Chapter 6

6

Mack

"Thank you all for coming," Art says in a somber tone to the group around him. "It breaks my heart to say, but … Mack has gone to the other side."

Payne and Orson exchange looks, and I raise my hand.

"Ah, I'm right here?"

"Not dying other side. Relationship other side."

"Which is basically dying, as far as Art is concerned." Ford grins, squeezing Orson's thigh. They're sitting on the couch across from me in the top mezzanine at Killer Brew.

"I'll have you know my pookie has breathed fresh life into me." Art gives a flourish as he points at me. "But you . You were my last hope. My last look into freedom. If you're not single, who am I going to live vicariously through?"

"Your sister is single," Payne says, and Art's mouth drops .

"My sister? My sister ? Mariana, the patron saint of abstinence? What is wrong with you?"

"She went on a date last night."

Art scowls. "I know. I had the niblings for her."

"Until what time?" I ask.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, did you have them until late … or all night?"

"It was a sleepover, but not because she was having a sleepover, okay? It was just easier."

"Uh-huh."

Art throws up his hands. "Here I am, trying to help my buddy out, and all I get is shade. Shade , damn you."

"Help me out?" I perk up at that. "What do you mean?"

"Well, my forlorn one, you're looking at the brain's trust. We, the great gays of the DMC?—"

Orson raises his hand. "Bi."

"Ditto," Griff says.

Art scoffs. "Great gays and bis doesn't sound the same."

"What about …" I think. "Great gays and brilliant bis?"

Art tilts his head back to look at the ceiling. "Why? Honest question, why ?"

"Hey, that works!"

"It's like a fucking tongue twister. The great gays and brilliant bis of the DMC."

"I think you originally had a point," Payne says. "That didn't involve alliteration."

"I give up. Mack is trying to win back Davey. Discuss."

My cheeks heat as my friends turn as one and stare me down.

"You want Davey back?" Keller, who's been quiet this whole time, asks. "We all knew you wanted him back, but you're actually going to do it? "

I hurry to nod. "He's home for twelve weeks ."

"And?"

" And this is my chance."

Keller sighs, and I know he's about to hit me with logic.

I point at him. "No."

"But—"

" No ." I glare around at them all. "I'm done hearing about how I can't do it. About how it's stupid and nothing's changed. I don't care. I want Davey to realize we're the ones for him. That we're worth more than his job or the money or the travel."

"Yeah, but if you have to make someone realize that, is it worth it?" Keller asks.

"That doesn't sound very supportive."

Ford clears his throat. "One hundred percent support, but I have to say Keller makes a point. Luke's been asking about you a lot too. He's a great guy."

It's getting very hard not to be cranky. Why is it that I'm the only one who can see that Davey and I are meant for each other? "I'm happy for him. But I'm serious. If you can't be supportive, please go."

"This is what supportive looks like," Keller says. "Giving you a heavy dose of reality when you can't do it yourself. Making sure you're not blindly walking into shit. As long as you know all the facts, we'll be here to help, no matter what."

That warms me a little bit. "Good."

"Now, you do realize Davey isn't going to quit his job?"

"I know it's a long shot."

"Not a long shot," Keller says, leaning forward. "He won't."

"Uh-huh."

"And that you'll probably end up hurt. "

"Very likely."

"And that we don't want to see that."

"You're a good friend."

Keller drags his fingers through his long black hair. "In that case, what do you need from us?"

"Ideas." I'm almost bouncing in my seat. "Ways to show him what he's missing when he's gone."

There are mixed looks around me, and it makes me snap.

"I said supportive, dammit!"

"A trip," Griff says. "When Fe was little, Poppy and I used to go camping for a weekend in the mountains. We'd switch off from everything and have three days together, swimming and exploring, going on hikes … it was great. You could do something like that."

I can see it now. Kiera and Van playing in the water … looking for lizards … me and Davey watching on. Sitting up later than them by the campfire … moving closer …

"It's perfect."

"What is?"

"A little trip together. It's right before Christmas, so it's not like Kiera's learning so much that missing one day of school won't be an issue." This is good. I pull out my phone to jot the idea down. "You guys are geniuses."

"Actually, the genius was all me," Griff points out.

"That's just one thing though," Ford says. "You can't expect one weekend away to do it all. You need a list. Now, not to toot our horns or anything, but you might be sitting in a room of the most romantic men in Kilborough."

"Minus Griff," Payne says.

"Hey! I had a very successful marriage. I think you mean Art. "

"Can't mean me," Art says. "I pulled a fire alarm to have alone time with my man."

I scramble to open the notes section on my phone. "Fire … alarm …"

"Don't write that." Orson laughs as he tugs my phone off me and grabs a notepad and pen instead. "I'm sure we can come up with a list that doesn't involve misdemeanors."

Ford thinks. "Our love story started with a near drowning."

"Ours had a sword fight …" Payne adds.

"I was stabbed …" Griff muses.

Keller lifts his hands. "Don't look at me. I only thought about handcuffing Will to the bed for his own good."

Orson covers his mouth with both hands. "I'm very worried about all of your partners." He shoots a look at Ford. "Even yours."

My gaze pings from one friend to the next. "I would have thought handcuffing to the bed was a good thing. No?"

"Not in this case." Keller crosses his arms. "My best bit of advice is to find shared interests and spend time doing them. Will and I …" A smile trembles across his lips, and urg , I want to be that happy and in love again. "Let's just say that we've found a lot of ways to do that."

I huff. "We were only talking about this the other night, and other than the kids, we have no shared interests."

Art cocks his head. "None?"

"Nothing."

I don't like how the guys go silent. It sets off the doubts again that make me squirm.

"So. Dinners." Payne points at Orson to write it down. "It can be simple, but something you know he enjoys. Make it a bit special with candles or something."

"Okay." I drink the advice in .

"Flowers are always good," Ford says, patting Orson's thigh. "I know someone who can give you a family and friends discount too."

"Really?"

Orson smiles. "I'm sure we can work something out."

"Does Davey like flowers?" Griff asks.

"It's the thought that counts."

"It's true," Art agrees. "We can give you a whole list, but none of it will work unless you tailor it to you. People don't care about things; they care about moments."

Payne snickers, and Keller rubs at his temples, but that sounds like perfect advice to me. Tailor things to what Davey wants. But what are the types of things he likes? Work. That's all I can come up with.

And with that realization, it dawns on me that maybe this divorce wasn't completely his fault.

I bury my face in my hands. "Oh no."

"What's wrong?" Griff rubs my back.

"I'm a horrible person."

Again with the silence.

I groan and rub my fingers into my eyeballs, then look up again. "I think I'm the problem."

"You're going to have to spell that out," Orson says kindly.

"The reason we don't have anything in common. The reason I can't think of anything romantic. Hell, probably the reason we got divorced in the first place?—"

"You did suggest it," Art points out, right before Keller belts him over the head with a cushion.

"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?"