Page 82 of Keeping Score

“Maybe ’cause he’s hungry,” she suggested.

“I’m not hungry,” I answered.

“His heart is a little hurt right now, Lil. But he’ll be okay,” Cassie said.

“Why’s his heart hurt, Mommy?”

“Because he didn’t get something he really wanted,” Cassie said carefully. “Remember how we talked about that big word disappointed?”

“Mhm,” Lily said. “Uncle Brody’s feeling disa-diss-ponted and now his heart is hurting?”

“Right,” Cassie agreed.

“Maybe we can put a Princess band-aid on it?” she suggested.

“We can try,” Cassie said, and I heard Lily jump off the stool while she and Cass went in search of an adhesive cure for my heartbreak.

“This is a new brand of misery,” I groaned, lifting my head to look at Liam, who was putting the rest of the pancakes on a plate.

“What?”

“Having to listen to my suffering be dissected to a three-year-old.”

“That’s what you get when you show up on our doorstep at six thirty in the morning.”

“Hey,” I protested weakly. “I was here at five, but at least I had the decency to wait until the sun came up.”

I didn’t have it in me to crack a joke, even though I knew that I’d be expected to smile in spite of my heart shattering. Because that’s what I did, wasn’t it? I picked up and carried on, no matter what.

But this was different. This was life-altering. Earth-shattering. I didn’t know how I’d ever be able to carry on again.

Not without Maggie.

“I’m sorry, Brody,” Liam said, staring at me with a rare expression of sincerity. “Really, I am.”

“Don’t be sorry,” I said. “It’s not your fault.”

“What happened?” he asked. “It doesn’t make sense.”

I didn’t want to talk about it, because talking about it would make it feel real. I just wanted to close my eyes and keep it all out, and hope that maybe I’d wake up in bed beside Maggie with the whole thing having been a warning, prophetic dream.

“I don’t know,” I admitted, groaning into my hands.

And that was the worst part. I really didn’t.

“Did she never love me?” I asked.

“She loves you,” Liam confirmed.

I thought she did. I knew she did.

Just maybe not enough.

“Then why did she say no?”

“You know her as well as I do.” Liam shrugged. “Maggie’s… complicated. Unpredictable. She doesn’t like to be boxed into a corner, and I think maybe she’s just running scared.”

“So, maybe she just needs time?” I asked hopefully. “A little bit of space? I mean, once she thinks it over, she’ll realize that it was a mistake, right?”