Chapter Twenty-Three
Bea kept her arm tight around Blane’s waist as they walked on Friday morning.
They’d decided to come out one last time, even if they didn’t do the full loop.
It didn’t matter if they didn’t go down to the bakery; she already had a little stash of baklava waiting for him at the house.
It was silly, really. It wasn’t as though he needed a going-away gift, but she knew how much he enjoyed them, and she swallowed hard at the thought that this was the last time she would be able to make sure he stopped long enough to enjoy a little sweetness.
“You okay, darlin’?”
That now-familiar shiver rippled down her spine. It was amazing what one little word could do to her. It had affected her so much the first time he’d said it, and now it had become something else entirely. Something that belonged to them.
He smiled down at her. “You still like that, don’t you?”
“I do. Very much.”
“I liked it when you called me darling too.”
“Oh my goodness, Blane. I’m sorry. I just didn’t…” She shook her head, frustrated with herself because there wasn’t any sensible way to finish that sentence.
“That’s all right.”
“No, Blane, it really isn’t.” She closed her eyes briefly. “I wish I’d called you darling every day.” Her heart broke a little as she said it, knowing that now she wouldn’t get the chance. “I’m sorry, darling.”
His arm tightened around her. “It’s okay.”
She looked up at him. “You do like it?”
“Yeah.” The smile that touched his face told her how much he meant it. “I do.”
They walked on for a little while in silence, his arm still around her shoulders, and when he tightened it again, she looked up and saw what he was pointing at.
“Pericles,” he said. “If you meet him on the road after… Don’t let him bully you, okay?”
She smiled, determined not to let the words after I’m gone steal it from her. “I won’t. I think we’re friends now. I’m rather grateful to him for proving there was nothing suspicious going on around here.”
Blane’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t comment.
When they reached the highest point of the road, he stopped before she did and looked out toward the sea.
The thin blue line of water at the edge of the horizon didn’t bring her the same rush of joy it usually did, but his words from the other day came back to her.
Just because there was a gray day and she couldn’t see it, didn’t mean it wasn’t still there.
She would have to remember that. Even in the days ahead when Blane felt just as far away as the sea had on that rainy morning, that wouldn’t mean that what they’d shared here had disappeared.
It would still have happened. He would still have been here.
By the time they got back to the house, there was nothing left to do. Blane’s bag sat by the door, and when he picked it up and carried it out to the Vitara, Bea’s hand came up to cover her mouth. She hurried back inside before he could see her face.
When she came out again, he was standing beside the open rear door of the SUV with his arms folded across his chest, looking almost as still and solemn as he had the first time she’d seen him in the arena in London.
Here, though, all he was standing guard over were her bits and pieces: her sun hat, a beach towel, a canvas shopping bag, the little collection of her things that had accumulated in the Vitara over the last few weeks because—until now—she hadn’t needed to think about taking them out again.
She gathered them together slowly, making sure the car would be empty when she finally left it at the airport, that nothing of theirs would remain behind inside it.
When she had everything in the bag, she couldn’t bring herself to take it back into the house.
It was ridiculous and she knew it, but she wanted it to stay there in the back beside Blane’s duffel for one last ride.
She cleared her throat, and Blane’s arms closed around her.
“Might be able to get back out here,” he said. “Cash wants to talk about that training thing I told you about.”
She nodded against his chest, wiping her eyes against his shirt before tipping her head back and trying to smile. “You should bring Brooke.”
His eyebrows drew together.
“I don’t know her, but from everything you’ve told me, I think it would mean the world to her.” She gestured toward the valley. “And it is rather a beautiful place.”
His expression softened. “Yeah. She’d love it.”
Back inside, he did one last sweep of the house, moving through the rooms with the same methodical thoroughness he brought to everything, while she stayed in the kitchen and tried not to watch him too closely. When he came back, she managed a smile.
“You haven’t left anything you want, have you?”
His gaze met hers, and for a moment neither of them said anything. Then he shook his head, and she wasn’t sure whether they were still talking about his belongings.
When they couldn’t delay it any longer, they finally got into the Vitara, and Bea’s mouth fell open as Blane pulled through the gateway. The old gate was hanging there.
