It’s nearly dinnertime when Jonah returns from his mother’s after all of one night away. His duffle bag is slung over his shoulder. He’s carrying an empty pickle jar full of herbs and a few zinnias from Vanessa’s garden.

“These are for you,” he says to me, or maybe Elizabeth. “From Mom.”

“That was nice of her,” Elizabeth says.

Generic pickles. Kosher dills.

I ask, “Where’s your sidekick?”

Elizabeth washes sage, mint, and fennel; finds a small crystal vase and fills it with water; then goes about rearranging Vanessa’s zinnias into something presentable.

“I don’t know,” Jonah finally answers. “I was going to ask you the same question.”

Elizabeth pretends not to care, but not me. I go out of my way to show I don’t care, asking, “How would we know what Nick’s up to?”

Jonah shrugs. “You saw him last.” He turns toward the stairs, duffle bag in tow.

“Wait,” I command. “He’s not with you?”

“I came straight from Mom’s, remember?”

Elizabeth moves next to me with her arms crossed against her chest.

“Yeah,” I say. “So? What, did you leave Nick there?” It would be funny—maybe even too perfect—if Nick started in on Vanessa now that his run with Elizabeth is over. Wouldn’t it just be too sweet if Vanessa’s meathead husband gave Nick his comeuppance?

Halfway up the stairs, Jonah finally gives us his full attention. “What are you talking about? Nick didn’t come to Mom’s house.”

Well, I’ll be damned.

Elizabeth blanches, and I know what she’s thinking. She’s thinking, He saw us. I’m thinking the same, to a different effect. We’re both imagining how we looked—our bodies in and out of water, glowing in the light of a snow-blinding full moon—but Elizabeth will be worrying about Nick’s feelings, and whether he believes she only dove to get his attention, to trick him into looking through a window, to force him to watch. Such worries, however, miss the point entirely, because the beauty of our show was its spontaneity and purity. We salted Nick’s wounds without meaning to. Our behavior was human nature, plain and simple, and by reclaiming my wife in front of Nick’s eyes, we reset the animal order around here. We did it together, Elizabeth and me. She’s paralyzed, though, so I’m the one who has to ask, “Where was Nick, then?”

Jonah rolls his eyes, lifts his shoulders, so annoyed with his father’s stupid questions. “Here, right?”

I can’t help myself. It’s a riot. “Here all weekend?”

“I assume so.” He gives Elizabeth a dirty look. “You guys didn’t know that?”

Elizabeth says, “Relax, Jonah,” but I can’t hold back. I laugh out loud and throw my arm around her shoulder and kiss the top of her head as she whispers, “It isn’t funny.”