Jason hung up, his heart fluttering at the turn of events. He looked at Connie who had an apprehensive, expectant look on her face. Her green eyes stunned him with their beauty; for a moment he couldn't remember what his father had just said.

"What happened?" said Connie.

"Nothing yet. It's weird but—Dad didn't sound like himself. That's why I was concerned at first. He said nothing was wrong, just that he's going to Chicago."

"What for?"

"He said he was going for UPF, but I have a feeling that he's leaving something out. When I asked all he said was, 'I don't want to tell you till I know for sure.' I have no idea what he meant by that."

"So what did you mean by going to DC?"

"Well here's the other interesting part. Dad was invited to DC by the Agency. Seems they want to honor him—off the record of course—for fifty years of service. Because he has to go to Chicago, he can't go to DC and he wondered if I wanted to go for him. You could go too, if you want."

"I do."

"I thought you might. Just keep in mind, it will involve fancy parties, and hotels, and dresses and staying up late and getting up late….I don't know if you'd want to go."

"Jason, are you kidding me! Oh. You are." She slapped him lightly on the shoulder. "You know me. That sounds like the kind of adventure I'd like. It doesn't involve danger, does it?"

He shook his head. "Not unless you mean the DC heat. It can get brutal, believe me. Anyway, we'll be inside most of the time. We're invited to a reception for some ambassador or other. We don't have to go— we could just pick up the award later—but I thought you might like to."

"It sounds like fun!"

"It can kind of be like another honeymoon. Our last one got cut a bit short. We can stay in the best hotels, and I can treat you to the best DC has to offer."

"You don't have to be so extravagant as that!"

"You're worth it."

"After all you've done—I can never repay you."

"You do. All the time." His heart ached with love for her. He'd been with her, but without her, for so long that everything she did satisfied him completely yet drove him crazy with longing. Every look she gave him that burned with love tore him to the core and yet he had to be careful to take it easy, not drive her away. Be extra attentive to her every need, do whatever she wanted, do whatever he could to avoid ever going back to living with that agonizing distance between them.

"When are we supposed to go?" she asked.

"Here's the thing—we have to leave tomorrow."

"Tomorrow!"

"Is that okay?"

She looked away, holding the flowers close to her chest. Then she looked back at him, her eyes sparkling with guarded excitement. "I can't live my life afraid something might happen. Let's do it."

"Just so you're sure."

"As long as you want to."

"I really don't care as long as I'm with you. This could be just what we need. Something out-of-the-ordinary to help us move on, and then we can come home and get back to normal."

"Better than normal."

"Better than normal." He nodded. "We'd better start getting ready."

"And we can put these flowers in some water before they get completely destroyed."

Jason climbed off of the rock, feeling a bit stiff. I'm not as young as I once was…and all my injuries don't help. I'm like a football player—out of the game by 40.

He grasped Connie's hand as she stepped off the rock, clutching the flowers. After putting her shoes on, she walked beside him back through the trees. His jeans were cold and soggy from falling into the stream, but that was nothing. He'd go through a thousand times worse than he ever had to bring Connie happiness.

Across the field, they reached the car at the edge of the gravel road and drove back to Odyssey. Back at home, Connie stuck the flowers in a vase and put them on the table. Sunlight shone through their translucent lavender petals.

She stood silhouetted against the light. To touch such an astonishing being—how had he ever dared entertain the thought? He could never reconcile the fact that someone so beautiful in so many ways had chosen him. He should be content that she deigned to look at him. And yet—he couldn't help but need more of what she was every second.

He stepped up to her. Reached toward her, then stopped. He had to let her take the initiative; he couldn't presume she needed his touch as much as he needed hers.

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Her eyes caught his, mesmerizing him, freezing him in place. Her lips, so devastatingly perfect….

"I suppose it's time to pack," she said.

He cleared his throat. "Yeah, I'd better call Dad back and finalize our flight."

"Okay! I'll get our suitcases out." And she dashed upstairs, oblivious of her effect on him.

He called his father back on his cell phone. Thankfully it hadn't gotten soaked in the river, just a little residual dampness.

"Hi, Dad."

"Hi Jason. What have you decided?"

"We want to go. Connie's excited about it."

"Wonderful. I might have given you the opportunity even if I wasn't going to Chicago. This way I have a good excuse. You'll enjoy it more than I would, anyway."

"I want to treat her, do everything I can for her, and show her how much I love her. It seems like if I did everything I possibly could for her it would never be enough."

"That's because your love can't be contained by material things—it goes far beyond that."

"I want to give her everything I can, but at the same time I have to hold back because I don't know what she wants."

"Sometimes love is restraint as much as it is expression. Love is patient."

"I know. But part of my love is selfish—I need her, I can't stand any sort of distance between us especially after all that happened—but I have to put her needs first."

"That's true. But you're a partnership now. Your needs are important too. You should tell her about how you feel, what you need and want."

"Yeah. I suppose so. I just don't want to do anything that might—I mean, so close to what happened, things are fragile now, I don't want to go too fast or do something that might ruin what we have."

"Just make sure you communicate in love what you are thinking when the time is right. And give yourselves some credit. You had a good foundation before you were married. You complement each other, and you are both strong, compassionate people. You can work any issue out if you want it enough, with God's help."

