To the end

She broke the connection between their eyes just long enough to look down and find her glass and then raise it from the table. It was empty except for ice and a cherry but that didn’t matter. He raised his glass in return, maybe one swallow of beer and foam left in it.

“To the end,” she said.

He smiled and nodded. He loved her and she knew it.

“To the end,” he began and then paused. “To the place where the desert is ocean.”

She smiled back as they touched glasses. She raised hers to her lips and the cherry rolled into her mouth. She looked at him suggestively as he wiped the beer foam out of his mustache. She loved him. It was them against the whole fucking world and she liked their chances just fine.

Void Moon
Michael Connelly