It had been a long-ass time since the word applied, and while he still had days when he woke wondering why he was still breathing air and taking up space, they were a little less now, and he didn’t need to be baked constantly to withstand the endless march of days. A whisper in the back of his mind suggested he needed more than a change of scene, but he closed his eyes and shook his head.

I’m okay.

If he repeated that enough, it might even be true. Cooking was like meditation; the repetitive motions of chopping vegetables for soup soothed his mind. He was making classic chicken noodle soup with chunks of carrot, celery, and onion. The chicken was already simmering in broth, and he added the vegetables, scraping the knife across the cutting board. This wasn’t what he wanted to do with his life, however, and he’d gotten no further than entertaining the question.

Forty minutes later, Leanne let herself in, and he heard the click of her heels on the tiles in the foyer. He popped out of the kitchen and smiled at seeing her face. Even after a long day of work, she was a marvel, brilliant red hair flowing smoothly past her shoulders. Her lipstick matched, and her skin was flawless, highlighting the brightness of her eyes.

“Welcome home,” he said. “It seems like you have news.”

“I do. Let me get changed, and I’ll tell you.”

Trev paused her with a light touch on the shoulder and kissed her cheek. “I’ll be waiting.”

Leanne grinned. “Why are you so cute?”

Shortly thereafter, she came to the kitchen with her hair up in a ponytail, wearing lemon-yellow yoga pants and a green T-shirt that read BIG WITCH ENERGY. Even barefoot and dressed down, she was the most gorgeous person he’d ever seen. She leaned against the counter, watching as he blew on a spoonful of soup then tasted it.

“Dinner’s ready. Talk while we eat?”

“Sounds good,” she said.

He settled at the counter. “Junie came by earlier today.”

Leanne sat beside him with her bowl of soup, stirring it idly with her spoon. “Oh God. I’m sorry. What did she want?”

“Not sure. I think she’s lonely and…” He hesitated.

“And?” she prompted.

“Maybe she was also checking our story. I made up something about working from home, and she seemed to buy it. I fixed her a tuna sandwich for lunch.”

“You’re really going above and beyond,” Leanne said, smiling. “This soup is delicious, by the way.”

He basked in the pleasure of that simple compliment, and let the warmth sink in, feeling like someone experiencing the sun for the first time after a long winter. “You had news?”

“Don’t freak out, but…I may have quit my job today.”