"Not much since we've been in Vegas. We've both been busy."
Kate tapped her pen on her paper. "Okay, I think that's all I have for now." She put her pad and pen in her bag. "If I have any more questions, I'll be in touch." She smiled and stood.
Grace started standing too, but Kate put a hand on her arm. "Grace, I'll be in touch. Have a good rest of the day." She nodded to me and turned and walked to the door, opening it and closing it quietly behind her.
Grace stood up quickly. "Carson, what–"
I stood up at the exact same time. "Grace, how–"
We both laughed a little uncomfortably and then both went silent, just looking at each other.
"Hi, Grace," I smiled.
She let out a breath and smiled back. "Hi, Carson."
I came around my desk and sat down in the chair Kate had been previously occupying. Grace sat back down in her chair. I wanted to reach for her hands, but I didn't. I could still hardly believe she was real–sitting right here in front of me.
"You went into the Navy?" she asked softly, her eyes wide.
I nodded. "Yeah. Right after we left Vegas," I said.
Her brow furrowed and something that looked like hurt crossed over her face. "Why didn't you tell me?" she asked.
"I tried, Grace, after I became a SEAL, I came to visit you, but... I saw you outside your apartment hugging your boyfriend and I thought it'd be better if I didn't…" I ran my hand over my short hair. "Anyway, I shipped out after that."
She stared at me, surprise and then confusion filling her eyes. "You came to see me?" she whispered. But then her brow immediately furrowed. "Wait, boyfriend?" she asked. "I didn't have a boyfriend while I was in D.C."
I was quiet for a minute, searching her face. I hung my head, closing my eyes briefly. "Shit. I thought for sure what I saw…" I shook my head slightly. "Shit." I didn't know what else to say. I looked back up at her. "He was a blonde guy… about my height."
She frowned. "That had to be Abby's boyfriend, Brian," she said quietly.
I closed my eyes again briefly, shaking my head. I couldn't even bear to think about it too much, regret over the missed opportunity crashing into me, even though it had happened so many years ago. Could things have been different? I wished I knew what Grace was thinking.
She sighed and gave a small shrug. "Well, thank you for… trying." She gave an uncomfortable laugh.
"I'm just sorry I didn't try harder," I said, meaning it with everything in me.
As I looked at her, taking in her professional suit, something occurred to me and I moved the feelings of regret aside, at least for the moment. "You didn't go into Corporate Law. You became a prosecutor," I said on a small smile.
She kept looking at me for a few seconds and finally, she smiled too. "Yes."
"How did you end up in Ve–" I was interrupted by the ringing of the phone. "Damn. Hold on."
I picked up the receiver. "Leland, it's taken care of."
"Uh, okay, man. She leave?"
"Yeah. Nothing much to update. We'll talk later."
"Oka–" I hung up. I returned to the seat across from Grace. I was holding myself back from scooping her up and hugging her. Feelings I couldn't identify were rushing through my system. I knew there were things I should be addressing here–first and foremost the fact that she was the prosecutor on my friend's case, a case that had more to do with me than she could know. We needed to discuss that. Or maybe we shouldn't discuss that. I didn't know.
Her hands moved in her lap and that ring caught my eye again. "You're engaged?" I asked quietly.
She looked down at her ring, a confused expression on her face, almost as if she didn't know what I was talking about for a second. She looked back up at me. "Yes."
I nodded. "When's the wedding?"
"The wedding?"
I tilted my head down. "I assume an engagement means there'll be a wedding at some point?"
She laughed a small laugh. "Oh, well, we haven't set a date yet." Then her face went serious. "What about you Carson? Anyone special in your life?" Her body stilled completely and her eyes widened slightly. My answer mattered to her. Something soared deep underneath all the confusing emotions swirling through my body. I didn't know what to focus on–how to untangle the feelings coursing through me. And so I pushed them all aside. I'd deal with those questions later.
I shook my head. "No." We stared at each other for a few beats before she broke eye contact and started to stand. "I should go," she said suddenly, the notepad on her lap falling to the floor. I stood up as she did and then bent to scoop up the paper. When I came up, I was closer to her, and we stood staring at each other again for several seconds. A strange feeling of déjà vu hit me and I frowned for a second. "Grace–" I started.
She started backing away. "I have to go," she whispered. She turned and began walking to the door.
"Grace, wait, have dinner with me," I blurted out.
She halted in her tracks.
"Just to catch up," I said softly.
She turned around to face me. "Catch up?" she asked, her eyes filled with something that looked like fear.
I didn't answer her, just kept staring back into those large blue eyes. Finally, as if I'd said something that she heard, she nodded her head jerkily. "Okay," she said.