Page 81 of All I Need

IT’S SATURDAY MORNING AND TONIGHT is our first official date. Yesterday went far more smoothly than I expected it to. That is, after I got over the awkwardness of Miss Polly walking in on Walker and I making out like teenagers. The clinic was busy from the start of the day to the end which helped keep my mind off the fact that all I really wanted to do was storm into his office, swipe everything off his desk and have him lay me out on the wooden top. Reenact the phone sex we had a few nights ago.

Okay, so maybe I had a little extra time on my hands to daydream a bit.

At the end of the day, though, he walked me to my car, kissed me lightly and told me he’d pick me up at six o’clock Saturday night. The smile on my face could have been seen from Mars and the butterflies in my stomach made me feel like I was floating the entire way home. I’m not sure if it was a blessing or curse that Miss Polly had plans with a few friends to play Bridge. Having the house to myself felt weird, to say the least. I wasn’t sure if I would even feel comfortable being alone in Miss Polly’s home. But she assured me it was ours, not just hers.

Last night, while I was consumed with thoughts of whether he’d text or call I felt like I had as a teenager. It felt like I’d gone back in time to middle school when I had a crush on Danny Phillips and slipped him my phone number on a piece of notebook paper. I watched out of the corner of my eye in math class when he opened up the small piece of white paper. My heart pounded hoping he wouldn’t laugh or rip it up—or worse, tell everyone. But he simply smiled to himself, folded it back up and slipped it into his pocket. That evening when we were finishing up dinner, I had my first phone call with a boy. It was amazing and incredible, until the moment my dad came stumbling into my bedroom, drunk like usual.

After I got over the anticipation of Walker either calling or not calling, I spent the evening organizing my bedroom then cracked open my kindle and settled in for some sexy reading.

I stretch my arms above my head and settle back into my cushy mattress. The lilac sheets are soft and cool against my skin. I twist my head to look out the window, the sun already making its ascent into the sky but struggling to be seen through the heavy dark clouds from the approaching storm. A flash of lightning rips through the sky only moments before a loud boom of thunder claps.

Smiling, I cuddle in. There is truly nothing better than lazing in bed during a thunderstorm. I’ve always found comfort in storms, which is weird because the day my parents left it was storming. But when they were around, the noise of storms helped to drown out the sounds of my parents arguing and when the silence descended on the house during the storm because they’d finally given up on parenting, it was such a welcome sound.

Another bolt of lightning rips through the sky and suddenly a thought goes through my head and I yank my phone off its charger.

I find the number I’m looking for and press the little blue phone icon. It rings only once before, “Best wakeup call I’ve ever received. Couldn’t wait until our date tonight so you had to call, huh?”

“Is Camilla okay?”

“Good morning to you, too.”

“Morning Walker. Is Camilla okay in the storm?”

I’m met with a few beats of silence before I can almost hear the smile in his voice when he replies, “You called me at 7am because you were worried about Stormy’s calf?”

“It’s thundering and lightning outside. Is she safe? Do they have her in the barn?”

“She’s safe.”

“But how do you know?” More silence.

“I’m gonna go check on her.”

“Ellie, I promise you she’s fine. Brett and Courtney know what they’re doing. This isn’t their first storm with cattle, obviously, given Stormy’s name.”

“I know that, but… she’s so little. And helpless.”

“That’s why she’s got her mama.”

“Walker,” I plead.

“She’s not helpless, sweetheart. I promise. She’s very safe.”

I don’t know how to respond to that. I just need to see for sure that she’s okay. “Grayson and I’ll be there in a few minutes. He stayed with me last night,” he says after a few seconds of my silence, immediately causing tears to spring to my eyes. He’s an amazingly generous man. How women before me could fault him for his relationship with Grayson blows my mind.

“You’re wonderful, you know that?”

“How’s that?”

“The fact that you don’t even know is just one more reason. I kinda like you, Mac.”

He sucks in a breath. “I kinda like you, too, babe.”

“See you soon.”

“You will. Make sure you wear Willow’s boots. It’ll be muddy.”

“Okay. Bye.”

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