Chapter 16
The last two weeks had been idyllic for Gillian.
The only thing that would’ve made them better was if she’d been able to see Walker during the week.
They spent the weekend he’d returned from his mission together, and it had been harder than she’d thought it would be to leave to go back to Georgetown on Sunday night.
But they both had work they had to get done. Their phone calls and texts were much more intimate after they’d spent the weekend making love, and Gillian loved the change.
Walker hadn’t been kidding, he was very protective and concerned about her. But it hadn’t been a hardship to send him quick notes letting him know when she left her apartment and when she returned.
He didn’t care where she was, as long as she returned home safely afterward. It had actually been Gillian who’d suggested that maybe they could both download a tracker app on their phones. He’d agreed in a heartbeat.
So now at any time of day, she could click on the app and see exactly where Walker was, and vice versa. It felt a little stalkerish, but Gillian couldn’t deny that it made her feel safe that he knew where she was at all times.
The Howard anniversary party was quickly approaching and because it involved over three hundred guests, it was taking up most of her time and energy.
She had a few small parties and gatherings that she was also planning and executing, but those were pretty straightforward and didn’t take much effort.
Today, Gillian was meeting the Howards’ daughter downtown at a catering company so she could taste different kinds of cakes and make the final decision on what she wanted at the anniversary party.
Since the meeting was at ten, Gillian hoped the Austin traffic wouldn’t be too bad getting into the city. She’d already scoped out the area and there was a parking garage within a block of where they were meeting, which was a relief. She hated trying to find parking downtown.
Gillian knew Walker was busy that morning with meetings, but she decided to give him a quick call just to say good morning. He’d told her that she could call whenever she wanted, he’d always pick up as long as he wasn’t busy.
“Hey,” he said after only two rings.
“Hi,” Gillian said happily. She didn’t always get to talk to him in the mornings, so she was pleased when she’d been able to catch him.
“Did you have a good morning?” he asked.
“No.”
“No? Why not? What happened?” Walker asked worriedly.
“I didn’t get to shower with my boyfriend,” she said with a pout. “And I had to get my own coffee, and my Wonder Woman coffee mug was dirty.”
“Oh, you poor thing,” Walker said, the relief that she’d been kidding easy to hear in his tone. “Sounds like your boyfriend is being a slacker.”
Loving their banter, Gillian beamed. “I don’t know, he more than makes up for not being around during the week when we get together on the weekends.”
“Yeah?”
“Oh, yeah,” Gillian said with feeling. “How was your morning? How’d PT go? Did you run a marathon this morning for fun?”
He chuckled. “Only six miles. Then we hit the obstacle course and ran through that a few times.”
“A few?” Gillian asked. She knew he and his friends had probably done it at least twenty times in a row.
And had probably put on their rucksacks for half of those rotations.
Walker and the others were serious about staying in top physical shape.
She knew it wasn’t easy for Walker, since he was getting close to forty, but she’d seen him work out…
there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that he was just as fit as his friends who were years younger.
“You on your way to Austin?” Walker asked, turning the conversation from him.
He did that a lot, and at first it irritated Gillian, because she thought he was trying to avoid talking about himself.
But eventually she realized that he wasn’t trying to dodge her questions, he just wasn’t self-centered in any way, shape, or form.
He told her once that he asked her a lot of questions because he was more interested in her.
If he couldn’t be with her, he wanted to know everything about what she was doing and thinking.
It made him feel closer to her. How could she argue about that?
“Yeah. I left about ten minutes ago. There’s a bit of traffic, but it’s not too bad.”
“You can’t wait to eat cake this early in the day, can you?” Walker asked with a chuckle.
Gillian smiled. Walker had found out all about her sweet tooth during the weekends they’d spent together. Her ideal breakfast was coffee and a sticky-sweet doughnut. “Hey, it’s a tough job, but someone has to do it,” she told him.
“True.”
“What’s on your plate for today?” she asked.
“Meetings this morning, then me and the guys are headed over to one of the elementary schools on base to volunteer. We’re reading to the kids, things like that.”
Imagining Walker sitting on a too-small chair reading to a bunch of kids who would be enthralled by whatever story he chose to read to them made Gillian’s panties damp.
