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“Since when is that different from any other day?” he teases. “I made stuffed pork chops and rice pilaf for dinner; I’m gonna get Allie to bed since it’s way past bedtime, but I’ll leave a plate in the fridge for you.”
Stuffed pork chops. Fuck me if that doesn’t sound amazing.
~
Emmett comes down the stairs as I shovel the last bite of pork and rice into my mouth.
When I arrived, I tiptoed upstairs hoping to catch Allie still awake so I could say hi, but the lights were off in her room. I pressed my ear to the door, listening to Emmett’s rumbling voice reading a fairytale to her, and decided I should leave that moment between them, instead choosing to go have a moment with my plate of food.
“Do you have to leave right away? Or how does that work?” I maneuver around the kitchen island to rinse my dishes and put them in the dishwasher, organizing and loading the ones used earlier in the night, too.
Emmett comes up next to me, rinsing them off and handing them to me one by one.
“Not yet, there isn’t a warning, get a call and have to be at the station as fast as possible.”
“Are you going to sleep then? Or do you want to stay up with me to watchThe Amazing Race? Season thirty-three!”
He pours dish detergent into the dishwasher and closes the lid, chuckling as he clicks the door shut. “You still watch that shit? I thought you’d have improved your taste a little by now.”
I scoff, picking up the sink sponge to toss at him. “Quit being such a Scrooge, that is an amazing show! I still think I could do it, although I’m rethinking having you as my partner.”
“Right, because you’d be able to eat live octopus.”
“I’m sure it wasn’t really alive. I’ll bet they script that all for the show.” I move over to the pantry, open it, and pull out chocolate chip cookies and pistachios. “I’ll bet it’s a gummy worm or something, the rest is your run-of-the-mill, high-quality acting, which I am excellent at.”
I plop down on the couch, tossing the pistachios on the table and ripping open the packet of cookies. Emmett slowly comes to sit next to me, grabbing the remote and scrolling through channels. With my eyes glued to the TV, I hand the bag of cookies over to him, expecting him to take a handful.
I shake the bag, trying to garner his attention, and when I turn to look at him, he’s staring at me, a peculiar smile crossing his face.
“Sometimes I think you haven’t changed a bit.”
“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”
“Good. Definitely a good thing. It’s almost like—” His words stop short when his phone rings. He pulls it from his pocket, all the laughter falling from his face when he sees the number rolling across the screen.
He stands, moving down the hall as he talks. I can hear him open the hall closet, rustle with some clothes before he comes back and goes into the kitchen.
“Called out already?” I ask, knowing he has to leave but hoping he could have stayed a little longer.
Every time we are together, Allie is around. And while I’ve quickly grown to love that little monkey, there isn’t ever time for Emmett and me to be one-on-one. At first, I welcomed it, happy to have her there to mask the awkwardness I first felt being with him. But as the last few weeks have gone on, I'm growing comfortable in our friendship again. I’ve been finding myself wanting time with him and was looking forward to the possibility of sitting and watching TV with only him tonight.
He pops a coffee pod into the machine, pressing the start button and pulling creamer from the fridge before coming back to sit on the edge of the couch.
“Looks that way. Hopefully I won’t be gone long.”
“Do you think we will lose power here?”
“Hope not.” He gestures to the brick fireplace in the corner of the room. “The fireplace works, want me to start a fire for you before I go?”
“Even if it does go out, it would take hours before the house feels cold, wouldn’t it? Don’t worry about us.” Plus, I know exactly nothing about maintaining a fire.
The coffee machine sputters in the background, indicating it’s done, but Emmett doesn’t move from his spot on the arm of the couch. “I’ll always worry about you.”
Allie, I’m sure he meant to say. He will always worry aboutAllie. But he doesn’t correct himself, gives a soft smile and stands, smoothing his palms over the front of his pants.
A shiver wracks through me so I tug the throw blanket off the back of the couch and drape it over my legs, tucking my feet underneath myself. When he first spoke of wanting to be a lineman, I didn’t think much of it, and didn’t know what the job entailed. Now that we’re friends again, talking more and he’s fully immersed in his career, the thought of him having to climb high-rise power poles terrifies me. He’s at the mercy of the weather, icy sleet whipping around him, where each step he takes risks his life.
I throw the blanket over my shoulders, wrapping my arms around my core and stand up to follow him to the door. I lean against the wall as he opens the hall closet and pulls out his coat, staying silent as his thick fingers quickly lace up his work boots. It isn’t until he stands to leave, that he turns to me and tips his head to the side, questioning the expression on my face that I break.
