The secondary reason and one he was almost ashamed to admit to himself was he wanted further confirmation that he could trust Sarah to tell him the whole truth regardless of how much she thought it might upset him, and, of course, he’d gotten it.

After promising once again that he’d try to be less paranoid about Leo, he overcompensated a bit for the guilt he had by kissing her almost into a frenzy. They stopped and both took deep breaths. If everyone else weren’t just a few doors away, he might’ve taken her right there on the washing machine. Instead, they walked back into the other room where everyone was eating and raving about the hot menudo.

Romero and Eric were arguing about what movie they’d all be watching.

“Great,” Angel said as they walked into the kitchen. “Even more opinions this time to weigh in on what we should all watch.”

“It’s not a chick flick,” Romero said.

“What’s the big deal?” Eric smirked, plopping down on the sofa next to Sofie. “I didn’t say I don’t wanna watch it. I’m just saying you chose a three-hour love story. A chick flick.”

Romero turned to Sal, who was sitting on the other sofa with a tray in front of him. “You think Titanic is a chick flick? People die and shit. There’s all kinds of drama and it’s not boring.” He turned back to Eric. “I didn’t even know it was three hours because it didn’t seem that long.”

Sal shrugged. “Technically, it is a love story, but it’s cool. I don’t mind watching it.”

Romero frowned and continued scrolling through the rest of the list of movies On Demand. A few minutes later, everyone agreed they’d watch Titanic. Once Angel and Sarah finished eating their soup about a quarter of the way into the movie, they snuck upstairs to their room.

Angel’s reasoning for trying to coax Sarah away was partly true. He really couldn’t wait to get under the warm blankets and cuddle with her. But he kept the other reason to himself. Titanic and any other Leonardo DiCaprio film would be coming off the list of movies he would watch ever again. Anytime the guy was on screen Angel couldn’t help but think of Sarah’s damn brother and the connection he felt with her.

~*~

Sarah

The entire time they’d been up in Big Bear, Sarah kept her contact with Leonardo to a minimum. There was no denying now how troubled Angel was by him even though he’d kept his promise of not obsessing and being paranoid. The few times he saw her texting or checking her phone after that talk in the laundry room he hadn’t even asked her about it. It didn’t seem like just an act either; he really had eased up and genuinely seemed to have enjoyed the rest of their time up there after their talk. Still, she’d waited until she was home to respond to Leo’s texts.

Angel had been so good about letting it go ever since that day they hadn’t addressed the subject of her brother at all, and it’d been two weeks. Of course, it could also be because Sarah hadn’t much to report either. When she’d gotten back from the cabin, she’d finally been able to chat with Leonardo online in the privacy of her own room, but she’d noticed his weird mood immediately. Not wanting him to assume in any way that her ignoring his texts and even calls while she’d been up in Big Bear had anything to do with Angel, she explained that the wireless and Internet signal was spotty up there at best. It wasn’t exactly true, but she figured being up so deep in the mountains the excuse might fly. She just figured with Angel already not caring much for Leonardo the last thing she needed was for the animosity to go both ways.

Unlike all the other times when they chatted and he kept her on the phone longer than she usually planned, he’d cut her off quickly, saying he had things to do. Then she didn’t hear from him again until a few days later when she got the call. It was a normal call by any measure. He asked her how her day had been, told her a little bit about his, and then dropped the news. “I’m leaving for Mexico,” he said out of the blue. “This time it’s gonna be for a longer period, and I won’t have Internet service for sure. So I guess this is goodbye.”

Sarah felt that same hollowness she’d felt that first time he told her he was leaving. Once again, it sounded so final. The expression he wore was also a grim one she so rarely saw on him.

“Goodbye?” she asked, trying not to sound as clingy as she suddenly felt. “You’re coming back eventually, right? How long will you be gone?”

He sat back, and she’d noticed how fidgety he’d been from the moment their chat began—just like that first chat they’d had months ago. “You know my situation, Sarah. I gotta take every job I can get, and this one is a longer one, so I don’t know. A few months? Maybe longer.”

“But you’ll, uh . . .” She swallowed hard, trying to hold back the emotion. Just like the first time, this felt so final only it was worse now. This time he’d actually said the words she hadn’t heard but felt last time—this is goodbye. From the tone of his voice, he meant it. “You’ll call me once you’re back?” She was almost afraid to ask, but she wanted to know now instead of wondering later because it really felt like this was it. “This isn’t goodbye forever . . . right?”

He crossed his arms in front of him, staring straight ahead and didn’t say anything for too long. Then he sat up suddenly. “Nah . . . nah, of course not. I’ll be back eventually. It’s just that, you know, this is something I gotta do.”