“Seriously?” I growl. “I’m not going to steal anything.”

“And I wasn’t going to eat an entire sleeve of RITZ Crackers yesterday. But then I did. Fickle is human nature. Stay here and call him.”

When I see there is no reasoning with her, I resort to acting fully insane. I guess I deserve it, after everything I’ve put Joe through.

I cup my mouth and go at it.

“Joe! Joseph!”

He doesn’t hear me. He has massive headphones on.

“Joe! Hey! Over here! Joe! Joe!”

I start jogging in a line parallel with the direction the forklift takes. He continues about his day, oblivious. Lifting crates with the forklift. Putting them somewhere else. Then again. And again.

“Joe! Hey! Hey!”

I’m aware of the dozens of pairs of eyes looking at me in amusement. Every longshoreman around who isn’t Joe has caught up on the fact that I am trying to grab his attention. I continue jogging in the same line as Joe, my eyes on him, until I collide with a huge crate and fall on the ground.

“Aww.”

That, of all things, gets his attention. Maybe it was the thud I made as I hit the metal crate. Joe pushes one headphone down and turns his head. He squints, then frowns. I don’t think he is too happy to see me. My heart sinks.

“Ever?” he asks coldly.

“Joe!” I moan.

I’m still lying flat on the ground. Joe turns off the forklift but doesn’t make a move toward me. I have a feeling he still suspects I came here just to tell him in another creative way that we can never be together. I get up and dust myself off, ignoring our growing audience and the embarrassment I must be causing him.

“Joe, I came back.” I open my arms in the air, smiling like an idiot.

“I can see that.” His expression is grim.

“Can we talk?”

He raises an eyebrow. “Are you not going to run off on me in the middle of our chat? It seems to be your expertise.”

“Burn.” The woman who gave me trouble laughs.

I shake my head, knowing I deserve all of this and more. “I promise not to run away unless you try to kill me, which . . . honestly? I wouldn’t blame you for doing. Even then, I’d give you a head start.”

“The bad news is you’re not out of the doghouse. But my interest is piqued.” He hops off the forklift, knotting his arms over his chest.

He sounds cold. Distant. Gone. I can’t blame him. I have been an absolute nightmare to love. And he loved me anyway.

“I bought a first-class ticket here.” I chuckle awkwardly, covering my face with my hands.

“All right.” He quirks a brow. “Brownie points for determination. Why?”