“It doesn’t matter to me, other than I want you to be as whole as you can be. And that’s goin’ to take a little while. Woodman, you don’t need a . . . a romantic distraction right now.”
“And you don’t want one,” he said softly.
She took a deep breath, held it, and slowly let it go, looking up to meet his eyes. “It’s not the right time.”
“When will it be?”
“I don’t know.”
In fairness, she was right. His timing was total shit. Motivated by a need to control something in his life, he was pushing her to a place that was completely unfair, and he needed to back off. He’d been home for exactly twelve hours. He had no right to ask her to make a decision about dating him; they needed to spend some time together, get to know each other again on a daily basis, and see what happened. Besides, he was home for the long haul now, right? And he’d made his intentions and desires crystal clear. And, he reminded himself, feeling a strong sense of relief, she hadn’t shot him down.
It was time to practice patience.
He nodded. “Okay, Gin. You know what I want, but I’ll leave the ball in your court. When you’re ready, come find me. I’ll be waitin’ for you.”
Her shoulders relaxed, and she grinned at him—a happy, more carefree smile. “And until then, we’ll just be friends?”
Ugh. The dreaded word.
Patience. Patience. Patience.
He nodded in agreement. “Friends.”
She rewarded him with a beautiful, beaming Ginger smile, picked up her coffee cup, and flicked a glance to his laptop. “What’re you up to?”
“Oh, I’m just checkin’ out the Apple Valley Fire Department website here.”
“Huh. What for?”
“Might ask if I can help out there.” He paused, looking up at her, searching her face for a reaction as he said his cousin’s name. “Cain thought it would be a good idea.”
“Cain,” she practically spat, and again Woodman felt a deep sense of relief, which he immediately regretted. Cain had been good to him. Cain’s support had made his injury and move home bearable. Despite the fact that he wanted to keep Cain and Ginger apart, he couldn’t let her speak ill of him.
“I know you don’t like him, but he’s been real good to me, Gin. He took a lot of time off to see me in Germany, then more time off to drive me home. To tell you the truth, I don’t know what I would’ve done without him.”
“We’re talkin’ about Cain Wolfram?” she asked acidly. “Self-servin’, self-centered, horse’s ass Cain Wolfram, right?”
“Remind me to never get on your bad side, darlin’.” Woodman chuckled softly, admiring the spark in her pretty eyes. “Listen, ole Cain’s never goin’ to be a perfect Southern gentleman, but he’s changed, Gin. I swear it.”
“Ha!” she snorted.
“I’m tellin’ you, Cain’s a better man than he ever was. Ain’t drinkin’ half so much.”
“But whorin’ double,” she blurted out, then clapped her hand over her mouth.
Holy cow, she hates his guts, he thought.
“You always had a way with words, Miss Ginger!”
Her shoulders shook as she laughed with him, and Woodman felt a deep sense of contentment, sitting at his parents’ kitchen table, drinking coffee, and laughing with the woman he loved.
We could have this forever. Life could be full of laughs and love and kids and . . . Patience. Quit getting ahead of yourself.
“I can’t speak for his . . .” Woodman cleared his throat, still choking back laughter, “extracurricular activities, but I can tell you this: he’s cleaned up his act. Never thought I’d say this, but when he leaves in two and a half weeks, I sure will miss him.”
He meant the words, felt them suddenly in the pit of his stomach, how much he would miss Cain, how—when Cain left—his life in the military would truly be over. But he lifted his eyes to Ginger, hoping that she would be the anchor for him in civilian life that Cain had been in the Navy.
“Enough about Cain.” She grinned at him sweetly. “Tell me more about your plans to work at the firehouse.”
Chapter 10
~ Ginger ~
She stopped by to see Woodman before heading to work, and this time she wore cream silk slacks and a navy blue sweater set with pearls. She could change into scrubs in the ladies’ room before her shift started.
Miz Sophie gave her a polite smile as she opened the door. “Ginger! You put a little extra effort into your visit today, I see.”