Page 73 of The Words We Lost

Joel

He’ll be relieved. He was 5% concerned you might try to skip town on an electric bike sometime in the night.

Fine, he was more like 15% concerned.

Ingrid

And leave Rontu behind? Never. We have an unbreakable bond.

Joel

I think you are confusing an unbreakable bond with an unbreakable bad habit. One that started by you secretly feeding him table scraps. That’s hardly the start of a healthy relationship, Indy. Don’t be surprised when I send you the bill from his next puppy training session.

I’m laughing alone in this bedroom, picturing the way Joel’s eyes are likely crinkling at the corners and the way his facetious grin must bepulling to one side. How I wish I could see it in real time. How I wish I could see it all the time.

And why can’t I?

The question hits like a bolt of lightning when I think of the world I came from—a world that will very likely be ending in only a matter of days without the discovery of Cece’s notebooks. A world that not so long ago seemed like the only thing left in my life to fight for. But maybe that’s not true anymore.

Maybe there is something more to fight for ... or perhaps something I need to stop fighting so hard against.

As if by unspoken agreement, last night held no discussions revolving aroundfuture expectationsor mentions of the improbabilities associated with living nine hundred miles apart. Instead, we’d taken the puppies on a walk around the bay at sunset, laughing when lazy Princess Rita refused to take even one more step, whining for Joel to carry her all the way back. But there was more than longing in his good-night kiss last night; there was also a promise totalktomorrow.

And now tomorrow is here.

Joel

What are your plans today?

Seeing as I already asked Allie to meet me at the storage unit this afternoon for our last lead onThe Fate of Kings’s whereabouts, I can’t exactly spend all day lounging in this bed like I want to. But that isn’t for another three hours, which means I don’t have to give up my cocoon of contentment just yet. I haven’t had much time to process why my reading fatigue had been so much less bothersome last night as I’d read Cece’s chapter to Joel, but I know the perfect way to test my luck again.

I prop myself up with pillows, reach for my laptop, then open the file containing Allie’s novel.

Ingrid

I’m going to attempt to read for a while before I go to the storage unit because 1. It doesn’t require me to get out of this bed. 2. It doesn’t require me to put on real pants.

Joel

I will refrain from commenting on either of those points, though you should know there are many possible responses.

Ingrid

??

??

Joel

Would you be willing to entertain a dinner invitation for this evening? I happen to know a reputable restaurant in town on the water. I also happen to know there’s a patio table reserved for two at 6:00 p.m.

Ingrid

Rontu will be disappointed when he finds out he wasn’t invited to dinner.??

Joel

I don’t ask him to share his favorite things with me so he doesn’t get to share mine.

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