Chapter twenty-four

Sarah woke the next morning with Richie’s solid form behind her, not wrapped around her like usual. She missed his chest pressed against her back, but he was there.

Slowly she turned to her belly to see him on his back, him arm lazily draped over his abdomen like he had only fallen away  from her, his other arm was above his pillow.

Carefully she reached up and rested her head on his shoulder, her face in his neck. She could smell his masculine fragrance; again it went straight to the pit of her belly as she closed her eyes.

A few comfortable minutes later, Sarah started craving some breakfast. Richie was still fast asleep, it was his week off, she didn’t want to disturb him and let him rest. Carefully she pushed herself up, careful not to arouse him, she sat up in bed. She pulled up the sheets to snuggly cover him up and got up.

Even though it was much warmer than it had been in Europe, Sarah quietly pulled open the top drawer of his dresser. Although she knew it was rude to do so, she started looking for boxers to wear, this time she didn’t mind if they weren’t new.

At the back of the drawer, she surprisingly found a few silk ones, unlike the plain cottons ones, these had prints. She picked one out to see and laughed at the print, reading “the man” with an arrow up and “the legend” with another arrow pointing to the crotch. With a chuckle she put it away again. There were a few more that made her chuckle until she finally decided what to wear.



In the kitchen she rummaged through the fridge, she was again surprised when she found it was fully stocked with every possible thing. She found bacon, eggs, garlic and some vegetables.

On the top shelf she found yogurts, picking out a strawberry one, she closed the fridge again and looked in almost every cupboard and shelf to find everything she needed to prepare breakfast. She peeled of the lid off her yogurt’s container to eat while she cooked, before she starved.



Richie woke up to the smell of coffee, he loved a good cup of coffee in the morning and the aroma had him craving it.

Noticing Sarah wasn’t next to him, he assumed she was making the coffee and, did he smell bacon? He got up, ran a hand through his hair, scratching the back of his head and made his way downstairs to the kitchen where he found Sarah in front of the stove.

She hadn’t heard him come in yet so he took his time to check out the figure of her backside, her long blonde hair between her shoulder blades, her back and her perfect waist. When he looked down at her ass, he recognized the boxers she was wearing, full of yellow smiley faces wearing headphones. He couldn’t remember how he got them but she looked gorgeous in them.

“Good morning.” He finally decided to announce his presence.
Sarah looked back over her shoulder. “Morning.” She smiled back at him.

He liked her in his kitchen, he wouldn’t mind having her there every day, more accurately, he wanted her in his house every day, just to be with him. His face cleared up like he had a brilliant idea. Was that what he wanted? Have her with him, his house, every day? That would mean living together. He shook his head, that’s not slow.

“Need any help?” He asked instead.
“No, almost done, just sit down.” She answered him as she emptied her pan.

Richie sat down at the table, already finding that cup of coffee he wanted waiting for him. Sarah brought plates over to the table and sat down across of him.

“I hope you like omelets like that.” The last few weeks she had learned what he liked for breakfast but she hadn’t seen him have omelets like hers.

Looking down at his place, he couldn’t wait to dig in, it looked mouthwatering. The eggs had cut up pieces of tomatoes and peppers looking so crisp, along with the bacon, he picked up his knife and fork.

“I’m sure I’ll love this.” He said before he took his first bite. He was right, he loved this, why didn’t he know she could cook like this? “This is amazing.” He said as he filled his fork again, the vegetables tasted as good as they looked and he definitely tasted garlic too.

“Thanks, I’m glad you like it.” She smiled at him, relieved that he really liked it. She picked up one of her pieces of bacon and thought for a second.

“Actually, this is the first time I’m not having maple bacon on the first of July.” She said.
Richie looked up. “First of July?” He was a little confused.
“It’s Canada day today.” Sarah explained. “My mum is Canadian.” She added when his confused expression didn’t change, now it lit up.
“So you do Canadian things today?” He wondered if her family had traditions.
Sarah shrugged. “Maple bacon for breakfast and poutine for supper.”
“What’s poutine?”
Sarah shook her head, he had been to Canada more times than she had and he didn’t know it. “I’ll have to make it tonight.” Sarah told him, knowing he’d like it.



“Is Ava staying with you this week?” Sarah asked when they finished cleaning up the kitchen.
“Just the weekend, still hours before I go pick her up.”

