Page 63 of Roman and the Hopeless Romantic
It was a familiar tune, one he sang when they were younger. He punctuated the notes with flicks of his spatula.
Cassie and Jesse shared a smile.
“Oh.” She’d almost forgotten. “Roman wants some toast.”
“Toast?” Their dad looked offended. “In this house, when there are pancakes, we eat them.”
She smiled at that, enjoying the laughter in his voice that had been gone so long. “He’s sick, Dad.”
Understanding dawned in his eyes.
“I’ll make his toast.” Jesse pulled a loaf of bread out of the fridge. “You stay down here.”
She wanted to bite back at him, but she couldn’t take her eyes off her dad… who’d started dancing.
Ignoring Jesse, she laughed. “Who are you, and what have you done with my dad?”
He passed her a plate piled high with pancakes. “Table, kiddo.”
As soon as she set the plate in front of the boys, they attacked, lunging across the table for pancakes.
Jesse disappeared up the stairs with a plate for Roman and a determined look on his face. Cassie only rolled her eyes before returning her attention to the little monsters eating all her pancakes. She yanked the plate out of their reach, laughing when they emitted identical whines.
Their dad walked over a moment later with another plate. “We have more!”
Will cheered, and Eli’s face lit up.
Cassie loved her family. After everything they’d been through, all the trauma that still lived with them, here they were. A single unbreakable unit.
Well, she hoped they were unbreakable.
Because when she tried to meet her dad’s eyes, he looked away. “Cassie, after breakfast, meet me in my office.”
And that was how the facade faded.
