The Strawberry Patch Pancake House

Iris joins Archer in the kitchen after completing Olive’s elaborate bedtime routine. Frustrated, Archer reviews notes from the town meeting about the elusive original pancake recipe. He wonders if the people in the town are just messing with him regarding the recipe, and Iris admits that, while the original recipe does exist, they probably are messing with him a little. Sexual tension builds between the two of them. Iris offers to be Archer’s “sous chef,” initiating closer contact. Their interaction escalates when Archer lifts Iris onto the kitchen counter and they kiss passionately, culminating in Archer pleasuring Iris.

Afterward, they discuss the risks of their encounter, particularly the possibility of Olive waking up. Iris frames it as a “harmless make-out session” (222), and Archer, while wanting more, accepts this characterization. He refrains from further intimacy because of Olive, kisses Iris once more, and then leaves to take a shower, promising that the experience will provide “more fuel” for his thoughts, while Iris remains aroused.

Two days after the kitchen incident, Archer finds himself distracted at work and ruins a pancake order. Cyrus notices and guesses that a woman is the cause.