“Just like that?” Barry asks, eyebrows almost hitting his hairline.
I nod and sink deeper into my chair. “Just like that.”
We are in my office. My new office, technically, though it does not feel all that new. I have been the acting sergeant for the missing persons unit since March when Sergeant Castillo retired, so today is not really a first day. The badge is official now, but the work is the same.
Apart from saying a few words to my team of seven detectives, including Barry, and checking in with Lieutenant Mira, nothing feels different. Mira has been on the force for twenty-four years and she handles all the big tapes and cases that I cannot touch yet. She is the one who actually keeps the wheels turning.
Barry sits across from me, fingertips pressed together in front of his mouth, staring like he is trying to solve a puzzle.
“I don’t buy it,” he finally says.
I look up. “Buy what?”
“This whole ‘it’s fine, she’ll get over it’ thing.” He leans forward, elbows on his knees. “Man, I know women. And even a woman as classy as Lorelie, with her own job and her own money, she’s not going to take this lying down. She’s definitely planning something.”
I snort. “Really? And what exactly is she planning?”
He shrugs, but his face stays serious. “Could be anything. Maybe she is icing you out. Maybe she is plotting a divorce. Maybe she is waiting to tear your ass apart when you least expect it.”
I glare at him. “Wow. Thanks. Very helpful.”
He lifts his hands like he is innocent. “I’m just saying.”
I rub my jaw and stare at the wall. “She said she forgave me.”
Barry lets out a low, disbelieving laugh. “Did she actually say those words?”
I think back, replaying the morning in my head. The tightness in her shoulders. The way she wouldn’t look at me.
“Well… it was implied,” I say.
Barry makes a noise that sounds like a dying animal. “Man, you cheated on her, thenyoublamedherfor it. I mean…” He trails off and actually winces. “That is rough.”
“I didn’t blame her,” I blubber, even though I know I did. At leastimpliedit.
Barry raises a brow and waits me out.
My shoulders sag. “What do you suggest I do?”
He rubs his chin, thinking hard. “Honestly? I don’t think there is anything you can do.” He clicks his fingers suddenly. “Wait.Actually, there is one thing. You should find a way to apologize without apologizing.”
I stare at him. “What does that even mean?”
“Show her you are sorry,” Barry says. “Not with words. Those are useless right now. With actions. Something big.”
“Like what?” I ask.
He shrugs. “You’re the one who almost blew up your marriage. Get creative.”
I lean back in my chair, tired and defeated. Creative is not in my vocabulary. I am a cop. I find missing people, not solutions to my own disasters.
But he is right. Lorelie is not going to be won back by saying sorry. She needs something real. Something that proves I know exactly how badly I screwed up. Something that shows I am willing to walk the walk rather than talk the talk.
Only… where the hell do I walk?
We already have a standing date every Wednesday.
We cannot take a trip right now, and even if we could, I doubt she would agree to go anywhere with me at the moment.
