“Good. Remind me to thank Bex later.”

“Oh,” Lillian put a thin arm around me and pulled me to her side, “he’s happy to do it. I’m going to catch a ride with Chad and Beth. She’s a sweet girl.”

“Yes, she is,” I smiled.

“See you at home. Come over for dinner soon, okay?”

“Promise,” Jared said, kissing her forehead.

“I love you both!” she waved, following Beth and Chad to another waiting vehicle.

“Where is our car?” I asked.

“I have the bike I drove over.”

I looked down to my dress. “You’re kidding.”

Jared laughed once. “No. Not at all.” He crouched and then brought up a bunched wad of my dress in his hands. “It’s a nice night. It’ll be fun.”

I shook my head and shrugged. “Why not? Cynthia’s not here to freak out about it.” I took the bunched tulle and silk under my arm and then took Jared’s hand. He led us past the band to a small dirt bike. We took several back roads that led us through a village or two—it was so dark I wasn’t sure if it was tin buildings passing by or just shadows cast by the trees. Before long, the trees thinned, and Jared slowed to a stop. Sounds of waves caressing the shoreline weren’t far away.

Jared took my hand, and we walked beyond the trail until I could feel wet sand breaching the borders of my sandals. The half-moon stubbornly glowed behind a thin, broken layer of clouds. We ambled to where the ocean met the sand, and walked along the beach. We didn’t talk, just walked hand in hand, listening to Little Corn.

The moon finally broke free of the clouds, and its silver light danced on the water. We came upon a large rock, and Jared motioned for me to sit.

“You must be exhausted,” he said, sitting next to me.

“I’m tired, but you only get one wedding day. I can feel a second wind coming on.”

Jared eyes turned soft, and they lingered on my lips. “I just wanted to be alone with you and the island for a little while.”

His eyes seemed to glow in the silver light, and suddenly I was nervous. It was silly to feel that way—I was pregnant, after all—but the pressure of our wedding night made it new again. We had no constraints; no worries about a pregnancy, or being walked in on, or nightmares. It was just us, and the knowledge that we were about to consummate our marriage. For whatever reason, that made me incredibly anxious.

“What is it?” Jared asked.

Knowing I couldn’t comfortably explain my feelings without some embarrassment, I pulled him to me and touched my lips to his.

He pulled away, laughing once. “I’m a bit nervous about tonight, isn’t that ridiculous?”