Sarah chuckled, the way he said hours, seemed like he thought it was still morning.

“Have you looked at a clock today?” She asked him.

Confused Richie looked around for a clock, noticing it was almost noon. “Oh.” He said. “We slept long.”
“You were tired so I let you sleep.” Sarah smiled at him as Richie wrapped his arms around her.

“So do you think you can drive me home later?”
The words were like a punch to his stomach, he didn’t want her to leave. “When I pick Ava up, does that work?” He still wanted to spend the afternoon with her before saying goodbye, he just didn’t want to, he wanted her with him, it felt nicer.
“That’s fine. My mum makes the best poutine, maybe Ava likes it too.” She suggested.
Richie looked down at her, waiting for the undisguised invitation.
Sarah looked up at him. “Would you and Ava like to come over for dinner?” She asked.
“We’d love that.” Richie bent down for a quick kiss.



They unpacked Richie’s bag in his room, not bothering to put the bag away again and clothes went to the laundry room to be washed.

Sarah’s bag got picked up when they were on their way out to Richie’s car. He put the bag in the trunk while Sarah got in.



A few minutes later, they parked  in a street. On each side there stood tall trees with behind them, houses with huge front lawns. There were a few children playing on the side walk but much too young for Ava.

“Where is Ava?” She turned to Richie as he got his phone out.
“She's with her friend.” He pointed to the house they  were parked in front.
“Don't you have to go knock?” She asked confused.
Richie chuckled. “Can’t do that now that she’s in high school, it embarrasses her.”
“Oh. I’ve never picked up Caleb and Noah, anywhere for that matter.” She said a little somber.

He felt bad for her; he loved picking up Ava even though he had to wait in his car for her.

“They  might like it if you do it now.” He was sure the boys would see it as a step forward too.
“I can’t.”
It disappointed him a little when she said it, he was convinced she could. “Why not?”
“I don’t have a car.”
“Oh.” It was his turn to be surprised.

Then he realized she hadn’t driven anywhere and he didn’t remember seeing a car parked outside her house.

“I can go with you.” He suggested.
“Yeah, maybe.” She agreed.
“Maybe you  can pick them up from school when school starts again. Where do they go?” Maybe he even knew where it was.
“Can I say I’ve never been there without being a bad mother?”
“You’re not a bad mother.” He looked down at his phone when it vibrated, Ava was on her way.



A few minutes later Ava walked out of the big house, she said goodbye to her friends and walked to the car alone.

“Missed you daddy.”  She said as she dropped her bag in the backseat and got in.
“I missed you too Princess.” He looked over his shoulder, still making sure she wore her seatbelt.
“Hey Sarah, how are you?” Ava asked just as happily.
“I’m good, how are you?” She liked Ava’s friendliness and politeness.
“Oh I’m great.” She smiled.



He parked the car and got Sarah’s bag from the trunk, together they walked up to the front door where they waited for Sarah to open the door.

Sarah’s front door opened right into the living room. Opposite of the door was the staircase and the rest of the room was the living room with the kitchen behind it.

As soon as she pushed the door open, surprised faces turned toward the door, not expecting anyone. Before Sarah was fully in the room, she was already being hugged.

“I missed you mum.”
She hugged him back. “I missed you too boy.”



Richie and Ava were invited in and after a quick, “you remember…”  Ava went to watch tv with Sarah’s sons while Sarah and Richie continued to the kitchen.

“Honey,” her mum said when she walked in, “you’re home.” She noticed Richie behind her. “And you brought that handsome man with you.” She smiled at Richie.
“I invited Richie and Ava for dinner. He doesn’t know what poutine is.”
Her mother started chuckling. “I’ll be sure to make plenty of extra.”
“Thanks Abbey” Richie smiled.



Sarah and her mother brought dinner to the table.

When Richie looked at the food on his plate, he thought it looked like a big mess.

“So what exactly is this?” He asked unsure of eating it.
“It’s fries, gravy and cheese.” Caleb pitched in, popping a few fries into his mouth. “It’s the best.”

Richie chuckled and tried it.



He loved spending time at Sarah’s house, her sons were fun but polite too and they got along well with Ava too. They had a weekend; maybe they could spend some more time together. He knew Sarah would like that. He should take them all out, now that Sarah had made so much progress, a whole new world opened up for her.