Rainier Drive (Cedar Cove #6)(103)

“They’re all moving, too,” he said, “Almost everyone associated with the George Washington has been transferred.”

“Oh.” She hoped there’d be an opportunity to say goodbye to her friends and to exchange addresses and promises to keep in touch.

“I want you to think about something,” Nate continued. “I want you to go there, too.”

He couldn’t be serious! Did he expect her to pack up her own life and become a camp follower?

“With your job you could work anywhere, right?”

He left her reeling from one shock and then another. “You want me to move, too? Just like that?”

“I know it’s a lot to ask. I know it’s unfair, but I have a reason for asking.”

It didn’t matter. “I can’t, Nate. My life is here in Cedar Cove. My closest friends are here—Teri and Jane and—”

“Jolene,” Nate finished.

“Yes, Jolene,” she confirmed. If Rachel moved, the child would be devastated. She’d lost her mother a few years ago, and Rachel’s leaving would make her feel like she’d been abandoned a second time. Rachel couldn’t do that to her.

Nate brought her hand to his lips and gently kissed her knuckles. “Why don’t we give it three months?”

“All right.” Already she missed him. She knew instinctively that this would be different from when he was at sea. “Three months,” she repeated, wondering, Three months until what?

“At the end of three months, we should both know,” Nate said casually.

“Know what?”

“If this is something we can do, live apart like this,” Nate explained, again sounding very casual, as if everything was clear. As if she understood.

She frowned slightly. “And if we decide we can’t, what will that mean?”

“I’m hoping it means you’ll be willing to join me.”

“Join you?”

Nate’s sensual mouth turned upward in a warm, inviting smile. “In other words, Rachel, I’m hoping you’ll consider becoming my wife.”

Forty-Five

Teri took a bite of her taco salad and realized that her appetite just wasn’t what it used to be. Love did that to her. When Ray had first moved in with her, she’d lost ten pounds. Of course, that weight had reappeared, plus five additional pounds once she’d kicked him out, but that was beside the point. This time she was living with the right man and she’d never been happier in her life. In fact, she hadn’t expected to be this happy, ever. Falling in love with a decent man who loved her back didn’t happen to women like her. Only it had, and she thanked God every day for bringing Bobby into her life.

“Are you taking your lunch break now?” Teri said to Rachel, who’d wandered into the lunchroom. Her friend had been depressed all morning. Yesterday, she’d gotten the news that Nate was shipping out, and she was taking it hard.

“I’ll be with you in a minute,” Rachel said as she slipped a Lean Cuisine meal into the microwave and punched in four minutes. “The truth is, I don’t have much of an appetite.”

“Me, neither,” Teri moaned. “What’s wrong with us?”

“Men,” Jane said, coming into the room. “That’s usually what it is, anyway.”

Teri laughed. “I miss Bobby,” she admitted. She probably said this a dozen times a day. In order to maintain his ranking, he had to play tournaments all over the world. Teri hoped that in a year or two, he’d be able to slow down this relentless pace.

“Where is he now?” Jane asked, waiting for her turn at the microwave.

“New York City.” She’d talked to him before she left for work. “He wants me to meet him there this weekend.”

“Are you going?”

Teri shrugged indifferently, although she was dying to be with Bobby and to see his Manhattan apartment. She might even talk him into taking her to a real Broadway show. Aw, who was she kidding? When Bobby was in a tournament, chess was his sole focus. With one exception—their honeymoon. They’d had another subject on their minds in Las Vegas, and it didn’t have anything to do with gambling. Just thinking about the hours they’d spent in bed made her miss her husband even more.

“You really love that chess geek, don’t you?” Jane said, watching her closely.

“Bobby isn’t a geek.” He was, but Teri had no intention of admitting it, especially to Jane. “He’s a genius, and he needs me, and yes, I love him.”

“He likes her macaroni and cheese, too,” Rachel teased, smiling at Teri.

“You just wait,” Teri told her friends as the microwave buzzed. “One day you’re going to fall this much in love and then you’ll understand.”

“Rachel is in love, aren’t you?” Jane said, stepping around her to insert her frozen entrée into the microwave.

“Yeah,” Rachel said, “but I didn’t expect love to be this complicated.”

“How so?” Jane asked, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall.

Rachel seemed about to explain, then changed her mind. Sighing, she lifted one shoulder. “It just is.”

“Are you going to follow Nate to San Diego?” Teri asked. She’d hate it if Rachel moved away. Get Nailed wouldn’t be the same without her, although she also wondered how long she’d be able to maintain her own splintered life, with Bobby’s home on the east coast and hers on the west. More and more, she felt that her place was with her husband. They needed each other, although it was an odd feeling to need anyone. Being needed, yes; she was used to that. But needing someone? Having lived her life as independently as possible, Teri found this difficult to grasp.