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“What? No. I… She was having a problem—a big one—and I wanted to show her that I knew she could handle it on her own. So I left her to it. I meant it to be supportive.”
“Yeah, that’s not supportive, son.” He met Chris’s eyes. “Supportive is telling her she’s got it, but that you’re there in case she needs you.”
Chris threw up his hands. “I know that now. Please. I need to catch that train. I ran after it, but that doesn’t go the way it does in the movies.”
The man’s lips twitched. “No, I imagine it doesn’t. Okay, let’s get you set up. Outrunning a train isn’t easy. I used to drive a truck around here, though. You pull up the route on your phone, and I’ll see if I can show you a shorter one.”
Chris’s eyes prickled, and he had to resist the urge to hug the man. “Thank you.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
DAPHNE
The train pulled into the station. Not her station, sadly. Normally, she loved train travel. So much more relaxing—and scenic—than air travel. But even if it hadn’t been too dark to see anything, she’d have been too lost in her thoughts to notice if they’d been passing through the African savannah.
Chris hadn’t called since the event. Hadn’t even texted. Her phone was back on, and she had a string of messages, mostly from Lawrence and Nia, and one from Alicia. They all wanted to speak to her. Guilt had strummed through her at that, and she’d messaged them all to apologize and tell them to call whenever they could, whatever the hour.
She’d turned off her phone earlier to avoid Chris, and now she was checking her phone every five minutes, hoping he’d messaged. He’d left three voicemails and two texts before the event, but they were all variations on “Call me.” Nothing more. Since the event? Since she confronted him after it? Silence.
If she wanted to hash this out, she shouldn’t have left.
Sakura had told her the hired car was ready, and she should go, make sure she got to the train on time. Burning with embarrassment over confronting Chris—and having him just stand there—Daphne had leapt at the chance to flee. But she’d expected him to follow and talk it out, and when he didn’t…
The rational part of her said she should be relieved. It was all over, and that was what she wanted, wasn’t it?
But she wasn’t always rational when it came to love, and even as her brain crossed its arms and sniffed “Good riddance,” her heart hurt. It hurt so much. She’d wanted him to join her in the hired car. Or meet her at the station. Or at least call and say he’d meet her in Chicago. She wanted…
Damn it, she wanted an explanation, one she could accept. An excuse and an apology that opened the way to starting over.
Which proved she was a fool.
He’d come to her rescue, and she wasn’t grateful. In fact, she was so ungrateful that she’d told him off for it. He was gone. Off to find someone who appreciated his—
“Is this seat taken?”
Her heart stopped as her head whipped up to see Chris, disheveled and panting, standing in the aisle and pointing at the seat beside her.
She froze then, certain she’d drifted off and was dreaming.
He crouched, voice lowering. “The car’s almost empty, so I could take another seat if you’d prefer. I really would like to talk to you, though.” He looked into her eyes. “I screwed up, D. Screwed up so bad. Can we talk? Please?”
Yep, she was definitely dreaming.
She woodenly moved her laptop bag off his assigned seat, and he slid into it, thumping back into the seat rest and then eyeing her unopened bottle of water.
“Any chance I could have a slug of that?” he said. “I don’t think I’ve run that far since… well, since ever.”
Wordlessly, she passed it over, her brain slowly processing that he might actually be there.
“How’d you…?” That’s all she could get out.
“It’s a bit of a story.” He took a long drink and exhaled in relief. “First, Sakura left me at the event, which yes, I deserved. I managed to get a rideshare. Bribed the driver to get me to the train station on time, which she did, if you consider ‘on time’ being ‘as the train is leaving.’ I ran to catch it. Banged on a window that I thought was you, but you’re apparently on the other side. The train, shockingly, did not stop.”
He glanced over, as if expecting a response, but her heart beat too fast to formulate one.
Chris continued, “Then I ran to rent a car, but the kiosks were all closed except one guy who was closing. I threw myself on his mercy, and he rented me a car along with tips for beating the train. Which—like stopping a train—is not as easy as you might think. I got here just as it was pulling in… and I may still have the rental keys in my pocket.” He took them out and jangled them with a rueful smile. “But I made it.”
He twisted to meet her eyes again. “When I left that letter, I thought I was doing the right thing, and I did the entirely wrong thing. I wanted to show my support. I wanted to prove that I believe in you, and I believe you should be Zane. I thought I was gracefully stepping aside to let you do that, when instead I was throwing you off the deep end. And, worse, doing it and then walking away.”
