Page 116 of The Happy Month

“He won’t let her go.”

“Can’t we talk about all this at the beach? We’ll have time to make a plan.”

“Vera, you and Gigi aren’t coming to the beach. It’s over.”

And then he hung up on her. The phone rang immediately, and he didn’t pick up. Since then, he’d felt like a coward, a cad. A Hollywood hero would find a way to save the girl, even a girl who loved another girl. But there was nothing to be done. Manny Marker knew too much. It wasn’t just his fists that could hurt him. He could be disbarred. He could end up penniless and alone.

As though he’d followed each and every thought, Ivan said, “She’ll be fine. She’s a smart girl.”

And then he reached out and took Patrick’s hand.

“Ivan, don’t.”

They stopped walking and faced each other. Ivan placed a hand briefly on Patrick’s heart and then on his own. “Nothing matters but this. The space between us. It’s all there is. All there ever will be.”