I held down the fast-forward button as the date in the on-screen display crept onward, back toward the present-day. I stopped at yesterday, right as she walked into the room, and hit Eject. Julia appeared, in mid-walk into the room.

“Hi, hon,” I said, holding my breath. It was the moment of truth.

“Hi,” Julia said. She faltered. “I just came to pack up my things—but you know, now I’m not sure why I wanted to move out.”

I exhaled gladly. “I think you’ve been under a lot of stress at work lately,” I said, putting my arm around her shoulder. “I think we just need to spend a nice quiet evening at home, followed by plenty of rest.”

She smiled wearily. “Sounds good to me.”

“Take a load off. I’ll put on a movie, order out for pizza, and we’ll just relax.”

Now I would just have to cover up the fact that it was Saturday night instead of the Friday night she thought it was. But I had a plan to take care of that.