“Hopefully you get it resolved before too long,” she said, her gaze steady on Dave. “The last thing I want is to have anybody disrupt our time here.”
“Do you think you’ll have time to actually enjoy yourself?”
She turned and looked at him in surprise, then laughed. “Honestly, I should be thanking you guys and doing this for free. The idea of spending time here right now is fabulous, but I do still have to work for a living.” Katie turned that cheeky grin of hers on Dave. “So, thank you for using my services and not somebody else’s catering company. I’ll kill you if you try to change it now.”
“No change needed.” Dave smiled, his hands up in mock surrender. “Bullard is always really happy with your food.”
“I do cater for him quite a lot.” She turned to look at him. “So, how are you holding up anyway?”
“Me? I’m doing well. Why do you ask?”
“I just wanted to make sure that you’re doing okay with Bullard’s new status.”
He looked at her in surprise.
She shrugged. “I don’t know all the particulars, but it seemed that the two of you have both been single for a long time. It’s not always easy to watch somebody who’s kind of been your wingman, so to speak, suddenly find somebody special.”
“Bullard really needed this,” Dave acknowledged. “He’s been so focused on his work, living only half a life for a long time, always hankering after something he couldn’t have. Knowing the score but incapable of changing it. That situation was hard on everybody, seeing Bullard not truly happy and settled in life.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Dave knew they applied equally to him. Another revelation as to his own life.
“And sometimes we only hanker after what we can’t have because we can’t have it,” she reminded him. “It’s a safe way to do nothing.”
He smiled. “Either way, Bullard is over the moon in love, and I am delighted for him.” He said it in a firm voice, and he hoped she believed him because he was very happy for Bullard. Did it highlight Dave’s own situation? Absolutely. As he studied the woman in front of him, he realized that, although they had become good friends, they hadn’t really gotten any further than that.
Was Dave interested in pursuing his relationship with Katie further? Yes. Was this spurred on by Bullard’s love for Leia? Probably. Was Dave finally taking a critical 360-degree look at his own personal life? Definitely. If Bullard could find a love that rivaled his idyllic love for Ice, then what were the odds that Dave could find a love that equaled or eclipsed his love for his wife and daughter? Maybe better than he thought. Dave finally saw hope, saw possibility, saw how he had limited his life.
Now, more than ever, Dave really wanted a chance at forever with Katie.
*
Katie had been crushing on Dave since the first time Bullard had hired her and had introduced her to Dave to assist in that initial catering job—and many others since. That was so many years ago. She shook her head at that. Why hadn’t she spoken up way back when? She could have asked him out, after all. She didn’t know what held her back exactly.
At that meeting eons ago, before Bullard even spoke, Katie caught her first-ever glimpse of Dave, feeding a stray dog what looked like homemade dog biscuits. This huge battle-scarred warrior had a soft spot for animals. It still brought tears to Katie’s eyes when she remembered that fateful day. And he continued to show her his sensitive side, not being all about ego and alpha-male superiority, even though Dave was just as confident and as fully male as Bullard.
Katie had learned much more about Dave over the years. He was all about saving the planet, not disrupting Mother Nature, treating Earth with the respect needed to further our human race. He got especially irate when dealing with continuing crimes against women and children—raping, trafficking, abusing.
As Katie had listened to him telling tales over the years, without giving too much away, she had learned that he was a medic—or more. Katie wasn’t sure exactly the depths of his training, on any level, but, in the medical realm, he seemed to have learned a lot from Bullard. They both knew how to set up a bare-bones clinic in the most desolate of regions. And had done dozens, if not hundreds, of them, training the locals to take over in their absence or when short a traveling doctor.
Those two were a humanitarian force unlike any other she had seen up close and personal.
Dave was different from Katie in so many ways, yet, in others, they were more alike. He could cook too. So they shared that skill. And he was a kind soul, despite the harsh events in his life. The test of life had proven over and over how Dave was a good man, how Dave never faltered from his core values, how Dave could be depended on without fail.
So, knowing all this, why did she hesitate to make her feelings known? Obviously the man was never spontaneous. He was cautious. Hell, the man was stagnant. And she was getting impatient.
She looked at Dave and wondered at what point in time he’d be ready to move on. She knew his history and wondered if he was just clinging to it because it was easy. That was a harsh thing for her to say, but she was so desperate for him to take a step in a new direction. She was really hoping, now that Bullard had found peace for himself and someone to love, that maybe Dave would be open to the possibility too.
But Katie wouldn’t push it. Again she asked, Why? Was it some old-fashioned idea that the man had to ask out the woman, not the other way around? She had asked out other men before, but then … look how those relationships had ended. Yet she didn’t know them as well as she knew Dave. Was she fearful of being compared to his deceased wife? Sure she was. And living up to a ghost who just got more perfect with every day would be a losing fight for sure.
Playing devil’s advocate with herself, she didn’t think Dave was like that. Katie had seen him with his niece. Hell, she had seen him with Bullard and the team. How Dave reacted to servers at her catering functions with the same respect that he doled out to his fellow warriors. Dave had nothing but love in his heart. Sure, he had loss in his mind, but Katie felt like his heart would win out. She had been giving him time to work it out on his own schedule.
Bad move, she told herself, with a smirk. She had had no idea it would take him this long.
But, on the other hand, if Dave didn’t know anything about how she felt, how could he deal with it? Sometimes men were dense. Plus sometimes it was just that male-female miscommunication thing happening. Maybe she just needed to be blunt. Put it out there. Let him decide, once he knew how much she liked him. If he agreed to further their relationship, it would be worth that moment of angst. Hell, she had been torturing herself about this for years. And if he didn’t want more from her? Well, yes. That would hurt. But she could course correct, given some time to mourn the loss of a good man. A perfect man, in her opinion.
Time to man up, Katie.
She smiled at him and looked around at this beautiful, peaceful environment. Taking a deep breath, she decided there was no time like the present. Before she had a chance to talk herself out of it, she began. “I can see how Bullard’s circumstances led him to rethinking his life, both on a personal level and a professional level.”
“How does one really know, I wonder?” Dave asked curiously.
“I think you just find an opportunity where you want to explore moving forward.”