Page 171 of My Unfinished Heart

“I would want a painting from you,” she says.

“Yeah?”

She gives me a very serious face. “Are you sure he’s really the one for you, Archer? It’s awfully unfair that he’s making you work so hard. What did you do that was so bad anyway?”

“I broke a promise. I let him down.”

“Did you say you were sorry?”

“I did.”

“And you told him how much you love him?”

I swear she smells my hesitation. Her eyes get so wide I could throw a baseball through one of them. “You didn’t?” she shrieks.

I hesitate some more.

“Archer. All this time you’ve been going around pouting so everybody felt sorry for you, and you didn’t even tell him you love him?”

I hear a snicker behind me, and I turn to see Connor coming into the room. He pats my shoulder before he sits down at the table. “Occam’s razor, brother. They say the biggest problems have the simplest solutions.”

Eliza is standing up, one hand on a hip and the other out, palm up like she’s holding a pizza. “Are you hearing this?” she asks Connor, all incredulous dismay.

“Yep. He’s a piece of work isn’t he?” He yawns.

I fold my arms across my chest and sit back in the chair.

Eliza huffs, all indignant. “I cannot bee-lieve you right now.”

It’s hard not to laugh because I’ve heard Joey say that to each of her daughters at least a hundred times. But if I laugh at Eliza when she’s being this serious it will be a very long night for all of us.

I look toward the kitchen for help, but stirring Jell-O evidently takes a lot of concentration. So, no help there.

“Archer has trouble expressing strong emotions,” Connor tells the worked up nine-year old.

“That’s what Hallmark cards were invented for!”

Joey laughs so hard, she snorts.

“I’m glad everyone is so entertained by my heartbreak,” I say.

“It can be pretty entertaining,” Connor says.

“You’re a fine one to talk right now. When was the last time you talked to him?”

“Tuesday,” he says, conceding the point.

“Maybe you should paint him a picture, and I’ll mail the puppy,” I say.

Kate gasps. “You’re getting the puppy?”

“He’s doing sarcasm, Kate. Be quiet.”

Joey finally snaps. “Eliza. God. Tone it down.”

West’s car pulls up alongside the house. The crunch of the gravel is my out. “I’m gonna help bring in the food. We’ll pick this up later, ladies. Connor.”

It’s cold outside, but I don’t care. There’s an incredible amount of heat in the kitchen. I wait by the driver’s side of the car.