Page 131 of The Best Thing He Never Wanted

“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.”