“I, um, guess you need to come in so you can get going,” she said.
“Yeah.”His voice was husky with sadness.
“I’ll...I’ll be right down.I need to...check on something.”She turned and fled, letting the screen door bang after her as she ran upstairs.
With a heavy sigh, Quinn walked into the house and entered the cheerful kitchen, the kitchen he’d never see again.
Conversation stopped, and Fred glanced up from his plate.“Where’ve you been, boy?I know how you crave Emmy Lou’s cooking.”
“It’s been one of the best things about this trip,” Quinn said, smiling at Emmy Lou.“Thank you for feeding me so well.”
Emmy Lou frowned.“That sounded like a goodbye thank-you, to me.”
“And you got your own clothes on for a change,” Benny said.
“I’m catching the red-eye for New York tonight,” Quinn said.
Benny leaped from his chair.“I’ll be right back.Don’t leave yet.”
“I’ve got a few minutes left,” Quinn said.Funny how emotional he felt at this moment.Like he was leaving his own family.
“Does Jo know?”Emmy Lou asked.
“Yeah.I met her on the porch.”
“So that’s why she pounded up those stairs like a skunk was after her,” Fred said.
Quinn cleared his throat.“I wanted to say that you’ve been great, all of you.”He glanced at Hastings, who sat at the table with his chauffeur, Sid.Hastings had a button missing from his shirt.Emmy Lou had scored her trophy, after all.“You, too, Brian,” Quinn said.“You could have nailed me for this little stunt.Thanks for letting it go.”
Hastings grinned and leaned back in his chair.“Hey, I love a challenge.Figuring out how to explain you to the good folks of Ugly Bug was the most fun I’ve had in years.Just don’t go trying to be me anymore, okay?”
Quinn returned his smile.“I never wanted to be you in the first place.”
“You didn’t?”Hastings pretended great shock.“Who wouldn’t want that?”
“I sure as hell wouldn’t,” Fred said.He got up to come over and shake Quinn’s hand.“It’s been a pleasure.”
Quinn’s conscience nagged him about the swiped condoms.“Uh, Fred, I—you might notice sometime that you?—”
“I already did.”Fred winked at him.“Forget it.”
Not likely, considering what I used them for.Quinn nodded.“Thanks.”
Emmy Lou pulled Quinn into a big hug.“Come back, you hear?”
“I...we’ll see.”
Emmy Lou stood back and gazed at him with tears in her eyes.“How about a button off your shirt?”
Quinn laughed in surprise.“I’m no celebrity.”
“You are to me.I’ve never known a New York investment banker before.Can I have one?”
Quinn shrugged, more touched by the request than he wanted her to know.‘“Why not?”He stood patiently while she found some scissors and snipped off the button nearest his collar.
Then she patted his chest.“I mean it.Come back.”
He was sure she knew that wasn’t going to happen, or she wouldn’t be fighting tears.“I’ll try.”
