Page 89 of Another Love, Another Time
“I know that, and I’m grateful for everything you’ve done for me. I hope you know that.”
“I do.” She’s still smiling. This is going better than I expected.
“The thing is, now that I’m out of college, I’m ready for the next step in my life. I’d like to get married and have kids, and I can’t do that with you as my roommate, can I? Do you understand what I’m saying?” I smile at her, trying to lighten up the conversation. I really do not want to hurt her feelings.
She’s still smiling. “Yes, I understand what you’re saying.”
“Good, good. Because I don—” I’m cut off when my phone starts to ring. I press the “end call” button, but it starts to ring again. When I look down, I see it’s my captain. I look up. “Crap. I need to answer this.”
“Take your time.”
I get up and walk away. “Hey, Captain,” I answer.
“Hunt, you need to come down to the station. Someone came in wanting to talk to you.”
“I’m kind of in the middle of something.”
“It’s about one of your cases. I know you’re off, but if I were you, I would get your ass down here.”
“Okay. Give me about thirty minutes, and I’ll be there. Make sure they don’t leave.” I turn around and walk back towards the table. “Sorry. I’ve got to go.” I can see she’s a little annoyed, but she covers it up quickly.
“Sure. Is it for work?” she asks.
“Yeah. Can you settle the bill? I’ll pay you back later.” I lean down and kiss the top of her head. “Thanks for understanding my next steps. We will talk more about the details later.”
“Sure thing. See you later.”
And then, I turn and walk out the door. Yeah, that went a lot better than I expected. Mackey was wrong about Melissa.
Chapter 28
River
I pull up to the airport pickup lane, where I see Baxter waiting for me. His flight landed earlier than planned. I get closer and roll down the window. “Hey, good lookin’. Are you needing a ride?” I ask.
I put my car in park and pop the trunk so that he can put his luggage in the back. Then, I get out, jump into his arms, and give him a big bear hug.
“Missed you, Baxter.” He squeezes me back and lets me down. “Missed you too, Rhondy.”
We both hop back in the car and start heading back to Hannibal.
I turn my head to look at him. “Do we need to stop anywhere before we get on the interstate?”
“Naw, I’m good. I may take a nap, though. I’m worn out. The lady who sat next to me on my flight talked my ear off. I didn’t get any sleep.”
“Sounds good. I’ll wake you when we get there.”
~~
I pull up to my house. That feels weird. I own a house. Auggie and Mackey helped me move in last week. It’s nothing fancy. It’s in one of the older neighborhoods, so I got a good deal on it. It does need some upgrades, but the backyard was worth it. I have the money I saved from my time in the Army to upgrade what I don’t like.
Auggie has been helping with painting and handyman work. He has been staying in the spare bedroom since we fix up the house after we get off work and we’ve had a few beers. He’s started carrying an extra bag of clothes with him for when he stays over. I’m beginning to get used to him in my space.
Growing up, we got snippets of time together when we did things as a family or when we went on vacation. The rest was through texts and phone calls. I’ve seen him basically every day since I moved to Hannibal.
It’s like he’s invaded my space. I’m not sure what to think. This is what I was hoping for, but at the same time, I’m keeping him at arm’s length. I think I’m waiting for him to show that he has chosen me. I want to tell him about Melissa, but my fear is that he is going to defend her and not believe me. If he does that, it will crush me.
I bring myself out of my thoughts, not wanting to think about that right now. I shove at Baxter’s shoulder. “Wake up, sleepy head.”
