“Does that really happen?” she asked.

“You must have a very small family, if you have to ask.”

“It’s just us, mostly. The extended family is shrinking. All of Ray Anne’s immediate family have been gone a long time and she never had children. My grandparents are gone. My folks are in their sixties, my brothers almost forty...”

“All it takes is one renegade who decides to have a bunch of kids and suddenly you’re a country,” he said.

She laughed. “In the Basque culture, that’s not really a renegade, now is it?”

“My generation hasn’t been as prolific as some. Most of my brothers and sisters want a reasonable couple of kids. Except Ellie—she already has five and wants more. She started real young. Peyton wasn’t going to have any—then she met Scott and got knocked up before the wedding. But she doesn’t have time for too many. Plus, she loves that little clinic. She’s not going to trade off her medical profession for the mommy track.”

“What about you?” she asked. “Do you want children?”

“I certainly did,” he said. “But I’m a little old-fashioned. First I’m going to have to find a happy marriage. And just like you, that’s not going to happen soon. We’re stung, Ginger. We’re both still in recovery. Bad time to try to partner up with happily ever after in mind.”

“I suppose it is,” she said.

“This looks like a good spot,” he said, pulling into a wide lookout. He maneuvered the truck around and backed in.

“It’s going to be kind of hard to see like this,” she said.

“Wait, you’re going to love this.” He jumped out of the truck and ran around to her side, helping her out. He directed her to the back, lowering the tailgate to the truck bed.

Inside the bed of the truck were a couple of lounge pillows, blankets and a cooler. “Wow,” was all she could say.

“This was how my parents went to the drive-in movie. For myself, I’ve never been to a drive-in movie, but my dad explained courting in his day—couples couldn’t be alone in the backseat of a car, which is why drive-ins were invented, I think. So they got cozy in the back of a truck.”

“I’m kind of dressed up,” she said.

He smiled. “And beautifully, too. I’ve got you covered,” he said, and jumped into the truck bed. He unrolled and spread out a sleeping bag on the bottom of the bed, shook out a blanket and covered the lounge pillows, then jumped out. He laced his fingers together to assist her in getting in. “Hand on my head and up you go.”

“Is this legal?” she asked.

“What? Parking at the lookout? Why not?”

“I don’t know. Seems kind of...”

“Naughty?” he asked with a grin. “Come on, up you go.”

She climbed in, laughing as she kneeled and then, adjusting her skirt, crawled to the front of the bed where the pillows were. She couldn’t stop laughing as she sat down against the pillows, smoothed her skirt and relaxed. He sat beside her, and when she rubbed her arms because she was a little chilly, he grabbed another blanket and spread it over her, tucking it around her shoulders.

“This is genius,” she said.

He lifted the lid of the cooler. “Drink?”

“What have you got in there?” she asked, peering into the cooler.

“Water, soda, tea, a couple of juice drinks.”

“I’ll pass. After all, being a guy, you can pee out of the back of a truck. Life isn’t that simple for a girl.”

“We’re completely alone,” he said, mischief in his smile. “You could safely manage nearby.”

Just as he said that, a car pulled in the lookout not far from them and an older couple got out and walked to the edge of the lookout. The gentleman had a very large camera hanging around his neck. They waved hello, then went about the business of photographing the sinking sun over the Pacific.

“Well, we’ll be alone again in a few minutes.”

“I’ll pass,” she said.

But it was sunset. And sunset over the Pacific was a good show. There wasn’t exactly a crowd, but there were quite a few cars that pulled in to watch. Some folks got out and walked around, some stayed in their cars, and every time a car pulled into the lookout, Ginger laughed. At one point she wanted her cell phone to take her own picture and realized that, of course, she hadn’t taken a bag to the wedding and had no phone. Matt got his out of his pocket and handed it to her. “Click away and send them to yourself.”

Cars came and went, and Ginger took a few pictures of the sunset. It was better out here than at Cooper’s, probably because it felt closer, there being no beach or bay between her and the setting sun. She snuggled under the warm blanket and before long darkness overtook them.

And they were alone.

Matt put an arm around her and pulled her closer, up against his big, warm body.

“If you do that, I might fall asleep on you,” she said.

He gently kissed her forehead. “You fall asleep if you want to. You’re safe.”

She felt safe. In fact, she felt cherished. Protected. It was a feeling she hadn’t had very often.

They were alone, quiet in the dark, and she felt a contentment wash over her. She’d like to stay here, just like this, forever. He turned toward her and gently kissed her forehead, her temple, her cheek, her ear. She lifted her lips, and he touched them with his. Then he adjusted slightly to take her into his arms and cover her mouth with a sweet and thorough kiss, holding her close.

Oh, God, he was a very good kisser. She let her lips part slightly. Very. Good.

She escaped the warmth of the blanket to wrap her arms around his neck and hold him closer. She gave herself to his mouth, his arms, and it was pure heaven. She tried to think when she last enjoyed physical affection like this and it was blurry. Long before she got pregnant. Oh, there’d been sex. But that feeling of being adored, of being swept away, of falling into some kind of bliss, that was long ago.

Headlights strafed them, causing them to reluctantly break apart. A highway patrol cruiser pulled up beside them. The spotlight at the top of the car shone on them. The trooper got out and stood up, looking at them over the top of the vehicle. “You folks okay there?”

“Well, we were,” Matt said with a laugh.

“What’s going on there?” he asked.

“We were making out, if you need to know.”

“Drinking?” he asked.

“No, sir,” Matt said. “You’re welcome to check. Got a cooler of drinks here—water, soda, et cetera. We’re enjoying the sunset. And then some.”

“Well, I hate to throw a wet blanket on this party, but I don’t think it’s wise, using this spot for romance. You aren’t breaking any laws, but you’re real isolated. You’d be better off getting a room. At least the door locks.”

“Point taken,” Matt said.

The trooper drove away, and Matt put his arms around her again. “You afraid to be out here alone? With just me?”

“I have a feeling you could keep me safe.”

He kissed her again. Long and wet and deep. “Ginger, I don’t know whether to congratulate myself or apologize. I’ve been wanting to do that for a while now, but we both know I’m a mess.”