I suddenly felt like getting up and doing something, but I didn’t know what. “I can’t call her,” I said. “She blocked me.”

“Okay, cool your jets, big guy. Let’s think this through. I’m not sure I completely trust you to have the right plan in mind. What’s our goal, here?”

“To fix this.”

“Fix it how?”

“I want her,” I said simply. “I’ve wanted to be with her since we first met. It took me a little to admit it to myself, but it was there. It still is. So I’m going to apologize. If the right thing is to tell her how I feel, then I’m going to fucking tell her. The rest can sort itself out.”

“What kind of apology do you have in mind?”

“A good one?” I tried.

Laney sighed. “Look. Let me educate you just a little on woman-kind. If you want your apology to really matter, it needs to show us that you fully understand what you did wrong and that you’ve taken steps to change. Got it?”

“Understand my screw-up, ready to change. Yeah. Got it.”

“Good. Can I trust you to handle this, or do you need my supervision?”

I grinned. “You have school to focus on. Go home. I’ll take care of the rest.”

Laney smiled and gave me a little punch. “By the way, I know you’re not stupid. And I think it was really sweet that you did what you did, even if it was bone-headed. So go fix it.”

I gave her a hug, thanked her, and then started working on how I was going to go about making things right.

42

PEARL

The Ashford Inn smelled like pancakes, syrup, and coffee. I took a deep breath and smiled. My view from the window beside our table at The Spot was of ice-capped mountains and rolling hills. It was something I still hadn’t come close to tiring of.

Lizzie was eating a biscuit with gravy and had a big glass of orange juice. Steph had crepes filled with some kind of strawberry reduction and a coffee. I was eating my favorite, french toast drizzled in home-made syrup with apple juice on the side.

My apartment wasn’t big enough for both of my sisters to sleep, so they were staying at the Ashford Inn while they visited me for the week. We’d been meeting at The Spot for most of our meals. Considering the quality of the food, the prices were insanely reasonable. It also beat trying to cook in my tiny little kitchen.

Lizzie was going on for the tenth time about how amazing her honeymoon to Key West with Jonas was. By all accounts, they had become the perfect married couple. Maybe there was still a little jab of jealousy toward Lizzie and her perfect life, but I loved her and was happy for her all the same. Jonas and Maxwell apparently had a falling out with Alec after the wedding. In the days following his blow-up, some nasty things had come out about his feelings toward his brothers.