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“Yeah? Well, she can join the club,” Logan said. “We’re all scared.”
Hawk rose to his feet. “That’s a start.”
“Being scared?” Logan asked.
“Being honest. The question is whether you can be honest when it counts — with Ella, but even more importantly, with yourself.” Hawk seemed to calculate something. “Airport’s not that far. I figure with the right car and light traffic, you can get there before they're wheels up.” He rapped at the door frame with his knuckles on his way out. “Your decision.”
Logan stared after him, trying to decide whether to be pissed or grateful.
How many times are you going to do this?
Let her go without a fight…
Logan saw Ella the way she’d been when they were in high school, the night she’d told him she was leaving. He’d been just a kid then, scared and humiliated and full of emotions he didn’t know how to define, let alone handle.
He’d dropped her in front of her house without a word, had burned rubber as he drove away, wanting her to think he was mad because that seemed safer than letting her know how much she’d hurt him.
And then, this morning. There were so many things he’d wanted to say.
I love you. I’m sorry. Stay.
But he hadn’t said any of them. He’d just ushered Ella and Leo out the door, out of his life, as if it were the easiest thing in the world instead of the hardest thing he’d ever done.
The ocean slammed against the cliffs below the office, a rhythm his mind picked up.
Don’t go… don’t go… don’t go…
He jumped up and grabbed his keys.
* * *
Gabriella looked out the window as Jag navigated the car across the tarmac. The plane was waiting, its engines idling as a man in uniform climbed the steps.
“Is that our plane?” Leo asked from the back.
“That’s the one,” Jag said.
He parked the car near the plane and jumped out to get their bags. Bea gathered up Leo and his backpack while Jag loaded the suitcases onto the plane, and Gabriella followed Bea and Leo up the stairs to the waiting cabin.
She felt desolate. Sick. Like a cold wind was blowing across the desert of her heart. She was glad she was wearing sunglasses to hide her eyes, tired and puffy from crying.
She and Bea got Leo settled, backpack handy in case he got bored before they were in the air. Once he was buckled in, Gabriella sank into one of the luxurious leather window seats and turned her face to the glass.
Bea sat across the aisle from her.
“Can I get you something to drink?” the cabin steward asked.
“No, thank you,” Gabriella said.
“I’ll take champagne if you have it,” Bea said.
Gabrielle smiled in spite of her sadness. She was starting to suspect her nanny was a secret lush.
“You’re not a shark you know,” Bea said.
Gabriella turned to look at her. “What?”
“A shark. Leo and I were watching one of those nature shows about sharks the other day. Do you know they have to keep swimming or they’ll die?”
