by Amber Foxx
The length of his lease. “And then what?”
“You come up for the party. My birthday or my funeral.”
“That isn’t funny.”
“Wasn’t meant to be.”
Six months seemed like a lifetime. It literally might be. Mae couldn’t bear to part from Jamie like this. Not after what he’d just said. Not when she’d finally let herself love him.
A yellow taxi pulled up in front of them. Opening the door for Jamie, Mae felt like she was betraying herself by helping him leave her. He mumbled thanks and slid the pet carrier into the back seat. Gasser bleated piteously. “Jesus, mate. I’m coming with you this time.”
“You sure you don’t want me to drive? He could get out and ride in your lap.”
“Nah. We’ll be all right. Eleven hours.” Jamie got in the cab and closed the door. No goodbye. No hooroo love, catcha. Too upset and confused to drive yet, Mae watched him through the window. He leaned forward to talk to the driver. The taxi began moving. Back in Norfolk Jamie had said he would wait however long it took for her to come around to love him. Now he was making her wait. For what? Maybe nothing. Maybe he’d stopped her from making another mistake in love, another unwise choice of a man.
No. She’d already made it. It was too late to pull back.
The cab stopped. A change of heart? The back door opened. Jamie stepped out, swept his hat off and bowed deeply, like he was taking a curtain call, then got back in and rode away.
Author’s notes:
The small towns in North Carolina are fictitious. So are the businesses in the real towns and cities.
The snake face man is a piece of folk art I purchased in Mesilla. You can see his picture in a September 2014 blog post on my web site, http://amberfoxxmysteries.wordpress.com
Sylvie and Joe Wayne’s lyrics for their Genius album are inspired by lines from Leonardo Da Vinci’s Notebooks, arranged and rendered into English by Edward McCurry in 1923, published by Empire State Book Company, New York.
Also by Amber Foxx
Mae Martin Mysteries
The Calling
Shaman's Blues
Snake Face
Standalone
The Outlaw Women