Rescue My Love

by Lynn Story

  “Wow.” Mac looked at me.

  “What?”

  “Well, I know you told me about your company and all, I guess I didn’t realize that it included all of this.”

  “Is it a problem?”

  “No, it’s not a problem. I’ve just never flown on a private plane or had a driver before.”

  “It does take getting used to, I have to admit.”

  “No offense to Eddie, but I think I can manage to get myself to the airport.”

  “Okay. No problem,” I stood up “I’m going to take a shower, want to join me?” I gave him a devilish smile.

  “Yes, ma’am.” After the shower, Mac was dressed and headed to work.

  “Text me when you land?” Again, flashbacks of texting Ethan when I had gotten home safely. I needed to stop this; I couldn’t let something that happened six years ago ruin a potential relationship.

  “I will.” I smiled.

  He kissed me deeply.

  I didn’t have any girlfriends that I was close to. I kept myself buried in work all the time. Michael, Eddie and Sherry were my closest friends. I felt the urge to call a girlfriend and tell her all about what had just happened with Mac and yet slightly sad that I had no one to call. The choices you make in life.

  I was dressed and ready to go by the time Eddie knocked on my door. The hotel staff had already delivered my morning paper and picked up the dishes including the two cups Mac and I had used.

  “You’re up early.” Eddie said as I let him in the room.

  “Yep.” I didn’t elaborate that I hadn’t been to sleep at all. “Did you have a good time last night? I asked.

  “Yeah did you?” I turned to him with my eyebrows raised. “What do you mean?”

  “You left me a message that said you had gone out for a while. Did you have a good time?”

  I eyed him suspiciously, normally he would be peppering me with twenty questions about why I had gone out alone and who had I seen. “Yeah, I did.” I smiled. “Are you ready to go?”

  “Yes, I am.” He nodded and spying my suitcase he picked it up and headed for the door.

  I followed him out.

  “Where’s your stuff?” I asked once we were on the elevator.

  “Already in the car.”

  “Oh.” I watched the numbers change on the digital read out. I stopped by the front desk for a receipt and to return my room key.

  Once we were in the air I sat back and thought about Mac.

  I was exhausted by the time we got home. I had never been able to sleep on the plane very well despite the comfort it offered. There were too many memories of harried flights out of dangerous and unstable places to allow me to ever be able to relax enough on any plane to sleep.

  I had Eddie drop me off at home. I’d go to the office tomorrow. For now, I needed some real sleep.

  I woke up in the middle of the night. My timing was off. I was still tired, and my mind was racing. I was questioning just how well things went at the hospital and what would I do if they refused the idea of the implant. Honestly, the thought had never occurred to me until now. Then I started questioning my evening with Mac. What the hell had I been thinking? Why had I allowed myself to get in the situation to begin with? What would my grandfather think? I was a grown woman and if I wanted male companionship I was allowed.

  I got up and paced. Arguing with myself was going to get me nowhere. I decided to venture downstairs for a warm toddy to help me get back to sleep.

  I woke again before my alarm. I looked to the front window. The car I had seen before I left on my trip was back. I decided I would get to the bottom of this once and for all. If someone was up to no good, then they should know someone was watching them. I headed for the front door ready to give whoever it was a piece of my mind. But as I opened the door the car pulled away. I couldn’t get down the steps fast enough to get a look at the license plate. But I noted is was a dark gray Dodge Hellcat.

  I ate, dressed for the office and gathered my things including the gift I had bought for Sherry. I couldn’t wait to see her face when she opened it. I drove to the office, happy not to have to make small talk with Eddie this morning. I wanted to be alone with my thoughts. My stomach was in knots. What if Mac did come down this weekend? Was I being ridiculous? Did I really want to be in a relationship? Mac didn’t strike me as the love and leave ‘em type of guy. But, was I ready for commitment?

  “Good Morning, Sherry.” I greeted as I came down the hallway.

  “Good Morning. I’m so glad you’re back.”

  I looked at her concerned.

  “Did something happen while I was gone?”

  “No, things just seem to run more smoothly when you are here. People seem to be afraid to make a decision when you’re not here.”

  Hmm, that was something I needed to work on. I needed my staff to be able to make decisions and run things if something happened to me.

  “Okay, well can you come in when you’re ready?” I asked her and continued to my desk. I knew that would pique her interest and she would come in immediately.

  “Do you need something?”

  “Yes, I do.” I opened the bag I sat down on my desk.

  “I need you to open this.” I handed her a stuffed panda holding a box.

  She looked at me curiously and smiled at the panda.

  “He is adorable!” She beamed. She eyed the box suspiciously. “What is it?”

  “Open it.”

  She removed the box from the panda’s lap and sat him on the corner of my desk. Then removed the gold ribbon from the box and opened it and gasped.

  “Oh Kay, this is beautiful.” She lifted the necklace with the panda charm. “Oh, and it’s heavy. Is the real gold?”

  “Of course.”

  “Oh no,” she started shaking her head. “I can’t take this, it’s too much.”

