Jessica closed her eyes, not wanting to see the sun set on the fifteenth day since Angelo's departure.
"I'll hurry," he'd promised. "I'm not planning to linger. I just want to know if the rumors are true."
"I know." She hadn't wanted to let him out of her arms, though. "I could come with you."
He'd smiled and kissed her. "Yes, but knowing us we wouldn't get much traveling done." A gloved hand cupped her cheek, thumb stroking lightly across her skin. "Two weeks, Jess, no longer. We can survive that long apart."
Two weeks. More than enough time to reach Maella Abbey and come home.
She shivered and pulled her cloak more tightly around her, knowing the sun had set by the drop in temperature.
Two weeks. No longer.
Just one day longer. Just one. But it felt like a lifetime.
Opening her eyes, she stared down the road, until the purple twilight had faded to darkness, and even the flash of his silver hair wouldn't have been visible.
If he'd been coming.
She shouldn't have let him go alone, shouldn't have let him go at all; she'd known that from the moment the rumors about Marcello reached them, from the moment she'd seen the stupid stupid mix of hope and concern in his eyes. She shouldn't have waited an extra day, hoping he'd merely been delayed, telling herself it was winter and anything could have upset his travel plans.
Anything could have happened to him.
Marcello could have happened to him.
Jessica reached up, wiping away tears she hadn't been aware of crying. There was nothing she could do to change the mistakes she'd made, but she could find him.
She would find him.
With a determined stride, she returned to the house. She had preparations to make.
Written for 101 Kisses. Theme #48 - Just Waiting
