He’d texted when he landed and then texted again to tell me goodnight. I hadn’t responded to either and hadn’t spoken to him all day yesterday.

So maybe this wasn’t a change of plans. Maybe it was just that he hadn’t told me — which was a change in itself.

“Stop it,” I whispered. I didn’t want to be that woman. The one who anticipated the worst. Being away from home and traveling with Dana didn’t automatically mean that was trouble. Jeremy wasn’t like that and I wasn’t going to will him to be. For ten years now, he’d been faithful; it would be crazy for him to change now. Plus, the least attractive woman to a man was a crazy, jealous wife.

Pushing myself up from the bed, I glanced in the leaning mirror and gave myself a nod of assurance. Everything was fine with me and Jeremy. We just had to straighten out some stuff.

And we would do that. When Jeremy got home. Tomorrow.

*****

Like Jeremy promised, my husband returned home this morning before I’d had a chance to roll over. The sun was just beginning its rise when I did and as my eyes fluttered open, my husband came into focus. He was standing right there as if he’d been waiting for me.

It would have been shocking, if it hadn’t been such a pleasant sight. Jeremy stood wearing nothing but his double-dimpled smile. And oh, his body saluted me, a clear indication that he’d missed me.

Without saying a word, Jeremy climbed into our bed, pushing the duvet aside. Then, he held himself in a plank over me and covered my face with the softest of kisses, his apology inside each one.

I parted my lips and my legs, accepting all of him, all that he wanted to say, all that he wanted me to feel. And as we made slow love, every doubt inside my mind faded away. Why had I been concerned? As I became faint with the overwhelming feeling of pleasure, I just couldn’t remember. There was no need for me to worry. Jeremy and I were as connected as we’d always been.

Throughout the rest of the day, the memory of this morning had stayed in my thoughts. In my office, I could hardly concentrate, my mind constantly took me back a few hours, especially every time I saw Jeremy. Even as he was standing in the hallway talking to Lizzy, all I could see was that sight of him this morning, naked as the day he’d been born.

More than a few times, Dru had asked me if I were okay. And after Lizzy had called my name a couple of times and I hadn’t heard her, she told me that maybe I needed to go home and take a break.

But the best part of the day (after this morning) had been Dana. The woman who daily, sauntered into the church offices as if she owned my world, today wore only a scowl. I’d even caught her once rolling her eyes at Jeremy after he’d asked her for a report and then turned his back.