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"I'm sorry I dragged you out here," he apologized.

"No, you're not," contradicted Abby, knowingly. "You're happy right now, even if you hate to admit it to me."

"You're right," confessed Jake, "I am happy. If I tell you something, do you promise not to tell anyone?" he asked.

"Okay," she answered, curiously, "I promise."

"It's easier to talk to you about some things in the dark," he mused, putting his hands under his head and staring up at the tent roof as it rained outside. "I envy your parents, Abby. They have an intimate relationship and are each other's best friend. Since I've been working with them, I've seen how they are together, and I wish... I wish we could be like that."

Abby was silent.

"We're going to have a baby," continued Jake, "and yet, when I'm with you sometimes, I feel as though you're a million miles away. You can remember something that I can't, and it's left a big hole between us."

"Jake," sighed Abby, "in your condition, it's probably for the best that you don't remember that night."

"I used to think so, too," he admitted. "But, it's as though..." he paused.

"As though a part of you is incomplete," Abby finished his thought.

"That's it!" he gasped in surprise. "How did you know?"

"Sometimes, I feel that way, myself," she confessed. "It's no use wishing that things are different than what they are, though," she concluded in a practical voice.

"I suppose not," he sighed wistfully. "Can I ask you something, Abby?"

"Only if it'll keep you quiet so I can go to sleep," she groaned softly. "Tomorrow is a workday, you know."

"After everything that's happened," wondered Jake, "are you sorry you didn't go with Tyler?"

"You're not going to start that again, are you?" she moaned.

"I mean it," he insisted. "Are you sorry?" As the waves crashed onto the beach far from their camp, Jake waited in silence for her response.

"No," she answered, without a tone of doubt or regret in her voice, "I'm not sorry I married you."

Jake reached out across the empty distance between them and tightly took hold of her hand. It was a small gesture, but it meant a lot to them both. With Jake still gripping her hand, Abby fell asleep, warm and happy. Outside, the waves and rain lasted through the night, much to the contentment of the couple snugly tucked away in their sleeping bags.

When morning came, Abby was awakened by the sound of footsteps outside their tent.

"Abby? Jake?" called a familiar voice.

"In here!" replied Abby, as she tried to free her hand from her still sleeping friend. "Jake," she said, nudging him, "let go of me. It's time to wake up!"

Just then, the tent flap opened and John's face appeared in the opening.

"Oh," he suddenly apologized, seeing Jake fast asleep on the other side of the tent from his daughter. "I thought you were alone, Abby. There are two tents out here..."

"It's all right," smiled Abby. "The zipper on my sleeping bag got stuck and Jake came over to help me, and then it started raining-- it's a long story."

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