Page 125 of Time After Time

“Speaking of their grandchildren, how’s Mason doing?” I ask.

I know he worries about Mason, his younger brother, who’s unhappily married, and Ransom fears that with two kids, he’s going to stay that way forever.

“Better since they left Florida…but…her family is….” He shakes his head. “The kids are doing well. I talked to them this weekend. They’re growing up.”

We catch up on all the family gossip, and then walk back to my apartment hand-in-hand.

“I know we talk and we visit,” he says wistfully. “But I miss the small stuff. Grocery runs. Walking like this with you. Falling asleep next to you. Fighting about whose turn it is to make coffee.”

“I’m…I’m looking for programs in the Bay Area,” I confide. “I can finish my post-doctoral work?—”

“Baby, you’re working with one of the best researchers in astrophysics,” he protests. “Don’t jeopardize that.”

“It’s moot because I can’t find anything suitable.”

We don’t bring it up again, because it makes both of us feel helpless.

Instead, we live in thenow, enjoyus,and when he leaves again, we both feel the pain of it, sharper with each passing day.

CHAPTER 34

Ransom

“So,” I begin, “I’ve been thinking.”

“That usually ends badly,” Aksel mutters.

I ignore him.

“I’m going to move to Boston.”

He freezes. “What the fuck?”

“I’m going to move. To be with Ember. Permanently.”

He narrows his eyes. “Does she know?”

“No.”

“Jesus, Ransom.”

“If I tell her, she’ll stop me.” I pick up my beer and take a long pull.

Aksel has a conference in San Francisco, and he’s staying with me in Los Gatos while he’s here. We had dinner at Zola in Palo Alto, and then strolled up to The Rose & Crownfor a beer.

“Iam going to stop you,” Aksel exclaims. “You worked hard for your career, and now, when you’re this close to being head of neuro at freaking Stanford Medical, you want to leave?”

I shrug. “Can’t live like this. I miss her. All the fucking time. It’s like…it hurts. I’ve never missed anyone in my life.”

Aksel gives me a measured look. “What if you regret it and resent Ember for it?”

“I love her. I could never resent her,” I say with a crooked grin. “And she’s looking to move and do her postdoc here. Can’t let that happen.”

Aksel raises an eyebrow. “Your job is a big fucking deal. Ember’s a student and she can move?—”

“Nope.” I pick up my beer. “Not happening. She’s so damn passionate about her studies. And she loves it there.”

“I suggest you discuss this with her,” Aksel advises.