Page 50 of Absent Feeling

AndAmber had wanted to see him. She’d just hoped to see even more of him. Butthere would be time for that later. She leaned in to kiss him.

“Anothertime?”

“Definitely.”

Amberheaded home, glad to be back in DC again, glad to be able to see her apartmentagain. She took a deep breath as she opened the door, taking in the familiarscent of wood and paper that came from having so many different puzzles stackedaround the apartment.

Shewould rather have been stumbling in there with Joseph, the two of them knockingover puzzles as they made their way towards the bedroom, wrapped up in oneanother’s arms. There would be other opportunities for that, though. Ambercouldn’t complain if she got back into town only to find that Joseph was caughtup in his own work.

Still,it would have been nice if he were there with her.

Ambertook a moment to just stand there, taking in her apartment. Everything was there,just the way it had been when she left. Everything was in the same place, areminder of the way her life had been.

Amberwould need to sort through it, finishing the puzzles that she’d taken on forclients over the next couple of days. That was only fair. After that … well,she would still be able to solve puzzles for fun, and the complexities of thecases she worked promised to be every bit as fulfilling.

Amberwent through to her bedroom, wanting to get changed into something she couldjust relax in for a while. She would sit there in sweats and maybe go throughthe chess puzzles she’d set up or sketch out the next steps in the puzzles shestill had to finish.

Ambergot changed and went to pick up her journal, because she remembered that she’dwritten a few preliminary notes on one of the puzzles in it a couple of daysago. It wasn’t on her bedside table, though, where she usually left it.

Thatmade Amber stop short, trying to remember where she’d put it. Generally, shewrote her thoughts in the journal throughout the day and then put it there atnight in case she woke up in the night with a glimmer of an idea that sheneeded to write down before it fled from her mind. It had happened often enoughthat Amber didn’t like to risk the journal being somewhere else.

Itwasn’t there now though. Had Amber put it down somewhere else on the day whenshe’d left? She’d been working on several puzzles, after all, and she’d had toleave in a hurry. If she’d been in the middle of working on a puzzle, using thejournal for notes, maybe it was under one of the piles somewhere.

Amberwould need to find it for some of the puzzles she was still working on, but nottonight. For tonight, it was enough that she was in her apartment, and thatshe’d finally made a decision about joining the FBI. Everything in her life wasabout to change, but for now, it was simply good to be back home.