Chapter Twenty-Five
Strangely, Anya seemed to be thriving with her new responsibilities. She was working less hours, but doing the extra research needed to try and find her sister was giving balance to her life, so she was feeling less helpless, Eric realized.
Eric never knew that a relationship with a woman could be so good. It was like they completed each other. They saw each other nearly every day, and he tried as often as he could to spend the night, not wanting to abandon Brian and Ashley since he knew he was needed more than ever.
He wasn’t sure if he should tell them, but he was pretty sure that Ashley was pregnant again.
And then there’d been the unbelievable horrific events on January sixth in D.C. He couldn’t ever remember being as stunned as he’d been that day when he and Brian had stood in front of the TV watching the violence at the Capitol.
Anya had called and let him know what was happening because she’d been watching the news at home at the time. Brian and Ashley had been working in the office while Eric had been with Arielle in the living room, listening to music since she was unusually crabby and still teething.
Damn, he was dreading having to leave Anya. And now that tensions were high at home, he hated to leave the States. First, unless his orders had changed, he would report to Langley and go through a series of instructional training before making the trip back to Ramstein in Germany to prepare for both American and Afghan evacuation instructions since the deadline was August thirty-first. What worried him was that there appeared to be no official plan as of yet, but Eric and some of his fellow officers had been researching scenarios to try and be more prepared.
Despite what was happening in Washington, there was nothing that could be done by him personally, except to be incredibly concerned.
He needed to be sure that Anya was safe before he left, so he would spend as much time as he could with her. The security system that Jake had installed was top notch, and Jake had personally promised that he would do everything possible to keep her safe.
Each evening, he would try to either take her out to eat or just sit with her and watch a movie or TV. They talked very little about what was going on with her research, but he gathered she was moving quickly through the names and had several more for her private investigator to look into. Eric had yet to meet Charlie but had talked with him a few times on the phone when Anya had been busy.
About a week before he was due to leave town, he asked, “Did you ever get your security clearance?”
“Now that’s a coincidence that you should ask,” she said. “I just got word today. They’re going to come and install a separate satellite tomorrow.”
“Would you like me to be here?”
“I would if it isn’t too much trouble. I need to help decide the best place to keep the equipment hidden, but I have no idea how much equipment there will be.”
“Okay. You’ve got it,” he answered.
“You’ve heard from your superior again, haven’t you?” she asked, sounding glum.
“I have. I’ll have to leave here on the thirtieth, but I want you to keep my truck. Okay? It’s much safer than that old junker you drive. If you want, you can drive me to the airport that morning.”
“Try and stop me,” she muttered.
He grinned. “Maybe we’d better start making love more often to make up for the time we’re not going to have together?”
“I’m not sure when we’d fit it in with as much as we’re doing it already,” she answered dryly.
He barked out a laugh.
When they stopped laughing, he asked, “How about having one last night out at the Dragonfly Pointe Inn for dinner, the night before I have to go?”
“I’d like that,” she said softly.
* * *
Their last week together went by way too fast. And Eric couldn’t believe it when the thirtieth arrived so quickly. At least they’d made the most out of their last seven days.
“You’ll have access to Facetime, right?” she asked as they approached the airport, and Eric turned into the entrance, driving through several rows of vehicles before he finally found a space to park.
“For sure while I’m still in the States, and I should when I reach Ramstein. I could be called to duty at any time though, so if I don’t get in touch, it won’t be because I don’t want to.”
He pulled her into his arms, kissing her thoroughly.
Finally, he looked at his watch. “We’d better load up. My duffel bag is the lightest. Why don’t you carry that while I get the rest of my luggage?”
“Alright,” she said, looking like she was ready to cry.
When Eric was waiting in line to board the plane another half hour later, he glanced back at Anya one final time.
“I love you,” he called out.
She smiled, the tears running down her face. “I love you too. Please be safe.”
“I’ll do my best.”
When Anya gave him a thumbs up, he laughed.