Smiling, he reached for his wine. He knew she was teasing when she said 'too often', even though there was some truth to it. He knew it must have been difficult to handle, sometimes. That he must have been. He'd turned in to the type of person he would have mocked, without knowing the reason for the way he was acting. It made him feel stupid, and downright pathetic.
But Martha had a way of turning it all around in an instant. Just by saying something as simple as she just had. It was all in the way she said it. In knowing exactly the right thing, at the right moment.
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. There aren't too many people who would put up with me, let alone think I'm worth it. And I know you probably think that what we have is enough. I do. I mean, of course I do." God, he was rambling but he couldn't stop now. So like an idiot he forged ahead. "But the thing is, you deserve more than enough. So much more. You deserve more than anything I can give you. But the least I can do is give you the truth. And the truth is I love you." There. He'd said it. Quick, like pulling off a band aid. Where was the door again?