When Darkness Ends (Moments in Boston #3) - Marni Mann Page 0,21
spend in there.
“I just hope the commonwealth will put her away for life,” I replied. “That woman is one evil bitch, and the more evidence I found, the worse of a friend she’d proven to be.”
“Aren’t I one lucky motherfucker to have the best one?”
“I’ll cheers to that.”
We banged glasses again while Dylan said, “But, fuck, getting you out of town is as hard as dragging my fiancée away.” He sighed. “You’re drowning in cases; Alix is married to an ambulance. Who would have ever thought I would be the more flexible one?”
Dylan had been a serial dater until he met Alix in a restaurant one evening while he was sharing a meal with another woman. From that moment, she had become his world and the best thing that had ever happened to him. As a paramedic for Boston, she worked as much as me. That was the problem with our jobs—depending on how ugly things got, our shifts often became blurred, and hours turned into days.
“Drag her onto the plane like you did to me this morning. That’s one way to get her to call in.”
He laughed as he looked at me. “You think I haven’t tried that? I was successful the first few times, but she’s starting to outsmart me.”
“God, I like that girl.”
We chuckled, and I glanced behind my seat. There was a screen built into the wall that showed the distance we’d traveled and how many more miles we had until we reached our destination. We were only thirty minutes in and had a long way to go. If I kept up this drinking, I wasn’t going to remember the landing.
Fuck it.
I emptied my glass, and before I even set it down, Dylan’s flight attendant appeared to fill it back up.
I was just starting to see double when I said, “Where are we going again?”
“Miami.” He extended his legs across the small built-in ottoman in front of him. “I need some heat. I’ve had enough of winter.”
“Did I pack shorts?”
Last night, Dylan and I had stopped at one of our favorite restaurants for dinner, followed by a bar—or three. That was when things had started to get fuzzy, and now that we were flying south, I couldn’t recall if I’d gone back to my place to grab clothes.
“If you didn’t, we’ll buy you some when we get there.”
With my hand wrapped around the glass, I reclined the seat, extending my legs in the same position as Dylan’s. “Damn it, I needed this getaway.”
“You’ve been putting in so many hours. I haven’t seen you in fucking forever.”
I turned my head toward him. “And you haven’t been?”
“The king of deflecting.”
I laughed, the whiskey aiding with that. “Every time I call, you’re at the office or in the air. We both have our reasoning even if they’re different.”
I shifted once more to look out the window, seeing the clouds floating underneath us. We were so close that it felt like I could reach out and touch one.
There had been moments, not too long ago, when I would have tried.
“You want to tell me what’s on your mind?”
I faced my best friend, holding the booze close to my lips. “Same shit, different day.”
He nodded.
Because he knew.
Fifteen
Before
Ashe
Only a day had passed since I’d watched Pearl’s play, and instead of giving her a call, I decided to do something even better. That afternoon, I waited outside her classroom, the same spot where she had crashed into me. I made sure to arrive a few minutes before her class ended in case they were let out early. But as she had told me at the diner, she always stayed after to speak to the professor, and today was no different. A large crowd of students hurried out first, and she was the last one to leave.
“Hey, Pearl,” I said as she came through the door, her attention focused on her notebook.
She looked up at the sound of her name, a smile filling her face once she realized it was me. “Hi.”
I stepped closer to her, instantly smelling the cinnamon, remembering how perfect that scent had been when I kissed her cheek. “I take it, you got home safely?”
She nodded. “And Gran loved the peanut butter pie.” Her hands lifted to the strap of her bag, gripping it between both palms. “She ate the entire thing. I couldn’t believe it. She normally eats like a bird.”
“That makes me happy to hear.”
“She’s very appreciative, and she wants me to thank you.”