"Don't worry about it. That's the life of a salesman. He understands."
After letting Rod know, Nate headed back, his steps faltering a bit when he saw Lily standing outside the truck.
"I'll just follow you," Lily said as he reached her.
Nate gave a shake of his head. "Get back in the truck. I'll drive you there and then bring you back here."
She hesitated but when Nate opened the door and gave her a determined look, she climbed in without argument.
"Thank you again for helping me," Lily said as he drove the car out onto Main Street.
"Well, I owed you for all the bookkeeping you did for me. I'm happy to be able to return the favor."
"I hope I'm not premature in buying a car, but I saw the doctor this week, and he said I'm fine to drive. I will have to have some testing done before I go to renew my driver's license just to have it on file that I've been medically cleared to drive. And then, from what I've read, I'll have to renew my license every year instead of every four years."
Nate frowned. He hadn't even thought about how she would have to deal with getting a driver's license after being diagnosed with MS. "Well, I hope the tests go well so you are able to put your new car to good use."
Lily nodded. "I need to be able to get to the Twin Cities every once in a while without having to rely on someone taking me."
She should have been able to rely on him. But she'd never given him that chance.
Gripping the steering wheel, Nate tried to keep his thoughts from going in that direction. He was just surprised she was actually talking to him about this kind of stuff. "Do you think you'll have to go there frequently?"
"As long as things stay stable it should only be for the odd scan or trip to a specialist. But if things should start to decline, it could be more often."
"But would you be able to drive then?"
Lily was silent for a moment. "No, probably not."
Nate let the conversation drop as he turned into the lot of the other dealership. Once they'd hooked up with his contact there, Nate let Lily take the lead once again. They had one of the SUVs she was interested in on the lot, so the guy got them set up to take a test drive.
When he handed the keys to Lily, she looked at Nate. "Did you want to drive it?"
"Nope. This is gonna be your ride, so you need to be the one testing it out."
As they got into the vehicle, Nate realized that he'd never been in the passenger seat while Lily drove. In all their years as a couple, if they'd been going anywhere together, he'd always been the one to drive. He could tell she was nervous by the way she bit her lip and gripped the steering wheel with both hands.
He reached over and covered her hand. When she looked at him, her eyes were wide. "Relax. Focus on how it feels to you. Is the seat comfortable? Does the position of the steering wheel feel right? Just imagine you're driving one of the family cars."
Lily nodded, and he lifted his hand from hers. He saw her take a breath and exhale before carefully backing out of the parking spot. "Why don't you head to the highway that goes around the city and we'll come back in on the north end of town."
It took a few minutes, but finally Lily seemed to relax behind the wheel and gain confidence as she guided the vehicle along the highway. Coming back through the city, he could sense again that she was a little nervous with the traffic, but he was sure that had more to do with it not being her vehicle than her driving ability.
Aside from the odd comment about the car or their surroundings, the trip was made in silence. When she finally pulled into the spot in the lot, she leaned back against the seat, dropped her hands into her lap and let out a long sigh.
"Good job," Nate said and gave her a quick smile when she looked his way. "What do you think?"
"I like it." She reached out to grip the wheel. "I think I want to buy it."
Nate was surprised at her quick decision. "You don't want to take a little time to think about it?"
Lily shook her head. "After all my research, I had decidedthis was the top of my list and now that I've driven it, I'm convinced it’s the right one."
Well, it was her money, so far be it from him to argue with her. Not that he would have. He had to admit the car rode pretty nice for something that wasn't a truck. "Let's go have a chat with the sales guy."
Once inside the office, the salesman approached them, a broad smile on his face. "So? How did it feel?"
"I loved it," Lily said.
