Page 94 of We'll Meet Again

“I’m so sorry, Ethan,” she said, mouth trembling. “Oh, God, I’m so sorry.”

“What is it?” he asked, taking her hand as his heart skipped a beat.

“I just got a text from your grandmother,” she told him, and swallowed hard. “She was watching the match with Coach Larry, and he…” She paused and sniffled. A tear slid down her cheek when she blinked.

“He what?” he pressed, barely managing to get the words out with the tightness in his throat. Deep down, he had a feeling he knew what she was going to say, and it would be a punch in the gut, but he needed to hear it to believe it was true.

“He passed away,” she choked out. “Just moments ago.”

Ethan went to his knees.

Chapter 26

“Shit!”

Billie hurtled into her kitchen and snatched a cloth off the handle of the fridge, frantically waving it in front of the oven in a desperate attempt to prevent the smoke alarm from activating. To no avail, since when she opened the oven door, a plume of smoke came out that made her eyes water.

“Shit!” she choked out through a cough.

Covering her mouth in her t-shirt - or Ethan’s t-shirt, rather, but she had claimed it weeks ago - she bent to peer inside the oven, where the cake she had attempted was - thankfully - not aflame, but black as charcoal on the top. Groaning, she grabbed two oven mitts and pulled it out. The moment she set it on the stovetop, it collapsed in the middle. She huffed, deflating herself.

“Fucking hell,” she mumbled.

Now she had no cake and her flat stunk of burned food. Sure, it was temporary, but Ethan was flying to the States in the morning and she had hoped to surprise him before his trip. She should have waited for Tessa. She was only at a dinner with friends, it wouldn’t have been much longer. But truthfully, Billie had pictured herself presenting Ethan with a sweet treat, looking entirely domestic and ready to comfort him.

With a sigh, she pulled out her phone and started to order some delivery instead. Before she got to, though, she heard the door open and Ethan’s voice coming from the entryway.

“Woah, everything okay in here, darlin’?” he called.

“I’m in the kitchen!” she returned.

He appeared within seconds, brow furrowed, his gaze flicking toward the disgrace on the stove before returning to her face. “What happened?”

“I…well, I wanted to bake you a cake,” she admitted. “As you can see, it was a rather dismal attempt.”

His lips turned up into a soft smile. “Hey, I’m just touched that you tried. That’s a big step for you, especially in the culinary department.”

“Tessa did warn you that I’m a menace.”

“I’m still proud of you.”

She tried to smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes. Ethan was already at the window, tugging it open to let some fresh air in.

“This is what happens when I try things,” she complained.

“It was one time,” he said. “You think the first time I kicked a ball it went straight into the back of the net?”

“I’m sorry, was that not the case?” she joked.

“Heck no. It hit the post and then flew back right into my face.”

She laughed as he pulled her into his arms and kissed her cheek. “That does actually make me feel better.”

“Good.”

He kissed her properly then. She wrapped her arms around his neck and stood on her toes to get as close as possible. She wanted to get as much of him as she could before his trip. He decided that he was going to stay a few weeks with Betty after Larry’s funeral, since he was going to miss the final match of the regular season anyway. And Billie was missing him already. It felt sad and pathetic to admit to herself, but she couldn’t ignore it.

“How are you feeling?” she asked, cupping his cheek.

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