The End

Chapter 7: Midnight Moon

The mornings were filled with June gloom and the evenings with a typical southern California warmth. Summer was nearly here. Ellen curled up next to her phone and waited for his goodnight text. Until tomorrow it would say and she would swoon the way she always had. Her body reacting before her brain could talk her out of it.

All the tomorrow's seemed to run together but not the way they had before she'd broken the five-year silence. They ran together because the time of the day when they weren't communicating had grown increasingly smaller. The few hours between midnight and dawn that they actually slept.

Ellen found herself looking forward to Chris' weekends away. Though she knew they were incredibly irresponsible. It allowed her to lay in her bed this way. Emotionally tangled in a man she'd loved for twenty years.

She'd grown comfortable. Used to the feeling of their constant communication. The happy distraction from the turmoil around her. He was her hope in the future. That maybe if they could find their way back to each other, the world would find its way to normalcy too.

The sound of her phone sent a burst of adrenaline to her heart. It was late, she knew what it would say but she knew that with his goodnight, a good morning would follow.

Surprise spread across her entire body as she realized her phone was ringing. He was calling. Her hands started to sweat. Ellen just stared at it. She took a deep breath and lifted her phone to her face, "Hi," her voice was hesitant but excited.

"Hi," he answered softly. His voice penetrating every part of her body. "You said you were alone on weekends," he sounded a little nervous, "I thought I'd keep you company."

"How thoughtful of you," she said playfully. Her heart was skipping so many beats she wondered if it would stop. The sound in the background suddenly distracting her. "Where are you?"

"The beach," he answered.

"Patrick," she nearly shrieked, "It's like 3 in the morning."

"It's ok Mom," he joked, "It's just down the path from my house," she could hear Patrick smile. "Plus, I don't get free reign of my house on weekends. I have to get creative."

The reality of what he meant hit stomach funny. He had left his house and walked to the beach to talk to her without interruption. It was three in the morning. The innocence of this was diminishing quickly. "You missed the sound of my voice," she giggled.

"Actually, I missed that laugh," his words were genuine and weighty.

She closed her eyes and bit her bottom lip. Ellen rested her head against bed. It took everything inside of her to not suggest something stupid. Instead she changed the subject, "Can you even see anything out there?"

"The moon is pretty bright tonight," he answered. Upon further inspection he continued, "It's actually huge." Ellen laughed, "I'm serious! Go look."

"You want me to get out of bed at three in the morning and look at the moon." Ellen stated his suggestion with a roll of her eyes.

"Yes," Patrick insisted. "Go."

"Dempsey," Ellen shook her head. "Only for you." She threw on her slippers and pulled a sweater over her shoulders. "You're not outside or something," Ellen joked, "I don't think my exhaustion jitters could handle that kind of surprise..."

"No," Patrick laughed, "I wish." Ellen was surprised by his openness. She knew that they were giving into the restoration of their friendship but she didn't expect his easy confessions.

"Damn," she looked up at the moon and settled in a chair on her patio. "It is huge."

"I think it's a super moon," Patrick said softly.