi Scott!"
Matt gestured to the empty chair beside Clare and said "Clare, I'd like you to meet Deputy Scott Clemmons, a good friend of both Tim and me."
Clare turned her head toward Deputy Scott. "It's nice to meet you." She said with what she hoped was a friendly smile, but she knew her cheeks were flushing a bright pink in spite of her best efforts to control them.
"Ma'am." Deputy Scott tipped his head in her direction as he seated himself beside her.
