"How many have you done?"
"Zip." He looked at me. "You want to change that?"
His fingers rested on my thigh. His tone was confident, but his gaze was slightly lowered, in that way he had when he suspected he might be pushing into territory that could send me backpedaling. I've never backpedaled, but Ricky intuits better than anyone I know, and I couldn't help wondering if he'd picked up on my confusion with Gabriel.
"Are you offering to take me away from all this?" I said.
"More like take you away when all this is over."
"Let's do that." I held up the list. "Pick a spot."
"Nope." He turned the phone around. "You."
"I'd have to research--"
"Uh-uh." He scooched me over against him and covered my eyes. "Pick one."
I did and opened my eyes. "Cabot Trail, Nova Scotia?"
"Hope you have a passport."
"I do. But if you want someplace closer--"
"Nope, I do want to take you away from all this. As far from it as we can get." He rolled onto his back and pulled me down with him. "At least for a little while."
"God, I love you."
"You'd better. 'Cause you're about to spend two weeks alone with me in the middle of nowhere."
"Perfect," I said, and leaned down to kiss him.
--
I awoke to a text from Gabriel, telling me not to come in to work.
"I think I just got fired," I said.
Ricky got out of bed fast. "He sure as hell better not." He peered at my phone. "Bastard. It's a temporary overreaction, but still, that's your job. Your only source of income after he convinced you to quit the diner. He'd better not fuck with it because he's feeling pissy."
Ricky grabbed his jeans. "I'm going to go chat with him." Before I could protest, he cut me off with a lifted hand. "No, not to give him shit for that text. He's freaking out about the Gwynn shit, and he's pissed that you didn't tell him, and I'm part of both those things. I just want to talk about that." A half smile. "I promise not to hit him, however tempted I might be."
"Maybe I should try first and . . ." And if I did and Gabriel failed to reply and then Ricky showed up, it really would look like he was taking a message from me. "Okay, go on. After breakfast."
--
Ricky returned an hour after leaving, barely time for him to have made it to Gabriel's office and back.
"He won't see you?" I said.
"Oh, he did. For five minutes, during which he said exactly seven words, though admittedly he did repeat them a few times."
"What'd he say?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"So he's playing it like that?"
"Yep." Ricky headed for the bathroom. "Try texting him later. See if anything changes."