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A year. Twelve months. Three hundred and sixty-five days. A walk in the park.
Yeah, keep telling yourself that.
“Thank you.”
He frowned. “What for?”
“For being you.” She pecked his cheek, pushed open the door, and went inside.
Lori clung to Zane’s hand during the entire car ride to JFK. A fourteen-hour flight lay ahead of her, and with the time difference, it would be a new day before they could talk. And when it was morning in New York, it’d be evening for her. Somehow, they’d have to juggle a nine-and-a-half-hour time difference, which meant he couldn’t call her at the end of his day as that would be the middle of the night for her. And her morning was just as he was going to bed.
This was fucked up. He glared at Jim sitting quietly staring out the window, Maisie’s hand tucked inside his. And then Zane schooled his features. One day, he might have to make decisions that weren’t popular but were the right thing to do in the long run. Jim was ambitious, an attribute Zane admired, and his career was important to him in order to provide the very best he could for his family.
But fuck, he’d miss Lori more than he’d miss the loss of a limb. She was the better half of him. His soul mate. His future.
He made a silent vow. He’d have a calendar custom made with pictures of him and Lori. Last thing at night, he’d cross off another day, counting down to the time when Lori would set foot back on American soil. They’d already talked about him maybe flying out after Christmas and spending a few days in India. If he could make it happen, he would, but with college and the job he still needed to find, and costs of accommodation, an expensive plane ticket to the other side of the world wouldn’t be easy to fund. And his parents were already working their fingers to the bone to ensure he could afford to go to college. It wasn’t fair to ask them to find the money to pay for flights, too.
Not having enough cash sucked. It sucked. One day, he swore, this would not be a problem. He’d start that company and work every waking hour to make it a success. And he’d shower Lori with gifts, fuck her on beds scattered with rose petals every damn night, and feed her caviar for breakfast.
“Where’s your mind gone?” She palmed his thigh, making his dick jerk.
“Straight to the gutter,” he whispered low enough so her parents couldn’t hear. “I was thinking about rose petals.”
She blushed and chuckled, and then her face fell. “It was the best night.”
“There will be others.” He kissed her temple, catching Jim’s eye over the top of her head. He appeared contrite, although resolute. “I promise you.”
The car pulled up at departures, and Jim asked the driver to wait to take Zane back to Manhattan. Zane pushed Lori’s suitcase into the departure hall. Most of their things were being sent separately, and the renters had already moved into their home. Zane doubted he’d go anywhere near the place until it became Lori’s family home again.
The three of them wandered up to the bank of check-in desks. Zane hovered by the entrance, waiting. As Lori came toward him, clutching her carry-on bag to her chest, her eyes pooled with tears that clung to her lashes. He took her hand and led her a short distance away. Using his thumbs to clear the moisture from underneath her eyes, he bent his head and kissed her.
“I can’t even imagine being without you for one day.” He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “I want you to promise me something.”
She dragged her hand beneath her nose and sniffed. Zane fished a tissue from his pocket, grinning as he handed it to her. Lori never seemed to have a tissue to hand when she needed one.
“My hero.” She blew her nose. “What’s the promise?”
“That you will make the most of every day. You’ll grab this opportunity with both hands and wring the fucking life out of it. That you won’t pine for me. You’ll make new friends and meet interesting people and drink in the culture. And then when you get back to New York, you can tell me everything and let me live it through your eyes, your memories.” He pecked her lips again. “Promise me, Lori.”
She stared into his eyes for the longest time, and then the nod came. Brief but steadfast.
“I promise.”
Zane somehow held it together. But when Lori disappeared through the security gate, his face crumpled, and a searing pain shot through his chest, a physical manifestation of loss. Which was stupid. He hadn’t lost Lori. The year would fly by, and before either of them could register the other’s absence, they’d be back together.
He trudged back to the car idling by the curb, an irate parking attendant in a stand-off with the driver. Zane jumped in the back, and the driver sped away before he could get a ticket.
Zane glanced back at the terminal building and blew a kiss. “See ya, babe. Three hundred and sixty-five days and counting.”
PART II
CHAPTER 6
PRESENT DAY - THIRTEEN YEARS LATER
“Happy birthday!”
Calum butted his thumbs underneath the cork on the champagne bottle and pushed. It popped, hit the ceiling, bounced off, and smacked into the back of a nearby diner’s head. The guy whipped around faster than that girl in The Exorcist. Calum held up a hand in apology.
