Page 72 of Plane Passion

“Don’t. Please don’t. It’s better if we make a clean break. I wish you all the best.”

“Don’t hang up that phone, Millie. Please don’t⁠—”

Click.

It was over.

No more Ernie.

She was doing the right thing for both of them, so why did she feel even worse after hanging up the phone?

Ernie would come around eventually. He’d see that she was right. This wasn’t meant to be. The pain would ebb with time, and they’d both move on with their lives. It really was for the best.

A tear dripped down her cheek. And then another. She rushed to her bedroom and grabbed a handkerchief, dabbing the tears away.

Pull it together, Mildred. It’s only a man.

Only Ernie.

The drips turned into a torrent as she sobbed on her bed.

No more men. It wasn’t worth it. It hurt too much. She should have learned her lesson after Barney, but no. She had to go and fall for a man again. Well, no more.

Millie Aldrich was going to stand on her own two feet and stay as far away from romance as possible.

25

Ernie stood staring at the phone for several minutes after he hung up, hoping against hope that she would call and take it all back. His mind was like a skipping record, unable to progress. Mere minutes ago, everything had been fine. He had a job. He was in love. And now…

It was too much to take in. The growing pit in his stomach told him his body was starting to absorb the damage his mind refused. Acid churned, sending shots of pain. His airway tightened. He couldn’t breathe, no matter how much air he tried to gulp down.

He fell into a chair, gasping.

His father came in and did a double take.

“Ernie, what happened? Are you all right?”

Raising his eyes with difficulty, Ernie looked at his father. A lump rose in his throat, and he couldn’t speak.

“Son, what’s going on? I’ve never seen you like this.”

How did you tell your father you’d failed him? That you’d failed the entire family? That you risked everything for love and lost? No job. No Millie. He’d let his family down, and for what?

“I…” His voice shook as he tried to form words. He gasped for air.

“Pop, I…” he tried again.

“Yes?”

He had to say the words. They were burning a hole in him, but speaking them would make them real. It would bring down ruin on his family. How could he rob them of their comfort and happiness? And yet hadn’t he known this was the risk? Hadn’t he pursued Millie anyway, consequences be damned? And now even she didn’t want him.

“I’ve been fired,” he said at last. “Mr. Dickson found out about Millie and me, and he’s let us both go.”

There. He’d said it. But instead of relief at confessing, he felt growing pressure, squeezing his lungs. It was real now. There was no taking it back.

His father’s face fell, and his eyes widened. He swallowed hard. “We’ll find a way to get through this, son,” he said, the quaver in his voice belying the reassuring words. “At least you still have Millie. It’s amazing how love can soften the hardest blows.”

“But I don’t,” Ernie said, staring at the floor. “She said the cost was too high, and we had to end things. Then she hung up on me. I sacrificed everything for nothing.”