Honor

to accept that it was going to take time, that two people who had apparently lost the ability to communicate what was in their hearts weren’t going to relearn the skill overnight.
“I was thinking of going for a walk on the beach,” Kevin said finally, unwilling to pursue the dangerous direction of their conversation on such a beautiful afternoon. They needed time just to be together, not a nonstop confrontation.
“It’s a beautiful day for it,” Lacey said, then added sternly, “Remember not to overdo it. Even though you’ve made remarkable progress, Linc wants you to take it easy.”
That said, she seemed to be waiting, but for what, he wondered. An invitation? Surely she knew she was welcome. Then again, nothing could be taken for granted as it once had been. “Want to come along?” he asked.
For an instant he thought she was going to refuse, using the gardening as an excuse. He could see the refusal forming on her lips when she turned her face up to meet his gaze, then something shifted. Her mouth curved into a faint smile.
“Sure,” she said, taking off her gardening gloves and tossing them aside. “Let me get a sweater. The wind is probably colder down by the water.”
Kevin nodded and watched her go inside. When she emerged, a bulky red sweater topped her snug-fitting jeans. He had a hunch it was one of his daughter-in-law’s designs. It was certainly far bolder than what Lacey usually wore in town. There she tended to stick to cashmere and pearls, as understated and elegant as any society matron in the city.
In fact, with his hours at work and his business commitments, he had seen her more often in sleek designer evening wear than anything casual. With her quiet grace, her stunning figure and youthful complexion, she had done the name of Halloran proud, after all. Even Brandon had admitted that.
Kevin thought it was odd that he was only now realizing that he liked her better this way. It reminded him of the girl he’d fallen in love with, the girl in hand-me-downs who’d felt the needs of others so deeply, the girl who’d learned to overcome her shyness in order to fight for the things in which she believed with all her heart.
Including their marriage.
As much as it troubled and angered him, Kevin knew that’s what Lacey had been doing when she’d walked out the door of their Boston home months ago. She hadn’t left in defeat or even fury. She had left with the hope that her daring ultimatum would get his attention as nothing else had.
If it hadn’t been for this most recent heart attack, he wondered if they would be here today or whether his stubborn refusal to acknowledge the validity of her claims would still be keeping them apart.
Knowing that somehow he had to fight for each precious moment until he could regain her trust, he held out his hand. After an instant’s hesitation, she took it. They climbed over the dunes to reach the hard-packed sand by the water’s edge.
The ocean was quieter today, its pace late-afternoon lazy as it shimmered silver gray in the sun. He felt good holding his wife’s hand again as the sun’s warmth kissed their shoulders and a cool breeze fanned their faces.
“Remember,” he began at the same time she did. He glanced into her eyes and saw the laughter lurking in the blue depths. “You first.”
“I was just remembering the first time we came here.”
“To this house or to the Cape?”
“To this house. Your hand shook the whole time you were writing out the check for the deposit. I think in the back of your mind you viewed it as selling out to the establishment. You spent the whole weekend looking as if you expected the activist brigade to catch you and make you turn in your young idealist credentials. I was terrified you were going to back out.”
“I still get a pang every now and then,” he admitted candidly. “Especially when I think of how many people are homeless.”
“Which explains why, the very next week, you donated money to create a homeless shelter. For a few anxious days I was afraid you were going to try to donate this place.”
“Back then if it hadn’t been for the zoning problems, I probably would have.”
“And now?”
“I’m grateful you talked me into it. It’s the one place where I feel as if we connect.”
Lacey nodded. “I feel that, too. It’s because it’s the one place where we have only happy memories. We never allowed our differences to follow us here.”
Kevin returned her gaze evenly, pained by the depth of hurt that shadowed her blue eyes.
“And when the differences got to be too much to put aside, I just stopped coming,” he admitted, certain that she would be angered or at the very least hurt by the brutal honesty. To his surprise she was nodding as if it were something she’d realized long ago.
“I know,” she confirmed softly. “That made me saddest of all. We’ve lost three years here, years we can never get back. We missed the flowers blooming in the spring, the lazy summer days, the change of the leaves in the fall. Even before we were married, Cape Cod was where we always came to witness the changing of the seasons. Now the seasons just rush by.”
“Don’t,” he whispered, pausing by the edge of the water and cupping her chin. “Don’t count them as lost. We can learn from them. We can build on a foundation that’s all the stronger for having weathered this crisis.”
As tears welled in Lacey’s eyes, Kevin drew her slowly into his arms, holding her loosely. At first she was stiff, but in no more than a heartbeat she began to relax, her arms circling his waist, her head resting against his chest, where he was sure she could hear his heart thunder.
The scents of salt water and flowery perfume swirled around him as he gave himself over to the sensations