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Was this real? Was he really headed back to Santa Fe, Elena in the passenger seat next to him and Albuquerque — and the flight he was supposed to take — falling farther and farther away in the rearview mirror?
Apparently, it was. Alessandro glanced over at her, and she smiled back…although he noted that her smile seemed a bit shaky, as though she wasn’t entirely sure of him, despite the way he’d come with her and abandoned his plans to return to El Salvador.
Then he realized he’d never said those words to her. She’d blurted them out in the terminal, and he’d just stood there like an i***t, staring at her. True, simply seeing her again had been enough of a shock without any declarations of love, but he could see why she still might not feel certain of him.
“I love you, Elena,” he sai
