Page 36 of Almost Always

Her empathy as he got all the words out hadn’t surprised him, but it felt good to know that she wasn’t judging him for thethoughts he had. For the way he worried about his own future. She asked questions to help him move forward and even made him smile a lot.

Later that same night, as he lay in bed and stared at his ceiling, Rafferty finally acknowledged his feelings for Daisy. It had been growing for months, but he’d shoved them down as deep as he could. Her beautiful smile, her generous heart and her kind soul had completely changed that.

Now, twenty years later, he was in bed and still thinking about her. The only difference was that he had a drooling kid tucked into his side and a large furry dog snoring at one end. A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he looked them over and then watched the early morning sun sweep through the room. The night before had been quite a surprise for him. Everything from Daisy showing up at his house, the tears, to talking about their exes. Not to mention that highly charged moment before Cal had woken up because of a nightmare.

Apparently the feelings that he had at nineteen were still there, just…different. He had thought about kissing her, but also knew that jumping into something like that so soon after reconnecting was not the right way to do things. Both of them had traumatic relationship history and turning a moment of bonding romantic felt weird. The way he saw it, they were now in each other’s lives and they could figure this out one day at a time.

Besides, he had no idea if she wanted him the way he wanted her.

Even if all he could suddenly think about was the fact that she was sleeping in the bedroom across the hall, her floral scent permeating his entire home and her warm brown skin glowing against the white sheets.

Quit it, he told himself and swung his legs out of bed. Huffing drew his attention to Boots who was stretching and waking up as well. Pulling a T-shirt on over his pajamas, he tucked the coversaround Cal and quietly guided the dog out of the room. In the kitchen, he turned on the coffee, grabbed the leash and took his furry companion for his usual morning walk. Once he was back home, he fixed his coffee and started on breakfast.

So far, everything about their reunion had been disorganized. Their first meeting hadn’t been planned, their second was a bit of a mess and their third had been filled with confessions. He didn’t want them to have more awkward encounters, because that had never been them. Even when she was six and had moved into the house next door, their friendship had started smoothly. Sure, she was quiet and shy, but she always turned to him when she needed him. That’s who they’d been to each other, through high school, until that first kiss. It might have taken them time to get back to this place, but he wouldn’t let them fumble their way through it.

“I don’t know what the eggs did to you, but that seems a little extreme.”

Startled, he dropped the whisk. Intending to glare at her, he turned around and froze at what she was wearing.

A white shirt that was two sizes too big—like maybe stolen from his cupboard, but clearly wasn’t—with the top few buttons undone was tucked into dark wash jeans and the sleeves had been rolled above her elbows. Her hair was pulled back in a loose braid, strands fluttering around her makeup free face. In comparison, he looked like a slob in his dark sweats and gray T-shirt. At least he’d tied his hair back so she wouldn’t see what a mess it was in the morning.

“Good morning to you too. Did you sleep okay?” he asked, surprised that he sounded very calm despite the racing of his heart.

“God, yes,” she groaned and his body responded instantly. “That might be the second best bed I’ve ever slept in.”

“I’m glad.” Turning to the eggs to hide himself, he nodded towards the coffee pot. “Fresh pot. Milk in the fridge, sugar on the counter.”

He listened as she moved around behind him and poured the eggs into the pan. It sizzled for a moment before settling as it cooked. In the other pan, he spread out the strips of bacon and turned around as she stepped in his way. Her hand landed on his chest and he reached for her hip, their bodies inches apart. Her eyes glimmered as she smiled, enticing him to do all the things he told himself he couldn’t and wouldn’t.

“Breakfast is burning,” she whispered.

“Fuck.” He turned away, frowning when he realized she was messing with him. “You’re trouble.”

She laughed and hoisted herself onto the counter like she did the night before as he scrambled the eggs and flipped the bacon over. He moved past her to put bread into the toaster and made sure not to make anymore contact. As much as he wanted to know what she felt like in his arms again, this wasn’t the time. Even if the spark between them still sizzled.

“What are we doing today?” she asked.

“We?”

“The shop is closed because everyone was at the wedding and I need a day off. You don’t seem to be running off to fight fires, so yeah.”

He smiled and served the food. “Gotta take Cal to school, other than that…I’m free as a bird.”

“No landscaping work today?”

“If I check my emails, the answer will be yes. So I’m not checking my emails.”

She laughed and kicked out her bare feet, drawing his attention to her multicolored toenails. “I’m all for not checking emails. How about we go to a park after dropping Cal off?” Boots barked, signaling that he totally understood the wordparkandshe winced. “Never know what words I’m supposed to spell out these days.”

“P-A-R-K and W-A-L-K are good bets. We’re still figuring out the rest.”

“I like figuring things out.” She sipped on her coffee with a smirk.

“Me too!” a squeaky voice said and both of them looked over as a sleepy Cal stumbled into the kitchen. Grateful for the interruption, Rafferty squatted as his son came over and collapsed into his arms. “I smell bacon.”

“Nobody says good morning anymore.”

Cal giggled and nuzzled into him some more. “Good morning, Dad. I smell bacon.” He heard a soft laugh and his son pulled back to look at her, eyes wide and filled with hearts. “Miss Daisy!”

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