Page 89 of Side By Side
This was all happening too fast for her tired brain to focus and understand what was going on. Belle was leaving. They’d just talked about this a few hours ago, and Belle said she’d stay, but now, she was leaving. Chandler wasn’t mad at her. She understood that this was an emergency and not Belle’s choice. But the thought of Belle leaving and not coming back wasn’t something she’d been prepared to deal with on top of everything else, and it was happening. It was happening right now.
She packed and met Belle down in the lobby when Belle was ready to check out. They left and drove together back to the house, where Chandler watched Belle go into the apartment, and she called a travel agent her mom and dad had them use to book all of Chandler and Cat’s travel. She had them get Belle a first-class seat on a direct flight and went to find Belle, who was just about finished packing her things.
“I got a car to take you to the airport. It’s outside waiting,” she said.
“Thank you,” Belle replied and zipped up her suitcase.
“And your flight leaves in two hours, so you need to get going or you’ll miss it, but you’re flying first-class, so you’ll have a shorter line at security and, hopefully, a better experience on the flight.”
“You didn’t have to do that. I’ll pay you back, Chandler.”
“No. You’re still technically an employee, and I told you I’d pay for all your travel.”
“This isn’t–”
“You haven’t had a day off since you got here. Consider this payment for the vacation time I owe you or something, if it makes you feel better. It’s a direct flight. You’ll get in around two. I’ll also have a car waiting for you there to take you home or to the hospital. Just tell the driver to take you wherever you need. It’ll go on my tab.”
“You didn’t–”
“Belle, please. I can’t do anything else. Let me do this.”
“You have done something else,” Belle replied and walked toward her.
“Really? What?”
“You’ve been there.”
“What?”
“I’m freaking out inside, Chandler, but you’ve kept me calm.”
“You usually do that for me,” Chandler said.
“And you’re doing that for me this morning. I’ve never been this far away from my dad when something has happened. I’m terrified about losing him, too. He’s all I’ve got left; you know? My grandparents are all gone. My mom was an only child. My dad has an older brother, but he works on an oil rig and goes from job to job. We hardly ever see him, so I don’t really know him. It’s just my dad and me. When I got the call earlier, he sounded like he was really hurting. Or, maybe he was just really tired from the meds they gave him; I don’t know. And that’s even scarier.”
“He’s going to be fine,” Chandler said and took Belle’s hand in both of hers. “It’s just a broken leg and a shoulder thing, right?”
“I’ll believe that when I see it. He’s notorious for not being one hundred percent truthful when he thinks it’s going to scare me or make me worry. I need to see him and talk to the doc; or, at least, read whatever paperwork and test results they send him home with.”
“Then, you do that. Call me when you know he’s okay?”
Belle nodded and said, “I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For having to go. I didn’t want to.”
“I know. You’ll come back when you can.” Chandler shrugged a shoulder as if that was a foregone conclusion when she knew it was anything but.
“Chandler, you need to find another partner.”
“Belle, I–”
“Your idea of working with a female partner wasn’t a bad one. And I’m really glad you came up with it.” She smiled at Chandler. “But if you’re going to make the team, it’s time to find someone who can get you there. Like it or not, that’s not me, and it’s not Walker Wilcox.”
“We’ll talk about it after you get home and make sure he’s okay,” she replied. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”
“I should go,” Belle said. “I don’t want to miss that fancy flight you booked me.”