Art didn’t yank his hand away from mine as he watched me through his peripherals.

“He carried me out of that mine—”

“You let him,” he said with a tilt to his head.

“Without hesitation.”

“He didn’t break your nose,” he stated.

“Of course not. He’s good, Mr. Daniels. He’s the best man I know, and you…” My breath shook as I exhaled. “You ruined him. And I don’t know if I can fix the parts you broke. He won’t let anyone in. And I have to get through to him, because he’s just so…” The words clogged my throat, threatening to choke me. “He’s so very lonely.”

“All great and precious things are lonely.” Art turned and slowly brought his eyes to mine. I didn’t see Sully or Xander in those depths, even though they were identical. I didn’t even see Mr. Daniels.

My hand fell away from his, and he went back to tracing the paths in the mine, muttering about the passages he’d sealed to keep the boys from suffocating in the bad air.

All great and precious things are lonely.

I’d heard those words before. Just a couple of weeks ago.

I walked over to Xander, feeling a decade older than when I’d woken up this morning. “Hey, Rosie, you ready to go?”

“If Mayor Daniels doesn’t need my help,” she replied.

“I’m good to go, Rose. Thank you for helping. Oh, wait, I could definitely use another pencil if you wouldn’t mind grabbing one for me?”

“No problem!” She scrambled from her seat beside him and headed for the bin of supplies, pausing to grab her jacket.

“Whatever my dad said to you, don’t stress. He’s having an off day. He might be himself from forty years ago or Napoleon.” He took advantage of the lull in tourists and leaned back in his chair, obviously weary from the day.

“Yeah, I think he just quoted a book at me.” And that wasn’t even half of it.

Xander startled. “Really? He’s more of a TV guy. Used to make fun of Cam for always carrying books around. I think that’s why he started hanging out at Cal’s. Weird.” His brow knit together.

“He’s definitely not himself.” At least for all the mutterings about balance, he hadn’t pointed a shotgun at me, so it could have been worse.

“Take it with a grain of salt,” he replied with a shrug.

“Here you go!” Rosie popped into the space between us and put a handful of pencils on the table. Among the yellow No. 2s, she’d added two of her own unicorn pencils.

“Thanks, Rose. I really appreciate it.” Xander gave her a smile as another tourist stepped up with a handful of ore.