“Ace Ross.” He drums his fingers on his thigh as he listens. “Come in where? To D.C.? Sir, I have—” He’s quiet again, his jaw working in annoyance as he listens. “Fine. I’ll be there.”
He disconnects and looks at me. “Something has come up. I’m going to need the driver to turn around and get me to the airport in Frankfurt. It’s only about fifteen miles from here, but I’m on a flight out in just over an hour and I can’t miss it.”
He reaches for my hand but doesn’t say anything and I can’t look at him. I’m already emotionally drained after today’s events, and now he’s leaving me. I knew he would go eventually, but not today, and certainly not right this minute.
The driver pulls up to the terminal and Ace gets out of the car after a quick goodbye to my mother. I get out after him and the driver gives him his suitcase just as Ace pulls me against him.
“You’re thinking again,” he says as we stand there next to the car.
“I wasn’t expecting you to leave just yet.”
“I know. Me either. You going to be okay?”
“Not until I deal with my mother,” I mutter. “I’m so upset with her, but at the same time, she brought you back to me, supposedly at the behest of my father, which adds a detail I’m struggling with. It’s all so damn confusing.”
“Kind of sweet and creepy at the same time, right?” He smiles, reading my mind, as usual.
“Is this how you get bad guys to confess?” I ask him. “By reading their minds?”
He chuckles. “Uh, no. That’s something I save for very special people.”
“Am I special?”
“You have to ask?”
“Yeah, kinda.”
“Shannon, come on. Haven’t we come further than this?”
“I hope so.”
“I have to go,” he says with a soft sigh, “but I’ll talk to you tomorrow, okay?”
“Okay.” I lean up and press my lips to his, silently praying this won’t be the last time, that my very convoluted and dysfunctional relationship with my mother hasn’t ruined everything before it even started.
I got back in the car and we head toward home. The driver is dropping me off first and I struggle with the idea of sleeping alone in my apartment tonight. I wanted to sleep in my bed but assumed Ace would be with me. Now that he’s gone, the allure has faded. Chains is still here in Cologne, and I’m tempted to call and ask him to sleep on my couch.
He would, which is the crazy part, but I hate being that needy. I’m determined to get past this even though it’s proving harder than I thought, especially now that Ace left.
“Are you all right?” Mom asks as we turn onto my street.
“I will be.”
“Is there anything I can do?”
“No. I just need to get some sleep. Why don’t we meet for breakfast in the morning?”
“Nine o’clock?”
“Sure.” I nod as we pull to a stop in front of my building. The driver gets my suitcase, and I tell my mother I’ll see her in the morning. I feel a twinge of guilt, even though I’m both annoyed with and disappointed in her. She’s still my mother, though, and her intentions were sweet, even if her method was ridiculous. I haven’t yet been able to process what she did to get Ace and me together, which makes everything feel strange.
I get my things upstairs and let myself into my apartment. Everything is the same but somehow different. Maybe it’s me who’s different, but it’s hard to tell. I kick off my shoes, put on sweats, and throw in a load of laundry.
I look through the mail Mrs. Winkelhofer left on the table in my foyer and toss it aside. I have nothing to eat in the apartment but I’m not that hungry. Mostly, I want to sleep, but it’s too early. If I go to bed now, I’ll be up at three or four in the morning, so I’ll wait a little while.
I open my purse and pull out the letter from my father. He told my mother to only give it to me if Ace and I were together. Which means we should probably read it together. Except he isn’t here.
Something I might have to get used to.
