“Is that the…” said Bucky as they stopped at a red light.    
    “Funeral home for Susan’s father. Yes,” said Loie. In a few more minutes they had found Amanda and Bill’s house. They had just decided their knock was not going to be answered when Amanda opened the door. She was surprised to see them, exclaiming so in a hoarse voice. Loie and Bucky said they wouldn’t stay, explained how they had been in Glen Burnie and then the hospital, and decided to drop by just to say hello and see the renovations. The fresh paint in the living room did indeed brighten the first floor, and having the boys made to keep their toys upstairs helped contain the clutter. Loie and Bucky both congratulated Amanda on the improvements, and sympathized with her being so sick.
    “OK, we’re not hanging out with any more sick people,” said Bucky, fanning his cap in the air, as if to ward off infection. “We’ve got to get home to see to the cats, so just look at your card, don’t lose that.” Amanda had put the card down on the coffee table. Loie and Bucky started out the door.
    “Want to make sure you see it,” said Bucky as they walked down the porch stairs. The front door closed, then a moment later, when the Lovebunnies were at the end of the walk, the door opened and Amanda called out, “Oh you guys, thank you.” Loie and Bucky waved as they walked around the corner.
    “I wanted to make sure she didn’t just bury that in some pile of stuff by mistake, being sick and groggy,” said Bucky.
    “That was good thinking,” said Loie. Now they were finally on their way home. There wasn’t a lot of conversation as they drove. Each was off in their own thoughts of family in trouble, and groggy after a long day of sitting indoors doing very little.
    Rocket Grrl’s cruise control drove on in the dark. Eventually Bucky said, “What’s for supper?” This was Lovebunny code for “What would you like me to cook?”
    “We could go out for supper,” said Loie. “It’s been kind of a long day. We could have a treat.”
    “Oh,” said Bucky, “We could have sushi.”
    “Yes, or burgers.”
    “Well, that would be fun. But you know, Tictoc’s been inside all day, and he’s probably been bothering Gunther.”
    “Mmm, that’s true.”
    “We have leftover turkey, and some sausagers, and salad. That would be good by me.”
    “A pleasant evening at home. Bottle of wine?”
    “Of course.”
    “OK, that sounds good to me too. Leftovers and salad and wine and just unlax for the evening.” By now of course, the evening was over; it was almost eight o’clock and full night, but the idea was the same. The Lovebunnies were looking forward to getting home.
    As they were driving up the road to Westminster, Bucky suddenly laughed, and patted Loie’s knee.
    “What else do we have to do tonight?”
    “Do we need to stop for supper supplies?”
    “No, I’m remembering something really important. What do we have to do?” Bucky was patting and rubbing Loie’s knee, encouraging her to put on her thinking cap.
    “I don’t know,” said Loie. “We’re going home.”
    “Nope. Get Trucker!”
    “Oh good lord. Of course, Trucker’s still at the gym. You’re good tonight,” said Loie. It was a tradition with the Lovebunnies to have Bucky meet Loie so they could drive together, and to forget completely about retrieving poor Trucker. It would be impossible to remember all the times they had driven up to the house, only to exclaim they had left Trucker, forsaken, in a parking lot.
    “What made you think of him?” said Loie.
    “A long train of thought. First I thought of going out for supper. Then I thought, hey, we could go to the Super Buffet. Then I thought, no, Loie wouldn’t want to eat there. Then I thought, but, I could just stop there in Trucker, and you could go on home. Then I thought, ” Now Loie laughed too.
    “Now you have to remember me, because I’m going to forget again by the time we get to Westminster,” said Bucky. And Loie did remind Bucky, who might have been forgetting, as they got to the turnoff for the mall and the gym.

Just Around the Bend
    “I’ll see you at home,” said Loie as Bucky got out to find Trucker. “Just leave everything in my car. We’ll sort it out at home. Oh, and I’m going to stop for gas.”
    “Yes,” said Bucky, “Rocket Grrl is hungry. I am too.”
    “Start supper,” said Loie. “I’ll see you soon.” By now she was seated behind Rocket Grrl’s wheel, ready to pull away. Bucky waved and got in Trucker. The Lovebunnies were almost home.

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