“This is it,” Marc said.
“This is what?”
“Come here.”
She stood and grasped his outstretched hand. He guided her to the seat in front of him. From that position, Marc was directly behind her, his legs bent on either side of her. He placed one hand on her shoulder and the other along her cheek. He applied a slight pressure until Mari turned her head toward shore.
“Right about there,” Marc murmured from above her.
The sun had started to rise. Mari could make out the huge shadow of a dune in the distance. She glanced to the right, gauging the distance to Harbor Town.
“It’s Silver Dune,” she whispered.
“Yeah,” Marc replied.
A warm wind whisked past them. Mari shivered, not from the breeze, but from the feeling of Marc’s left hand moving along her neck. She went still when he caressed her jaw with his fingertips. When she realized how concentrated her awareness was on the sensation of him close behind her, his legs surrounding her, his stroking hand, Mari rolled her eyes in the darkness. You’d think she was a sixteen-year-old on her first date.
“So what are we doing?” she whispered.
“Watching the sun rise over Silver Dune.”
“Why?”
He pressed back on her shoulder, and her head fell in the juncture of his spread legs. Her eyes sprung wide. The location where she her head rested wasn’t really decent, but Marc sounded casual enough when he spoke.
“Why not?”
Mari tried to attend to the sunrise, but it was difficult to do, surrounded by Marc’s scent and heat. The waves gently rocked them, and Marc stroked her neck and shoulder in the most distracting manner. Slowly, the sky behind the black dune began to turn silver and then to muted gold tinted with rose. Neither of them spoke as they watched the crimson orb of the sun top the horizon and then creep through the woods beyond the sand dune. The trees seemed ablaze. Mari saw a s
tructure in the far distance through the trees and gasped.
“What?” Marc asked gruffly from behind her. His voice sounded close, like he’d leaned close.
Mari twisted her head to try and see him. He groaned, and she realized why. When she hastily tried to lift her head from between his thighs, he rested his hands on her shoulders and kept her in place.
“I can see The Family Center,” Mari said quietly.
“I know. I can, too.”
The sun topped the tall trees at the top of the dunes and sent its warming rays onto a pale blue, shimmering lake.
“Everyone comes to Harbor Town for the sunsets,” Mari murmured after a moment. “But the sunrises are just as beautiful.”
“I wanted you to see one.”
Mari glanced over at the small town perched on the shore. It looked perfect and fresh, cast in the golden light of dawn. She set down her coffee cup and turned in the seat. When Marc saw what she was doing, he steadied her while she rose to her knees in front of him. His small grin faded the instant before she pressed her mouth to his.
When she leaned back a moment later, and Marc stared down at her, she saw the sunrise reflecting in his blue eyes like glowing embers.
“I know what you wanted me to see,” she whispered.
“Do you?”
She nodded and pressed her lips fleetingly to his once again. “You wanted me to see things in a whole new light.” She inspected him somberly. “I’m trying, Marc.”
He opened his hand along her neck and stroked the line of her jaw with his thumb. “That’s all I ask,” he said. He nodded toward the shore. When Mari turned, he put his arms around her shoulders and pulled her back against him. “Don’t you think that’d be a perfect spot for a memorial?”
“A memorial?” Mari murmured, her cheek pressed against his chest.