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“Call me every hour,” Rex told her, which pissed Ravinia off all the more.
She didn’t have a working cell, and she had a feeling Rex would try to shake her loose from him. Well, she was going to be like a burr, she determined, as Rex walked Elizabeth to the door. She saw the way he touched her arm and that kind of pissed her off, too. They were bonding in all kinds of ways, and yet Elizabeth treated her with extreme caution.
She’s wavering. I can feel it. Not only has Elizabeth fallen for that stupid private detective, but she’s actually considering leaving the area, leaving me. I can’t let that happen. What’s wrong with her? Didn’t she read the notes I penned for her? Doesn’t she understand the depth of my love? That we’re destined to be together? That I would do any damn thing to be with her.
My fists curl in frustration and a headache pounds behind my eyes. I can no longer suffer this loneliness. I
have to stop her.
Feeling sick, I lean against the freezer, my hands braced against the top of the big chest. I need to stop her. I can’t believe that she won’t wait for me, or come to me. She must’ve gotten my messages . . . I thought she would respond in kind but so far . . . nothing.
My heart is breaking.
My soul is shredding.
She can’t leave me. Not now. Not ever.
I force myself to take several deep breaths as I conjure up my beloved’s face. I long to touch her. To kiss her. To seal our love . . . our special love.
I can wait no longer. I head upstairs to the kitchen to find my keys and slip the ring into my pocket.
Today, I will go to her. I know where she’ll be.
Today is the first day of our forever.
The day crept by. As she called Rex every hour on the hour, Elizabeth began to feel foolish. He had taken the letters to Driscoll who’d been noncommittal about his thoughts, but it made her feel better to know they were in the rumpled detective’s hands. While she’d talked with Amy Ferguson and, of course, Marg and Buddy, who wanted to see yet more houses—a plan she’d put off until next week—Rex had been following up on Gil Dyne and Peter Bellhard. He’d interviewed both men and had struck out. Though he was leaving the door open, Elizabeth could tell he didn’t feel either man was capable of writing such heartsick notes, and well, she felt the same.
She was meeting Detective Driscoll at Rex’s place as soon as she picked up her daughter. Ravinia had gotten on Rex’s phone once, reiterating that she felt Elizabeth should go to Siren Song ASAP. Well, maybe, but first the detective.
She was late, as ever. If she didn’t get to the preschool by six PM she was charged an exorbitant rate every fifteen minutes past the hour. She understood, but it didn’t mean she didn’t push the limit sometimes. It was two minutes to six when she finally wheeled into the lot.
Vivian was just leaving. She waved at Elizabeth and called, “What are you doing this weekend?”
“Working,” Elizabeth called back.
“Not every minute. Let’s go to the gym.”
“Can Chloe come over?” Lissa yelled.
“Not tonight,” Elizabeth told her.
“We’ll talk,” Vivian said, and drove out of the lot, her blond poof of hair visible through the back window.
Chloe was standing on one foot and then the other, the only child left in the room. She ran to Elizabeth and hugged her tightly.
“Sorry,” Elizabeth said to the teacher as she gathered up Chloe’s things. “Traffic was a nightmare.”
“It’s getting awful, isn’t it?”
“Yessiree.”
Chloe held Elizabeth’s hand as they walked out, something she rarely did.
“You okay?” Elizabeth asked.
“Yeah . . .”
She slid Chloe a look and a cold feeling stole over her as she recalled Ravinia’s words from the morning.
