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“Morning, princess.” I wink at her, then turn back to the frying pan. “A couple more minutes and breakfast will be ready.”
“Well, aren’t you just the perfect guy?”
I chuckle. “Your freckles have come back.”
“I feel a lot better this morning. Thank you. For everything.”
Our gazes meet, and I hold hers for a moment.
The song has changed to The Cure’sFriday I’m in Love, a song that always fills me with joy. I would say I’m content with my life. I enjoy my job, and I have my brothers and a decent circle of friends. I know I’m privileged, and I’m grateful I don’t have to struggle, and that life isn’t hard for me. But happiness has always been as puzzling a concept as love. I’ve had moments of happiness that have felt as bright as the sun that’s currently streaming through the window—like when I’ve been snowboarding and just made a complicated jump, or when I’ve finished a long project, and I’m out with friends, having a few whiskies, relieved I haven’t fucked it all up. But it’s an elusive emotion that you can’t fabricate. It sneaks up on you, and so it’s with some surprise that I realize I feel happy right now.
I’m so lucky that Catie’s here. She so nearly slipped through my fingers, and I feel as if I caught her at the last moment.
I glance at the frying pan. “I’d better dish up before it burns.”
“Mm,” she says. “Bacon. Best cologne in the world.”
I laugh, set the coffee machine pouring, and start buttering the bread. Within a few minutes, the sandwiches are ready, and I take them and the coffees over to the breakfast bar.
“I promise I’ll try to cook us something more interesting,” I tell her as we eat. “I don’t just do sandwiches.”
“I don’t mind. I love sandwiches.”
“Even so. We need to get a variety of food down you. Lots of different vitamins and minerals. Do you like cooking?”
She wipes her bottom lip free of ketchup. “Never had much opportunity. I couldn’t afford the ingredients for anything fancy.”
“Maybe we should learn. Watch a YouTube video, get the ingredients, and cook a dish together.”
She smiles. “I’d like that.”
“I was thinking, as well, would you like to learn to drive? I could teach you, if you like.”
Her eyebrows rise. “Really?”
“Yeah. It’s nice being mobile. Liberating.”
“I wouldn’t want to learn in the Aston.”
I chuckle. “Nah, we’ll get you a smaller car. A Suzuki or something.”
“Just like that,” she says. “Wow.”
I shrug. “Kennedy told you to make me pay for being a naughty boy.”
We study each other for a moment. I lift my eyebrows. She blushes.
I laugh and get up to take my plate over to the sink. “Eat your breakfast. Kennedy’s coming around at ten with some of her old maternity clothes for you. I want to take you shopping for new ones, but she thought you might like something in the meantime.”
“Oh, that’s nice of her.” She finishes her sandwich and sighs. “That was wonderful. I was feeling a bit shaky.”
“Low blood sugars again, I’m guessing. We definitely have to make sure you have a big breakfast. I’ll do some research for some healthier options.”
“Would you mind if I had another bath this morning?”
“Of course not. I’ll go and run it for you, if you like.”
“You needn’t do everything for me. I can manage.”