"Thanks, Dad. I just want to make sure that the foundation we rebuild is strong. I don't want to risk it falling apart again."

"This was a horrible test it had to go through. It was neither of your faults—and Connie went through it in a different way than you did. It would've shaken anyone's foundation. Now that you've weathered this test, it's unlikely to happen again."

"That's part of it, though. She's afraid that something is wrong, that she won't ever be able to have a healthy baby. I'm okay with it, if she doesn't want to have a child….I get why she'd think that way and I don't want to push the issue. I definitely don't want to bring it up so soon. But Dad, I—" His voice caught. "I want kids. I want to see little Connies and Jasons running around. I want—I'm sorry, I shouldn't be talking about this to you when I can't talk about it to her."

"It can help to talk about it. Eventually, you'll have to deal with this."

"Another thing we have to deal with…eventually. Right now I want to focus on this trip.

"By the way, are you all right, Dad?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Your last phone call…"

"It's nothing."

"So you're going to Chicago, skipping the Agency's invite, for nothing?"

"Well….it could be nothing. I'm sorry, I don't want to be so mysterious, but it's something that could concern you, and I don't want to say anything till I know for sure. Once you're back from DC, I should know."

"Okay. I'll have to be satisfied with that. But you know me, I can't just let things go, it's my job to find out secrets, remember?"

"I'll tell you as soon as I know one way or another."

"Just so you're okay."

"I'm fine."

"Good." Jason wasn't totally convinced, and he was mystified about his dad's behavior. But he'd just have to wait and find out later. Time to get ready to go to DC with Connie.

He said goodbye and took his laptop to the couch and looked up the airline. He found 2 tickets for 6:30 a.m. but he didn't want to book them before he asked Connie. That flight was pretty early. So he went upstairs to their room.

She stood with her back to him in front of the closet, sliding clothes hangers apart. Her half of the closet was almost empty. Most of the clothes were piled on the bed, smothering the suitcases.

"Connie?"

She turned around. "What?" Her hair was disheveled, a strand fallen enticingly over her cheek.

"We don't need to bring the whole closet. Unless you're planning to stay longer than a couple days."

She spread her hands, making an exasperated noise. "I don't have anything to wear! Some of these are okay for a party here in Odyssey, but in DC they'd look like something from the thrift shop! Some of them are from the thrift shop!" She gestured to the dresses on the bed.

He picked up a lavender one. "What about this one?"

"Jason, that's just some old sundress, I don't even wear that now. I should throw it out." She snatched it from him and tossed it onto the floor.

"What about this one?" He picked up a white dress.

"That's my wedding dress. It's like the best one I have but I can't exactly wear that." She took it from him and cradled it in her arms.

"What about the dresses you wore in Paraguay?" He dug in the pile again, a little more judiciously, and pulled out a melon-colored one that he remembered her wearing and being spectacular in. But then, she looked good in anything.

"That's more for a day at the beach or going shopping. I don't really have a good formal evening dress."

He tossed it back on the pile. "Well, we could go buy one."

She sighed. "That's what I'll have to do. I'll just zip out to the mall tonight and see if I can find something."

"Or if we took an early flight we could go shopping in DC."

Her eyes lit up. "Really? I bet they have amazing shopping centers out there. They'd have anything I'd want. I don't want to get something too expensive, though. How early is the flight?"

"Six-thirty. We'd get there by 10:30 or 11."

"Well, that'd give us enough time to shop. Or me, anyway—you don't have to come along."

"I'll probably just wear what I wore to our wedding. But I'll come along, if you don't mind."

"You sure?"

He nodded. "Is six-thirty too early though? We'll have to get up at 5 and go to bed at like 9."

"That's okay. I'd better get packed. I'll pack a default dress just in case, but no guarantee I'll be able to step out in public in it." She carefully hung her wedding dress back in the closet. Jason helped her hang up the other dresses and packed his clothes while she debated what clothes to pack in her suitcase.

"You know," he said, "it doesn't matter what you wear. Not to me. You are always beautiful."

"I saw myself in the mirror after I came upstairs. I'm a mess."

"I've never seen a more beautiful mess." He stepped over to her.

He hesitated to touch her but she took his hand in hers, threading her fingers through his. She slipped her other hand into his hair and gave him a slow, soft kiss. Shivers raced down his skin at her touch.

She pulled back. "Thank you, Jason."

"For what?"

"For being so….Jason." She smiled.

She continued packing while he went down to fix supper. They had dinner together, the forget-me-nots as a centerpiece, and then sat on the porch to watch the sunset while the crickets hummed a constant melody.

Then they headed upstairs and crawled into bed. She curled up beside him, a contented look on her face. Soon she fell asleep.

He knew he should sleep too because it would be a long day tomorrow, but his heart kept pounding in a fevered anticipation.

He tried to make his thoughts quiet down; he used to have no trouble going to sleep, even before a dangerous mission. Looking at her, he gloried in the curve of her porcelain cheek in the dark. He longed to touch her but dared not disturb her, settling for brushing back one lock of hair from her cheek. She stirred, snuggling closer to him, smiling in her sleep. He wrapped his arm around her and she laid her head against his chest. Secure and warm beside her, he let sleep creep up on him, and soon it claimed him without resistance.