Page 36 of Sackett
“Okay.”He powered off his reader and set it aside before turning to face her.“Let’s talk.”
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Heturnedtofaceher on the sofa, so he was mirroring her, except he kept his feet off the upholstery, as he still wore his boots and even though it was a hotel room and not someone’s personal property, he had better manners than that.
“You suggested we drive home instead of flying.My first question is why?”He didn’t want her to do it just for him.Or maybe he did, but he couldn’t believe she would.They didn’t know each other well enough for that.And even if they did, they didn’t have that kind of relationship.
She took a deep breath, looking away from him.He wasn’t sure if she was gathering her thoughts or trying to find a way to tell him something else.
“I’m not ready to go back to regular life yet.”Her voice was soft, but not so soft he couldn’t hear her clearly.“A lot has happened here, and I am still processing it.Once we get home, people will be calling, needing things, I have to go back to work full time.As long as we are here, or even on the road, it’s like I’m in a bubble, somehow separated from it all.”She looked at him once more, making him think she was about to say something important.“Don’t get me wrong.I’m going to put this behind me and move on.I just need a couple more days to finish processing.On top of that, I originally considered driving for the whole trip and decided not to take the time, partly because I didn’t know how much time everything up here would take, but also because it’s a long drive to make by yourself.But with two of us to drive, it won’t be so bad.”She smiled.“Besides, I haven’t done the Durango train ride either and it sound like fun.”
He narrowed his eyes at her, trying to decide how much of what she was telling him was truth, and how much was crafted to manipulate him into doing what she wanted.He considered what it was she wanted, and what she would get out of it, other than what she’d told him.
Nothing immediately jumped to mind.He could think of possibilities, but nothing that was realistic, from what he knew of her character.
“You want to take three days to get back to give you that time?”he asked, possibilities still speeding through his head.
On the other hand, he hated flying.He hated letting someone else, someone he’d never met and didn’t know their history or if they were going to do something stupid, in charge of the vehicle he rode in.He felt the same way about road travel, which was why he didn’t do things like busses or get in a car with a stranger.Hell, he’d even driven her around here in Boulder, despite her knowing the town far better than he did.Could he let her drive on the trip home?
He wouldn’t know until he tried.But was he willing to try?
“I do.”She nodded her head as she spoke.As if it was an example of her commitment.
Sackett took a deep breath and let it out, a list of things he needed to do running through his mind.
“All right.Let’s do it.Do you have a piece of paper?I want to make a list.”
Selena frowned.“Sure.”She went to her briefcase, pulled out a legal pad and a pen then gave them to him.“What kind of list?”
“I need to do a couple of things actually.”He scooted to the edge of the couch, put the pad on the table in front of him and started his list, top of which was to contact Tuck and let him know the plan.“We’ll need rooms for the trip.Do we want to spend both nights in one place, or different ones?How close to the middle of the trip is Durango?”As he asked her these questions, he wrote them down.Because right now they were popping into his head one after the other, but he knew when he slowed down to actually do them, he would forget something.“Do we want to leave after your meeting tomorrow or wait until Friday and get started first thing in the morning?Do we need to get tickets for the train in advance?And if we do are there even any still available?”
He finished writing out these questions and things to do, then added more before he looked up to find her staring at him, eyes wide.
“What?”
She blinked several times then shook her head as if she was shaking off a weight on her mind.“Nothing.I just didn’t realize that other people’s minds did that too.”
“Did what?”He watched her for a second, then looked back down at the pad that was more than half filled with tasks and decisions that needed to be made.Now, he scanned them, wondering if there was anything he’d missed, before glancing up at her.“Is there anyone you need to contact and let them know you won’t be back until… When?Sunday some time, maybe Saturday if we leave tomorrow.”
“No.I only have my sisters, our parents are already gone, and I already told them not to expect me until next week.The office already has me here for the rest of this week.”
“Do you need to contact them with how things have gone here?”He held the pen between his index and middle fingers and tapped it against the paper in a rapid staccato as he waited for her to answer, and at the same time tried to decide if he was missing anything.
“I’ll write up my billing and correspondence to each client, but I can do that in the car, on my laptop.Nothing I need to contact the office or any of my partners about.”
“Good.I need to reach out to my president and let him know how things are going here and when to expect me back, then I can tackle the rest of this.”He dropped the pen on the pad and leaned back, reaching for his phone.
“I can get started on some of it.Let me get my laptop and I can take care of the research and reservations part.”She got up and went back to her briefcase, coming back a moment later and sitting beside him.
Sackett dialed Tuck’s number, he listened to it ring twice, then was sent to voicemail.While not particularly sensitive, this wasn’t something he wanted to leave on voicemail.He sent a text letting the other man know he was delayed and would be in touch about when he would be back in town.
They worked their way down the list, each marking off an item as they completed it, or writing down the answer if it was a question.
He was still working down the list when Tuck called him back.
“What’s up?”His president didn’t bother with greetings, instead getting down to business, so Sackett did the same.
“There’s been no more trouble here, at least not so far, but we’ve decided to drive back rather than fly.”
