Page 89 of Forever is the Sweetest Con
“I’ll go.” His brown eyes are dark and serious. “You stay with her.”
This idea feels at once relieving and terrifying.
“No,” Sue-Ellen says. “You both have to go. What good are you to me here?”
“I can make sure nothing happens to you.”
“What’s going to happen? I’d be more worried about what could happen to Kei out there on his own.” She gives me a look, and I know she’s thinking of earlier, when he was checking out. I know she’s right, but still.
I shake my head. “I can’t, Sue-Ellen. I can’t leave you behind.” I feel the emotion bubble up, and I let the tears fall. “I’m scared.”
“I’m scared, too,” she says. Her face is also wet with tears. “But it’s our only hope. You have to go,”
I let out a shaky exhale. I look at Kei. He nods.
“She’s right,” Kei says. “I hate to leave her, too, but we have a better chance with two of us.”
“You guys can do this. I know you can.” She reaches out her hand to me, and I reach back, squeezing it tight. Her eyes are steely as she nods at me.
“What if we can’t?”
“You can. You can do this, Cleo, I know it. You’re going to save us. But you have to go. Now.”
I’m frozen.
“Go!” she sobs.
And so we go.
For a long time, we don’t talk. All I can think of is the image of Sue-Ellen as I walked away from her, her body hunched over the rocks in an awkward prayer, trapped like an animal. The image is burned onto my brain, probably for eternity.
Kei must be having a similar train of thought, because every now and then he says, “She’ll be okay,” and I’m not sure if he’s saying it to comfort me, or to comfort himself.
I keep finding myself drifting ahead of Kei. His pace is slower than mine, which sparks concern, but if I start letting worries bloom then I’ll get pulled under, so I put it out of my mind.
Mercifully, the shoreline becomes gentler and for a long stretch it’s just like the rocky beach at camp. It’s a relief as we cover so much ground with relative ease, and I feel myself relax. We can do this. We’ll be there in no time, at this pace, and Sue-Ellen will be out of the rocks before nightfall.
“So, how far a drive is it from Vegas to LA?” Kei asks, taking my hand.
“About four hours. Why?”
“Guess I’ll have to buy a car.” He’s smiling shyly.
“What do you mean?”
“I’m going to LA, once this is all over. I just have to go, make it happen.”
“Oh.” There’s a flutter in my belly, a small inkling of hopefulness.
“And I was thinking I could go to Vegas from time to time. If there’s anyone there who wants to see me.”
“Is that right?” I bite my lip to hold back the huge grin that’s threatening to overtake my face.
“Yeah. Do you think there’ll be anyone there who’ll want to see me?”
“Hmm, probably not.”
He laughs and squeezes my hand. “For real, though.” He stops walking and turns to face me. “I want to see you. Back in the real world.” He takes my other hand. “I want to try to make this work.”
