Jayne almost lasted until the end of the first movie. There were only twenty minutes left when I hit pause. I wasn’t sure if she was out for the night or just having a catnap, but I carried her into the bedroom anyway. The couch wasn’t uncomfortable, but the bed was more supportive. And I didn’t have to worry about her rolling off it.

After covering her with the spread, I closed the bedroom door and went back out to the living room. I figured I’d work up a couple of sample itineraries for the next few days, then she could pick whatever looked best.

Since tomorrow’s store visit had now become sightseeing, that opened up more possibilities. Jayne could sleep in, if she wanted. I could make us breakfast, or we could eat at the café. Whichever one she was more interested in. Since we’d been grocery shopping, I had the necessary ingredients to make just about anything. Although the café probably did too.

Tomorrow would be just for us. I wasn’t sure how much Jayne cared about where we went or what we saw, but there were a few things I really wanted to do.

One of the big things on my list was the Country Music Hall of Fame. I knew it would take a couple of hours, and it felt like a good starting point. Jayne could get a taste for the history and depth of the musical genre.

And I could see Elvis’s gold Cadillac.

I turned the movie off and put on one of the Elvis stations I’d set up. I kept the volume down as I worked. I looked up restaurants near the Country Music Hall of Fame and made note of a few that I knew Jayne would like.

After the museum, we’d have lunch, then either come back and rest or, if she felt up it, we could go a couple of blocks to the Johnny Cash Museum. The Patsy Cline Museum was on the second floor, right above Johnny Cash. I wouldn’t mind seeing that too. Although that might be a lot for her in one day. I’d let her set the pace.

I started working on the day after the store visit. For that one, I was thinking we’d start with a leisurely breakfast at the farmer’s market, have a look around the stalls there, then walk over to the Tennessee State Museum.

I was also planning on getting us tickets for one of the tourist trolleys that ran all over town. With those tickets we could get on and off all day. If Jayne got tired or just needed a break, we could ride for a bit and listen to the tour.

I was still making notes when the bedroom door opened.

“Hey,” I said softly. “Did you have a good nap?”

She nodded. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep though. I wanted to watch the movie.”

“It’s all right. You must have needed it.”

“Yeah, I guess. But I need to be able to sleep tonight, too. What time is it?”

I checked. “A little after eight thirty.”

She yawned. “Why do I smell chocolate?”

I inhaled. She was right. “I don’t know, but I smell it too.”

She smiled. “I want some. Do you think the café is making cake? Cake would be awesome.”

I put my work down and went to the door. “Let me go see.”

“Really?”

“For you? Anything.” I gave her a wink as I opened the door. “Be right back.”

But I didn’t even need to go into the café to read the sign posted on the News board right outside the general store. I jogged back to tell Jayne the good news.

She was still in the kitchen, giving Sugar and Spider some food. A new can of caffeine-free Dr Pepper sat open on the counter. “Is there cake?”

“No, but apparently tonight is s’mores night over by the main campfire.”

Her eyes lit up. “Please can we go?”

“You didn’t have to ask.” I knew we’d be going as soon as I realized what was going on. “The temperature has definitely dropped, though, so you might want to throw a sweatshirt on.”

“I’ll go change.”

She came back out in leggings, slouchy suede boots, and a thick, oversize sweatshirt that would have fit her even if she’d been having triplets, which she was not, thankfully. She had a knit beanie cap pulled down enough to cover the tips of her ears.

She looked utterly adorable. If I hadn’t been married to her, I would have been asking her out. “Ready?”

She nodded and picked up her can of soda. She preferred bottles, but we had a harder time finding those in the caffeine-free variety. “Aren’t you going to take a drink along?”

“I’m sure they’ll have coffee or hot chocolate over there.” I pulled my leather jacket on over my thin sweater. I had a T-shirt on under that with my black jeans and lug-soled boots. I’d be plenty warm.

“Okay. Let’s go.” She grinned. “Real campfire s’mores. That’s pretty exciting.”

I laughed as I got the door for her. “We’ve made them many nights.” It was something we often did. S’mores and camping just went together.

“Yeah, but this is different somehow.” She glanced back at where Spider and Sugar were eating. “Bye guys. Back soon.”

“Behave yourselves,” I added, then I exited behind her. I locked the door and stuck the key in my pocket.

We followed the signs to the main campfire, but after the first turn it wasn’t hard to find. There was a small crowd around a roaring fire that gave off enough light to become its own beacon.

We found some seats on some log stumps, and I went to get us some s’mores. I got a plate for each of us and a hot chocolate for myself. I gave Jayne her plate as soon as I got back. “Here you go.”

She took it, balancing the little paper circle on her knees. I sat beside her and sipped my hot chocolate. The fire gave off a surprising amount of warmth. I was glad about that. Jayne might be a winter elf, but I still didn’t want her getting cold.

She’d already taken a bite of her s’more, the marshmallow stringing out behind. After she dealt with that and swallowed the bite she’d taken, she looked at me. “Aren’t you going to eat yours?”

I shook my head. “I got it for you.”

“Just for that, I’d marry you all over again.”

I snorted. “Good to know.”

When she finished the first one, I put my plate on top of her empty one. It was nice just to sit and watch the fire, listening to it pop and crackle while the aromas of smoke and chocolate drifted past. A few random snippets of conversation drifted to us as well. Mostly people talking about how good the s’mores were, how warm the fire was, how nice the campground was. Nothing weird.

That was nice. Especially considering how things had gone at the campground in Nocturne Falls.

“You’re awfully quiet,” Jayne said.

“Sorry. Just thinking about what went down in Nocturne Falls.”

She nodded. “Things have been pretty quiet since then. Which I’m happy about. And no one here seems like a criminal, which I’m also happy about, so …” She shrugged one shoulder and seemed to be implying she was good with quiet.

So was I. She’d almost finished the s’more I’d given her. “You want to watch the end of the movie when we go back?”

“Yeah, definitely. But I’m okay to sit here for a few minutes. It’s nice, isn’t it?”

I shifted my cup to my other hand so I could put my arm around her. “It’s really nice.” I glanced up. “There are even a few stars out.”

“We should take a picture and send it to our parents.”

“Great idea. They would all love that. Your aunt and uncle, too.”

She got her phone out and held it in front of us. We smiled. She snapped. We looked good by firelight. She got the photo sent. “We don’t do that enough.”

“Take pictures?”

She nodded. “We should be better about that. Especially now that it’s not going to be just you and me much longer.”

I smiled. “No, it’s not. I imagine we’ll be taking a lot of pictures then. Not of us, probably, but still.” I understood what she was saying. These last months of our family just being us were precious in a different way than the coming months would be.

I wouldn’t say I was sad that it wasn’t going to just be us, because I wasn’t. But there was part of me that would miss it. Maybe I was wrong, though. I’d probably be too busy to think about it anyway.

A few minutes later, she took my hand. “I’m ready to go back if you are.”

“Okay.”

We got back, snuggled on the couch, and watched the end of the movie. Then we went to bed. Tomorrow was going to be a big day. A day of fun and new memories.

I was so lucky to get to share it with Jayne.