“Come on,” Lily would say, tugging his hand. “Let's take them swimming. We can go out to the big rock.”

“It's covered with bird shit,” he would say, sitting on the porch, absorbed in his laptop. He barely even looked up, so he didn't see the looks of first exasperation and then resolve pass across Lily's face.

“Okay then,” she said, patiently trying another angle. “Let's take them snorkeling. I saw some lobsters in the cove yesterday.”

“I'm trying to get my resumé together,” he'd snap. “Can't you see that?”

Lily didn't believe him. She knew that he was playing computer games, because she could see his screen reflected in the cottage window behind him. She thought of asking him why he never seemed to care about getting his resumé together except when the kids were over. He seemed completely unconcerned with finding a job he really liked, just coasting from brokerage firm to brokerage firm, never really getting entrenched anywhere, sometimes leaving even before his commission checks came in. Lily took a deep breath, determined to salvage the day. She grabbed his hand.

“Edward,” she said.

He didn't reply.

“Please?”

“Go have fun with your little friends,” he said.

“I will,” she said. “I hope you'll play with our kids when we have them.”

He just kept tapping on the keyboard, and she shook her head, feeling frustrated. The kids waited on the rocks, faces turned up toward the cottage. They had seen this same interaction before; Lily could see they weren't expecting much from Edward.

She was halfway down the small grassy hill to the seawall, when Edward said, “Hey.” Lily turned back, shielding her eyes against the sun to look at him.

“You look good,” he said, smiling. She was wearing a blue tank suit, and her body was thin and strong.

“Thank you,” she said, wondering if this was supposed to be a peace offering. In case it was, she smiled.

“Women ruin their figures when they get pregnant,” he said. His smile widened.

Lily had reddened, stopped in her tracks. Why did he have to say that, with the kids right there? Her eyes stung with hot, sudden tears. Down on the rocks, she went through the motions of tying on sinkers, baiting hooks, helping the children cast into the bay. She had felt numb, though. Edward's words could do that to her.

That night, in bed, he had seemed so avid, as if he wanted to make it up to her. Edward's ardor was really rare, so she fought to push her hurt aside, wrapping her arms around his neck, arching her back, trying to work up feelings of passion.