Page 51 of Call Sign: Thunder
ZACH
Zach nodded at the security guard sitting in the sedan parked in the front driveway as he passed by. The guy gave him a quick salute to let him know he’d recognized Zach and that he wasn’t a threat.
It had been almost four hours ago that he’d stormed out of the restaurant, leaving Allison behind. He’d been on an emotional rollercoaster ever since. He couldn’t remember a time when he’d had so many big decisions weighing on his shoulders, which made sense since he wasn’t just making decisions for himself any more. Things would be considerably easier if he only had himself to think about, but knowing he loved Allison and didn’t want to picture a future without her in it skewed everything.
“He’s back!” he heard Allison’s call from the great room as soon as the small bell on the front entry jingled as he closed the door.
He hadn’t even made it out of the foyer when she came running at him full speed, hugging him tight around his waist as she cried against his coat.
“I’m so sorry. I’ve been so worried. You weren’t answering my calls. I was so afraid you’d just gone to the airport and left without even saying goodbye.”
As she spilled out her deepest fears her father walked into the foyer behind her. Zach felt the heaviness of the senator’s glare down to his bones. While he felt fortunate the older man wasn’t throwing him out without even a chance to explain himself, it didn’t make it any easier when Allison’s apologies turned to tears.
“Shhhh, honey… there’s no reason to be crying like this,” he reasoned, trying to calm her by stroking her long hair softly. He’d been nervous enough to get back and try to talk through his complicated feelings with Allison, but having the conversation they needed to have in front of her father wasn’t going to happen.
She finally pulled out of his arms far enough that he could look down into her bloodshot eyes. It was clear she’d been upset the entire time he was gone, making him feel like an asshole for not at least checking on her with a text or phone call.
“My phone died,” he said truthfully. What he didn’t say is that he’d run the battery low by calling and talking to his parents for an hour. They’d had good advice that had helped him keep things in perspective.
“I thought you just didn’t want to talk to me. I called you to tell you that I didn’t drink the rest of the Cosmo. In fact, I didn’t drink anything more after you left.”
Christ, did she think this was just about one drink? It was so much more than that.
“Why don’t we go upstairs. We can talk everything out, okay?”
“Okay,” she said with a whimper. “But I talked to Dad and told him that I’ll go back to school if it’s that important to you. And I’ll even look for a job… and…”
“Allison, stop. I’m not asking you to change everything in some attempt to make me happy.”
“Then why?”
“Honey, I was just pushing you to try to figure out what is going to makeyouhappy.”
“But being with you will make me happy.”
Zach was frustrated. He didn’t want to have this very important discussion standing in his coat in the foyer with her father glaring at him.
“Let’s go upstairs and talk. Please.”
“Okay,” she said again, this time finally stepping back far enough that they could turn toward the grand staircase.
“Captain Garrett. Before you go upstairs, I’d like to have a word with you in private.”
And there it was. He’d officially worn out his welcome. He’d gone from Zach back to Captain Garrett in four short hours.
“Daddy, no. Please… I told you. None of this was Zach’s fault. It was mine. I was rude and sassy and upset that he would be leaving soon.”
“Allison, I appreciate you taking responsibility for your actions, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’d like to share a private word with Zachary. Please… go upstairs. He’ll be up to join you in just a few minutes,” her father instructed her firmly.
“Do you promise? You aren’t going to make him leave or something crazy, right?”
“Of course not,” her father said with a sigh.
“Well… okay then. But don’t be gone too long. I’ve thought of a lot of things while you were gone and want to talk to you about it all.”
Zach tried to reassure her. “That’s good. I want to hear everything.”
Allison took the stairs at a snail’s pace, looking back down over her shoulder several times at the men she loved, concerned as if they might start throwing punches the second she took her eyes off them.
