After months away on duty, I came home expecting my wife’s embrace, but she flinched from my touch like I was a stranger. One night I lifted the blanket, searching for proof she had betrayed me, and froze at the bruises covering her body.

brought her coffee, reviewed contracts, and never touched her without asking.

One evening, she leaned against my shoulder while the sunset turned the lake gold.

“I thought you came home too late,” she whispered.

I kissed her hand.

“No,” I said. “I came home in time to prove you were never alone