The Sweet Spot by Ariel Ellman Page A

daughter. “What kind?” He pushed his wine glass away and pulled Raffi into his arms.
    “ Praline!” Raffi announced, burying her face in her father’s chest.
    “My favorite,” Jordan whispered into his daughter’s hair as he held her tightly against him.
    “Cup or cone?” Sawyer asked, pulling ice cream, sprinkles and a box of cones out of the bag.
    “Cone,” Jordan replied .
    “Sprinkles?” Sawyer asked, raising an eyebrow as she opened the ice cream and proceeded to dish it out.
    “Of course,” Jordan answered, locking eyes with Sawyer as she passed him his cone.
    “Did you force her to marry me Soy?” he asked Sawyer softly when Raffi left the kitchen to go to the bathroom.
    “No, of course not,” Sawyer protested.
    “But she didn’t want to, did she?” Jordan persisted. “She married me because of Raffi.” He looked down at the cone that was dripping in his hand.
    “Ani married you because she loved you,” Sawyer disagreed. “The night before your wedding, when she stayed at my dorm, she told me how much she loved you. She said that you made her laugh and appreciate all of the beauty in the world. She wanted that Jordan. She’s always wanted to be able to appreciate the joy in living; she just doesn’t always succeed.”
    “And now we’re getting to the root of everything,” Jordan said, standing up and throwing his dripping ice cream cone into the garbage. “The million dollar question is, will anyone ever tell me why my beautiful wife doesn’t think that she deserves to appreciate the beauty in life?” Jordan asked Sawyer softly. “I’ve thought about just Googling her name you know, to see if anything from her past would come up, anything that would give me some clue to the secrets in her eyes,” Jordan said angrily. “But then I stop, telling myself that she’ll trust me one day, that they’re not my secrets to hunt down, that they’re her secrets to share.”
    Sawyer stared across the kitchen island at her sister’s husband in anguish, much as her sister had just hours before.
    “You look just like her you know, sitting there, staring at me with those haunted blue eyes. You Mackenzie women and your damn blue eyes,” Jordan choked out helplessly in defeat. “A man could drown in the depths of your eyes. I cried the first time that Raffi stared back at me you know. I thought, oh no, she has her mother’s eyes, I don’t stand a chance.”
    “Jordan, I want to tell you everything, I alway s have,” Sawyer choked, walking over to him and taking his hand in hers. “You’re so good for Ani, you always have been. You’re a wonderful husband and father and I love you like a brother.” She gulped back hot tears.
    “But it’s not your story to te ll,” Jordan finished for Sawyer as she shook her head sadly.
    “I don’t know where her head is right now,” she admitted hopelessly.
    “How about her heart Huckleberry?” Jordan asked softly, staring into Sawyer’s eyes intently as he used the nickname that he’d given her when they first met. “Do you know where her heart is right now? Is her heart with the mysterious friend who she used to bake lemon bars for? The friend with the dead brother who she named our daughter after and never even told me about?”
    “I don’t know,” Sawyer answered helplessly as Raffi walked back into the kitchen.
    “His name is Sebastian,” Raffi whispered from the doorway. “His name is Sebastian and he has mommy’s Irish name tattooed on his neck in a heart. It looks just like the embroidered one that her mother made her that hangs in your room.”
    “Of course he does,” Jordan sighed in defeat. “I bet he knows all her secrets too.”
    “Come on sweet pea,” Sawyer called to Raffi, suddenly wondering if she’d made a horrible mistake by coming to Jordan tonight, by bringing Raffi when Ani clearly wanted her with her. “Time to go, it’s after eight.”
    “So . I don’t have school tomorrow, it’s Saturday,” Raffi