for next time: it’s never a good idea to have your boss or anyone else spill the beans.”
“Yeah,” he said. “That wasn’t actually one of the ways I came up with.”
“Oh, do tell.” She pulled her other leg up so that both knees were bent under her chin. “I can’t wait to hear what you had planned.”
Watching his expression soften like that sent a wave of warmth rippling through her. Oh, how she was going to miss that face, those eyes, that voice.
“Well,” he said. “There were a few different ways I could have done it. Plan A was me telling you I was just going to run down to the store for ice cream and then not come back.”
“Hmm.” Smiling, she tipped her head a little to the side. “Not very original, Ponch. Running out for ice cream is so yesterday. I mean, if you’d said you were running to the store for, oh, I don’t know, Swedish Berries, that might’ve won you points for originality, at least.”
Without missing a beat, his gaze still fixed on hers, he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small bag of the damn things and tossed them onto the table.
“Ooooh, well done. Those things are like my kryptonite.”
“I know.” His cheeks pinked a little when he shrugged. “Every time you pulled out your registration papers, I saw your stash in the glove box.”
“See—you really are like a superhero cop, aren’t you? Who else would’ve noticed that?”
“Yeah, pretty much everyone who knows you.”
Forgoing the pizza altogether, Ellie pulled the bag open and dumped a bunch of the candies into her cupped palm. “So good. And while it’s virtually impossible to top any idea that includes Swedish Berries, I feel it’s only fair to at least hear what your Plan B was.”
“Right. Plan B.” Pushing back in his chair, he scraped his fingers over the top of his head and…yup…that counted as a smile, small as it was. “I was going to throw you in my carry-on and take you with me.”
He let that hang there for a second or two before adding, “But apparently there’s some law against that. No women, printer cartridges, or oversized liquids allowed in carry-on bags. Go figure.”
Ellie nodded slowly, pretending to ponder that a little.
“I see. So basically what you’re saying is—” She pulled the glass back to her side of the table and downed what was left of the beer. “Neither plan actually involved telling me anything.”
“Which is why I decided to go with Plan C.” He didn’t move, didn’t flinch, didn’t even blink. “I’ve been transferred back to Etobicoke, Ell, and I leave next Friday.”
Friday. She held his gaze as long as she could, until the burning in the back of her eyes forced her to either look away or let him see what those words did to her, how deep they sliced and how hard they made it for her to breathe.
“Well, that’s good, right? It’s what you want, it’ll mean you’ll be closer to…” Oh boy. Swallowing, she pushed away from the table and went to fill the beer glass with water. “You’ll be closer to your folks.”
“Ell.”
“What? No, it’s good. Jayne and Nick are really going to…” She was making it worse, but her tongue just wouldn’t stop. “They’re going to miss you, but it’s not like they’ll never see you again, right? I mean, aside from the obvious problems with carry-on bags, travel’s pretty simple these days, and there’s always email and texting and…well…there’s Skype, but after seeing what my mom does with that…Ugh, never mind.”
This would be so much easier if she weren’t standing there in her pajamas. You’d think having a picture of Daryl and his crossbow on her shirt would help her feel strong, but it didn’t. Not even close, especially when Brett kept looking at her like that, like he knew she was struggling but there was nothing he could do because he was struggling, too.
“Do you want another beer? I could call room service and have them bring some more up. Or there must be something in the—” She jerked open the minibar and pointed to the cans of Heineken. “Thank you, Jesus.”
“Those are going to be, like, ten bucks each.”
“Really? You think I care about that right now?” She had her can cracked before setting the other on the table in front of him. After a long swig, she wiped her mouth and nodded. She could do this; all she needed to do was