What? I was eating my feelings.
She added extra marshmallows to my mug, along with a chocolate-dipped peppermint stick for stirring, and handed it over, the warmth of the ceramic in my hands making me sigh.
“Sit,” she invited, pointing to a stool beside the one she sat on at the island.
I sat, plopping my chin in my hand while absentmindedly stirring the peppermint stick into the hot cocoa.
“What’s bothering you, Toby?”
“I messed up.”
“Is it something that can be fixed?” she asked.
“I said something I shouldn’t have. Something I didn’t really even mean…” I trailed off and sighed. “You can’t really take back words.”
“No. But you can apologize for them. Did you do that?”
“Not yet,” I murmured, wrapping both hands around the mug. I should have done it the minute we were finished at Bab’s. By then, I’d been running late for work and used it as an excuse to rush away. I’d made him promise we’d talk, and then I was the one who put it off.
What is wrong with me?
“Honey, is this about Archer?”
My eyes shot up to hers. “How did you know that?”
“Bab called me earlier.”
I let out a long, low groan.
“Don’t be so dramatic,” Mom chastised with a laugh.
“My mother is gossiping about me.”
“It’s only gossip if it’s not the truth.”
“Mooommm…”
“Are you saying that there is nothing between you and Archer?” she questioned.
“No.” I was quick to deny. “That’s not what—”Wait.
I eyed her skeptically as she sipped her hot cocoa like some kind of Christmas angel. “Why don’t you seem surprised there could be anything at all between me and Archer?”
She laughed.Laughedat her only son. “As if anyone in this entire town would be surprised to learn of anything between you and Archer.”
That’s exactly what Bab had said this morning.
Scowling, I tried to make my voice firm. “Mom. I’m not talking about the way we argue.”
Mom’s eyes twinkled. “I’m not either.”
Shocked and frankly a little embarrassed, I grabbed the cocoa to take a fortifying sip. The chocolate was comforting, and the peppermint added a little bit of bite.
“But really, only two people with very strong feelings could argue like that,” she mused.
I nearly choked. “Hate is a strong emotion!”
Completely calm, she sipped her drink. “Do you hate Archer, Toby?”
