"Emily." She looked up. "I've waited out longer things than this. I'm not going anywhere. We will find our rhythm and when we do, everything will click. A little awkwardness and adjustment isn’t going to bother me."
She nodded.
Irish appeared in the kitchen doorway with Clover and the taco toy, assessed the atmosphere, and performed a flawless reverse retreat.
"We'll come back," Emily heard him whisper to the dog.
"Irish," Rampage said, without looking up.
Irish reappeared. "Yeah."
"Get your coffee."
"On it." Irish moved to the counter with the deliberate efficiency of a man who had decided he needed to get in and getout. He poured his coffee. Did not look at either of them. Did not say anything.
He made it approximately forty-five seconds.
"So," Irish started.
"No," Rampage said.
"I was just going to ask about?—"
"No."
Irish drank his coffee in noble silence with a grin on his face. She knew he loved teasing Rampage, and Emily thought, Rampage might enjoy his teasing more than he was willing to admit.
Emily pressed her lips together against a smile. Looked down at the table.
Under the table, Clover put his head on her foot.
She reached down and scratched his ear and thought about the man across the table. A man who in such a short time had started to mean everything to her. She couldn’t lie, he was more than a bit attractive, too. She wondered what it would be like to have something else besides his fingers inside of her. Shocked by the way her mind had drifted off course, she lifted her cup and took another long drink.
"Irish," she said.
"Yeah?"
"Does Clover like strawberries?"
Irish blinked. "Why?"
"Because I'm going to make breakfast and I want to know if he can have one."
"He's not supposed to have people food," Irish said.
"That's not a no."
"He absolutely loves strawberries," Irish said.
Rampage stood up to get the skillet.
Emily went to the refrigerator.
The strawberries were on the middle shelf, washed and ready in a bowl.
She stood there for a second with the refrigerator door open, looking at them. Remembering how they came to be there. The special trip Rampage had taken to pick them up, simply because someone mentioned that she liked them. She was going to make her Daddy breakfast this time, and show him in a small way, that she too, cared.
Then she took the bowl and closed the door and went to make breakfast, and if she was smiling ear to ear, nobody said anything about it.
