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“Harriet!” Deb laughed.

“What’s going on out here?” John David asked, carrying a screwdriver with him.

“You’re supposed to be taking care of Paul so that Deb and I can have a date. We arranged it, JD.”

“I know that. I was just about to come out. You’re early.”

“Well, I wasn’t going to be late now, was I?”

“Is he okay?” John David asked, looking down at Paul.

“He’s asleep. Can you get him to bed for me?”

“I can do that,” he said.

She situated Paul in John David’s arms and watched as he looked away while she covered her bare breast with her dress.

“I should go change,” she said as she stood.

“You’re perfect,” Harriet replied and handed her the flower she’d brought.

“I should at least put this in water.”

“I can do that for you,” John David offered and took the flower from her. “Go, have your time together. Not like I’m going to have a night with Jacob anytime soon.”

“Three kids at home now…” Harriet said, shaking her head.

“Will you two cover for me around here one day next week, though, so he and I can get away for a bit?”

“Of course,” Deb replied before she squeezed John David’s hand and leaned down to kiss Paul’s little head. “I love you,” she whispered to her son.

“Go on now. Have fun. Father and son will be just fine without you.”

“Oh, yeah? You can feed him yourself?” Harriet teased.

“Harriet, come on now,” Deb admonished through her laughter before she pulled on Harriet’s hand, using the night to shield the fact that she entwined their fingers until they were walking in the woods at Harriet’s direction.

No one would be hunting or fishing at night, so they had the place to themselves.

“Do you ever feel like maybe we’ve done this all before?”she asked when Harriet pointed to the blanket she’d laid out by the river, with a lantern glowing next to it, highlighting the basket of food she’d placed next to the blanket and the river behind it all.

“What do you mean?” Harriet asked back.

Deb sat down on the blanket and waited for Harriet to sit down behind her how she knew she would, wrapping Deb up in her arms and kissing her neck.

“When you walked up to the house, it just came over me. It felt like we’d done this all before.”

“Well, we have. I walk that way all the time to see you.”

“I know. But this time, it was different,” Deb shared.

“How so?” Harriet asked as she reached for the button between Deb’s breasts.

Deb laughed and said, “You still want to do that after you just watched my son eat off of these heavy things?”

Harriet placed another kiss on her neck and replied, “I know they’re sensitive, so I’ll be gentle, but yes. I will always want to touch you. I thought you knew that by now. Do you not want to? It’s been–”

“Months,” she interrupted.