Page 22 of Forgotten Romance

“No, he’s right.” I’m miserable as I sink back into the couch. “When I think of Davey, all I can think about is work. But that’s not the man I fell in love with. It’s just the biggest thing I started fixating on in the last year we were together.” I stopped paying attention to him. Stopped making an effort. Instead, while Davey was working his ass off for our family, I was working my ass off to grow my resentment. I’d been happy in the delusion that he’s the one who chose this divorce, but maybe it’s not all on him?

“What does he do to relax?” Payne asks. “Beau colors in my tattoos, and that helps both of us.”

“I have tattoos.” Lots and lots of them. Down both arms and some on my torso. Maybe he could do that?

“You’re missing the point. If coloring isn’t something Davey enjoys, it’ll be annoying for both of you.”

Hmm … I twist my black wedding band round and round my pointer finger. There has to be something. “Oh. LEGO.”

“LEGO?”

“He loves it. We had to build a shed out the back for him to keep his collection. He’s always building things with Kiera and Van when he comes home.”

“Okay …” Art glances around at the others. “Can any of you think of something romantic to do with LEGO?”

No answers. Well, fuck.

“Umm … he likes food?”

Orson jumps on that. “Then the dinners are a great idea. Cook something he loves and?—”

“I hate cooking.”

More silence. I want to kick something. This shouldn’t be so hard. We’re supposed to be together. We’re soul mates. If two people are supposed to be, then shouldn’t everything magically fall into place? Shouldn’t there be signs pushing them together?

“What if I’m wrong?” I whisper.

Art’s gaze sharpens on me. “No.”

“But what if?—”

“Nope. Support only, remember? We’ve already covered off the negatives; now we’re all in this. If you’re wrong, we’re all wrong. And let me tell you, Artur de Almeida is never wrong.”

“You had me right there with you until that last line.” Payne sighs.

“Before Art got all humble on us,” Keller says, turning to me. “He was right. We’re not letting you quit. You know what you’re getting into, you know the odds, and now you have every one of us behind you, helping you strengthen those odds. We all love Davey. We all love you. And I know I speak for all of us when I say you two belong together. We just have to figure out how to make it happen.”

Orson’s nodding, and Ford’s smiling, and Griff gives my shoulder a squeeze. I’m stupidly close to tears as I realize how lucky I am to have these guys on my side. I throw my arms around Keller.

“Thank you!”

“Yeah, yeah …” He pats my back. “I only have one thing I want to negotiate on Davey’s behalf.”

“What is it?”

I pull back as Keller pins me with a look. “Nothing shady. We’re here to help you reconnect with him to a point where you feel comfortable bringing up your relationship again. There’s no tricks. No manipulation. Just you reminding him that you love him by putting in effort, and then you need to promise to talk to the man.”

“I promise.”

“Good.” He rubs his hands together and looks around at the group. “Who’s ready to get romantic as fuck?”

7

Davey

“We’re going away together!” Mack announces at the table the next morning. “Next weekend. It’s going to be great. Just the four of us.”

Just the four of us? My chest swells at the thought. “Where are we going?”

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