that much.
“Mmmmm…” my wife murmured sleepily as she padded up and slipped her arms around me from behind then squeezed, pressing herself against my back. Letting out a long sigh, she mumbled, “You’re being awfully noisy this morning, you know.”
“Sorry…” I told her. “I didn’t want to wake you, but I desperately needed coffee, and this thing apparently wasn’t built for stealth.”
“It’s okay, me too,” she said. “Is it ready then?”
“Yeah,” I grunted. “Finally. You’d think since it only holds two or three cups it’d work a little faster.”
I filled the mug I was already holding and then set it to the side in front of the microwave as I said, “There you go.”
Knowing she would want to doctor the brew as usual, I pushed a cellophane-wrapped packet of sugar and creamer over next to it. Then I grabbed a fresh cup from the small tray and tossed its packet of the same on top of the first. After inspecting the inside of the empty mug out of habit and finding it clean, I poured some coffee for myself.
Felicity let go of me then stepped over to her cup. She immediately began tearing open the thin plastic wrapper on the drink condiments, biting the sealed edge to get it started then ripping it lengthwise with her nails.
“I should have just had you bring it to me in bed then,” she announced with a slight chuckle.
I cocked an eyebrow as I looked at her and said, “That’s just one of your regular ‘dominant Irish Princess’ moods talking, I hope?”
“Aye. It is.”
“Good. That I can do.”
“Don’t worry,” she said with a pained softness to her voice. “I’m not her. I’m me…”
“I’m sorry hon. I didn’t mean… I just guess I’m a little gun-shy after…”
“I know,” she said as my voice trailed off. Her tone was still hushed but now carried with it a note of sympathy. “It’s okay. I understand. I probably shouldn’t be bringing that sort of thing up right now anyway.”
“Don’t worry about it. As long as it’s you, I’m all good with it.”
I gave her shoulder a squeeze then turned and leaned back against the counter and watched as she emptied both powdered creamers and then all four packets of sugar into her cup. Once she finished mixing the concoction she quickly drew the plastic stirrer between her lips and then tossed it onto the counter.
“So, how did you sleep?” she asked before taking a sip of her coffee.
“Okay, I guess,” I replied with a shrug. “Not great by any stretch. But then I wasn’t expecting to come home just to end up staying in another hotel, so my whole system is a little off I think.”
“Aye, I can imagine.” She shook her head as she continued, “But Ben was pretty insistent that we not stay at the house, and when you agreed… Well, I just wasn’t up to arguing.”
“I think that’s a first for you, isn’t it?” I quipped.
“Very funny,” she admonished, but her good humor was betrayed by a slight grin.
I smiled. “Just making an observation. After all, you have to admit that you’re pretty stubborn.”
“True.”
“And, you were wound pretty tight last night too.”
“At first, but I think I finally just crashed once you were here.”
I nodded. “Yeah. Been down that road.”
“Well, in my defense I did make him take the dogs home with him, so they wouldn’t be left alone,” she countered.
“Yes, you did do that,” I agreed. “I wonder how that’s working out?”
“I’m sure they’re fine.”
“I’m not actually worried about them. I’m wondering about him.”
“He’ll live,” she chuckled and then paused before lowering her voice to a more soothing timbre. “I know this wasn’t a very good homecoming, Rowan…”
I sighed. “It’s not like it’s anything all that new, sweetheart…”
“Well, I know it’s not exactly a silver lining, but you have to admit, this really is a nice suite we’re in.”
“Yeah…it is…” I looked around and then added with more than a hint of sarcasm, “It has a really nice price tag too, which is coming out of our pockets.”
“It’s not like we can’t afford it then.”
“I know, but that’s not the point.”
“Aye, I realize that, but at least we’re here together.”
“True.” I smiled then leaned over and kissed her on the forehead before settling back against the counter once again. “So, what about you? How did you sleep in this nice suite?”
“Honestly, not all that well.”
I took a swig of my java then nodded. “Yeah, I thought that might be the case. I couldn’t help but notice you were tossing and turning most of the night.”
After a thick pause she almost whispered, “I just couldn’t stop thinking about it.”
“Yeah…not surprised…” I let out a sigh and then sipped my coffee for a moment. I wasn’t sure how to get around talking about what had happened, but I really didn’t want to go there. Finally, I offered a generic reply, “Don’t worry. Hopefully this will all be over soon.”
“Not soon enough,” she mumbled.
“I know…but soon.”
She gave me a questioning look. “How will you be able to…”
I had a fairly good notion I knew what she was about to ask, so I headed her off. “I wonder how long Ben is going to want us to stay away from the house?”
Felicity cocked her head and stared at me, obviously nonplussed by my overt and unapologetic shift of subject. I could tell by her expression that she was trying to decide how to proceed with the conversation. I just hoped she didn’t try to push it back onto her original track.
Finally, she said, “Well…if it’s going to be for very long I’ll be needing to go by the house for a few more things then. I didn’t pack much last night…or should I say, this morning.”
“Same here,” I agreed.
“And we’ll need to get someone to look after the cats,” she added. “A day or two is fine, but no longer than that.”
“Yeah, true. We could probably get RJ to do that.”
“Aye, maybe.”
I shrugged and said, “Well, if we end up having to extend our stay, I guess we could just pretend it’s a vacation.”
“We could,” Felicity said, nodding. “And since you mention it…”
Even as she started to speak I remembered our conversation just prior to my leaving for Carswell. With everything that had happened in the past forty-eight hours, it had completely slipped my mind. Until now, that is.
“Yeah… Yeah… I know,” I replied, shaking my head. “Vacation… I promised we’d get away and go to Ireland, didn’t I?”
“You did…” she said. “And I’m holding you to it…”
It was my own fault. I had managed to shove us directly into this topic with my offhand remark, and unfortunately, it required a response that wasn’t as far removed from the current situation as I would have liked. Having no choice, however, I started to appeal. “Felicity, honey, we will, I promise…but I’m not sure it would be a good idea for…”
“Hold on then,” she interrupted, shaking her head. “Let me finish. I’ll be needing some time to clear my schedule, so it’s not like we can leave just yet anyway. But…I did go ahead and reserve our airline tickets for mid July.”
I sighed and nodded. “Okay… Good. That’ll work. I’ve got to line up some time off myself. That should give me plenty of time.”
“Aye. I thought as much,” she said with a nod.
