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That gave us time for nothing more than an occasional heart
     scrawled on a Post-it note slapped on the fridge. Hardly enough to keep the fires of passion burning brightly.
    Now it seemed he had time. I could hardly complain about his desire to indulge in some marriage maintenance.
    So I closed my eyes, concentrated on Dan, and allowed myself a quiet moment of leaning, concentrating on the welcome warmth
     of his shoulder, the rough hairs on the back of his hands layered under mine. I had always loved Dan's hands. The first time
     he kissed me, his fingers played over my face as if reading my features by Braille.
    “Do you think you'll have enough temptation for later?” Dan growled, his voice heavy with innuendo.
    And now I was thinking about “her” again, juxtaposed against images of a female praying mantis who ate her males after they
     mated.
    The forgetting would come, I assured myself as Dan's arms held me close. A time would come when I wouldn't imagine her in
     Dan's arms. When I wouldn't wonder if that faraway look in his eyes was about her.
    “What do you mean, later?” I asked hoping the right amount of flirtation slipped into my voice, reassured that he still found
     me attractive.
    “For the meeting. After supper.”
    “Oh.” My heart downshifted with a mixture of relief and disappointment. He meant cookies.
    “I talked to Gloria and she agreed that we should get together like Mom suggested to bring me up to speed.”
    Meanwhile I was trying to switch lanes, switch gears, get in sync with the direction of my husband's thoughts. “Good idea.”
     I pressed my lips together to stop a surprising tremor. I still loved him. It was his feelings for me I was unsure of. Meanwhile,
     we had practical issues at stake, and I knew he wasn't ready or able to face down his family en masse. The burden of our future
     lay on my size-eight shoulders. Lovely.
    “Are you going to talk about doing the assessment, then?” I asked.
    Not the best thing to say given his mood, but someone had to look to the future—away from this place.
    “We agreed to make sure the year we are here is recognized. At least a little bit.” Wilma's visit last week had made this
     a priority.
    Dan sighed and pulled away, and the brief moment of marital togetherness twisted toward the usual Business of Being Married.
     “I don't think tonight is a good time. We've got other important things to discuss with the rest of the family.”
    “The longer we wait, the longer your family is going to think we're staying.” Dan's stern expression made me feel like a negotiator
     in a hostile takeover. I wanted to be on the same page as Dan, but the hard stuff was important, too. We had to be practical.
     Take care of our little family. “Once the year is over, we're moving back. It's not fair to raise your family's expectations
     and then dash them.”
    We had gone over it all before we came here. Talked about it endlessly while we checked out all our options. He couldn't switch
     allegiances on me now.
    His resigned sigh told me that he was shifting back to my side. “Okay. I'll try to work it into the conversation tonight.”
    The hard block of tension that had lodged in my chest dissolved. I gave him a look that hopefully transmitted love, but to
     cover all the bases, I added a cookie to the gesture.
    “Thanks,” he muttered, then leaned back against the counter as he ate, cupping one hand under the other to catch the crumbs.
     “I remember eating cookies straight out of the oven in this kitchen,” he said with a smile.
    It was a throwaway memory, but saying it in this kitchen where thousands of homemade cookies had been baked added a bit of
     a sting. “Good thing you didn't marry me for my baking skills,” I said with a quick smile to show him I was okay with the
     memory, on the surface at least.
    “I married you for other reasons.” Dan leaned over and kissed me again. Though his declaration was imprecise, his kiss was
     a good kiss