Page 96 of Bishop's Queen

“Whatever you want to call it, El, you grew out of the T-shirts and mesh shorts that, don’t get me wrong, I used to totally appreciate.”

She laughed. “Shut up.”

“You look good no matter what you wear.”

“Thanks.” She paused. “Bishop, I missed you—and I wish you were here right now.”

“Yeah, babe. I wish I were there too.”

She sighed. “I always missed you…”

Silence ticked the seconds away. Was this the entry she wanted into that conversation about how he’d left her? That was a conversation better had in person. She would cry, damn it. He’d hurt her. But he’d never meant to… never meant to.

“Okay,” she said. “I’ll talk to you later, maybe.”

Maybe.This was where their conversation would be lost. On the battlefield, except this was a phone call, and he didn’t know how to handle it. He couldn’t get a read on the past and didn’t know how to deal with her feelings.

“G’night, Bish—”

“Ella, I missed you too.” Too simple and not enough. “I promise. Everything about you. Every day, I missed you too.”

“Thanks,” she whispered. “I needed to hear that.”

Ella hung up, and who knew if his response had done any good, but hell if it wasn’t the truth.

---