Chapter 63
Eric woke the next morning, hard as a rock and wanting Lori. His fiancée. Damn, that sounded good. She was sleeping so deeply, though, so peacefully, that he didn't have the heart to wake her, not even with kisses. She needed a day off, he decided, after all she'd been doing lately and he was a little worried that she'd been running herself into the ground. The bedroom phone was still unplugged, he noticed, so he slipped quietly out of bed, drew on a pair of baggy cotton gym shorts and moseyed on out to the kitchen for coffee. At least he'd finally remembered that amenity, he reminded himself with a smile. A brand new French press gleamed on the counter, next to an electric coffee-grinder and he quickly heated water in Lori's bright copper kettle. It was nearly eleven, the kitchen clock told him and Eric plopped himself on the sofa with the television remote and a stack of projects to grade, more content than he could ever remember being.