Page 31 of Andy

“I know. Not long until you’re cleared.”

“Yeah. It was great going to Bear’s house and hanging out.”

“I bet it was good to see them again.”

“God, I miss being on base. I love spending time with you, but I get bored during the weekdays.”

Mel nodded. “I’m sure. It would be hard just to hang out at home.”

“I started watching a soap opera the other day.”

Mel chuckled. “Which one?”

He threw up his hands. “It was a Spanish one. I don’t remember the name. Just that they were yelling a lot, and then they were staring at each other.”

Laughter rose and she couldn’t hold it back. “That’s too funny. You must have been very bored.”

“I was. At least the couch showed up, and now I can sit out here.”

“Yeah, there’s that. It’s a good couch, too. Comfortable.” She turned and took in the living room space. It was still sparse, but it looked like it was coming together. No way would she say anything about how bare it looked because that wasn’t what mattered.

“What are you contemplating?” Andy asked.

She flashed a smile and moved to him. “I like this place. I think you did great buying this house. It has real promise.”

“Thank you. I need to do some work on it.”

“And you will. I’ll help you once you heal.”

His eyebrows shot up like he didn’t believe her. “You will?”

“Honey, I can tell you when you get it wrong.”

He shook his head and laughed. “I’m sure you will. Come here and sit with me for a while before bed. I’m going to miss you this week.”

“And I’ll miss you.”

She would miss being with him all day. Being with a secure man like Andy was a game changer. Even now, with his injury that could radically change his life if it didn’t heal properly, he was still a good person. She just hoped he didn’t grow bored with her.

Chapter 17

On Monday, Mel worked late, closing the bank with one of her male coworkers, Derik. They walked out together and headed to their cars. She waved goodbye to Derik and got in her car then started the engine. A weird feeling slid over her. She glanced around and then reached for the lock button on the door. Derik was driving off, and she decided she needed to leave right away.

She pulled out of the parking space, taking a few deep breaths before stopping at the main road to look for cars. She didn’t see anything obvious, like a car pulling out and following her, but she felt like that was what had happened. It had to be all in her mind, but the feeling of being watched seemed so real.

To make sure she wasn’t being followed, she pulled into the parking lot of a grocery store and waited for a moment, not seeing anyone else pull in behind her. She decided to drive to Andy’s house in a different way than she usually did.

She was about to put the car into drive when she remembered her friends talking about how they would temporarily share their locations when they felt uneasy. Without telling him what she was doing, she sent her location to Andy’s phone.

When she pulled back out onto the road, her phone rang. She answered, glad she had Bluetooth set up to play her calls over the speakers in her car.

“Hey, you just shared your location with me. Is everything okay?”

Guilt wound through her. Nothing had happened, and she didn’t mean to worry Andy. “Yeah. I’m probably overreacting.”

“Hmmm, maybe not.”

“Nothing happened, I just had this weird feeling. I pulled over in a grocery lot and sent you my location. I don’t want to blow this out of proportion.”

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