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“I brought you this,” Harriet said and pulled out a small bag of candy she’d gotten in one of their ports from a vendor.

“Wow! Can I have it now?”

“After lunch,” Harriet replied, running a hand through his hair.

A second later, Paul rushed back toward the house.

“Seems to be feeling better all of a sudden,” Deb joked.

“You kissed me in front of him.”

Deb returned her focus to Harriet, her hands around Harriet’s neck.

“When JD passed, I struggled for a while, but I wanted Paul to know his father and Jacob, so I asked if he was old enough to keep a secret. He said he was, and I believed him. I told him about how his father loved Jacob how I love you, and he hasn’t told a soul. I guess I wanted him to know you, too… in case…” Tears filled her eyes again.

“I’m home,” Harriet said. “I’m home, sweetheart. I’ll never leave you again. And I am so sorry I had to do it at all.” She pulled Deb back in for a hug.

“I worried I’d never see you again. When I got that telegram, I thought it was you. I thought something had happened at the hospital or that you’d been moved closer to the fighting, and I’d never hold you again.”

“You remember what I told you, right? No matter what happens in this life, I will always find you.” She cupped Deb’s cheeks and stared deeply into her eyes. “Always.”

“But you’re home now.”

“I am. If you’ll have me, that is.”

“In all my lifetimes,” Deb said.

Throughout her time in the war, when Harriet would sometimes stare at the ceiling above her cot, she’d try to picture Deb in her mind. Often, she’d find her in the last place she’d left her, when they’d said goodbye before Harriet had joined up. Sometimes, it would be a random moment around the house or when they were in bed, but other times, she’d get a picture of them walking down that city street with those umbrellas or even inside a log cabin in a dark wood, a fire keeping them warm, a pot above it where their dinner was cooking, and the two of them on a straw bed, snuggling up to keep warm. She’d seen other images, too. Sometimes, they would be outside somewhere, walking, or inside a house she’d never even been to before, laughing together or talking or just sitting or lying together. She’d always wondered if she were making up these visions because she was so far away fromthe woman she loved and wished to be near her any way she could be. Then again, they all felt so very real to Harriet, as if she’d lived all those lives before her own.

Later that night, when she and Deb climbed into bed, after making sure Paul was asleep in his room and getting into their dressing gowns, Harriet had to know something.

“We can, you know?” Deb said before Harriet could get her words out.

“We can what?”

“Make love,” Deb replied, rolling onto her side to face Harriet. “I want to. It’s been so long. But I don’t know if you need time to… adjust to being back home with me. I don’t know what you’ve seen or…”

Harriet rolled onto her side and faced her, smiling.

“I will tell you anything you want to know in time. And I didn’t want to pressure you to do something you might not be ready for, with me just coming home.”

“I want to. I’ve missed your touch so much. I was so lonely without you.”

“I’m sorry that I had to go. I’ll never leave you again,” Harriet replied, running her fingertips through Deb’s hair, hardly believing that she could do that now. “And I want to make love, but can I ask you something first?”

“All right.”

“Do you ever get these pictures of us in your head?”

“Of course, I do. I did all the time while you were gone.”

“No, I mean, ofus, butnotof us. Where it’s still us, but we’re in different places, like a city street, and we have these umbrellas, but it’s not raining, so I think they’re for the sun. We’re wearing these–”

“Ruffled dresses?” Deb asked.

“Yes,” Harriet said with a nod. “And we’ve never worn ruffled dresses.”

“Or been to any kind of city. Well, you have now, with the war, but–”