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He walked back towards the room we currently shared. I remained in the lobby and grabbed another banana to snack on. There was nothing more for me to do right now, and there was no reason to worry about what Gabe was doing. It wasn’t like there was a reason for me to try and infringe on his plans.
Besides, after that conversation, I had a feeling that he was getting the flight plan ready. I had no idea how to make one of those, let alone how to file it. After making sure that I had a key card in my pocket – thank goodness the sweatpants Gabe had loaned me had pockets! – I snuggled up under a blanket to look outside with some hot chocolate that had been provided by the front desk.
It wasn’t the best activity in the world, but I had only brought one book. My phone was in my room, unfortunately, so I couldn’t scroll through my social media or tell my family I was safe. I could only imagine that they had been struggling to get ahold of me. Then again, my parents knew I could be difficult to get ahold of depending on my schedule. My sister might be more worried, but I would let her know what was going on as soon as I could get to my phone.
Chapter thirteen
Gabe
Despite her best intentions, I had to rethink a lot of what I had known about Grace Overstreet now that I knew more about her outlook on life. She was a dreamer, and while that wasn’t the worst thing in the world, I didn’t know how to respond. I had never thought someone like that could do well in journalism. Yet, here she was, proving me entirely wrong.
I found myself wondering what in the world I was going to do once I returned to the hotel room. She clearly had the ability to differentiate between what was real and what could not be done. What I had first thought was simply me taking a liking to Grace was quickly becoming more than that – a crush if I wanted to use a simple word – with her. I was starting to really like the woman, and not just her voice. I wanted to know everything about her, but she was also my client, and I felt myself struggling to rebuild my walls of professionalism.
It just meant I had to be careful. If I allowed these feelings to sweep me away entirely, I wasn’t sure that I would ever recover. It meant that there was something to it, at least. However, I didn’t know how to go forward. If I would go forward at all.
She’s my client, I reminded myself. But she’s also the most interesting person you’ve had a true connection with in a long time. Give it a chance, I argued back.
I took a deep breath as I sat on the bed for a moment. If I wanted to get anywhere with her, I supposed I needed to start opening up to her. But it was hard. The last time I opened up to someone, they hadn’t followed through and been there when I needed them. What if Grace let me down like that?
After taking a few minutes to think about it, I decided that there was nothing left to do but test the waters. My time in the Navy had given me plenty of stories to share. Perhaps some of them would prove to be enough to show whether she would hold me back from what I wanted most in life.
For just a split second, I wondered if Zeke had had any moments like this and if Luke and Jesse would have the same issues. Were we all going to have a moment where we wondered if the woman that we were crushing on would be there for us?
I took a deep breath. Then, I walked back out to the lobby. There, I found Grace snuggled up under a blanket that must have been provided by the front desk. She sat at one of the windows, just sipping at a cup of what appeared to be hot chocolate.
I could smell it from across the room.
Without another thought, I took the seat across from her, hoping to catch her attention. It worked. She looked up from the cup and at me.
“Welcome back, Gabe,” she said with a smile. “I hope you were able to get what you needed in the room. Or find what you were looking for.”
“I think I did.” I managed a smile. “I’m sorry for the complaints I made when you originally suggested this job to me. Part of me wasn’t even sure we’d be able to get out of Tulsa, honestly, with the way the weather has been this year.”
“It’s all right,” Grace said softly.
She set her hot chocolate down on the window ledge. Though I worried it would tip over, I supposed it would all be absorbed by her blanket if not the floor. And, depending on how long she had been working on that particular cup, it may not be all that hot any longer.
“If we’re being honest right now,” she continued, pulling me out of my thoughts about the hot chocolate, “I’m glad that you were realistic enough to have a backup plan for what would happen if we did have to land in bad weather. We needed it. Either way, I appreciate that you did this for me.”
I managed a small smile. This felt like the beginning of a real conversation, not just a conversation because she wanted to know more about what I did for a living.
“You’re welcome,” I replied. “It’s been quite an experience, in my opinion. One that I wouldn’t change for anything in the world. Even if it appears that I’d rather not be talking. Then again, I like to think ahead, keep myself safe.”
Grace tilted her head and gave me a bit of a smile at this. I wondered why, but she only continued to smile.
“Where did you get that habit from?” She raised an eyebrow. “Keeping to yourself and thinking ahead, I mean.”
This wasn’t like the questions she had asked me on the plane ride here. It was more like she was actually curious about this and wanted to hear my answer instead of just wanting to fill the silence between us with a conversation that, eventually, wouldn’t mean much anyway.
“I spent time in the Navy.”
She nodded, “I read something about that on your website. Why did you leave the Navy? If you don’t mind my asking.”
“Well, my contract was up,” I started. “That was only part of it. There’s… there are quite a few changes that you go through after you’ve had to be in combat. I didn’t think that I would survive another contract in the Navy. I just… didn’t want to risk it. But I don’t regret my time in the Navy.”
“Do people often ask if you regret it?”
I nodded. “People ask that quite often when I say that I left at the end of my contract instead of being honorably discharged. Well, I was honorably discharged. But that’s not the point,” I continued. “To leave when your contract is up instead of renewing for another however many years is usually a sign that you’ve had enough, and you don’t want to commit to more. Or you’re afraid that any injuries you have will only make it worse for you.”
