Page 10 of The Summer Save
I know you have your doubts that I will follow through and my actions in the past have shown that I put my career in front of our marriage, but not anymore. You have my undivided attention this summer, and for however long it takes us to fix us.
You are the love of my life. I’m sorry for ever making you doubt that.
With the paper pressed against my chest, I inhaled deeply. “Oh, Jonas. Please, please, please keep your word. Somewhere along the way, we lost each other. My wish is we find ‘us’ again. Maybe one magical summer in Seaside is what we need to get on the same page about our lives again.”
Once I dressed for the day, I made my way to the living where I found Jonas reading. “Good morning, sweetheart.”
I accepted his outstretched hand before leaning down to kiss him. What I intended to be a quick kiss, he turned into more by guiding me to sit on his lap. His fingers threaded through my hair as he applied pressure, deepening our kiss. I moaned against his lips as his tongue slipped into my mouth. We’d always been good at this from the first kiss. Our bodies simply knew what the other craved, and there’d never been awkwardness or fumbling. When he eased us to a stop, I settled further into his lap. “Well, that’s one way to say good morning.”
“Remind me why we ever stopped kissing like that first thing in the morning.” He pressed his lips to my hand before resting our interlinked fingers against his heart.
“I’ll give you two hints, and they both call you dad.” Between their squeals of disgust seeing us kiss, our busy mornings getting them out the door to school, or heading in different directions to take them to early practices and then school, our good morning kiss went from practically a make-out session to a quick greeting that felt obligatory, not desired.
His nose nuzzled against mine before he kissed my temple. “I guess we never picked up the habit again once they both moved out. And that’s a damn shame because kissing you has always been my favorite part of the day.”
I shifted slightly on his lap, tilted my head, and grazed my fingernails down his beard. “Then we should do it again.”
He instantly accepted my offer and covered my lips with his. His fingers dug into my hips as he repositioned me without breaking our kiss. My knees pressed into the cushions as I sunk into his lap. His arm snaked around my back and guided my chest against his. His lips left mine as they slid down my chin and then licked my neck. My greedy body wanted more as I rocked against him, but the nagging voice in the back of my mind told me to slow down. We’d always been good at this. The physical had never been our issue, and at one time, the communication was just as strong. But years ago, we slipped into the habit of letting physical needs and desires rule and then we lost our connection.
As soon as my fingers gripped his shirt’s hem, he stopped me. “Wait, not yet. We’re keeping our clothes on today. Just kissing, sweetheart.”
I peppered kisses along his jawline before taking his earlobe between my lips and gently sucking. It was one of the things that drove him wild. “I’ve missed this,” I whispered as his hands gently massaged my ass.
“Me, too.” He settled me back into my original spot on his thigh and draped my legs across his. “Please don’t take my request to wait as a rejection or not wanting this. I want nothing more than to scoop you into my arms, carry you to the bedroom, and ravage you. Hell, I’d love to feast on you while you were spread out on the table. The physical has never been our issue, sweetheart. And when we first started therapy, there were too many nights we skipped the conversations and jumped into bed because we caved to the carnal desires, likely hoping it solved the issue.”
My face nuzzled against his neck as I inhaled deeply. He smelled like salty air, lavender, and musk. “It never worked. Giving into each other’s bodies never fixed us. That’s not what’s broken.”
His lips warmed my forehead. “Good thing we have the summer. Lots of time to figure everything out. What do you say? Ready to head out?”
“Yeah. I’m going to grab a sweatshirt just in case it’s chilly later.”
He pointed toward the backpack on the couch. “I already packed them. And water, plus a small towel and baby powder so we can get the sand off our feet after we walk along the beach. Since we’re walking, I figured I’d carry our things in the backpack, and there’s plenty of room for anything we pick up. I even grabbed the rocks we decorated to take to the beach. The rest are on the table. We can put them in the planter beds when we get home.”
I practically jumped off his lap. “You thought of everything.”
“Tried to,” he said with the coy smile that I’d fallen in love with the first time I saw him. He linked his fingers with mine after tossing the bag onto his back. “Let’s go, sweetheart. We have our first adventure waiting.”
As Annie and I walked home from our daylong adventure, I dropped my arm over her shoulders, and she slid her arm around my waist. Today was a perfect recreation of our first date, with the addition of breakfast at our favorite café. After breakfast, we went to the coffee shop, where we ordered the same drinks we did thirty-five years ago. Then I led her to the bookstore, where she gushed to Sophie over the bookshelf filled with blind date books and thanked her for helping me. Then, we looked through the lined journals and chose one to use as our summer journal. We settled on an ombre pattern that reminded each of us of the sunset. After we strolled through a few shops, I offered to buy her ice cream, but she declined because she was still full from breakfast and coffee. I convinced her to choose a sandwich from the deli to share later because I knew we’d spend hours at the beach.
“Thank you for spending the day reliving favorite memories with me. The names of places may have changed a few times since that first summer, but the memories remain.”
Her fingertips trailed across my stomach. “It was a perfect day. And quite a surprise you pulled off having a sun canopy and two lounge chairs at the beach. I’m guessing Michael took care of that.”
I opened the gate to our walkway and held it open for her. “And he’s picking it up for us. He was happy to help. I figured that was another addition to our day you’d enjoy. Early 20s, sitting at the beach on nothing but a towel is one thing, but mid- to late-50s is another. Plus, you’ve gotten more sensitive to the sun over the years. Didn’t want you to burn.”
She raised onto her tiptoes and kissed my chin. The same way she had at the end of our first date because she had a strict ‘no kissing on the first date’ rule. Or, more accurately, her father had a ‘no kissing’ at all rule, and he was standing at the window watching us when I brought her home. “Thank you for a perfect day, Jonas.”
“You’re welcome, sweetheart. Now, let’s head into the house. I’ll make dinner, and you can pick tonight’s activity.”
She turned to face me as she opened the front door. “I figured it would be best if we just followed the workbook from therapy. Did you happen to bring yours? If not, we can share.”
“I have mine. We already did some of the activities. Let’s just continue from where we left off?”
She kicked her shoes into the basket by the door before stepping into the house, and I did the same. Then we each went to our temporary rooms to change, having both already decided we were going to slip into pajamas or lounge clothes for the rest of the evening. Before heading into the kitchen to work on dinner, I dropped my workbook and pen on the coffee table, along with our new journal. When Annie joined me twenty minutes later, her hair was slightly damp, and her skin glowed from the after-shower body oil she always used in the summer. The coconut and sea salt scent lingered through every room. The music from one of my favorite bands streamed through the whole house speakers. I got my love of Creedence Clearwater Revival from my mom. At first, Annie had teased me about my love of old music. Over the years, she’d learned to love them, too. As soon as her bare feet touched the kitchen tile, I wiped my hands on the towel that was slung over my shoulder, and then I guided her into my arms. “Dance with me?”
We spent the next fifteen minutes dancing in the kitchen. My playlist was a mix of my favorites, from classic rock to the songs we grew up with to the songs our children had loved in their youth. My ridiculous attempt at the Roger Rabbit left my beautiful wife bent over in laughter. “Jonas Kennedy, you couldn’t do that dance thirty years ago. Why are you attempting it now?”