She wasn’t ready to have kids, but she couldn’t deny the thought of Walker holding a small baby made her ovaries go into overdrive. “Sounds fun,” she told him.
He huffed out a laugh. “Kids scare the crap out of me,” he admitted.
It was Gillian’s turn to laugh. “Why?”
“Because I’m afraid I’m gonna say the wrong thing and they’ll go home saying some bad word they learned from me and will be scarred for life. They’re like little sponges, absorbing everything around them, and I know I’m too intense. The last thing I want is them learning any bad habits from me.”
“Walker,” Gillian scolded. “You’re intense, yes, but not in a bad way.
I’m sure they see you watching out for them.
Being friendly with your guys. Being respectful to their teachers.
Not tolerating bullying. Greeting the smallest kid in the class with a special handshake.
They’re not stupid, they know when adults are bullshitting them, and you’re the last person to do that. ”
“Thanks, Di,” he said softly.
Gillian heard someone say something to him in the background, and he told them he’d be right there. She wasn’t surprised when he came back on the phone and said, “I have to go.”
“I heard.”
“Thanks for calling. I needed to hear your voice this morning. I might be busy, but you’ll let me know how the taste test went this morning and when you’re on your way home?”
“Of course. I’m leaning toward the double chocolate cake, it should appeal to the greatest amount of people, but we’ll see how everything tastes when we get there,” Gillian said. “You’re still coming down this afternoon, right?”
“Wouldn’t miss it. If possible, I’ll see if I can leave a bit early and get there in time for dinner. That okay?”
“Of course. You’re always welcome here.” Gillian had given him a key to her apartment the weekend after he’d gifted her with the one to his place.
Since he’d returned from being deployed, their relationship had moved forward at warp speed, but Gillian wasn’t complaining.
She just hated having to be apart from him during the week.
They hadn’t talked about moving in together, but every Sunday night when she had to say goodbye, it got harder and harder.
She knew it wasn’t feasible for him to move to Georgetown to live with her, so if they were going to move their relationship to the next level, she’d have to be the one to go to him.
It would be difficult for her business, and she’d have to put a lot of miles on her car, but if Walker asked, she’d move in with him tomorrow.
She’d had a long conversation with Ann about her relationship with Walker and even though she’d been afraid her friend was going to tell her she was crazy, and that she was moving way too fast, Ann had asked her one question.
“If you got a phone call with the best news you’d ever heard in your life, who would be the first person you’d want to tell?”
The answer was easy. Walker. Gillian felt bad about that since she’d been friends with Ann for so long, but the other woman simply chuckled.
“That’s the way it’s supposed to be when you love someone.
They’re the first person you should want to turn to when something good happens, and something bad.
You know I love you, as do Clarissa and Wendy, but you told us from almost the second you got back from Venezuela that you thought he was it for you.
Moving in with him, being in a relationship with him or anyone else, doesn’t mean you love us less, it just means we have more to gossip about when we get together. ”
“Gillian?”
She blinked and realized that she’d been daydreaming and not paying attention to Walker on the phone. “Sorry, I’m here.”
“Drive safe, and be careful walking to and from the caterer.”
“I will,” Gillian said. “I’ve got the pepper spray you got me, and I’ll make sure it’s out and ready.”
“Good.”
“Although it’s not even ten in the morning. I’m sure the homicidal maniacs are still sleeping from being up and causing mayhem until the wee hours of the morning.”
Walker didn’t even chuckle. “There’s no timeline for bad shit happening.”
“But you always tell me nothing good happens after midnight.”
“Which is true. But that doesn’t mean that assholes can’t be drunk at nine in the morning, or looking for an easy mark to get some cash for the drugs they need to get them through the day.”
“Okay, okay, okay. I get it. I’ll be careful, Walker. Promise.”
“Good.”
“Say hi to your friends for me.”
“I will. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Walker?”
“Yeah?”
He sounded distracted and Gillian knew he needed to go, that he had to get into a meeting. She’d wanted to tell him how much she missed him and how important he was to her, but while he was rushed didn’t seem like the best time. “Have a good day,” she said somewhat lamely.
“You too. Bye.”
“Bye.”