I can’t with this.But she faced her boss with another fake smile. “Mind if I take a break, Ben? I’ll make it up to you, promise.” It was so sickeningly sweet it made her teeth ache.
“You sure?” Ben watched Reid like he wanted to stab him through the heart, like a vampire and a Cyborg were the exact same type of bloodsucking monster.
“I’m sure.”
When it was just her and Reid again, alone except for the crickets, her fake pleasantries fell away.
“I’m leaving.”
It was the last thing she ever expected him to say. Her heart got heavy.
“Why?”
“My brethren need help, elsewhere, and I can’t not go to them.” His eyes pierced hers but then looked away and down to her baby bump. “Helping them helps us.”
“What do you mean? Is that why you came to the bar tonight after all this time?”
He reached out to her but stopped short and dropped his hand to his side. Clara stiffened, waiting, wishing he would touch her, hoping that whatever went through his head would convince him to make the first move.
“Can we go somewhere else to talk?” he asked.
“I can’t leave mid-shift.”
“Afterward?” the plea in his voice unsettled her.
“Yes. Okay, afterward. But you have to go. You can’t stay at the bar.” She glanced behind her then back to him. “If you stay, you’ll get me in trouble,” she lied, hoping it’d take.
“I’ll meet you at home then.”
Reid lifted his fingers and traced her cheeks without touching them before turning away—without argument—and leaving her standing in the dark alone.
At home.
***
SHE COULDN’T WAIT FORher shift to be over and as she chugged the scrappy trailer onto her land, Reid was already standing in the middle, waiting for her.
Once again, the bar had survived a near disaster. It was like that every other night. But tonight as she wiped the counters and gave Bengie a big hug goodbye, something in her gut told her she wouldn’t be coming back and that she wouldn’t see him again.
Clara parked the trailer and opened the door, this time, letting in her stray—as she’d come to think of him— willingly. They sat at a small table in the back.
“I’ve been waiting, you know,” she said, breaking the silence first. “For you to make the first move.”
“And you don’t call prowling your land and lurking in the shadows not making the first move?” he guffawed.
“No. I hated that.”
“You loved it,” he countered.
“I didn’t.”
“You loved every fucking minute of it. It made you feel safe. It gave you space but was a constant reminder that you wouldn’t be alone for long.”
“You only care about the baby,” Clara choked.
“Babies.”
She followed his gaze to her belly. “You can’t be serious? How can you tell?”
