Lily stood behind the screen door, looking at Joshua. She took a too-casual gulp from her coffee mug, which she instantly followed with a sharp breath of the morning air in an attempt to cool her burned palate. “Still hot,” she coughed.

Joshua grinned. She looked so pretty first thing in the morning. Her hair was a mess of ashy blonde tangles. He loved the flush he saw in her cheeks, the combined result of the chill in the air outside and the sleep that was beginning to leave her groggy body. Her fingers absently traced the raised ceramic lines of the pink pig on her favorite mug as issues of steam rose up around her lips and nose before disappearing in the air around her. If she knew how much I loved this, she’d think I was ridiculous, he thought. As if in response to hearing this thought out loud, Lily’s brown eyes flicked away from her cup to Joshua’s face. A half-smile was playing at one corner of her mouth.

My word. She is beautiful. “I thought you would still be in bed,” he said.

“I woke up.”