The sky had grown darker by the time we were on the road. The thunderheads were still visible, but the winds had died down fast and the air was finally still. We were both a mess, tired, and dirty… Joe was angry at me, but I flattered myself that he was proud, too. I watched him at the wheel, and he was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.

“Come here,” he said, seeing my look from the corner of his eye. He pulled me next to him and I took my first deep breath in forever.

“I was afraid you’d never come back,” I confessed. “The storm hit and you hadn’t made it back. I felt the way I did when I was little and you’d left for college. Like I’d never see you again… like it was all over.”

“I’m not that easy to get rid of, Maggie,” he said back easily. “And I’m going to have hell to pay when we get back. I’ve never seen Dean so furious… He’s right, you know. You should have stayed behind… you do take risks. And he may never forgive me for wanting you… He doesn’t want to see you hurt. Neither do I.”

“You won’t hurt me, Joe… not as long as we’re together…”

He lifted my hand and kissed the back of it. “Do you remember the day I pushed you on the swing? I promised you I’d always be here… And I am.”

I also made you promise to marry me, I thought, feeling foolish at the memory. But it was just a promise to a child, to soothe her aching heart. A promise easily made and forgotten. But I still treasured the memory.

Joe turned the radio on and it hissed static. He turned the old knob back and forth, finally giving up. His hand came to rest comfortably on my thigh, and suddenly I wished I’d worn anything but long denim jeans. It felt like forever since I’d felt his hands on my skin.

It had only been yesterday…

I fought to stay awake as the old tires bumped a steady rhythm along the road. I kept my eyes open until I knew we were close. The light was almost entirely gone, and I rested my head against Joe’s solid shoulder and let the silence soothe me. I wanted to sleep, in a warm, safe bed. I wanted to wake up, back home in his arms…

“We’re here, baby.” I opened my eyes. Surely it had only been a minute...?

“Their truck is here… It looks like they made it just fine.”

The porch light flickered on and the front door opened. “Maggie… Joe…!” Margie leaned on the screen door as Ron came out to greet us. “You two look like… oh, my God… we heard on the news that a storm touched down close to town…”

“It touched down on top of the church,” Joe said, as we sagged down onto the sofa together. “Everybody’s fine… we just had to make sure you were, too.”

We spent the evening at the kitchen table, sharing the soup that Margie had made and telling them all that had happened.

“It’s been quiet as a mouse out here,” Ron said. “Who’d have thought…? We’d end up missing all the excitement…”

I leaned heavily against Joe’s arm. It had only been an hour since we’d arrived, and the food had made me relaxed and sleepy. Margie smiled at me indulgently. “Why don’t you two head up. I’ve got the dishes, and I’d imagine a hot shower would feel pretty good before bed. We’ve got the room off the kitchen…” She tipped her head toward a short hall. “Plenty of rooms upstairs…”

I thanked her from the bottom of my exhausted heart, and leaned against Joe as we climbed the stairs. Tired as I was, images of us flashed in my mind. The silky feel of his skin… the way that he’d touched me. He opened the door to the room we’d shared just last night… a lifetime ago… And I remembered the taste of him on my tongue…

He laughed softly when I reached out for him and caught my wrists in his big hands. “I know, Maggie… Me, too. But you’re exhausted, sweetheart. You need to sleep.”

I pressed my body against him, even as he held my wrists. My breasts pressed into his chest… I knew he wanted me, too…

“Tomorrow,” he promised gently, as he picked me up and carried me to the bathroom. He undressed me, as the old clawfoot tub filled with deliciously steamy water. Then he picked me up and put me in. Desire fought hard against the weight of weariness. My body responded to his touch as he began to wash me. But sleep was pulling me away, as teasingly and seductively as his gentle hands. The winds began to blow again outside, and the last thing I remembered was his voice as I drifted off…

“There’s nothing that won’t wait until morning, sweetheart. We have tomorrow, and a thousand more after that. Just sleep, Maggie…

Just sleep.”