The huff said more than Sarah had during their entire conversation; he'd gone a step too far. She was upset. He had left things like this in the past, or on occasion far worse than this. There were times when he walked away from his wife after having said something genuinely hurtful, not just made a perfectly accurate observation about the nature of children's birthdays — but he always made amends sooner or later, and in this particular instance there was no reason to put it off. It wasn't as though he'd really intended to upset her, and he wasn't angry at her — though he did roll his eyes at no one as he stood up, reflecting that Sarah could be so sensitive sometimes, about the silliest things.

Abandoning the half-eaten apple at the table, he crossed to the counter where his wife was standing and slid his arms snugly around her waist, hugging her to him. "I'm sorry," he said smoothly, leaning his head in over her shoulder so that he was talking into her hair. "Am I being absolutely awful?"