Then he was moving, shoving his slacks down and covering her body with his. She loved how he pressed her into the bed, his weight and strength a comfort. When he joined them together, she wrapped her legs around him and matched his rhythm.

This was what she’d needed all along. There was something different now, something that caressed her soul and let her know that he was with her without any walls between them.

He kissed her and she found that plateau again, her body pulsing with pleasure and connection as her husband found his peak and then cuddled against her.

“You are the light in my life,” he whispered. “I realized today you always were, and it was so gray when you were gone. Let’s not be apart again.”

He shifted and then her head was on his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart.

It was a good sound to fall asleep to.

chapter fourteen

Sylvie came awake to the smell of coffee wafting into the room and smiled. Rene had found the coffeemaker.

She would wait in bed for him, and maybe they could stay there all day. There was a lot to do, but she could put it off to spend time with him, to revel in the way they’d settled everything the night before. Well, everything in their relationship. His family situation was still crazy up in the air.

She yawned and stretched and then realized she wasn’t alone in bed.

Rene’s eyes were still closed when he rolled over and wrapped an arm around her. “Good morning, gorgeous.”

“Did you make coffee and come back to bed? Please tell me you put on a robe, because the neighbors behind can see through the kitchen window.” Her husband’s naked backside might not be a scandal, but it would almost certainly be brought up at the next town hall. They’d spent two hours discussing that time when Zep’s swim trunks had come off while he was on a Slip ’N Slide at the church summer party.

He sighed and cuddled closer. “I haven’t been out of bed. Someone kept me up all night working hard to make sure she knew how awful I felt about our fight. I should point out that groveling was not as bad as I thought it would be. I kind of liked it.”

His version of groveling had been to make love to her over and over again. He’d been so good at it that she wouldn’t mind fighting with him again if it led to the same kind of night.

But that wasn’t the issue at hand. If he hadn’t made coffee, who was in their kitchen? Sylvie sat up. “I thought Andre was going to Mom’s.”