Don't Say Goodbye (Navy Book 2)

Chapter 20

October had turned into November, and the weather in San Diego was so different from Virginia that she didn't even feel the holiday's approaching. Shortly after her return to the office Devon had cornered her with tears in her eyes and thanked her. Charlie had assured her all she had done was deliver the dogs, and Devon didn't force the issue but she claimed that Josh and Kellan were talking again.

Devon had tried to bring Kellan up several different times referring to his teaching but Charlie always changed the subject. A few weeks later Kellan came to visit with Devon and Josh. Charlie hadn't known what to do with the information. Her first instinct had been to go to him, but Devon had told her that she still hadn't let Kellan and Josh know that they worked together and she wanted to give it a little more time. She was unsure how they would react once they learned about it, and she didn't want to be the one to drive another wedge between Josh and Kellan with her meddling.

Devon had taken the chance to throw a few dinner parties while Kellan was visiting and Charlie and Devon had agreed that she probably shouldn't attend them for the time being, not until they came clean about the two of them working together.

Kayla, however, had been invited to the dinner parties and always came in gushing about Kellan the Monday afterwards. To hear her tell it they were an item, dating regularly, and a proposal was expected at any moment. When Charlie had first learned of it she had had to excuse herself and go to the restroom where she had been sick. He had obviously had no problems in moving on from their brief relationship, especially since he still thought she was on the other side of the country.

After that Charlie had learned her lesson and had only been cornered by Kayla once. Charlie had wanted to scream as she talked about how handsome and wonderful he was. He was a Navy SEAL and so brave. He was perfect in every way wink, wink. Charlie had wanted to inform her that there was no way Kellan Hilliard was perfect. He was far from it. She had left the room while Kayla was in mid-sentence, much to her, and some of the other women in the office who were always captivated by her stories, surprise.

A few weeks later, Charlie had just finished having lunch with Julie and, due to traffic, was late getting back to the office. When she walked in there was a cluster of women surrounding Kayla's desk and her heart sank.

"You missed him Charlotte." Shelia who worked the front desk gushed.

"Who?" Charlie asked, attempting to keep moving forward but she reached out and caught her arm.

"Kellan Hilliard, Kayla's boyfriend. He was so handsome. Tall dark and sexy."

"Dangerous looking," One girl provided.

Kellan, dangerous looking? Hardly.

"Kayla was just telling us about how close he is to proposing." Shelia grasped her harder and pulled her into the mix not giving her a chance to escape. When Kayla saw her standing there she realized she had fresh meat. One thing Kayla loved was rubbing Charlie's nose in anything that made her look better than Charlie.

"We had a long discussion last night and he was talking about leaving the SEALs and teaching or something crazy like that. I told him that I didn't think it was a good idea to leave the Teams. He looks so sexy in the uniform, you know."

"So, you would rather have the man you love put his life on the line instead of teaching because he looks good in a uniform? Charlie asked, her voice as calm as she could make it even though she wanted to shake Kayla.

Kayla continued as if she hadn't heard her. "And he has these two dogs that just have to go. They're stinky and make the oddest noises, especially at night, if you know what I mean."