Thirty One

Matthew awoke with confusion.  He was not in his bed.  Then he remembered what had happened early that morning.  Kara was not in bed anymore and the cold bedding where she had lain proved that she had not been for a while.  He was surprised that he’d slept through her sneaking out, but he had been exhausted and overworked with the start of the growing season’s preparations.

When he lifted his head to glance around the room, he caught a whiff of something familiar.  Then he smiled with pleasure.  Was that blueberry pancakes?  He stood up and pushed his fingers through his hair and went to the bathroom to wash his face, before he went to investigate.

He came into the kitchen to find Kara sitting on the counter with the bowl of dough in her lap while she flipped the pancake over in the pan.  There was flour in her hair and her face was pale with the same, a smudge of dough over her cheek.  Her feet and toes were mov