Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
Aaron
This wasn't how I imagined Valerie seeing my house for the first time, and yes, I pictured this moment several times.
Some days I envisioned us as the friends we were before I left for the Marines, sitting on my couch talking for hours.
Other times I hoped for something more intimate.
I would even go as far as daydreaming about us crashing through the front door in the heat of the moment.
If it were up to me, the latter would be what actually happened.
Instead, I opened the front door and motioned for Valerie to walk in ahead of me. I kept my mouth shut and let her take it all in. I purposely stayed a few steps behind her as she moved from one room to another on the first floor.
"It's different from what I expected," she finally said after making her way back to the front entryway.
With my hands behind my back, I rocked on my heels. "What did you expect?" I had a feeling I knew the answer but I wanted her to talk to me without arguing. That was all we had done since I got back to town and I was sick of it.
"Honestly?" She looked at me and I nodded my head. "A bachelor pad for sure. Maybe a cigar room or something similar for you and your friends to play poker in."
I couldn't help it, I tossed my head back and belted out a laugh so hard that it hurt my side. When I was finally able to speak again, there were tears in my eyes. "You're not far off but the room isn't here at my house, it's at Maverick's."
For the first time since I arrived back in Willow Creek, Valerie gifted me with a genuine smile. "I guess that makes sense since he's the boss. He seems like the kind of man who likes to be in control."
That was Maverick to a T. "You could say that."
As quickly as the smile formed, it was gone and replaced with a frown. I knew then that whatever moment we shared was over and she was back to disliking me.
"Come on." I inwardly sighed. "Let me show you to your room.
" I didn't wait around to see if Valerie was following me.
I headed straight for the staircase and up to the second floor.
"The guest room is on the opposite side of the house of the master bedroom and has its own attached bathroom.
" I talked as if I was a realtor trying to show the house rather than the actual owner but I knew that Valerie would feel more comfortable knowing there was distance between where we would be sleeping.
Sure enough, Valerie's next words matched my thoughts. "Good. The only way this arrangement will work is if we're as far away from each other as humanly possible."
I didn't let on that her words hurt me and that I wished more than anything she would be saying the opposite. When I designed the guest bedroom, it wasn't because I thought that’s where she would be sleeping. I designed it hoping that we would be housing guests together one day.
"Here you go." I waited and watched her reaction to the room. I could see the glimmer of recognition even if she was trying her best to hide it. "What do you think?"
"A little outdated but it will do."
Outdated was an understatement considering the room had been designed by her when she was in her twenties.
"The inspiration for it is a few decades old."
Valerie cleared her throat and hiked her thumb back toward the stairs. "I should go grab my stuff from the car."
I let her have this copout instead of calling her out on it. "I'll go get it. Make yourself comfortable."
I left her in the room while I went outside and grabbed her suitcase. I wasn't sure how long she would be forced to stay with me, but based on the size of the case, Valerie planned for more than a couple of days. A complete contradiction to everything she had said up until that point.
Knowing it was best if I gave her some space, I opted to drop the suitcase just outside her door and knocked quietly. Not waiting for an answer, I raised my voice. "I'm just leaving your bag right here while I go make a phone call."
I could hear her shuffling around and her whispered “okay” before I stepped away. I won one battle already today, there was no point in pushing for more, even if I wanted everything.
I was halfway down the stairs when I pulled the phone from my pocket and dialed my boss. Like usual he answered on the first ring.
"How's Valerie?"
I sighed. "Well, she agreed to stay at my place, so there's that.
" Honestly, I didn't know how she was doing because the short drive to my house was silent.
Other than telling Ryan, the paramedic, that she refused medical treatment, she hadn't said a word about what happened. "Do we have anything on the shooter?"
"Nothing other than the shot was made by a sniper."
"Not an easy shot to make considering the town is flat and there are barely any vantage points."
"Probably why he missed his mark." Maverick sounded relieved at the thought and he wasn't the only one.
If it weren't for me pushing Valerie down when I did, the shooter would have surely hit Valerie in the shoulder instead of grazing Ms. Daisy. I felt awful for the old woman but it could've been so much worse for Valerie, and she was my priority.
"Do we know where the shot was taken from?" With any luck, the shooter left some evidence behind.
"Lex is working on it."
Which meant there wouldn't be any information until Lex was certain. He wasn't the kind of guy who speculated.
"Let me know when he has something. Did Nolen get any more information on the data breach?"
I didn't have to see Maverick to know he was wearing a scowl on his face when he answered. It was clear as day in his tone. "The higher-ups are giving him nothing but the runaround. Aside from warning us of the breach, they don't seem too keen on sharing information."
Typical bureaucratic bullshit. It didn't matter that there were civilians whose lives were in danger, the government wanted to cover their asses.
"I'm surprised they even told us that."
"Wes has friends in high places."
Ah, yes. Westley James. He too was part of that op and it would make sense that someone would want to share the information with him. It would mean Wes owed them a favor and a favor from Wes was as rare as a golden egg.
"Thank God for him, then."
We discussed a few more mundane things like getting Valerie's shop back in order before hanging up. Unfortunately we were in a holding pattern until we could get more information to work with.
Since there was nothing else to do, I decided it was time to start winning over Valerie. It wasn't going to be easy because, for whatever reason, she was mad at me. Hopefully with time together, I could get her to open up.
In the meantime I was going to play dirty by making her favorite dinner. There was no way she was going to resist that.