Top Dog

She hung up her coat and scarf on the coat rack by the door. Shivering, she walked over to the cans and began rummaging around for a pan. I studied her as she prepared to make breakfast, trying to calm myself down now that she was here in front of me. She hadn’t left me. She hadn’t run away. She was here, right where she belonged.

I let out a long, relieved breath.

“Brian, are you okay?”

My eyes connected with hers as she turned toward me, her body leaning against the counter.

“Oh my gosh. I didn’t worry you, did I? You were sleeping hard when I woke up. So I figured I could go get some stuff from my place to cook breakfast. You didn’t have much here besides eggs.”

“I’m just glad you’re here,” I said.

She walked over to me and wrapped her arms around my neck. I buried my face in her hair, taking in her scent. I could smell the dust from her cabin on her, and I made a mental note to ask about the condition of it later. But for right now, I would settle for helping her make the cinnamon rolls.

We danced around one another in the kitchen like we’d been doing it for years. I was cooking up some eggs while she cracked open the cinnamon rolls. Then I cooked up the last of the bacon. I needed to make another grocery run in town, but that would have to wait for a different day.

“Brian, could I ask you a question?”

Her voice seemed smaller. Like she wasn’t quite sure she should ask what she was about to.

“Of course you can. We’re about to get married. You can ask me anything,” I said, grinning.

“Could you tell me about your ex?”

I felt my body tense up at her question before I drew in a deep breath.

“I figured that was coming. Especially after last night,” I said.

“If you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to.”

“No, no. It’s only fair,” I said.

I moved the bacon off the burner and started draining the grease into a can.

“She really left a dent in me,” I said.

“What happened between you two?”

“A lot of things. What prompted the divorce was her cheating,” I said. “I thought it was just the guy I caught her with, but it came to light eventually that there had been more.”

“How many more?” she asked.

“Enough to span the entirety of our marriage.”

I felt her gaze fall onto me as I spooned eggs onto plates for all of us to eat.

“That’s messed up,” she said.

“It was. I met her when I was in foster care. My sister and I bounced around from home to home, until we came to the end of the line; the last place that would take us in. She was there, too. It’s how we met.”

Amanda put the cinnamon rolls in the oven, then made her way toward me.

“Foster care was hell. Families don’t give a shit about those kids. But Rachel? She cared. We were inseparable. She loved me when no one else would. At least, I thought she did.”

“Brian, I’m so sorry,” Amanda said.

“I caught her cheating on our anniversary, of all days. I told her right then and there I wanted a divorce. She raked me over the coals in court. She was the one that cheated, and broke our vows, but she got to walk away with almost half of everything. She drained me. Bank, brain, heart. And it sent me here.”

I felt Amanda’s arms wrap around my waist as I turned to her. I pulled her into me, her head settling into the divot of my chest. I closed my eyes and sighed, feeling her lips press a chaste kiss onto my bare skin. Her warmth was encompassing, comforting, especially when I talked about things like this.