Danny let himself appreciate looking at her a short moment longer than necessary. Her eyes really were as dark as he remembered.
And then he had to look away.
"As soon as we get THESE off," he tugged on the handcuffs, "I am putting you on the next plane to Springfield."
"In the meantime," he sighed, "we have to head north."
A few hours later:
Danny kept staring at the gas meter, willing it to rise. It didn't.
"We need to find a gas station. We're almost out of gas." He tried to open the glove compartment, and couldn't quite reach. "There should be a map in the glove compartment. Can you get it?"
There was no answer.
"Michelle?"
He looked over at her. She was fast asleep.
"Awww, Michelle," he whispered. She had looked so tired yesterday, he had wondered what they were doing to her at the hospital, and now... he looked at his watch... it was past midnight.
What was he going to do with her?
There was a sign up ahead. He swung the car onto the exit.
*****************
The Black Swan, ______shire, England
The bartender was mopping up the bar, when the knocking started.
He didn't even look up. "We're closed!"
"Do you have any rooms for the night?"
The bartender looked up.
He saw a man dressed all in black, mid- perhaps late thirties. In his arms he held a small, blond woman, wrapped in an oversized black overcoat.
He had to readjust her weight in his arms, and her left hand swung downward. A pair of rings, a plain band and a round-cut diamond ring winked in the bar's dim light.
"Yeah, sure. Forty quid for the night. I'll just get the book." He watched him readjust her weight again. "Why don't you put her down?"
"I don't want to wake her," he smiled, a little tired. He watched him go into the next room, and when he was safely out of sight, his left hand snaked out and put the bills on the counter, cradling Michelle as much as he could all the while.
Besides the obvious question of how he was going to explain the handcuffs which Michelle's coat covered, he really didn't want to wake her. She didn't weigh much though. Perhaps it was a trick of his memory, but she also seemed lighter, a lot lighter than she was ten years ago, and she hadn't weighed much then.
"Here you go sir," he held out a set of keys. "Upstairs, last door on the right."
Danny worked his right hand free to take the keys. "Thanks."
He was already turning to go up the stairs when the bartender remembered, "Oh, the book!"
Danny slowly turned around, "Could you...."
The bartender shrugged. "Yeah, sure. Name?"
Danny thought a split second, and a slight smile tugged at his lips.
"John and Frances Robbie."
Early the next morning:
The sounds of birds calling woke Michelle. She actually felt refreshed for the first time in... well, years; she had slept so deeply. She tried to stretch her arms over her head when her arm abruptly stopped.
She opened her eyes, and the waterstained plaster which marked the ceiling of her flat in Oxford wasn't there.. She looked to her right.
And there he was.
It hadn't been a dream. He was here, lying beside her.
She sat up and leaned over him, studying him as she'd longed to ever since she'd woken up in the Kenworthy Cottage. Older, yes, but still somehow youthfully handsome. A few more lines than before, and in his sleep, his brow furrowed, as if contemplating a particularly difficult problem.
He shifted in his sleep. He'd always moved around a lot in bed... Michelle almost blushed as she remembered. His right arm flew up over his head, as he moved again, and she noticed the band on his right hand. She looked down at her own hand, and then felt the chain around her neck. They were gone.
No matter what the reason, she had to smile. She leaned a little closer and stroked his hair.
It was so tempting ... why not? If he woke up, she could pretend to still be asleep.
With particular care, she placed her head on his chest, and felt the steady rise of fall of his chest with each of his breaths, listened as he breathed in his sleep, and unabashedly inhaled the combination of smells with still said "Danny" to her.
With her head still resting on his chest, she studied the handcuffs which connected them. She would have laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation, but she didn't want to wake him; she didn't want the moment to end any sooner than necessary. She counted the links of the chain, tugged on the cuffs lightly...
There was a catch behind one of the cuffs.
Michelle pressed on it. The cuff sprang open.
She almost laughed out loud and then caught herself. Danny was still asleep. Clearly, the "cop" hadn't actually thought he'd be using the costume cuffs.
She rubbed her right wrist, and looked at Danny. Whatever had been troubling him in his dream must have dissipated. He looked so peaceful now.
She knew him so well. He wasn't kidding when he'd said he'd put her on the first plane back to Springfield.
She placed her wrist back in the cuff, and snapped it closed.