“I love you,” Sarah whispered, wishing she’d been able to tell him before he left.
With a long sigh, she swiped away her tears and started the car to begin her drive back home.
“I apologize for the delay, Mr. Sinclair. We’ll be in the air shortly.”
Dante nodded at Grady’s pilot abruptly before the middle-aged man went into the cockpit, wishing the damn plane would just take off. Now that he couldn’t see Sarah anymore, he was antsy and ready to get back to Los Angeles.
For what? So I can see my empty, tiny apartment’s white walls without a single picture or decoration to make the place less depressing?
No doubt everything in his refrigerator would be growing mold, which wasn’t anything new. He never ate at the apartment unless he brought home fast food, and leftovers eventually became rotten. Usually, he waited for the smell to get so bad that he threw the stuff out. Most times, he came back to his apartment so damn tired that the only thing that really got used there was the bed.
I need to get back to work.
Granted, Dante had liked his job, had lived for it. Now that Patrick wasn’t going to be his partner anymore, he wasn’t quite sure how to feel. The passion for police work was still there, but he couldn’t seem to muster the same enthusiasm that he used to have, and he no longer looked forward to filling every lonely day and night with work.
I have Sarah now.
Frowning, Dante leaned his head back against the seat and closed his eyes, trying to picture a life with Sarah in Los Angeles. But all he could see was her smiling face in Amesport.
She doesn’t belong in Los Angeles. She agreed to move because she wants to be with me.
Dante’s chest ached as the reality of her sacrifice really sank in.
She’s not a city woman. She didn’t like her life in Chicago. Amesport is the first place she feels like she really fits in.
Honestly, Dante had been happy here, too. If he left, no more sounds of the ocean lulling him to sleep, no more endless bike trails waiting to be explored, no more friendly small-town folks, and—dammit—no more lobster rolls.
Joe Landon had just offered him a job again yesterday when they’d bumped into each other in town. Dante had blown him off automatically, never stopping to think of the possibilities. Admittedly, he wouldn’t be handling a ton of homicides, but it would still be part of his job, and he’d be able to work on a variety of felony cases, adding some diversity and probably less intensity to his job sometimes. But it wouldn’t be any less important than what he did in Los Angeles. Hell, he might even enjoy it.
And Sarah could stay here where she belongs. With me.
Really, Dante was pretty sure Amesport was where he belonged, too. Some young, eager detective would happily step into his place in Los Angeles, and Dante could stay here with Sarah. He’d have family again: Sarah, Emily, and Grady. No doubt Jared would eventually leave, but Dante missed his family more than he’d even wanted to admit. Patrick had once taken the edge off that pain, but his best friend was gone.
Dante’s eyes flew open as the jet lurched, ready to taxi down the runway.
He was ready to get out of his seat when his cell phone beeped. He pulled it out of his pocket distractedly, his attention immediately diverted to the phone when he saw it was a message from Sarah:
I miss you already. I hope you’ll get this message as soon as you land in Los Angeles. I need you to know that I love you. I know you didn’t ask for that, and I’m not even sure you want it. Maybe it’s too soon, but I need you to know. I love you, Dante.
The message nailed him right in the heart, and the organ was pounding out of his chest as he finished reading the message, tracing the words with his index finger.
She loves me.
Right at that moment there was nothing more urgent than hearing those words coming from her gorgeous lips in person. Jesus. There was nothing more critical than actually hearing her say that.
“She loves me,” he rasped, trying to wrap his head around that information. Hell, he loved her, too. Probably had for a long time, although he’d never put it into words. “I should have told her.”
Dante felt the plane start to turn so it could execute takeoff, and he punched the button for the cockpit. “Turn the plane around, Captain. I need to get the hell off now,” he growled.
A reply came back through the intercom. “Did you forget something, Mr. Sinclair?”
I forgot a lot of damn things. I forgot to tell the woman I love how much I love her. I forgot that I like it here in Amesport. I forgot how much I miss my siblings. But aloud, he simply answered, “Yeah. Yeah, I did.”
He breathed a sigh of relief as the plane started to taxi back to the airport, and he traced Sarah’s words on his phone as he waited impatiently. Part of him wanted to text her back, tell him how much he loved her, too, but he needed to tell her in person, hear her say it aloud. They would be the sweetest words he’d ever heard.
Dante sprinted down the steps of the aircraft as soon as it stopped.
“What time can I expect you back, Mr. Sinclair?” the captain called after Dante.
“Never,” he hollered back with an exhilaration he’d never experienced before, his heart lighter than it had ever been. “I’m already home,” he said to himself as he jogged into the airport, looking around in vain for Sarah. He knew she’d already left because his flight had been delayed, but desperation made him hope.
“Need a ride?” an amused male voice asked from behind him.
Dante turned to see his brother Jared lounging casually against the wall. “What the hell are you doing here?”