She twisted around in her seat to stare back at it, then turned to him. “You did it!”
He lifted one shoulder. “You managed to get some sleep last night—I didn’t.”
“Oh, Blane.”
He reached across for her and rested their joined hands on his thigh as they started down the lane.
Bea tried not to catalog every place that already held a memory of him, but there were so many now: the bend where they’d first met Pericles, the stretch of road where she’d practiced driving, the place they parked near the bakery, the mini market, the turn toward the lawyer’s office.
Everywhere she looked seemed to contain some small piece of the weeks they’d shared.
Then they reached the main road, and the village and the valley began to fall away behind them.
Of course she wished it could have become more of a life, a real one, something that stretched ahead of them instead of ending today.
But she had chosen this life for herself, and Blane had his own waiting for him half a world away with his work, his friends, the people who were his family, the valley in Montana where he belonged.
His fingers tightened around hers. “I’m gonna miss you, Bea.”
She squeezed her eyes shut, but it was no use. Tears slipped down her cheeks anyway, and she swiped at them.
“I’m going to miss you too. And thank you.”
He glanced at her.
“For everything. For being who you are, and for being here with me, and most of all…” She let out a shaky little laugh. “Thank you for coming after me at Heathrow.”
His hand tightened around hers.
She shook her head. “And I’m going to stop now because I’m not very good at goodbyes.”
“Neither am I.”
“I think when we get to the airport, you should just get out, get your bag, and go.”
He shot her a look, and she nodded.
His grip tightened again. “I don’t want to say it, I don’t want to say goodbye to you, Bea. And I’m the same; I can’t stand the thought of us standing there dragging it out, so if you’re okay with it…”
She nodded. She couldn’t have been further from okay with it, but there was nothing else for either of them to do.
They fell quiet after that. There was so much she wanted to say, but none of it would change anything, and this was already hard enough.
She knew she should be grateful for the three weeks they’d had, for something she could never have imagined happening when she first met the huge, scowling American in London.
And for having had the chance, even for such a brief time, to love him.
She stole a glance at him. Now that he was leaving, she didn’t need to keep denying it even inside her own head.
Of course she loved him. But that wasn’t something she was going to put into his hands and ask him to carry away with him.
So, she kept hold of his hand instead, and when the signs for the airport began to appear, she made herself breathe.
And far too soon, Blane turned into the airport and followed the signs toward departures.
~ ~ ~
As they approached the drop-off lanes, Bea made a small sound when a bus pulled out, leaving a gaping empty space.
She pointed. “It seems as though we’re supposed to park here.”
Blane looked at the space, then back at her. “I was going to drive us to where your car’s parked. I can walk back from there.”
She shook her head rapidly. “You shouldn’t have to walk with your bag.”
He pulled into the space, not because he cared how far he’d have to walk, but because if he didn’t do this now, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to do it at all. When they got out, he handed her the keys.
“I just leave them on the driver’s seat? Not behind the visor or under the wheel arch or something?”
He shook his head and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her to his chest. “Just leave them on the seat. That’s what Cash said. And don’t worry, I doubt anyone would want to steal it.”
She swatted his arm weakly. “Don’t say that. It’s a lovely little thing.”
He had to clear his throat. “Yeah. It worked out pretty well for us, didn’t it?”
He opened the back and reached for his duffel, then stopped when he saw the small paper bag tucked into the end pocket. He hadn’t found the right time to give it to her. Now there wouldn’t be another one.
“Got this for you in Plakias one day.”
Her hand came up to cover her mouth while the other reached for the bag. “Thank you, Blane.”
“Go on. Open it.”
Tears were already streaming down her face when she took out the little bee keychain. “Oh my goodness, Blane.”
He nodded, not trusting his voice, and watched while she attached it to the keys for her new car.
“Thank you. This means the world.”
“A little bee.” He managed a smile. “Should’ve got one for myself too. Then I’d have a little Bea I could take everywhere with me.”
A sob escaped her, and she drew in a shaky breath. “Sorry. I don’t… I can’t…” She shook her head. “I really didn’t want to make a scene.”