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“How?” Adrian asked.
“I don’t know,” Elizabeth said. “But I think she’ll want to spite him on her way out.”
“Two days,” Adrian said after a brief delay. “If I don’t hear from Jordan that there’s some major development in our favor within two days, I’m going to push through with the original plan. I’ll dig what I can from this drive in the meantime so I’m ready. If this resolves on its own, I won’t move forward.”
“Four days,” I tried.
“Two,” Adrian said, and I could tell from the tone of his voice there was no negotiating with him.
“Two days,” I agreed, then I gave Elizabeth an encouraging squeeze of the hand. “But I think you’re spot on about Mrs. Glass. It won’t come to that.”
37
ELIZABETH
Travis convinced me to meet him at a playground the morning after Mrs. Glass’ company party. I found him on a bench with an unusually serious look on his face.
“Hey,” I said, sitting next to him and bumping his leg with mine. “Why are we at a playground?”
“Mr. Meatball and Rat like them,” he said offhandedly.
I thought it was a joke, but then I realized his cat was currently going down one of the smaller slides while a crew of little children cheered him on. Rat was sunbathing on a rock, eyes closed. From the looks of it, he was finally done molting, and I wondered if now he’d stop being so cranky all the time.
“You’re ridiculous,” I said.
He looked like he didn’t hear me. His eyes were focused on something far off in the distance. “I don’t want to lose you,” he said.
I reached for his hand, grabbing it in both of mine. He squeezed back, giving me a small rush of warm comfort. “You won’t.”
“What if this all blows up? What will you do if I go to jail?”
“I’ll visit as often as I’m allowed.”
He scoffed but gave me a sidelong look and a faint grin. “What if they lock me up for ten years?”
“This insecurity is new,” I noted.
“I can’t stop thinking about what I would do if I lost you. It’s driving me fucking insane.”
I cupped his chin and gave him a kiss. It felt amazing. Safe. Explosive. Real. I pulled back, opening my eyes. “You don’t have to worry, Travis. For starters, jail isn’t going to happen. Your plan is going to work. I know Mrs. Glass, and I think you’re right. She’ll drop her plans to pursue this as soon as she realizes she’s done attempting to fix her doomed marriage. But even if everything went wrong, I’d still be there. I’ll wait for you. As long as it takes.”
“Who would watch my pets?” He asked, looking toward Mr. Meatball, who was headbutting a group of little girls that were petting him and giggling.
“I’d take them all in.”
“Even if I got a tiger?”
“Travis,” I warned. “I’ll take in your current pets. There’s no reason for you to get a tiger right now.”
He smirked. “That was a joke.”
I gave his hand another squeeze. “Let’s stop worrying about it. Actually… I know exactly what we should do to get your mind off this. Tell Mr. Meatball and Rat we’ve got to go.”
He checked the time on his phone. “Bad idea. Mr. Meatball gets upset if you don’t at least give him half an hour.”
I sighed. “Okay. Fine. We’ll wait a little longer.”
A few hours later, I’d arranged everything. We were let on the sleeper train with our little backpacks of overnight supplies and led to a private cabin.
Unlike me, Travis loved surprises. So he was still getting over his excitement and awe when we got inside the room. It was cozy and small, with a bunk bed against the outside wall of the train and two little windows beside each bed. There was a bench seat and a table with two chairs. We even had our own tiny bathroom.
More guests filtered by the frosted window to our door, which I noted had a little pull-down curtain for privacy. I could hear the sounds of muffled conversation through the walls and from the corridor outside.
“This is incredible,” Travis said. “I had no idea they did sleeper cars in the US. I’ve always wanted to try one of these.”
“I thought you’d like it,” I said, smiling at the look on his face. All of the anxiety I’d seen in him earlier today was gone—replaced by pure child-like excitement.
He spent the first few minutes in our room trying out the beds, lifting things and searching for hidden compartments. Then he sat by the window and stared out to watch as we left the station. Once we were on our way, he leaned back on the bed, hands and ankles crossed as he gazed out the window with a complacent look on his face.
I moved beside him, resting my head on his chest.
