and now, 21 last lines, just for fun ...
And then, very quietly, like he's not sure he wants her to hear, "You did good today."
Keller is waiting for his next move.
He doesn’t have a sword to salute her with, so he settles for a fraction of a nod as he turns to leave.
Neal only smiles. “She’ll know.”
Her fingers thread lightly through his hair as he lets his eyes close.
After a moment she realizes Christie is waiting for a response, but all she can say is, “I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you.”
If you change your mind, you know where to find me.
Please please please come back I’ll do anything please don’t leave me.
And for now Neal only wants to hold onto this; he wants to hold onto this moment, the light and the window boxes and the crickets under the stoop and Peter’s complete and silent acceptance; he wants to rest here for a while.
“How about we fill up that bottle and I’ll tell you the story?”
“You play chess?”
(She’s gone and he can’t breathe and he’s falling.)
They launch themselves toward the boat, swimming together.
And there is never time enough to say goodbye.
He wishes, desperately, that he could feel nothing for a little while longer.
It wouldn’t be right to get blood on one of Byron’s.
She closes the door quietly and leaves him to the silence.
New York won’t be safe for Neal much longer.
He stays close to her; he’s not at all sure she’s wrong.
But some part of him still wants to be wrong.
For tonight, this was enough.