Page 93 of Marriage (Red, White &) Blues

“Not you, too. Just rest assured, I’m not a pod-person. I just can’t drive.”

“Right, while you keep her occupied, I’m going to make some calls. Tell Ant his wife is brilliant.”

“Will do,” she replied, her voice smiling.

Blake would help me pack when he finished, but I thought I might as well get started. By the time I hung up with Pen and my partner in solving crime showed back in the bedroom, the carpeting on the floor looked like gridlines from the tire tracks.

“Why didn’t you wait for me?” he asked.

“You were busy and I had time. There’s still more to do.”

No lie, my lie-low was estimated to last about a month. He rolled my bags downstairs for the morning. Now that I got to avoid the public terminals, he booked me for a time that worked best for all of us, including Pen and Ant.

“Care to show a girl a good time?” I asked when he walked back into the room. I pulled down my shirt to show a bit of cleavage.

“Shit, baby… you don’t know how badly I want to but no can do. The collarbone. You haven’t been cleared. But Iwillsnuggle you tonight.”

“So much for big dik-dik energy,” I muttered, but he held me close. We snuggled in bed. He kissed my head several times but wouldn’t take it any further because once we started it was too hard to turn us off.

In the morning, he helped me into the shower and to dress. And then he met me down at the bottom of the stairs. Dee had a to-go coffee and Danish waiting for me, and Maisie hugged me. She tried not to cry, but I heard her heavy breaths as she tried to stifle a sob and she held back tears.

I gripped her hand. “It’s not forever.”

“I know, but you should be here with us.”

“Take care of him,” I told her, smiling a bit sadly.

He drove us to a private airport. No travelers, just employees and in the private airport business, they knew better than to give in to gossip.

After checking in, heromance novelkissed me and then he helped me onto the plane. He kissed me one more time before he had to let me go.

“Love you,” he called out as the door closed.

“Love you, too.” I waved even though he probably never saw it.

After a couple of hours, the plane landed in Detroit. We’d hardly even bumped into air turbulence. A smooth ride all the way. Then, when I disembarked, I was greeted by Pen and Ant waving frantically at me. Well, Pen waved frantically. Ant stood smiling at me with his hands in his pockets, looking ten kinds of handsome in his jeans and short-sleeved button-down. His shirt had these tiny horseshoes embroidered all over the front and back.

Pen didn’t hold back wearing a vintage 1970s corduroy wrap dress the color of a red-leafed sugar maple. Pen and her vintage clothing. Some things never changed and I was so,soglad for it.

I started motoring over to my friends but Pen rushed me. “Gloria!” she shouted when I got close enough, hugging me in a hug that bordered on crushing.

“Pen,baby—she needs to breathe,” Ant said as he reached a hand out to gently tug her back, and I took in a big breath, pressing a hand to my collarbone and wincing.

“Sorry,” she said, bending down to regular-hug me this time, staying clear of my sling. As she straightened, Ant patted the back of my chair. “Nice wheels. How fast this baby go?”

“You’re ridiculous,” Pen said. “You realize you’re ridiculous.”

“Gloria doesn’t think so, do you Gloria?”

Pen laughed as I mimicked zipping my lips.

Ant bent in to kiss my cheek then. “We’ve missed you.” Ant’s handsome only got better with age. The girls all swooned over him back in high school, even though he’d been paired off with Gretchen since like birth. I secondhand swooned because mybest friend had been in love with him since she discovered boys weren’t gross and everyone knew the girl code forbade swooning over the guy your best friend was in love with.

“I’ve missed you, too,” I replied.

“Hungry?” he asked me and my tummy rumbled softly.

I nodded. “Absolutely.”

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