Page 70 of V is for Valentine
“Tell me about it.”
“Well, I have a job I find satisfying. A condo I love. A decent gym. My cacti. Good life, Danny.”
“Sounds…uncomplicated.”
“Yes.”
“Predictable?”
“Pretty much.”
“What makes it impossible to leave?” Her gaze slowly met his, and he clarified. “What is it about condos and cacti and a decent gym that makes it impossible to leave?”
She focused on the opposite wall. “Me. I’m making it impossible to leave.”
“Why?”
“Because of my retirement plan,” she mumbled.
“That’s it? A retirement plan?”
“Another man once said the same thing,” she said in a grim voice.
He stilled. Finally they were getting to the meat of the matter. “Yeah?” he prompted softly.
She nodded, still studying the far wall. “Have you ever heard of Sean McVey?”
“That mountain climbing sports guy?” The only reason he knew the name was because the guy had taken part in a popular ad campaign for outdoor gear. His face had been everywhere for a while.
“The same. When he wasn’t so well-known, he and I dated. We were getting serious, and he made it clear that he thought I played things too safe. That I was repressed and not letting my light shine.”
Direct quotes, no doubt.
“That life was short, and if I didn’t embrace it, I would regret it. I believed him.”
“Some of that is true.”
“It is,” she agreed. “Mom…well, she hadn’t had enough time to do everything she wanted. And I had been repressing myself after losing her. Resisting impulses, living conservatively.”
“The real you was itching to break forth.”
She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. “Yes. I’d kept myself reined in for a long, long time. Thus, the rigidity of which you speak.”
“I was talking about stubbornness, not survival strategies.”
She gave a light shrug. “Different name. Same results.”
“What happened?”
Felicity turned her head to frown at him. It was the perfect opportunity for him to say, “Never mind. None of my business.” He did not. And to his surprise, she answered.
“I gave up everything to follow Sean to Seattle where he’d just landed the local television gig that made him well-known in the extreme sports world. He dumped me within a matter of months.”
They were connected only by their linked fingers which rested on the cool concrete between them, and it was all Danny could do to keep hold of her hand instead of pulling her into his arms, stroking her hair, telling her that it was all right.
She would hate that.
“He did this on the Holiday That Shall Not Be Named?”