  “You can and you will.” I walked over taking the necklace and stepping behind her to put it around her neck. “Turn around, let’s see.”

  When she did, she had tears in her eyes.

  “Now that looks perfect.” I said smiling. “Oh no, there is no crying. Why are you crying?”

  She hugged me. Then stepped away. “You shouldn’t have done this.”

  “Why not? You are my right hand. I get nothing done without you and you had to stay behind and handle the office. The least I could do was bring you something.”

  “People bring back t-shirts. Not gold necklaces.”

  “Do I look like ‘people’ to you?” I laughed.

  “No, you don’t.” She laughed too. “Thank you so much.”

  “No, thank you. I might not always say it or show it but, I just couldn’t do any of this without you.”

  Sherry wiped away a tear.

  “Well, now that I have ruined my make-up, I suppose you want coffee.”

  “Absolutely.” I smiled.

  She made the coffee then gathered her panda and left.

  I noticed later in the day the stuffed panda was sitting on the corner of her desk watching her work. I smiled.

  The day was spent catching up on emails and I had a phone call with Dr. Klaus to discuss his opinion on how things went at the hospital.

  By the end of the day I was ready to go home. I had no reason to be there. In truth I missed Mac. I was staring into space thinking about him and about Ethan when Sherry poked her head in. I didn’t hear her until she was standing right in front of my desk.

  “Kay, are you okay?”

  “What? I’m sorry.” I jumped startled at the sound of her voice.

  “Are you okay, you haven’t seemed like yourself all day.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes.”

  “How can you tell?”

  “The lines on your forehead and around your eyes.”

  “Gee thanks, are you selling Botox injections on the side?” I asked maybe a little harsher than I intended.

  “You really aren’t okay, are you?”

  “S
ure I am.”

  “I’m sure you not. Something is really bothering you.”

  I sighed and set back in my chair. “Yeah there is, but its personal.”

  “That’s even worse.” She got up and headed for the door. I thought she was going to leave now that she knew it had nothing to do with work. Instead she closed the door and returned to the chair in from of my desk with her folded her hands in her lap.

  “Tell me everything.”

  “Why do you think there is an everything.”

  “Kay, I have worked for you for six years. Four of those years you’ve been in this office. I see you every day. I know how you sit, smile, talk. I know when you are angry, although that is rare, I know when you happy, which isn’t that often and I know when something is bothering you. This is different. So, it has to be a man.”

  I was shocked. I made it a point to know about my employees, I knew that Sherry loved pandas, that her favorite color was pink, when her birthday was but it never occurred to me that anyone was giving me the same level of attention.

  “What makes you think it is a man?”

  “Because in all the time I have known you, you’ve never once mentioned a man and you’ve never asked me to make dinner reservations at a romantic restaurant or book a weekend getaway. You don’t have any pictures in here of anyone I don’t know, and I have never ever seen you like this so, it has to be a man.”

  She folded her arms across her chest and glared at me. “Tell me I’m wrong.” She challenged.

  I blinked at her in surprise and slowly looked around my office to see that she was right. I had pictures of my mother and father and company related photos and that was it, nothing personal.

  “Okay, it’s a man. Sorta.”

  “I knew it!”

  She clapped her hands and bounced in the chair.

  I smiled; her giddiness was contagious. I felt excited and relieved to have someone to talk to about this.

  “Now what do you mean sort of?”

  “Well, it’s about two men, actually.” I sighed admitting to myself I was still hung up on Ethan and being with Mac had only brought those feelings to the forefront.

  “Wow! I wish I had problems like that.”

  “No, you don’t.” I shook my head.

  “Yeah, just for one weekend.”

  “Okay, well let’s see if we can pass you off as me and the problem is all yours.” I laughed.

  “So, what’s the problem?”

  “Okay, without getting too bogged down in details, I met a man the weekend of my mother’s funeral. We spent two lovely evenings together drinking bourbon and listening to music. It wasn’t the right time to start a relationship, you know?”

  She bit her lower lip and nodded waiting for me to go on.

  “Well, as you know I went back to my marine unit. Before I left, I told him that if it was meant to be, we would meet again.”

  “And did you ever see him again?”

  “No.”

  “Never? He didn’t try to contact you or anything?”

  “No.”

  “Wow, that is really sad.”

  “Then the night before I left for DC, I saw a car parked out in front of my house. And at first, I thought it might be someone doing something illegal. But I’ve had this feeling all day that it might have been something else. That it might have been Ethan.”

  “Okay. . .,.”

  “So then on this trip to DC I met a friend of my grandfather’s,”

  Sherry made a face and wrinkled her nose.

  “He isn’t my grandfather’s age.” I said.

  “Oh, well okay then.”

  “He was at my grandfather’s house for poker night with some other people grandpa works with and he and I started talking.”

  “And then?” She drug out the words.

  “He called me the next day and we went out to dinner.”

  “And?”

  “One thing led to another and he might be coming down here to visit this weekend.”

  “Okay, so what exactly is the problem?”

  “So the problem is that I’ve been thinking about Ethan, the guy from six years ago. Even when I was spending time with Mac this weekend, I couldn’t help but think about Ethan.”

