“I did. I don’t know if it makes me a bad person to appreciate the fact that others have gone through the emotional wringer, but hearing James’s story made me appreciate a few more things.”
“I don’t know that I’d be so upbeat after having had people shoot at me.”
James’s honesty had surprised Dan. His willingness to talk about his mental and emotional breakdown after serving in Africa as a medical missionary had given Dan new respect for the power of honest sharing.
“Do you think he’ll ever want to go back?”
“I don’t think so.” Even though the worlds could hardly contrast more. From poverty to wealth. Fear to relative safety. “Do you think your parents would ever want to go back to PNG?”
“No.”
“Would you?” he asked, curious.
She glanced at him, as the lights of various houses washed paleness over her face. “I was just a child when we left, so no, not really. Sometimes it feels like a dream. Like it wasn’t really real.”
“And now?”
She turned more fully in her seat. Smiled at him. “Well, after last night, I think I’d much rather live in this reality.”
“Me too.” His heart thudded. Last night had proved a special time for both of them. He picked up her hand and kissed it. “I’d be very happy to revisit that again tonight.”
She laughed, and his soul seemed to relax a little more. It had been a long time since he’d heard her laugh the way she had in the last week, ever since she’d returned from Jackie’s with a smile, then proceeded to tell him about the funny conversations there.
“Is that a no?” he mock-complained.
“That’s a ‘we’ll see.’ It depends on whether your brother has finally decided to appear.”
His brother. Sam. He’d been on quite the spiritual journey in recent years, and his on again, off again relationship with a local photographer was currently off. Dan had sent him an invitation to join them in Muskoka, and Sam had said he’d try to show sometime in the next few days, but Dan had come to not trust too much of what his brother said.
“I think we’d be safe.”
“You say that, but I can just picture us having fun married times and he knocks on the door, or worse, doesn’t knock, and just barges in.”
“Sam do that? You’re right. He would.”
“See? So that kind of kills any amorous mood I might be feeling.”
“Amorous mood, huh?”
Her glance at him held fire. “Very amorous.”
His breath hitched. He pressed down on the accelerator. Okay, he was getting them home, pronto.
Muskoka was slowly getting them back to where they used to be. At ease with each other, relaxed, comfortable, tease as much as affection signaling their relationship was deep. They’d been friends first, then attraction had set in. He’d fallen first, while Sarah had battled with what a new relationship meant about her feelings for her dead fiancé. But he’d had no doubts about her feelings since. She’d made that very clear on their wedding night. And every other night she could too. And it was only his husbandly duty to reciprocate. Which was what he planned to do as soon as they got home.
Morning light streamedacross the sheets. Last night’s muggy temperatures, along with their adventures, meant they were tangled. But then they always were with Sarah. Her sister had warned him before they were married that Sarah liked to burrow into the bedcovers, creating a nest. He glanced across, smiling as she lay there, true to form. One arm under the pillow, the other hand bunching the sheet up to her chin, her eyes buttoned shut in that way he found adorable. “I love you, Sarah.”
She smiled, her eyes still closed. “I love you too.”
He could stare at her all day. The curve to her cheek that was approaching its normal fullness. The milky white of her shoulder, with its smattering of tiny freckles. She’d always said she found the contrast between their skin tones interesting, and that she’d wished her fair skin didn’t burn or show embarrassment so easily. He loved that it made her easy to read.
She was beautiful. And relaxed in their bed like this, after all the weeks of tears and fears, it fueled hope that one day they might find a way forward.
A noise came from outside. He frowned. What—?
He drew on his boxers and went downstairs. The window revealed a sports car out the front. He instantly pivoted, then rushed up the stairs. “Hey, Princess?”
“Mmm?” She stretched, and slowly blinked open her eyes. “Is my handsome husband here to have his way with me again?” She smiled provocatively.
