In his life, Rodeo has experienced so many great big feelings. His emotions are by their very nature enormous, sometimes feeling so large inside him that he's sure they'll split him open like bloated roadkill in the sun. Sometimes they rise up slow, overtaking him like a tide and dragging him down under. Most of the time they come on fast, slamming into him like car crash and running him over a couple of times for good measure. But sometimes it happens like an explosion, demolishing him in a loud bright hot flash, leaving him in smithereens in all of an instant. And if there have been explosions in his life before, this one's the A-Bomb. This one annihilates. The second he sees her, there's nothing left.
He almost doesn't believe it, and for a half second that wary disbelief shows in his blue gaze. He recoils just slightly, as if to withdraw from the sight of her, but it's not a dream or a delusion standing there in front of him. When the steaks hit the floor, the noise actually makes him flinch, blinking abruptly as it rips him from his shock. He finally remembers to inhale, and he does so sharply, feeling the breath rattle in his chest. He can't move and he can't look away from her, as if afraid doing either will cause her to disappear in a puff of smoke.
Then he hears her speak.
It's only three short words, but her voice is the sweetest sound he's ever heard. He makes a strange sound in response, a hitching sort of hiccup, which is about as close as he can get to words right away. He closes his mouth and swallows hard, shaking his head as his eyes shine with unshed tears in the sunlight glaring through the windows.
"Do I look that bad?" he rasps dryly, his voice still caught in his too-tight chest.