Something about the way he said it made time seem slower. She looked at his face, the lines there. His blue eyes. His mouth.
She blinked hard.
The elevator reached its floor, and maybe it was something about the way it swayed when it stopped that made her feel like she was turned a little sideways.
The doors opened, and he stepped out. “I haven’t forgotten!” she said.
“See you at six.”
The doors slid shut again, and she rode the extra two floors up to the fourth floor. She stumbled down the hall to her room and unlocked it quickly with the key card.
The room was dim and cool, all of the bedding white, and she was ready to stretch out on that bed, order late-night food delivery and just breathe.
Maybe it was being in a hotel room alone. Maybe it was being away. Something giddy built in her chest, and she took three large hops across the room and leaped onto the bed, laughing when she sank into the mattress.
She was so glad she had gotten away.
She was so glad she was here.
Now she was going to order whatever the hell she wanted and eat it in her pajamas.
SEVEN
US Highway 101
SUV caravan
Family vacation—nine years ago
The kids were running around in the light of the bonfire, the waves crashing against the shore. There was a little row of cottages, all lit up, right on the ocean, all part of the beautiful resort they were staying at in Monterey.
Will and Logan had beer, and Sam was enjoying a Diet Coke—she was a cheap date.
Will made a noise, then pulled his vibrating phone out of his pocket. “Oh, dammit.”
“Take it,” said Sam.
“We’re on vacation.”
“Is it a client?”
He pulled a face. “A difficult one.”
“Better take it,” she said.
“And come back with more beer, and another Diet Coke for Sam, or we’ll lose limbs,” Logan said as Will retreated from the bonfire.
“Why…what?” Sam asked as her husband retreated.
“Coffee in the morning. Diet Coke after noon, and God forbid we deny you.”
He wasn’t wrong. It made her skin feel too tight. She took a long sip of Diet Coke and turned toward the kids, a little more dramatically than she meant to.
“How is the writing business?” he asked.
She lowered the can quickly. “Oh. Good. Good. I’ve got a couple of new blogs and sites I’m doing content for right now. Some of it’s fun. Some of it’s like…testing internet cooking hacks, which mostly so far has made a mess of my kitchen.”
She cleared her throat. “And the…the cars? How are the cars?”
