Page 102 of Wandering Souls

“She should know, that’s all.”

Sweet, innocent Millie. So naïve and trusting. She’d never had her heart destroyed by losing love, though she at least still believed in finding a happily ever after. Ray had been kidding himself when he told Abi he could do a short-term fling. Truth was, he didn’t just believe in love, he thought he’d found it in the woman on board that cargo plane.

Admit it, you hoped that by loving her, you’d change her mind.

Guilty.

As.

Charged.

And if he were honest, he wanted to believe that confessing everything he felt would change her mind about leaving. But he wasn’t a kid and Abi had made things perfectly clear.

On the tarmac, the plane jerked forward. Beside him, Millie sat up and slammed her hands on the dashboard, scaring Bruce half to death.

“Please, Uncle Ray!”

He stared at the plane. Was his niece, right? Should he tell Abi?

Unsure when he decided to do it, Ray opened the car door and got out. He broke into a run as the engines roared. Many of those who’d gathered stopped returning to their cars to stare at him. They probably thought him a fool. He thought he was a fool, chasing after a woman who clearly didn’t feel the same way about him.

She should know.

Millie’s words rang in his head, spurring his legs to move quicker. The soles of his feet burned inside his shoes and he ran as fast as he could. His lungs heaved and he felt sweat dampen his shirt. Waving like a lunatic, Ray shouted her name. The plane began to gather speed and the prospect of not being able to tell Abi, face to face, that he loved her boosted his adrenaline.

Just when he thought all hope was lost, the plane decelerated and allowed him to catch up. As it stopped, the side door opened and she appeared. Ray came to a standstill as he watched the fold out stairs expand and touch the ground. Abi stood at the top of them, her face sad.

Jogging toward her, he refrained from climbing into the plane, half fearing he’d agree to go with her. He set a hand on the railing of the stairs to catch his breath.

“Ray?”

The sun beat down on his back, burning his neck and filling him with determination.

“I love you.”

He blinked. He hadn’t quite expected to go for the heart straight up. But he’d started and he didn’t want to stop.

“It’s okay. I don’t expect you to say it back. I know your life is going in a different direction to mine and I know you’re not going to stay, but Abi, I love you.”

She moved one step down the ladder. “I can see this hurts you, Ray. I’m so sorry.”

He shook his head and put one foot on the bottom step. “Don’t be. I think I knew from the first moment we met, you were going to walk away with my heart.”

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she took another step closer. Ray met her mid-way and took her hands in his.

“I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“And I’m not trying to hurt you, honey. I’m not trying to make you feel guilty. I know the score and you go with my blessing. You’re too important to me to let you go without telling you how much you mean to me.”

Abi tugged her hands out of his and pressed her palms to his cheeks. “You’re not mad at me?”

“Well.” He blushed. “I was, but the kid in the car knocked some sense into me. You never lied to me, and for that, I’m grateful. And you’re right, this hurts like a mofo, but I couldn’t live with myself if I held you back.”

She blinked; her eyelashes heavy with tears. “You’re still my champion.”

He wanted to be more, but he’d settle for that. “My heart belongs to you, Abigail Winter.” And it was going to take him a lifetime to get over her. “But I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Abi pressed her lips to his. Salty tears mingled with their kiss in a bittersweet goodbye he’d never forget. Millie had been right. He had to tell her and he’d been too much of a coward to do it, but he was glad he did.

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