With a sigh, Ari leaned against the wall, still staring out at the runway. She felt rather than saw someone drop to the floor next to her, and when she turned her head, she smiled to see Tom beside her, settling against the wall, stretching his long legs out over her blanket.
“Why am I getting a feeling of déjà vu?” she asked him softly, and he rubbed a hand over his face tiredly.
“Corentin messaged me when he left the airport,” Tom explained. “Couldn’t have you sitting here alone all night.”
“I’m fine,” Ari replied, and Tom shrugged.
“Yeah, but you know me, anything to speak with a pretty woman in a near-abandoned airport.”
She laughed at that, crossing her arms over her stomach. “There’s still at least two hours of waiting for a cargo plane to land for this pretty woman. You think your conversation can stretch to two hours?”
“For you? I’m willing to give it a shot,” Tom replied. Abruptly, his face changed. “Why did you leave this morning? I woke up, and you were gone.”
Ari paused, chewing on her lip. “I was scared,” she finally admitted. “Terrified, actually.”
Tom’s face blanched. “You were scared?”
“Not of you,” Ari was quick to reassure him. “I guess I was scared of being hurt again.”
“By me,” Tom replied, his face darkening. “You were scared of being hurt again by me.”
Ari sighed. “Yes. I suppose so.”
“I don’t want to hurt you, Ari. I never wanted to hurt you.”
“I know.”
Tom reached for her hand, and Ari let him take it. “I mean it,” he said emphatically. “I really do. Hurting you... it was the worst thing I ever did. I’ll never forgive myself for hurting someone so wonderful. So beautiful. So loving. So good.”
“I know,” Ari said again. “I do, Tom.”
Tom sighed, and Ari watched as he glanced around the airport.
“Never thought we’d end up back here again,” he reflected sadly. “If I could go back in time, and do it all over again...”
“What would you change?” Ari asked curiously.
Tom gave her a woebegone smile. “I’d be me. The real me.”
Ari sat back, gazing at him. “But you were the real you, Tom.”
“No.” Tom shook his head. “I lied to you. I have to believe I’m better than that now.”
Ari squeezed his hand. “And I have to believe that the man I fell in love with was real. So much of it...” She paused. “So much of itwasyou. Tom Miller was just a name. Your thoughts, feelings . . . how you loved me... that was real. That was you.”
Tom nodded, but he still looked unconvinced. “You told me you hated me,” he said. “You said you hated me but loved him. You have no idea how much that tortured me. How much it still tortures me.”
Ari winced. “I was angry.”
“You had every right to be.”
“Mostly I think I was angry because I thought you’d... I thought you’d abandoned me. Me, and Reine.”
Tom looked up, and there was real anguish in his eyes. “If I’d known for a minute that Reine was mine...”
Ari smiled. “I know. We’ve had this conversation. I know.”
“I never meant to abandon you. I really didn’t.”
