We got in and put our seat belts on and he sighed deeply, as if he had something to say, but instead he took my hand and kissed it as he pulled out onto the dark road. We were headed back home but about two miles down the road, without any indication that he was going to do it, Jason pulled off at one of the tiny beaches. It looked vaguely familiar to me and as he parked the car and invited me into the backseat with him, I realized it was a place we’d stopped a few times on our way up the coast. It wasn’t much of a beach, just a tiny strip of sand, but it was secluded by the dunes and the brush and had been a perfect place for us to stop and ravage one another and watch the sunrise in those earlier days. He put his strong arm around my shoulders and just held me, both of us enjoying the quiet and calm of being together like this again. And then he tipped my face to his and kissed me, and we had the most intimate moment of our entire marriage there in the backseat. It was an apology and a thank-you and a promise all at once, that kiss.
