Page 95 of Keeping Zita

“It’s okay. I’m okay. You need to go and help whoever it is that needs help. Assistance only you and your friends can offer.”

“I don’t want to leave you.”

“But you have to. This is what you do. There will be times when I have a twenty-four-hour shift, or when I need to leave town to be on set somewhere. It sucks, but it’s life. Go. Go be awesome.”

This woman. She was amazing. He was in awe of her. She’d just been through hell, had almost died, and yet she was still encouraging him to leave.

“I know we don’t know each other very well…but you can stay with me,” Jennifer offered from nearby.

Upon hearing his owner’s voice, Fred rolled over, shook himself, looked over at Jen, then at everyone else in the room.

And he made a beeline for Zita, putting his head on Obi-Wan’s knee in front of her and whining a little.

“He can tell you’re stressed. That you’re both stressed,” Jen said quietly.

Zita petted the dog’s head and looked back at Obi-Wan.

He closed his eyes, everything in him screaming to say no. He wasn’t going. But it wasn’t in him to disobey his superior officer. Besides, he wanted to fly. Wanted to help the people who were probably scared out of their minds.

He nodded.

Zita leaned against him and whispered, “I’m so proud of you.”

She was proud of him? He was about to burst with the pride he felt for how well she was handling everything that had been thrown at her in such a short period of time.

“You could stay with me too,” Mandy said. “I mean, if you don’t want to stay here by yourself. Wait—I know! What if we had a sleepover? That sounds juvenile, considering our ages, but I could come here with Rain, if that’s okay with you, Obi-Wan? And maybe Jen, you and Fred could join us too? Or we could take turns staying here.”

“I’d love that,” Jen said. “And Fred loves other dogs.”

“Rain hasn’t been around them a lot, but I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Mandy said.

Obi-Wan wasn’t upset in the least that the women were planning on crashing at his place. He understood and supported Zita’s need to have her own apartment when she moved here permanently, but knowing she’d be in his space while he was gone would make him feel much better about not being there.

“Now that that’s settled, we all need to get going. Get a few hours’ sleep before we head to base in the morning. Everyone good?” Casper asked, looking around the room.

They all nodded their agreement. Obi-Wan eased to his feet, keeping an arm around Zita as they walked everyone out and said their goodbyes.

Once they were alone, Zita leaned into him and asked, “Are you sure you’re okay with me staying here? And with Jen and Mandy coming over?”

“Absolutely. I don’t want you to be alone.”

“Honestly? I don’t want to be alone,” Zita admitted, making Obi-Wan second-guess his easy acquiescence to going on the mission.

As if she could read his mind, Zita said, “You don’t have a choice. I’m a big girl, Sage. I’ll be okay.”

“I want you to be more than okay,” he told her.

“You know what? I’m alive. I’m here. I have you, and our friends. I’m good. I’m more than good. I’ll miss you like crazy, but you’ll come back, and maybe by then I’ll have figured more things out with my move here.”

“Which reminds me, I need to call Tex.”

“It’s okay if you don’t. I’ll see what I can get done myself.”

“I’m calling Tex,” Obi-Wan said firmly.

Zita grinned. “Okay. But if he seems reluctant, he doesn’t have to do anything. I’m sure he’s busy helping others the way he helped me.”

“Tex is definitely a helper. He’ll have no problem doing this for you. For us,” Obi-Wan reassured her.