Page 125 of Ruthless Cross

"Well, I'll find out soon enough. Hopefully it will be someone I like. Because I enjoy that job. And maybe I'm being overconfident about my ability to walk back into that building after what happened, but I'm going to try. I can't keep running away inside my head, because, frankly, that's an even scarier place to be at times."

She was blown away by how rational her mother was being. She could hardly believe this was the same woman she had brought in five days earlier. "You really are doing so well, Mom. I'm proud of you."

"I'm proud of me, too. Now, tell me what's happening with that very attractive FBI agent?"

"Oh, that's a story for another day," she said with a sigh.

"Or we could all just spend some time together, so I can get to know him, and he can get to know me when I'm not hysterical."

"I'm not planning to spend any more time with him."

"Why not? Don't tell me you're going to push him away like you've done with everyone else?"

"I haven't done that with everyone else."

"Of course, you have. You never allow yourself to get too close to a man. When things get serious, you run away. I'm sure I'm partly to blame for your lack of commitment. But I can't change that—only you can."

"I can commit. I've been in the same job for five years."

"Because it gives you the security to take care of me."

"That's not the only reason."

"And you haven't introduced me to a boyfriend in almost two years. You always say you haven't met the right man, but I think you hold back because you just don't have it in you to take care of anyone else. I'm already too big of a burden. And, by the way, I told Dr. Clarke that, and he could see my point."

"You and Dr. Clarke have been talking about me?"

"Yes, about our relationship—how you became the mom, and I became the daughter. But that has to switch back. You have to live your life."

"Well, maybe there's some truth to what you say, but Flynn and I aren't a couple. It was just a fling in a whirlwind of adrenaline and danger. Now we go back to our real lives, and they don't sync up. Anyway, that's enough of that." She got to her feet. "I'll check in with you later."

"Okay. But Callie…"

She paused at the door. "What?"

"Love is a wonderful thing, no matter how long it lasts. Don't turn your back on it."

Her mother's words rang through her head all the way back to her car. She sat in the driver's seat for a long few minutes, thinking not only about how wise and self-aware her mother had suddenly become but also about Flynn.

Had she been a coward to leave without a good-bye?Last night had been so incredibly amazing. She'd never felt so happy.

But Flynn didn't love her. And she didn't love him. It was just sex—fabulous, over-the-top, break-your-heart kind of sex.

Tears pooled in her eyes. She was a terrible liar. She was mad about Flynn, which was why she hadn't said good-bye. Because she was afraid she wouldn't be able to get the word out. And maybe she hadn't wanted to hear him say good-bye, either.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Three days had passedsince he'd seen Callie, and it felt like a lifetime. Flynn paddled through the ocean on Sunday morning, wondering how he would get through another twenty-four hours. He'd kept busy wrapping up Arthur's case, but most of that was done. Come tomorrow, it would be time to move on to something new. He was more than ready to do that, but he wasn't ready to face the fact that Callie was no longer in his life.

He'd picked up the phone to text her or call her a bunch of times. But he kept coming back to the fact that she hadn't said good-bye, that she hadn't reached out to him. She'd just disappeared, like so many other people in his life.

Frowning at that reminder, he concentrated on picking a wave, on letting the ocean chase away his pain. It felt good to get up on the surfboard, to battle the sea, to ride to victory, but he still couldn't shake the melancholy that had settled over his soul.

He paddled out to the break, keeping his distance from the other surfers as he waited for his next run. But the ocean had settled down. The waves not coming as fast or as big. The wind had died, too. It was almost eerily calm.

He sat on his board, dragging his hand through the water as another surfer came toward him. There was something familiar about him, but it wasn't until he was five feet away that he realized it was his father. He was truly stunned.

"I thought you'd be back in Europe by now." His gaze moved to his dad's injured arm, but it was covered by the sleeve of his wetsuit.

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