He brought her two slices of blackened toast, apricot preserves slathered on like burn salve.

“I made breakfast. Sorry about last night.”

“It smells terrible.”

“And sorry I can’t cook,” he said, perched on the edge of the bed like an uncertain sparrow.

She smiled.

They went out for pancakes.

Amy Locke received her BA in English from the University of Iowa. Her fiction has been published by monkeybicycle.net, bewilderingstories.com, and crackthespine.com. She currently lives in Iowa with her husband, daughter, and two silly dogs.