She would fight back, scavenge for a plan to reclaim her life. Plans were in short supply at the moment, beyond saving to finance a private detective, but already the renewed strength fueled determination. How odd that until a few days ago she hadn't realized just how much had been stolen from her.
And once she had her life back?
Simply because she'd reclaimed her inner self didn't make her any more right for Danny than she'd been eleven years before. Not that he was even the same person. Parts of Danny remained, mingled with the newer, darker Daniel. Even if he stayed single after however long it took her to reclaim her life…
She didn't know. But for the first time in years, she knew she wanted to dare. To dream.
And the steamy whispers of possibility made packing somehow easier and tougher at the same time.
"Hey, Mary Elise, where ya going?" Austin piped from four steps ahead as he sprinted into the condo, his blankie dragging.
Going? Daniel's brain went numb.He stood in the open doorway staring at Mary Elise's suitcase, and freaking couldn't process what he was seeing.
Didn't want to.
Hell, his mind never stopped working. Never. His thoughts always operated three paces ahead of his feet, and his feet were mighty damned fast even on a bad day.
And thanks to Austin's question, this promised to be a sucky day. Once again Mary Elise flipped his world.
Daniel double-timed into the condo, his boots traveling ahead of his reason. He charged past the boys, stopping toe-to-toe with Mary Elise and her small suitcase.
Austin shuffled to a stop in front of her, his bottom lip trembling.
Mary Elise knelt eye level with Austin's blueberry-syrup-stained face. She licked her thumb and swiped it over his cheek until the smudge disappeared. "Well, sweetie, it's time for me to get a place of my own."
"Why ya gotta go? I want you to stay."
"I'd like to stay, too. But this isn't my home."
He hitched his blanket under his nose and sniffed. "Are you gonna be close? Are we gonna see you again?"
She smoothed back sweaty brown curls off his forehead. "You bet you will." She answered the latter question while avoiding the first. "It may take a while for me to get everything … settled, but I'll be back here to see you sometime. And when I come back, I want you to show me all your new dives into the pool, and I'll bet you won't even need water wings anymore."
Damn it, he could see the tears in her eyes. Why was she doing this to herself? To the boys.
To him. "Mary Elise, let's talk without the boys here."
"Daniel, I'll be sending you the money I owe you for all the clothes and such. And I made a list of things Austin and Trey have mentioned wanting for Christmas." She avoided his eyes by rifling through her suitcase with jerky agitation. "Where did I put them?"
Trey leaned forward to tug the side zipper pouch. "Are they in here?"
"No. I don't think so. I haven't used that pocket yet."
"But it's half-zipped."
Hell, did the kid have to flipping help her out the door with a hoo-ya just to piss him off?
"Hmm." She yanked open the zipper and jammed her hand inside. "Maybe I put it in here without think—"
She shrieked. Her hand whipped back out of the bag. Blood dripped from her fingertip. "Ouch."
Daniel knelt beside her, pressing his thumb to the pinprick. "Trey, run back to the bathroom and get one of those Winnie the Pooh Band-Aids."
Maybe he could stretch this into a trip to the hospital for a tetanus shot to buy him time to talk her around. Or he could stand here and hold her hand for another hour and stare into the damned prettiest eyes he'd ever seen.
Mary Elise tugged her hand free and stuck her finger in her mouth. She looked away, taking all that endless green with her.
Prying open the side pouch, she peered inside. Color drained from her already-pale face. Swaying, she withdrew a small medicine bottle for a shot.