The day sped past them faster than either of them wanted. They cooked dinner together rather than going out. They had to get up early. She was on a nine o’clock flight, had to check in by eight, and had to leave Big Sur at four-thirty in the morning to be sure they made it in time. Since she had returned her rented car in San Francisco before they left, she had offered to hire a car and driver to pick her up, but he wanted to drive her himself.
“I want to see how you behave at that hour of the morning,” he teased her.
“I’ll probably snore all the way there.”
“I wouldn’t mind a bit, just to have a few more hours with you,” he said gallantly. “They used to wake us up at five o’clock at my boarding school. I haven’t been able to sleep past six ever since. It’s a great bore really. I’m always creeping around trying to be quiet while everyone else is asleep.”
He took her back to her B and B at ten-thirty so they could both get some sleep, but not until after they kissed longingly on the couch in his living room, and not going any further was exquisite torture for him, and agony for her too. She hated to leave him, but they had respected their agreement, and managed not to wind up in bed.
“I’m not sure if it’s a sign of extraordinary restraint and a sense of honor, or old age in my case,” he said as he drove her back and she laughed.
“Honor, I’m sure,” she said, smiling at him.
“Thank you for your faith in me,” he said as he kissed her passionately again before he left her. “I hope you don’t intend to maintain your virginity for too long. I’ll have to start taking cold showers several times a day.” She kissed him tenderly and then she left him. She finished packing, put out her traveling clothes for the next day, closed her eyes, and it felt as though the alarm went off as soon as she did.
She showered quickly, brushed her hair and teeth, put on makeup, dressed, and was downstairs with her bag when William drove up promptly at four-thirty.
“I wish we were traveling together,” he said as he handed her a warm scone and a thermos of tea.
“So do I,” she admitted after she thanked him. He was supremely organized and attentive to her. She had never been so spoiled in her life. She was usually the one who attended to details. If they ever actually got together it would be a contest as to which of them could take the best care of the other.
They were quiet for a while as they drove north. They took the highway this time, instead of the coast road, and it was a foggy morning. It lifted slowly as the sun came up.
“Dammit,” he said as he saw the fog lifting. “I was hoping your flight might be delayed.” He smiled at her.
“I’m dreading what I’m going to be facing in my office when I walk in. I’ve never taken a three-week break from work in my entire life. I’m going to have a mountain of stuff waiting for me to tackle before I leave for Shanghai.”
“You’ll get through it,” he said confidently. He had a strong suspicion of what she was capable of, military precision and maximum efficiency. But she wasn’t obnoxious about it. She just got things done.
They talked a lot during the last half hour of the trip to the airport, as though trying to store up memories. She promised to call him when she landed. With the time difference, she wouldn’t get home until seven-thirty that night, which was four-thirty for him on the West Coast.
“I hope I get to see your firehouse one day. It sounds delightful, treacherous staircase and all.” She had told him all about Deanna’s objections to it, which he thought ridiculous. There were plenty of elderly people, which she wasn’t, living in old houses in England that had far worse hazards.
They pulled into the airport departures lane at five minutes to eight. She checked her luggage at the curb while William went to park the car, and was back ten minutes later, as she waited for him with her boarding card in her hand. She was all set.
“They’re boarding in twenty minutes,” she told him as they walked into the terminal. She was in no rush to go through security because she’d have to leave him then. He couldn’t go with her to the gate, since he wasn’t traveling himself.
There was a sudden feeling of desperation for both of them as everything speeded up, their words became more inane and staccato, and finally he just pulled her into his arms and held her, and was startled to realize she was shaking. He looked at her in surprise and kissed her.
“My God, woman, I love you,” he said intensely. “What will I do without you now?”
“Meet me in Hong Kong,” she said, sounding breathless, “or wherever I go after Shanghai.” He smiled as she said it.
“That’s my brave girl,” he whispered and kissed her lightly on the lips as they called her flight. It was time. There was no putting it off any longer. She had to leave him. “Take care of yourself,” he said gently. “Don’t work too hard,” but they both knew she would, and thoroughly enjoy it.
“You too. I’ll let you know what the plans are,” she promised, kissed him one more time, and thanked him.
“For what? Loving you? How could I not?” It was all moving so quickly. It was dizzying.
She lined up for security and passed through the metal detector as he waved at her and then touched his heart, and she touched hers in return. She put her shoe back on her good foot, grabbed her carry-on bag, and waved a last time, and then she disappeared into the sea of travelers and he stood there, staring at strangers and missing her. She texted him a minute later and he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and took it out. “Soon. I promise. I love you,” was all she said. He texted her back, and then left the airport, torn between overwhelming joy to have met her and sorrow knowing that he would have to live without her now until they met again. It was only the beginning, but felt like the end.
Chapter 14
As she had promised him she would, Maddie called William when she landed at JFK. Texting wasn’t enough. She wanted to hear his voice. He answered the moment he heard the phone. He’d been waiting for her call. She was in the cab on her way into the city. It was three-thirty in California, and he was sitting on his deck, thinking about her as he had been all day. What had happened to them seemed so magical as to be almost impossible to believe. What were the odds of finding the love of his life at fifty-nine?
“How was the flight?” he asked her with a tender tone.
“Long. It always seems that way going east. I thought about you the whole way.”
“Good thoughts, I hope.”
“Very good thoughts,” she reassured him. She was beginning to believe what was happening to them, although there was an unreality to it now that she was back in New York, as though she had dreamed it. It felt like a miracle to her too. “I can’t wait to see you again.”