Page 58 of That’s My Orc, Tusk Off

When I set the mug in front of him, he was still holding the container.

“You made these,” he said.

“I did.”

“For me.”

“For us. For today. There’s enough for the family if they’d like a few.”

“Thank you.”

We sat down, the container between us like a treaty.

He opened it slowly, took a cookie, and ate it in one bite.

“Good?” I asked.

“Very.”

He finished the cookie and reached for another, but his hand stilled halfway. He patted his pocket, where I would swear he’d tucked an envelope, then tugged his tablet close, leaning over it.

“There’s something I need to tell you,” he said. “About this afternoon.”

My pulse kicked up. “Okay.”

He opened a file and turned the tablet so I could see.

“A family sent word about Rue. They want to meet her.”

I read through it and laid the tablet down carefully.

“When did this come in?” I asked.

“A few days ago.”

The word landed hard in my chest.

“A few days ago?” I said. “And you’re just telling me now.”

His jaw worked. “You’re right.”

I set my mug down carefully, needing to stop myself from throwing it. “We’re supposed to be handling things like this together. That’s what ‘beside me, not beneath me’ means.”

“I was trying to decide⁠—”

“Without me.” The words came out soft, but each one cost me something. “You made a decision without me. Or you tried to. For days.”

I looked away, staring at the cookie container between us. I’d made those for him. Stood in my kitchen thinking about what he liked.

He’d been keeping this from me the whole time.

“I spent five years with Derek,” I said quietly. “Five years where I organized his life, fixed his problems, and never once was invited to make a real decision with him. He’d just tell me what he’d already decided and expected me to make it work.”

I forced myself to meet Traig’s eyes.

“You told me I wasn’t beneath you. That we’d do things together. And the first time something important comes up, you process it alone for days before deciding to tell me the morning of the meeting.”

His face had gone still in that way that meant he was hearing every word.