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He felt for her because it was.
“Yeah, I know.”
He pulled her to him for a kiss on her neck, then he let her go and broached another subject that needed to be broached, but he didn’t want to do it.
“You contact your mom and brother?”
That grimace was bigger before she nodded. “Mom. Yes. I told her I needed some time, but we’d talk. Maybe next week. She told me she loves me, and she’ll see me when I’m ready. Oskar, yes too. I told him to stop bombarding me with texts. I’m not okay with what he’s doing, and he needed to lay off. It didn’t matter what he said, he wasn’t going to change my mind. And that had the result of him bombarding me with more texts, explaining how I was wrong.”
“What’s he say?”
“How Mom can’t afford an attorney at this juncture, and Naomi cleaned Adam out, so he’s not in the position to help her, so Oskar is stepping in. Which is unnecessary since Dad already intends to lay a healthy settlement on her. But I didn’t tell Oskar that.”
“Good.”
“I’m ignoring him, so he’s stopped. For now.”
“Okay.”
They’d double-parked outside her building, but she didn’t get out. She gave him a long look.
And then she asked, “Are you careful all the time when you’re out in public?”
“In a way. It’s kinda all I’ve known, because of Dad. So it’s just a part of how I’ve always lived. It isn’t as obtrusive as you think. Women guard against things as a matter of course in their lives because there are dangers they face daily. It’s like that. Like walking with your key between your fingers. You’ll get used to it.”
She nodded, but she didn’t look happy.
But that unhappiness wasn’t about this being part of her future. It was about it being a part of Hale’s life for the length of it. How he knew that, he didn’t know. Perhaps it was because there was something tender in her look, and as he had with other things about her that day, he felt her look in his chest too.
“I have to get back to work and I just had onions, so sadly, no kiss,” she said. “But thanks for meeting me.”
“Thanks for the hotdog.”
She didn’t want to kiss him, but that didn’t mean she didn’t come in for a hug.
Then she grabbed his hotdog detritus, along with hers, and got out of the car.
Paul waited until she was inside, and Hale watched her walk in.
But as he did, he felt a shift, and he didn’t feel that warmth.
The unease was crawling along his neck, and now, his chest felt tight.
He didn’t understand it and hadn’t gotten control over it by the time they drove away.
But he also didn’t have time to reflect on it. He had an afternoon of Zoom calls in front of him.
And he had to figure out what to cook for dinner.
CHAPTER16
SPICY BOLOGNESE
Elsa
Like the night before, Hale met me as I got off the elevator.
I tipped my head for his kiss.
