Without making a sound, he snuck out of the bathroom and into the hall, where he paused briefly, listening. As the silence echoed in his ears, he made his way to her bedroom door and tried the knob.
It turned, and the moment the door opened, he knew she was in the room. Every part of his body came to life like a match struck on a shoe bottom. That was another thing he’d never experienced. That instant feeling of completion. Of being whole. It was hard to describe, even to himself, how he didn’t feel as if something was missing in his life when she was nearby.
He closed the door and crossed the room, to her bed. Moonlight shone through the window, highlighting her hair as she lay on one side, her cheek upon the pillow.
Asleep, she was as enchanting as she was while awake and he could stand here, simply staring at her for hours.
“Hello, Henry.”
“Hello,” he whispered in return, amazed at how happy the simple sound of her voice made him.
She rolled onto her back, then sat up, pulling the blankets up beneath her chin. “What are you doing here?”
He sat on the edge of the bed. “Checking on you.” He touched her hand. “How are you?”
“Fine. Did you get all the evidence you need on Elkin?”
“Yes. He’ll be in jail for many, many years.”
She smiled. “That’s good.”
“I’m sorry for what happened. I would never have called Patsy, never have—”
She pressed a finger to his lips. “I know. Lane told us that it was Elkin who called the newspaper and left that message.” She removed her finger and touched his cheek before letting her hand fall. “When are you leaving?”
His stomach clenched. Despite knowing what had to happen, it hurt. Leaving hurt worse than anything he’d known. “In a few days.” It just wasn’t his job, the oath he’d taken, or how he owed John Randall for giving him an education and career, it was him. He didn’t know how to love the way she deserved to be loved and was too old to learn.
She nodded and pinched her lips together.
The tears glistening in her eyes saddened him. “I’ll see you—”
“No.” She shook her head. “I can’t see you again, Henry. I wish I could, but I can’t.” She sniffled. “Saying goodbye to you is so hard, but that’s what I’m doing, saying goodbye.” She lifted her chin. It trembled. “You need to go take Elkin to Washington, DC, and then go on to your next assignment. Keep being an FBI agent, because you are a very, very good one. You saved all our lives today, without blinking an eye. The Bureau needs you. Our country needs you.”
It felt as if his heart was being torn out of his chest and there wasn’t a thing he could do about it because he couldn’t change the truth, couldn’t change what was. His eyes hadn’t stung like they were right now since he’d been a small, small child.
Tears streamed down her face. He wiped one of her cheeks with his thumb. “Betty, maybe—”
“No, Henry, this is goodbye,” she whispered. “It has to be.”
Anger, frustration, and more sorrow than he’d ever known filled him, forced him to blink harder, faster, and look away from her. He had to do that in order to remember, to admit, she was right.
The pain inside him grew. Got darker. Uglier. He didn’t bother to work out how it was all directed at him.
Didn’t need to.
Betty had thought about this all day, what she was going to do, and knew the conclusion she’d come to was the right one. She couldn’t think about herself, her heart; she had to think about the life growing inside her and how everything she did, from this moment on, was for the baby. If it was just her, she’d live out of a single suitcase for the rest of her life if that was what it took to be with Henry. But it wasn’t just her, she had the baby to think about. That was her main concern now. Had to be.
She swallowed the sob filling her throat. “Will you kiss me one last time? Hug me one last time?”
His arms were around her so fast, held her so tight, she nearly cried out at the pain of knowing she’d never know such splendor again. He kissed her then, and she kissed him in return. One final time.
She would have gone on kissing him, but knew it would only prolong the inevitable, so she broke the kiss and pushed him away. “Goodbye, Henry.” Then, because she was afraid that she wouldn’t be able to keep from stopping him, she flipped onto her side and pulled the covers over her head.
Just as she had known the moment he’d entered her room, she knew the moment he left it. Silently. The exact same way he’d entered her heart that day on the beach in Seattle. He wasn’t to blame for that. She wasn’t either. She hadn’t had any control over how her heart had fallen in love with him that day. How it would forever love him because she didn’t have any control over changing it. Her heart had a mind of its own, and once it had fallen in love with him, there had been nothing she could do about it.
The tears fell faster, harder, and she curled into a ball at the pain consuming her. The very pain she would have to learn to live with the rest of her life.
The pain was still there when she crawled out of bed the next morning, got dressed, and went downstairs.
Father was sitting at the table, reading the paper, as usual. Henry had been right about so many things. Her father was strict, stern, so he could get what he wanted while deceiving all of them.
It was time for him to know he’d taught her well. “Good morning, Father,” she said, calm and matter-of-fact. That was how