  “What does this Ethan do for a living?” Sherry asked looking serious.

  “Ethan was an FBI agent when I met him.”

  “And this guy that works with your grandfather, what does he do?”

  I was starting to feel a little uncomfortable under Sherry’s scrutiny. “He is the director NCIS”

  “NCIS!” She raised her voice.

  “Shhh, I don’t need the whole office knowing.”

  “Sorry,” she said, “are you kidding me?”

  “No, why?”

  “NCIS is one of my favorite shows.”

  “Sherry, he isn’t on the show, this is real life.”

  “I know, I know, but still. How cool is that?”

  “Well, I was thinking if it was Ethan in front of my house maybe I should look him up.”

  “And you think the car in front of your house was this Ethan?” Sherry studied me, “he is just an FBI agent?”

  “Yeah,”

  “I don’t know I think I’d hold out for the Director.”

  “Sherry!”

  “What? I mean if you haven’t made up your mind which one to date, what’s the harm?”

  I shook my head. This is why I don’t talk to people about my personal life.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Kay

  My conversation with Sherry notwithstanding I couldn’t stop thinking about Ethan. But, why go looking for trouble? If I sought him out that would imply, I was interested in a relationship and then how would I explain Mac. Although, Mac and I didn’t have a relationship as yet. I needed to know if there was anything there for us. If there wasn’t then I was free to see Mac without feeling the guilt I was experiencing now. Plus, if there wasn’t anything there for us then why was he sitting outside my house. If, he was sitting outside my house, I reminded myself. I stared up at the ceiling. I needed to let this go and let life takes its course. I had other things that more pressing than my social life to deal with. I had a company to run, I needed to be ready to move on the expansion if the hospital came back with a positive answer. That would likely require another trip to DC this time with Michael to work out the details. Just then an email popped up on my screen from the Ohio plant, they were having a material shortage and needed some help.

  The week was nearly a blur and on Thursday afternoon my cell phone rang. “Hello,”

  “Kay, it’s Mac.

  “Mac, hang on a second please,” I got up and shut my door. “Thanks, I wanted to shut my office door. How are you?”

  “I’m good. I’m sorry I haven’t called before now.” Mac apologized.

  “It’s okay. It’s been a busy week here and I’m sure you are busy too.”

  “Yeah, that is why I am calling. I don’t think I am going to be able to make it down this weekend. I’m really sorry.”

  “Oh,” I was surprised at how disappointed I felt. “We have a high-profile case and I’m getting pressure to get it wrapped up pretty quickly. I don’t think I can get away.”

  “I understand, I do. I am disappointed, but these things happen.” I reassured him.

  “I know, I’m disappointed, too. Do you think it will do any good if I told SecNav I need the weekend free so I could go see his granddaughter?”

  I laughed at the very thought. “No, I don’t think that would be a good idea for either of us.”

  Mac chuckled. “Yeah I think you’re right.” He agreed. “I’ll try to call, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  We clicked off.

  There was a soft knock at the door. “Yes?”

  Sherry poked her head in. “Is everything okay?”

  “My weekend plans just got cancelled.”

  “Oh no!”

  “It’s probably just a
s well. Who was I kidding thinking this would go anywhere with his schedule and mine and long distance, no less?”

  “Hey, don’t think like that. It will work out.” Now it was Sherry’s turn to be reassuring.

  I had my doubts but didn’t want to dash Sherry’s hopes. “I hope you’re right.”

  I worked late that night; I had no real incentive go home. And wondered if maybe I shouldn’t develop a hobby or take a yoga class. Sherry had suggested we do something together a number of times and I had begged off. Maybe I should take her up on it and forget about men.

  On a whim, I decided rather than drive straight to the back of my property where the driveway was located, I’d make a pass down the street to see if anyone was parked out front. As I turned the corner the same dark colored car was there. I had a sudden thought that it could be something very different than what I imagined and possibly dangerous. But it was too late because anyone in that car had certainly seen me by now. I pulled parallel but not too close and put my window down. The dark sedan did the same. The streetlight was bright enough that I had no doubt as to who was sitting in front of my house.

  “Ethan, would you like to come inside?”

  After he recovered from the initial shock he smiled. “Yes, I would.”

  “Give me a minute to park.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  He rolled up the window and opened the door. I drove up the block and took two more right turns to my driveway. I pulled into the garage and went straight into the house. I met Ethan at the front door.

  I opened the door to find him standing there looking sheepish.

  “How’d you know?”

  I smiled. “I’d recognize you anywhere.” I stepped aside for him to come in. “How’d you know I lived here?”

  “I didn’t, it’s just the last place I saw you, so I took a chance.”

  “No fancy FBI database?”

  “No, I’d never do that, besides I don’t want to read about you on a computer. I want to get to know you in person.”

  I smiled. “How many nights have you been sitting out there?”

  “Just a few times.” He blushed. I raised an eyebrow at him.

  “It only occurred to me recently that when I last saw you and where staying in the guest house that this might be your parents’ home.”